The following contains spoilers for Dragon Ball Super through Chapter 90 by Akira Toriyama, Toyotarou, Brandon Bovia and Caleb Cook, now available in English through Viz Media.
Nearly 20 years after Dragon Ball Z‘s original anime run ended, fans were ecstatic when a long-awaited sequel manga, Dragon Ball Super, began in 2015. Unlike the widely-panned and non-canon Dragon Ball GT, things started quite promisingly for Super. Introducing a scarily strong yet humorously lazy God of Destruction, teasing compelling mysteries behind Whis and the Angels, and reviving the franchise’s most popular antagonist in Frieza were all exciting developments.
Although the focus has remained predominantly on Goku and Vegeta’s quests to get stronger while saving their loved ones from deadly villains, there’s been plenty to enjoy within Super. While tournaments have been done to death in the Dragon Ball franchise, the raft of new cast additions from other universes for the “Tournament of Power” arc – including long-overdue female Super Saiyans in Kale and Caulifla – made it feel fresh. Unfortunately, the most recent arcs have left Dragon Ball Super increasingly feeling like wasted potential, recycled ideas and glaring plot holes.
Vegeta Still Hasn’t Defeated a Major Villain in Dragon Ball Super
The Saiyan Prince’s failure to defeat a major villain was fully understandable in Dragon Ball Z. His character arc back then focused on his personal atonement and gradual evolution into a good guy, and it remains a fan favorite. However, Super has now completed six full arcs and, despite achieving new forms and perhaps even surpassing Goku at times, Vegeta still takes beatdowns from villains like Moro and Gas while someone else eventually delivers the final blow.
While Vegeta’s development continues to impress – a high point coming when he apologized to the Namekians he’d mercilessly slaughtered back in DBZ‘s early days – it’s long since been established that he is now a good person. Even if it’s only one time, Vegeta deserves a titanic battle that will let him take out a major villain rather than relying on Goku or a fusion.
Dragon Ball Super’s Granolah Arc Wasted the Entire Heeter Family
Dragon Ball Super‘s “Granolah the Survivor” arc had so much potential at the start. A compelling new character seeking revenge on the few living Saiyans for their genocide of his own race – and a family of four bounty hunters who relied on information over strength – seemed to set up an exciting new direction for the series.
It mostly turned out to be a bust, however, as three members of the Heeter family provided little more than dialogue. The leader, Elec, was killed without ever actually fighting, while the family’s lone female member was left on the sidelines – all too common in Toriyama’s franchise. The Heeter who became this arc’s major villain, Gas, had no real personality or genuine reasons for fighting. He just hated Granolah and wanted to kill him, and was embarrassed about losing a battle against Goku’s father Bardock decades ago.
Goku and Vegeta, meanwhile, have little connection to this entire conflict. It doesn’t concern Earth and their loved ones aren’t in danger, and after Granolah realizes they can’t be held responsible for their race’s past crimes, the two Saiyans are just kind of there. While it was nice to get more canon information about Bardock, the manga teased that the mystery of how Goku’s father defeated Gas would reveal how they could do it themselves. After multiple chapters of buildup, the burning answer was that… he tried really hard. It was a monumental letdown that rather encompassed the entire arc.
Death Has No Emotional Effect in Dragon Ball Super
The concept of death in this franchise has always been skewed thanks to the existence of the titular Dragon Balls. Nearly any character not named Android 16 has a decent chance of returning from the afterlife someday. However, Dragon Ball Z deaths still found ways to punch viewers in the gut and tug at the heartstrings. Who could forget Gohan screaming for his father after Goku sacrificed his life to save everyone from Cell’s self-destruction, or Vegeta’s emotional self-sacrifice to save his loved ones from Majin Buu?
Unfortunately, death in Dragon Ball Super does not carry that same weight. Even in the “Tournament of Power” arc, where all the universes’ very existence was supposedly at risk, everyone who died was simply wished back thanks to Android 17, ultimately making the tournament a simple free-for-all. The stakes being so high actually worked against the narrative here, as it was never convincing that multiple universes and numerous characters would be introduced only to be destroyed so early in their (franchise) existence.
However, the laws concerning Whis and the Angels are intended to be far more strict. As Whis himself stated, Angels must remain neutral in all matters concerning their respective universe, even if there is significant danger. Yet on multiple occasions, Whis has found loopholes to lend the heroes a hand. In the Resurrection F film, he rewound time to give Goku another chance to finish off the revived Frieza. When Moro essentially fused his own body with the Earth, Whis flat out tells Goku to destroy the crystal on the villain’s forehead. Even if he isn’t fighting outright, he’s still interfering in the mortals’ conflict.
The punishment for any Angel who breaks this law isn’t just death, either; it’s to be erased from existence. When Merus actively gets involved in the battle against Moro, the young Angel knows he will soon disappear permanently but is happy to make the sacrifice for such a noble cause. It was a genuinely moving end for a beloved character – except it’s soon revealed that Merus is alive. The Grand Minister was moved by Supreme Kai’s offer to sacrifice his own life instead, and thus brought Merus back to life as a regular being with a finite lifespan. As long as you’re a good guy in Dragon Ball Super, death is apparently no concern.
Dragon Ball Super Recycles Too Many DBZ Ideas
Akira Toriyama’s franchise has long been known for reusing ideas and concepts, returning villains from the dead and more. Super, however, too rarely feels like it’s doing anything genuinely new or original. There are tournaments and time travel arcs, then there’s Goku saving the day after everyone else fell short. Even the concept of a character whose race was wiped out by the Saiyans had already been done in Dragon Ball GT.
This includes the finer details too. After being told multiple times he needs to kill Moro outright, the villain begs Goku to spare his life – just like Frieza back in the day. Goku foolishly gives Moro a senzu bean to power him back up, an altered take on his action in the “Cell Games” saga. Near the end of the clash against Gas, Goku fights to stall the villain long enough for Granolah to charge up his most powerful move. It’s the exact same thing Vegeta did for Goku in the final battle against Kid Buu. Super‘s most recent chapters – basically a slice-of-life story complementing the release of Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero – recycle the Great Saiyaman concept from DBZ through the now-teenage Goten and Trunks.
Dragon Ball Super has its share of exciting battles, new powers, solid ideas and the classic humor fans know and love. It just doesn’t resonate as deeply as its predecessor because fans have experienced most of it before. Maybe it’s time to move past Goku and Vegeta in favor of the next generation. Perhaps it should be more ruthless and kill off characters to the point they’re beyond the Dragon Balls’ help. Paying homage to the past and reusing ideas is fine, but it should be mixed with a healthy dose of originality – and Super is sorely lacking in the latter department.
