I probably watched through this a little fast, but I have really enjoyed dipping back in to the Dragon Ball universe 😅 I hadn't realised that there was an English dub – using all of the old voice actors from Dragon Ball: Z no less! – so the moment I found out, I began binging it. It isn't easy to find in the UK, which is annoying, but I did manage to track down most of the dubbed episodes online in one form or another.

That said, I was still a little lost as to what was going on in the plot at the start. The show definitely drops you in seemingly almost immediately following the events of DB: Z, which is a little odd, but I've really enjoyed the stronger focus on the broader cast. Particularly Goku's family, with a more mature and less fighting-focused Gohan, as well as the dynamic between Goten and Trunks.

As for Beerus, I think he's a fantastic character. It's nice having a villain who isn't just out to conquer the universe or wipe out the heroes specifically, and even if he is a "Destroyer God", he clearly isn't evil – more a force of nature (literally). I also really enjoyed his angelic companion and the greater lore this creates around the Kais. Still, you can tell that this was a much shorter story that they've stretched back out into a TV show (it was originally a film), and whilst we don't ever get the sheer absurdity of some of the English DB: Z episodes (entire ones were just powering up sequences 😂), there are still a couple too many levels of escalation on their ultimate fight. I was also left wondering why Goku doesn't use the second and third stages of Super Saiyan abilities that he's unlocked, especially after the Saiyan God ceremony wears off. It's almost like they wanted to reset the power levels a little. (Also, wasn't there a fourth Saiyan level at some point?)

It's still fun, but mostly from a nostalgic perspective, getting to see what these characters have been up to.

(Oh, and I'm not really sure if people are splitting Super into the same kinds of "sagas" that the original show had, but I figured it made sense to do so, rather than consider this one gigantic season. I'm not too sure where I'm saying is the "end" of this saga, but I figured I could roughly match it to the change in the title credits, roughly 😉)

I was not expecting Frieza to return again, nor was I expecting the whole "golden form" god powers. Actually, I figured that we were getting another Cell Saga type cameo, where Frieza mainly serves as a narrative device to show how powerful someone new is or someone else has become. Instead, we get some actual stakes, a little (literal) deus ex machina with Whis' newly revealed time powers, and a few fun revelations around Goku and Vegeta's training regime. I also much prefer the new Super Saiyan Blue over the "god form" red, and I'm glad Vegeta gets to unlock the power by himself – that feels more befitting.

Still, this is clearly a filler story. It may run about the same number of episodes as Beerus, but it never really feels like anything more than an in-between. Possibly that's because Frieza is such a call back, possibly because it's a little ridiculous that he's even able to go up against two Saiyans using divine powers, and possibly because it goes out of its way to tie up a bunch of loose ends from the original Frieza Saga as well as some of the additional spin-off shows. Fun, but not that impactful.

And I've finally both caught up with my last run through and completed this story arc – it only took me six years 😅 I have to say, it's a refreshing departure from the standard Dragon Ball formulae... or a return to it, depending on your perspective 😉 After over half a dozen sagas that can be summed up with the sentence "a tyrannical and seemingly unstoppable force is threatening the Earth with utter destruction, forcing Goku to train harder and push his powers further than ever before", having an entire storyline that reverts to the OG "we're having a fighting tournament" was strangely refreshing and thrilling in equal measure.

Of course, it's still a ridiculous expansion of the previous tournaments, with the stakes massively inflated and the setting one of the most bizarre of the series so far – literally in a space between universes! – but it wouldn't be a Dragon Ball story without some level of escalation, right 😅

Plus, pitting our regular heroes against fighters from a whole other universe neatly sidesteps the question of how anyone can seriously be stronger than Goku and Vegeta at this point. We have no reference point here, so it is acceptable to discover creatures with new abilities and strength without somehow weakening or reducing the struggles against foes like Frieza, Buu, or Cell in the past. The whole "god-level power" remains a little bit of a sticking point, especially now that Vegeta has also managed to ascend to Super Saiyan Blue, and they seem to have forgotten that mortal fighters are not meant to be able to feel divine energy (or that Goku and Vegeta are literally tapping into divine energy in order to fuel their latest power up), so I do wish that we could retcon this a little; after all, Hit isn't meant to be anywhere near the powers of a god, yet he's able to match Goku blow for blow even in a boosted version of his Blue state. 

