Post
by OmegaRockman » Sun Oct 11, 2026 6:23 pm
I had a good time with this episode! I think it helps that I managed my expectations for the most part and got more or less what I expected: a Kai recut of Super with a few extra frills here and there. The visual touchups are really nice and I especially appreciate them using the original sound bank. That was one of the big things OG Super was missing for me, so having the original SSJ aura sound back made me incredibly happy.
On the flip side, I'll have to agree that it sucks to no longer have some of the slice of life stuff, but that was stuff they were always going to cut due to the nature of this project. Also, I do miss having a narrator, the OG title card style, and eyecatches. I feel like those bits added to DB's anime identity like the TO BE CONTINUED cards in One Piece. At the same time, there's nothing inherently wrong with dropping those aesthetic things; like, they aren't going to make or break the show even if I kinda miss them.
One thing I do appreciate is reusing the original recordings; a big criticism about Kai was the fact that they had to rerecord everything, leading to some of the performances felt underwhelming (not bad, mind you) compared to Z. Well, they still have the recordings for this and they still sound good, so why not reuse them? They can always call the cast back in to record pickups where necessary, and this way we get to honor the original cast members we've lost by preserving their OG Super performances. I wouldn't mind this enhanced edition becoming my go-to for Super (or at least for the Universe 6 Tournament since I'll probably still opt for the movies for the first two arcs), but that idea would've been complicated by not having Tsuru, Shioya, and Ishizuka in their respective roles. I do agree that they probably should've at least rerecorded Yanami since he was so clearly unwell, but I also understand wanting to preserve his final performance as Kaio. It'll only be an issue for this first arc anyway.
Music-wise, I noticed some disappointment with the overreliance on Kai tracks for this episode. I suppose I can see how that could be an issue, but I fully expect them to integrate more Sumitomo tracks as the show goes on. And hey, the new stuff sounded good! As for the vocal songs, dunno how to feel about the ED yet, but the OP is growing on me. It doesn't sound particularly "Dragon Ball," but as a song on its own? I like it. The accompanying visuals are absolutely stellar too. Too bad about the ED's visuals though. It has interesting ideas and there were some bits that looked fine to me, but overall it's kinda ugly. Not the worst thing in the world, but I will miss Hello, Hello, Hello.
Overall, I think this was a satisfactory first episode. Again, I don't think this recut will replace the Battle of Gods movie for me, but if they keep things looking nice and they actually explain the Pilaf gang, I think I could comfortably recommend this version to a new viewer who's looking for an easy way to watch Super. Having a solid, easy-to-find 19-episode run to point people to is so much easier than having to explain that they need to watch these two movies that may not become the service they're using and then skip to this episode of Super. This would've been mitigated by just starting on the new stuff or at least recutting the movies themselves instead of making worse versions of them for the first 27 episodes, but I digress. Even if they didn't need to redo these stories in the first place, I suppose I can accept the redone versions if they're at least good on their own merits.
The self-proclaimed World's Biggest Dragon Ball Kai Fan™
She/Her 
