No-Spoilers Question: How is Super so far?

[GodVegetto91]

I guess I'm one of the few people who haven't actually watched Super yet. I've taken peaks at it...and by peaks, I mean I've seen the first opening and ending theme, and inevitably, images and phrases have crossed my path while cruising YouTube and the internet in general (so, for example, I have a bare-bones minimal awareness that apparently Goku has what looks like an evil twin of unknown origin called Black Goku). Other than that, I've decided to wait until I can watch the show on home video. So, without giving away any spoilers or going into particularly specific details.........generally speaking, how is Super so far? Feel free to either describe it or rate it on a scale of 1-10 (I'd be fine with breaking it down by arcs, if that helps).

Essentially, I'm just trying to figure out if I should be excited, or consider it a let-down and lower my expectations accordingly.

Wow. I must say you've really been good at keeping away from spoilers. I'll give you that.
Anyway. This is probably the best arc of Super yet. (And i even dare to speak for all of us) so that's saying something. Also this arc is a lot more serious and has many surprises. and it's anything but predictable, so it keeps you on the edge of your seats. (It also has very good writing) plus the animation is on point.
So there, a spoiler free review!
If i were to rate it, it would definitely be 9/10!
Hope that helps.

[Draconic]

It's great.
The first arc is good so if you liked Battle of Gods, it's more of that. There are new gags and the final battle is extended, so there's plenty to enjoy about it. It kinda drags at times, two episodes specifically, but the rest is fine. The movie IS better, however I think the new take is worth it.

The in-between slice of life is fantastic.

The second arc is pretty bad, like really. It manages to fix some inconsistencies and downright dumb things from the movie, so it is the better version storywise, but outside of two episodes which I think are doing a better job capturing the fights, there's nothing special.

The third arc is great. There are some new characters introduced who are fun, interesting or both. There are only two bad fights at the very beginning, but the rest are enjoyable, with the last two being amazing.

The slice of life after this ara again beautiful, however there is also a "filler" mini-arc that is kinda hard to sit trough, similar to something out of GT's Black Star Dragon Ball arc. It's almost like an unused story from that.

The current arc is amazing! The story concept sounds very stupid, but the execution is outstanding. The villian is probably one of the best in the series, the fights are great, the pacing is perfect - there is not one episode which feels wasted or trying to fill out time, every single one has at least a plot point introduced or solved. Saying more would be futile, you are going to love it so it's best to just look forward to it.

[Gig]

Well, I'm watching Kai for the first time thanks to Toonami and, music aside, I love it. I'm not saying DBZ was a gorgeous masterpiece with perfect animation. I'm saying the art and animation are leagues ahead of Super. Keep in mind I watch Kai hours after Super airs, so it's easy to compare. For example, episode 60 of Super, which has a significant battle, aired the same day the Goku vs Cell battle aired in Kai. The latter was so bloody superior, it made my jaw drop--that fight was as cool as I remembered! DBZ looking better wouldn't be an issue if it didn't air two decades ago..

I have not watched Kai... however from the little I know about it, it's a "reviewed" version of DBZ, cleaned from "unnecessary/filler" stuff, to have a lower total number of episodes, right? So, it's possible they got rid of parts of episodes where the animation was bad or the pace was too low...
So, maybe one should compare Super only to the original DBZ, without considering Kai, to be fair...

[Vegard Aune]

Well I'll just break this down into what I thought of each arc...

