The new Dragon Ball Super movie is a nostalgic tribute to the best anime dad ever
Originally set to be released in Japan in April, the second Dragon Ball Super movie, subtitled Super Hero, was delayed until June 11 after Toei Animation became the target of a ransomware attack. But if there’s a silver lining in what must have been a nightmare situation for the production company, it’s the fact that the new release date put the movie right round the corner from Father’s Day. That made Super Hero feel just a little more special, seeing as the film celebrates one of the most popular father figures not just in the Dragon Ball-verse, but in all of anime: the alien-slug warrior Piccolo.
It’s actually surprising that Super Hero’s release wasn’t planned for Father’s Day all along, since the movie not only focuses on fatherhood, but also seems to have been specifically made for parents who’ve been too busy to keep up with Dragon Ballpast the 1990s GT series. That’s the great thing about Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero — it requires zero knowledge of the 2015 revival series Super. It’s a 99-minute nostalgic throwback to the original Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z anime. Even people who’ve never watched a Dragon Ball show only need to know this to enjoy the film: There are alien warriors who sometimes go looking for magic orbs that grant wishes. They scream a lot when they’re fighting. They sometimes change color when they get stronger. That’s basically it.
Directed by Tetsuro Kodama (who also worked on the first Dragon Ball Super movie, Broly), the new film takes place at some point after the Granolah Saga in the Super series manga. Super Hero acknowledges the events of Dragon Ball Super via a few scenes featuring Goku, Vegeta, Beerus, Whis, and Broly. But their appearances amount to little more than obligatory
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