Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero (Yes, that naming is
awkward) is not only a film for fans – of course that statement is true, no
modern Dragon Ball movie has been made for anyone but the fans – but specifically
for the fans of the supporting characters, the underdogs, the unrepresented pillars
of this universe. With Goku and Vegeta off-world training with Broly (a great
continuation from the previous film), it is down to Piccolo to act as Earth’s
mighty defender, very much begrudgingly as he would rather anyone else deal
with the problem so he can be left alone in peace. The return of the classic
Red Ribbon army now building up their own forces to take on Capsule Corp and
the Z Warriors, recruiting new hero-themed androids who have been fed propaganda
representing our protagonists as threats to the Earth (to be honest, they’re
not far off) and now seek to prove themselves as heroes by defeating these
alien threats.
It's always a delight to be reminded of how far Piccolo has
come as a character, from enslaving demon king to protector of Earth by night,
and uncle babysitting the adorable Pan by day. However, he would certainly wish
Gohan would take more of an active duty in raising his child instead of
obsessing over his hobbies and improving himself in those fields (Like father
like Son-Gohan). Gohan on the other hand is a more difficult character to say
where his character arc should go. From early Z he was hinted to one day
be the greatest fighter on Earth and become its main protector, by the end of
the Cell Saga, this goal was achieved. However his story didn’t end there, as
his mother also dreamed for him to thrive academically and live a happy normal
life. Come the Buu saga this character arc seemed to have come to fruition, and
Gohan would live out his life as a scholar, loving father and retired fighter.
All well and good, except the story kept on going, a story all about fighters,
and if Gohan doesn’t fight, then what does he do here? Not much really. Super
Hero brings him to the foreground and challenges this identity, though to
questionable success when it is no longer a choice of Gohan’s to make whether
he will become a fighter or a scholar, but instead others trying to force him
into one specific side. It ends in questionable success, though to be honest,
just seeing Gohan actually be given any kind of character development is a
blessing at this point, let’s be thankfully for what we get.
The fanservice does not end there, as this may also be the
funniest Dragon Ball film released so far, filled with plenty of
references both obvious and subtle, character-based humour, meta-commentary and
even basic things as characters modernise themselves for current audiences
(Piccolo struggling to hold a smartphone will be funny every time).
There is some hesitancy amongst the fans over the animation
style, being the first fully 3D animated Dragon Ball film and
considering the franchise’s history with CGI people were…sceptical. Thankfully
those fans can take a sigh of relief, the film looks great, the character
designs mostly translate well into the new style (Saiyan hair can look somewhat
wonky in 3D) and it’s great to see the series experiment in new ways, both with
its writing and the style of animations.
That sums up this film perfectly. Dragon Ball is a
very old franchise in terms of anime and yet is still going strong to this day,
and is even making new fans with the younger generations, this is despite no
easy entry point besides going back to the original anime from 30 years ago,
and yet people go through it, and they stick around because of these newer films
that offer them something they still haven’t seen before. Broly offered
the best fight scenes the series has ever seen, Battle of Gods expanded
the universe into scopes yet undiscovered, Resurrection F…well you can’t
win ‘em all. Super Hero continues that trend by not only experimenting
with the animation, but offering the supporting cast a chance to shine and even
bring in new characters to the ensemble. This film is a welcome edition into
the canon and a breath of fresh air into a very old franchise.
-Danny
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