-Beerus arc: Hated it. Absolutely hated it. It's basically Battle of Gods stretched out to 14 episodes with half the goddamn plot cut out and replaced with absolutely nothing. Admittedly the final episode of the arc was good but that was not enough to save what an unmitigated disaster the rest of it was.
-Shiny Freeza arc: Gonna go against the common opinion here and say that it was a step up. Oh don't get me wrong, the animation was overall poor, the story seemed to just be throwing stuff at the wall to see what stuck and the pacing was again way slower than it needed to be... but at least it didn't cut plot-points and character-development from the movie! Admittedly that might be due to Resurrection F's plot being paper-thin to begin with, but yeah, just as a fan of the movies I at least found Freeza's arc decidedly less infuriating than Beerus's. And again, the final episode was pretty neat.
-Champa arc: Had its ups and downs, the animation for some of the fights were poor and the plot had very little in the way of stakes, but you know what? It was fun. And even if the execution wasn't the best, I enjoyed the concept of the fights. Like, they actually gave us opponents who couldn't be defeated with brute force alone, forcing our heroes to actually strategize to figure out how to deal with these opponents who were, for the most part, far weaker than them. This is something I've been missing in DB for quite a while.
-Black arc: Is freaking awesome. I mean, when I first heard about it I had basically no expectations whatsoever and I was sort of just rolling my eyes at the start of it, but over time it manages to build up a genuinely interesting mystery with a really cool and compelling villain, and while the ultimate solution to that mystery did make my head hurt a bit with how confusing it was, I still enjoyed it and felt proud that my guesses for it had not been entirely off the mark. Now I'm just hoping they'll be able to stick to the landing, but considering how good it's been so far, I have faith in Toriyama and Toei's ability to deliver a satisfying conclusion to this story.

So in short, I feel Super has been getting progressively better with each passing arc, and that ever since we got to the actual new material it's been pretty consistently entertaining. Definitely put me in the "Skip the retelling-episodes bot watch the surrounding slice of life stuff" camp. I did not like either Beerus nor Freeza's arcs, but the in-between episodes of the characters just living their lives were absolutely worth watching.

[fadeddreams5]

Well, I'm watching Kai for the first time thanks to Toonami and, music aside, I love it. I'm not saying DBZ was a gorgeous masterpiece with perfect animation. I'm saying the art and animation are leagues ahead of Super. Keep in mind I watch Kai hours after Super airs, so it's easy to compare. For example, episode 60 of Super, which has a significant battle, aired the same day the Goku vs Cell battle aired in Kai. The latter was so bloody superior, it made my jaw drop--that fight was as cool as I remembered! DBZ looking better wouldn't be an issue if it didn't air two decades ago..

I have not watched Kai... however from the little I know about it, it's a "reviewed" version of DBZ, cleaned from "unnecessary/filler" stuff, to have a lower total number of episodes, right? So, it's possible they got rid of parts of episodes where the animation was bad or the pace was too low...
So, maybe one should compare Super only to the original DBZ, without considering Kai, to be fair...

Fair enough. Truth be told, if I watched the original series, I'd probably skip a lot of the filler. Wouldn't be able to tolerate that nowadays.

[DBZAOTA482]

Total fanfare. If you're not into fanservicey power ups and fluff material then don't bother. Goku Black's charisma and the few good fight scenes of the recent arc is not enough to save it.

[sangofe]

You know, it's surprisingly hard for me to answer this. I'd like to say I detest everything about Super and that there is literally not a single redeeming quality about it, but that's probably because I can't help but compare it to DBZ, which, despite airing in the 90s, is simply superior in literally every conceivable way, including art and animation, sadly. And I'm not one of those "ohhh, the original was better!" fanboys. I mean, really, DBZ is so much better, it's sickening to believe Super was released in this day and age.

The Black arc is pretty much the only thing worth talking about in regards to Super. It's the best by far, but still poorly executed and repetitive. The concepts are great, and the villains are cool, as well as had potential to be among the best of all time, but they fall short. I have no doubt that if Toriyama, with the help of editors, drew and wrote this arc during DB's prime (pre-Buu, preferably), it'd probably be the best arc in the entire series.

Man, reading all your comments I think you'd really hate Dragon Ball Z if you'd go back and rewatch it... You must be blinded by nostalgia and the fact that you were younger when you watched it. I can't come up with any other reason...

Did you really go back and analyze the animation of DBZ, and art? I don't think you're going off by anything else than selective memory here... Because damn, DBZ had a lot of ugly looking episodes, too.

One thing I do think Super gets better than DBZ is the humor and slice of life. DBZ didn't do that too well, except for Great Saiyaman, of course. I will say that the best super episodes are as good, or better than the best DBZ episodes.