On the other hand, I'm very much enjoying the reset to power creep this has caused, and absolutely loved how the tournament brought out all the classic "special moves" from the earlier series. Getting to see Piccolo fight properly again was great fun; Vegeta absolutely hammering Frost was brilliant – even if this isn't technically Frieza – whilst his "fight" against the young Universe 6 Saiyan was just such a wholesome, perfect piece of character development; and I thought they did a really solid job of making this both less of a Goku show and coming up with some genuinely interesting twists for each of the knock-out rounds. Plus, having death off the table, and instead just getting to watch fights where the stakes are more to do with skill and tournament rules, was surprisingly much more enjoyable than another "win or everyone dies" scenario. Sure, the whole thing is scripted, but it felt exhilarating at times; I guess this is how fans of WWE-style wrestling feel 😂

The occasional weird, janky animation aside (particularly crowd scenes), this was a great arc. It has a weird start with the whole mini-saga around Vegeta's duplicate and the Superhero Water, but that also nicely foreshadows Goku Black and leaves you guessing a little longer as to what's going. Then Future Trunks turns up and I have to admit, I was concerned that this was pure fan service and not particularly coherent (why his timeline etc.) but, to their credit, the writers' do a decent enough job of explaining why Zamasu chose this alternate timeline to begin his crusade.

Also, unlike the Beerus Saga or most of DB:Z, the episodes and incremental escalation feel much better paced and plotted out. Sure, Zamasu gets the occasional new divine power that mysteriously disappears in later episodes, but for the most part that can be explained simply by his new tricks being better 😅 It helps that the fighting is just pretty darn epic, too; some of the best action sequences of the show by far! I also enjoyed that the Saiyans are forced to retreat multiple times ‒ this is a Kai they're fighting after all! ‒ using the time machine, and even then ultimately have to try messing with fusion tactics to even come close to winning.

In fact, if I'm not mistaken, the final showdown uses almost all of the finishing moves from previous Sagas: we get the evil entrapment from the OG Dragon Ball fight against King Piccolo; several of the special moves and the Kaio-ken from the Sayan Saga; obviously several levels of Super Saiyan, including the latest Blue form and Trunks' own fusion form; and even the Spirit Bomb from the Buu Saga! I think a fair criticism of the whole Dragon Ball universe is that each time they defeat one ultimate foe, they use a technique which largely disappears when the next enemy shows up (Super Saiyan levels aside), so it was nice to see them dipping back into the back catalogue again 😉

The result is entertaining, riveting, and just a visual feast. Future Trunks tends to be good at tugging at the old heartstrings, given his whole "righteous fury" equivalent to his father's "honourable rage" as a means of unlocking more power, which adds some emotional punch, too. Basically, solid all 'round!

So this starts with a little mini-season of effectively "filler" episodes, which I really enjoyed 😅 There was just something lovely about getting to revisit a bunch of characters, even more throwbacks, and just an all around tying up of various loose ends. Not sure I needed that bizarre crossover episode with the daftly powerful little girl, but otherwise a nice interlude.

Similarly, once the Tournament has been declared, getting to watch the various fighters train together again was also great fun. Sure, it's a little ridiculous how quickly Gohan amps back up to full power (and I'm still a little unclear why he's forsaken Super Saiyan entirely), but the Expo does a good job of setting this up, whilst the similar power-ups for Krillin, Piccolo, Master Roshi (love that they made him a real fighter again for this), and Tien all felt surprisingly grounded (for Dragon Ball, at least 😉). And speaking of the Expo, I loved that too! It built the plot nicely, gave us a hint at a few of the other universes, and made a little sense of the whole "Goku kinda just screwed this all up for everyone else" ‒ at least a little... Plus, we finally get to see "good" Boo actually fight, and whilst I don't hate that they cut him from the main tournament ‒ especially given the last-minute replacement it forced into the ring ‒ I am a little sad that we never got to see skinny Boo fighting again.

In some ways I think this "saga" could be split into two, with these segments ‒ fillers plus training montages plus the Zeno Expo ‒ effectively working as a prelude, as they're solid enough to stand alone to some extent. But the real meat of the story obviously kicks one once we're in the Null Realm properly. And my word, does this not disappoint!

If I'd enjoyed the Tournament of the Gods and the Zeno Expo already, they knocked it out of the park for the actual Tournament of Power. Every character from Universe 7 had a solid amount of dedicated time, and whilst it still bugs me a little that Krillin was knocked out first, he ultimately was shown doing more than Tien managed. Yes, I'd have loved both characters to get a little more dedicated time ‒ especially because they're both really good at having creative fighting techniques, and I don't think Krillin got to show that at all, whilst Tien basically had one trick that just about worked out ‒ but I wouldn't forfeit any of the other arcs that we got. Probably my only criticism here was that Universe 7 basically do all of the work 😅 A few of the other "known characters" ‒ mainly from Universe 6 ‒ get the odd KO or victory, but for the most part our heroes defeat everyone. Perhaps there are a dozen or so early on that aren't even shown on screen, but I really don't think that's the case; when we see the Zenos flicking through their "GodPads" pretty much every fighter gets at least some narrative time. Whilst I understand that we're most interested in the people we know, I do think they could have built up the tension of some of the other teams by showing them completely tearing down other fighters. After all, we already know that Goku and company have had a hard time against most of the Universe 6 and 9 fighters, so they should have been a really good group to have other people beat handily. Instead, they basically all attack the same people that already defeated them, which just feels like a bad strategy, even if Universe 7 is rated second-to-last on the power scale. Hit is the one exception here, and the best played of all of these plot threads.

