Regardless of whether the acute focus on fighting or absurd power levels is a turnoff for some, it’s impossible to deny how much Dragon Ball not only influenced but changed shonen forever. While not every fan may agree, Dragon Ball Super actually improves the franchise by bringing out and developing its most interesting elements. Although some purists feel the series is retconning too much for the worse, the amount of effective plot decisions Dragon Ball Super is taking proves that it is not just a worthy sequel, it’s actually improving the original.
The vast majority of the most iconic moments in the shonen genre are now considered cliché because many of the tropes mangaka Akira Toriyama popularized and revolutionized in Dragon Ball appear in almost every single series. However, even some fans are under the impression that the overall storytelling is lacking, especially in comparison to some of the more nuanced series. However, Dragon Ball actually employs some of the best literary devices that many of the most critically acclaimed series are celebrated for using. Dragon Ball Super takes these and pushes them to a new level.
Dragon Ball Super Has Great Character Development
Character development is one of the most important aspects of good storytelling, and Dragon Ball Z showed just how far characters could grow through the amount by which Vegeta changed. Vegeta’s redemption became the standard for countless similar villain-turned-hero characters that followed. However, Dragon Ball Super has developed Vegeta into an even more nuanced character. While Z changed Vegeta from Goku’s enemy into a begrudging friend and rival, for most of the time the Saiyan Prince was just obsessed with surpassing Goku, before finally admitting the latter would always be stronger. Super has now seen Vegeta come to terms with this mindset in less obvious ways. Aware that he is in Goku’s shadow, Vegeta now strives to get as strong as Goku but following a different path, as exemplified by Vegeta’s Ultra Ego transformation.
Gohan is another impressive example of a character who changed dramatically throughout Z. After surpassing his father and defeating Cell, Gohan soon becomes less interested in fighting and more keen on studying as an adult. Although most fans missed that Dragon Ball had a perfect reason to make Gohan weak, his methodology in Super has evolved even further by having him reject his Saiyan heritage and focus on his human side, embracing his Ultimate form and perhaps even explaining the still mysterious Gohan Beast transformation.
Dragon Ball Super‘s Powers Are Tied To The User’s Identity
Gohan and Vegeta’s most recent forms show that Dragon Ball Super has adopted another effective mode of storytelling that many modern anime series use – metaphorical powers and transformations. Some of the more successful modern shonen are celebrated for using this plot device: a hero’s power normally serves as a metaphor for something deeper and more meaningful than just another way to beat down an opponent. Dragon Ball Z undoubtedly revolutionized the overall look and feel of attacks and power-ups in shonen, but the series never portrayed this or any other technique as anything more.
On the other hand, Dragon Ball Super completely reinterpreted the meaning of Ultimate Gohan and gave Vegeta his most unique form with Ultra Ego. As the name implies, Vegeta obtains more power in this state based on his personality and identity as a Saiyan. Even Vegeta’s hair coloring is derived from Beerus’ complexion since the transformation utilizes the god’s Power of Destruction. In a shocking twist, however, the series then revealed that Vegeta can’t fully leverage Ultra Ego because it would require him to revert to his old self, underscoring how much he’s evolved throughout the series.
Dragon Ball Super Has Great Foreshadowing
One of the most celebrated aspects of anime and manga is foreshadowing, something that One Piece‘s author Eiichiro Oda has mastered fully. While Dragon Ball has delved into this to some degree, Super takes this coveted form of storytelling to the next level. One of the more clear examples occurs when the Galactic Patrol Prisoner Saga briefly touches upon the difference between acquiring a technique through hard work versus it being given. Goku teaches this lesson to Moro at the very end of their battle when the villain steals Instant Transmission using Seven-Three’s Copy technique, but is unable to use it properly. The same concept returns in the following Granolah the Survivor Saga, when Gas wishes to become the strongest in the universe but is unable to make full use of that power.
Dragon Ball Super also uses foreshadowing to justify later events, like when the series set up the reason behind Frieza’s new ultra powerful form by dropping an early hint that there was more than one Room of Spirit and Time in the universe. The use of foreshadowing proves that Dragon Ball Super pays a lot more attention to its overall plot development than fans give it credit for. Without planning well ahead, it would be impossible to foreshadow future events or plan for them effectively.
Dragon Ball Super Has Its Share Of Mystery
Many anime fans seem to have the impression that the more mysteries there are, the better the story. Dragon Ball Z surely was not very focused on this aspect of storytelling, even if it had some interesting ones. Luckily, Dragon Ball Super appears to be revisiting many of them, even those that Toriyama seemingly forgot about, such as Goku’s heart disease. Dragon Ball Super has also introduced a completely unexpected and wild power that Goku has used twice with no explanation yet as to where it came from, which proves that there can be mysteries in Dragon Ball as opposed to narrative oversights as, according to some fans, was the case with Dragon Ball Z.
One of Dragon Ball Z‘s most interesting mysteries was actually one that many successful series have employed: the hero’s true lineage. Dragon Ball had its version of this by keeping Goku’s parents completely absent from the story, with his father Bardock only appearing in one panel. Still, that made such an impact that an entire non-canon movie, Bardock: The Father of Goku, was made. Years later, fans were given a full backstory of him in the Dragon Ball Super: Broly film, and then with Bardock’s well-received flashback during the Granolah the Survivor Saga in the manga. This flashback not only clarified some mysteries but also had important ties with the present, proving once again that Super really cares about its storytelling.
While Akira Toriyama is recognized as one of the most influential mangaka of all time, he doesn’t always get the credit he deserves for his storytelling abilities. Fans of Dragon Ball tend to focus and emphasize the more visceral aspects of the franchise, such as the spectacular fights and the exciting power-ups and transformations. However, the series actually has great storytelling and meaningful plot devices, and Dragon Ball Super is developing and emphasizing these elements in the best possible way.