How can you say that the black arc is poorly executed and repetitive?

Well, I'm watching Kai for the first time thanks to Toonami and, music aside, I love it. I'm not saying DBZ was a gorgeous masterpiece with perfect animation. I'm saying the art and animation are leagues ahead of Super. Keep in mind I watch Kai hours after Super airs, so it's easy to compare. For example, episode 60 of Super, which has a significant battle, aired the same day the Goku vs Cell battle aired in Kai. The latter was so bloody superior, it made my jaw drop--that fight was as cool as I remembered! DBZ looking better wouldn't be an issue if it didn't air two decades ago..

Honestly, the slice of life and humor in Super annoys me because the majority of characters aren't presented as they used to be. But taking these episodes for what they are without comparing, I suppose they are cute/fun.

I won't answer your question about why I think the Black arc is poorly executed and repetitive out of respect to the TC, who doesn't want spoilers, but I've voiced my opinion on it in other threads.

I agree episode 60 wasn't a masterpiece... But there are episodes who still are very good in super, for example 56 and 57. Also, even if it was two decades ago, that doesn't mean the animation should be better these days. I think that those days anime generally had better animation than these days. At least that's the impression I've gotten, but I have to note that I don't watch everything new either... So my impression can be bad.

Anywho, I think the Champa arc had some really nice episodes content and animation wise, too, and most of the episodes in this Trunks arc have been good or great.

[ConfusedPhantom]

On the whole "episode 28 is where the show actually starts" camp. There are a few episodes during the first 27 episodes that are worth your time, but the movies aren't for the most part. What they try to add to them ultimately amounts to nothing and it's mostly a drag to watch with the exception of the ending of the Battle of Gods arc. But, even then, I still have problems with certain changes with a certain character.

Also, Son Goku is a bit flanderized. Yes, he acts like this in the manga, but Toei seems to take it a step too further. He has his moments of course, but the writers seem to like writing him too much like Monkey D. Luffy from One Piece.

Once it gets on its own feet though, it gets a lot better. Though, with its rushed production schedule, the writing never truly reaches its peak. It's entertaining for the most part, though. Especially the Goku Black arc, which actually presents a rather generic idea in a new, entertaining story that Dragon Ball has never tried before plus you have some great villains in here. You also have Masako Nozawa doing her evil voice once again, and it's just....the best.

[Lord Beerus]

Man, it's been difficult watching this show. On certain days, when it wants to be great, it can be really great. But when it's awful, holy shit is it awful. I never really found myself offended that much by the Battle Of Gods arc/retelling, apart from Episode 5, which even then got a major face lift. But the retelling still felt like a major missed opportunity is some regards. The Resurrection F retelling was fucking horrendous, and I will stand by my opinion that it was one of the worst things the franchise has ever produced, minus the Tate cut of the SSJB Goku/Golden Freeza fight and the final episode of the arc.

People will will think the re-telling shouldn't count or shouldn't have happened, but here's my take on it: I can understand the business practices of why the retelling happened, and the BOG and ROF movies themselves. You can't just assume that a large majority of Dragon Ball fans have watched Battle Of Gods and Resurrection F recently. Remember, it's not just young adults and teenagers who watch Dragon Ball, kids and pre-teens watch it as well. And they make up for a good chunk of the demographic for the Dragon Ball fanbase in the West. How would they find access to watch the movies? You're essentially telling anybody who hasn't watched the recent two DBZ movies, "Well... tough shit. You're not worth it. Now go buy and watch Battle Of Gods and Resurrection F somehow and then you can come back and watch Super. Thanks for understanding." Keeping fans out of the loop is a surefire way of driving away viewers and killing a show. I know that the retellings are disappointing but to assume than a large majority of fans to know the story of Battle Of Gods and Resurrection F off the back of their hand to the degree where you feel as though skipping the first two arcs of Super is something you can afford to do is beyond asinine. And while I personally would have loved, with the right direction, an alternative and expanded take on the premises the movie, well... shit happened.

Ever since the Champa/Universe 6 arc though, the show has really pick up in terms of overall quality and Future Trunks arc has shown the potential of how great Super can be. The Champa arc was wonderful even with the rough start and wasting Frost's character. Hit vs Goku was phenomenal, the beatdown Vegeta received from Hit was one of the best the franchise has ever produced, Magetta was a wonderfully charming character, Champa stole the show with everything he did or said, Hit was awesome in all regards, the lore provided was the best since the Saiyan arc and the ending was brilliantly handled. I hated how Frost's character was wasted, Goku vs Botamo was disappointing and the summoning of Super Shenlog could have/should have been better.. But everything else about this arc was either good or great. There is no doubt in my mind had Dragon Ball Super started off with the Champa arc, there would be much less stigma surrounding the show. Although the issues that people may have had with the Champa arc would very most likely still remain, I don't think the series would have to live with the having been the series that produced "that episode". The Copy Vegeta arc was a drag to get through and one of the low points of the show and produced some of the worst fill in the entire anime franchise. As well as a major wasted opportunity to give other characters some limelight. But the Future Trunks arc... man, what an arc that has been so far. It has just been fantastic from the first episode and has only gotten better since. Let's just hope that direction continues for the foreseeable future. The slice of life episodes have also been a joy to watch.

Overall, I'd say Super so far has been a very good show, teetering on a great show. With some very high very moments and but also let down by some very low moments.

[szopman]

The combination Super/Movies route: Watch episodes 1 and 2 of Dragon Ball Super. Watch Battle of Gods. Watch Episodes 15-18 of Dragon Ball Super. Watch Resurrection 'F'. Then continue with Episode 28 of Super.

I'd strongly recommend this way of watching the show You can also watch 27 - 3/4 of episode is retelling of events from movie, but there a lot of cool scenes in this episode

You can't just assume that a large majority of Dragon Ball fans have watched Battle Of Gods and Resurrection F recently. Remember, it's not just young adults and teenagers who watch Dragon Ball, kids and pre-teens watch it as well. And they make up for a good chunk of the demographic for the Dragon Ball fanbase in the West. How would they find access to watch the movies? You're essentially telling anybody who hasn't watched the recent two DBZ movies,

They could just show again BoG in TV before the series. At the point of starting the show, the BoG was already showed in TV, even in some extended version, so the fans could easily watch it in Japan. And about RoF - yeah, that could be a problem. But why didn't they just cut the movie + add few extra scenes/epps (like 15,16,17)? Instead, they preferred to make some creepy retelling of the movie events ;o

PS
If you check up the show, and you'll not like it, you should try with the manga version It's better in my opinion

[Acetona]

Personally, aside from the obvious padding, the BoG arc doesn't lose too much in enjoyment to the movie. The movie does have better animation and better pacing, though. I would rate the movie a 7/10 and this arc a 6.5/10. You can watch either one of them. I kinda recommend you to watch episodes 15-18 since they connect the 2 movies.

Then goes the worst canon arc we ever got: RoF arc. It was attrocious in every possible way, so I would recommend the movie over it anytime. I rate it a 3/10, the movie was also brainless fanservice, but was actually fun to watch (an 8/10).

Next is Champa arc, which was awesome, specially if you like the Tenkaichi Budōkai from DB. A solid 8/10 for this.

The ongoing arc, Future Trunks arc, seems to be the most praised by the fandom, but I can't enjoy it since I really really hate the villains and they annoy me too much. I guess it recieves a 6/10 from me.

Overall, I would only recommend Super if you're an obsessed fan who can't miss any content about the franchise (like me).

[precita]

If you skip the movie re-tellings, Super is pretty great.

The Champa tournament was average but the current Goku Black arc is fantastic. So those two sagas alone make it better than average so far. Some of the individually funny stand-alone episodes (I don't want to say fillers, because that's not what they are) are funny too.

[IM21]

I didn't mind the Battle of Gods arc cause it had some good moments. Resurrection F arc tho, is pretty bad. The only thing I liked from that arc was that Vegeta got more fight time with Frieza, other than that it was meh. Champa or the Tournament arc is OK, nothing special, but it is enjoyable. And like pretty much everyone will say this new arc is great. So lets just hope it continues like this.

[WittyUsername]

Kudos on avoiding any real spoilers up to this point. That can't be an easy task when you're on a website that revolves entirely around Dragon Ball.

Anyway, as everyone else has said, the first two arcs are just adaptations of BoG and RoF, and any changes they make to the movies are fairly superficial. There are some entertaining filler episodes in between, but I don't think you'll really miss much if you just skip the first two arcs. Regarding the arcs that follow, I won't spoil what they're about, but the general consensus seems to be that one of the arcs is fairly decent, one of them is basically just filler, and the current one is actually pretty damn solid.

[Boo Machine]

You know what I would like to change my stance on the whole "Skip the first 2 arcs" thing.

I say don't skip them. After re-watching some of the stuff I liked from those arcs,I feel like there is still quite a bit of enjoyment to get out of them, especially if you're not waiting a week for every episode.

Not everything is solid about them to be sure, but I think it should be part of the whole experience.

[TheBlackPaladin]

It's interesting to hear that there's a (relatively) common consensus about the "TV version" arcs of the two new movies. Sorry to hear they didn't live up to what was seen in the movies. On the other hand, I'll still watch them anyway...both to look for any small differences and to enjoy the performances of some of my favorite actors. In particular, Freeza is played by one of my favorite actors in both the original version and the dub...any opportunity to hear more of Ryusei Nakao or Chris Ayers is an opportunity that I'll gladly take.

Hearing about the music is kind of a bummer, but I can't say I'm surprised, as I've been of the belief that the music has been slowly going downhill since Kikuchi left. Hopefully Sumitomo's work is at least an improvement over the few clips I've seen of the Buu-Kai arc.

What I was particularly curious about was hearing how the arcs with new material are being received. Just like there seems to be a relatively common consensus that the movie arcs were rather meh, it also seems like there's a relatively common consensus that the new material is pretty good.

I hope I don't have to wait a great deal longer, this sounds fun. Thanks for your input, everyone!

[sintzu]

I hope I don't have to wait a great deal longer, this sounds fun.

We're still waiting for Funi's Kai Buu arc so you have a long wait ahead of you for their Super dub.

[Vegard Aune]

Hearing about the music is kind of a bummer, but I can't say I'm surprised, as I've been of the belief that the music has been slowly going downhill since Kikuchi left. Hopefully Sumitomo's work is at least an improvement over the few clips I've seen of the Buu-Kai arc.

It is. I was never a huge fan of Sumitomo in general, but at least his score in Super is okay, for the most part. Even at its worst though, it's still far better than his work on Kai... probably because Toei themselves actually gave him a budget this time. They clearly didn't care one bit about Kai.

[Shuby]

Alright let's see

BOG arc (average at best)

- padding issues
- had okay-ish animation almost throughout.
-Nothing new happened compared to the movie
- Beerus fight was better then the movie

ROF arc (utter trash)

- How did Frieza transform?
-How did the saiyans transform?
- Atrocious animation and art
- terrible fighting choreography
- nothing significant happened.

U6 arc(okay at best)

-Horrible underdeveloped characters
- Why was Champa looking for the Super dragon balls in the first place?
- Animation was meh until the last fight
- fake tension throughout until the Hit fight.

Black arc(good so far)

[dbs fanboy]

Super is neither bad or good (so far), it has it's bad things and goods things, and don't get me wrong, the show is pretty enjoyable and i absolutely love it, and for me after this arc ends i'll probably consider it a pretty good series.

The first arc was pretty good, while the movie was superior in animation and this arc was slow at some times, it handle pretty well some characters like Beerus, the best animated moments are absolutely amazing and it's conlusion surpasses the movie.

The second arc was terrible, i would recommend you to not watch it but that's just because i hate it, idk what your reaction would be, anyway it's pretty irrelevant imo.

From ep 28 until now, it has been pretty good overall, with some issues , but good, and the current arc is great, if it continues like this it could become one of the best arcs the franchise.