Still, these are minor complaints. In reality, the way the various teams are introduced (and eliminated!) really helps sell the stakes of the tournament; gives us lots of scope for some incredible character ideas and fight sequences; and paces out what could have been a very messy tangle of narrative threads expertly. No universe gets steamrolled, and as the tournament goes on, the various champions only grow stronger and more compelling. I love that each universe has a distinct "flavour", whether that be a simple aesthetic choice (the mechanoid universe or the furry universe, for instance) or a more philosophical one (the love universe, or the scheming universe), and that they really expand those individualistic notes to make them stand out, without making them two-dimensional or boring. Even the love universe has a few fighters with some very tricksy tactics and unexpected gimmicks, which is just great.

Also a big fan of how they build up ‒ and ultimately tear down ‒ Jiren. He's a formidable foe, well written and incredibly intriguing, but that the very aspect of his nature that has allowed him to practically achieve godhood is his ultimate downfall was a nice touch, once again showing how well this show (and its predecessors) can inject emotion and symbolic meaning into what could have merely been a lot of pretty light effects and machismo. Ditto that we get so many power-up moments, and not just from the core heroes. Caulifla and Kale's (Kefla) whole arc is fantastic; the merged mechanoid monster is both a brilliant homage to Power Rangers-style enemies and a great twist; Android 18 and 17 both have solid moments; Vegeta's whole sparkly, Blue-level-two thing (not a huge fan of the animation choice; a rare misstep, imo looks a lot like a Sailor Moon transformation, which feels wrong for Vegeta specifically); and of course Goku's continued progress on his Ultra Instinct technique, all great. And with each great power-up comes an equally great defeat, from Roshi's near-death experience, to Android 17 almost blowing himself up, Vegeta's (and Gohan's, and 18's) sacrifice(s) and final aid, there's not a bad moment in there. And huge props for keeping 17 around until the very end and having him win! I was a little surprised (pleasantly so, though) that they reintroduced him for this saga, but he was a brilliant character and an excellent addition to match up against Frieza and Goku at the very end. 

Though I do wish that they'd at least explained away why he couldn't simply keep re-energising the other fighters; they make a big deal out of the fact that that Android siblings have infinite energy, and we're shown multiple moments when fighters transfer energy between two or more people to help them heal and get back in the fight, so couldn't 17 and 18 have effectively acted as batteries? When Roshi goes down, for instance, a little bit more juice would have kept his Evil Entrapment technique in play. They also play a little fast and loose with the rules, which is fine ‒ Zeno is hardly a stickler ‒ but that only highlights when they ignore the rules, like when Agnilasa attempts to eat 18 and the whole thou shall not kill thing isn't even mentioned, or that Top's ascension to Destroyer status doesn't disqualify him, yet Beerus and the other Destroyers weren't allowed to enter themselves into the tournament. Or how they all seem able to fly at various points. Or that the time stick just stops ‒ like I know Dragon Ball operates on non-linear time scales, but that final battle drags on for way longer than the three minutes, even by DB standards, yet not only does the clock stop running down, but somehow everyone forgets that they can just let it run out and the Universe 7 team would just win 🤷‍♀️

But none of that really matters because the whole damn thing is just so entertaining. Is the ending the obvious strategy that all of the universes should have just gone into the tournament have agreed upon already? Yeah, but that would have been boring. Do they have multiple moments earlier on where someone like Top or Rhibrianne are knocked out and their enemy just leaves them there rather than trying to throw off the arena? Yeah, but then the final showdowns wouldn't have been as fun. Why do either of the invisible fighter or tiny fighter from the third universe ever show themselves to exist when they could just skate by unnoticed? (And why do they not have photos on the GodPads until after they're revealed to the audience?) Sure, but who cares, those fights were fun, quick wins, and interesting ideas. What matters is that Goku gets to have some really epic moments (everyone does!) and prove that he isn't a superhero, but just a guy that knows when to step up and be counted. That Frieza gets to play the whole game as a villain, but in the end even he ends up fighting by Goku's side, and even calling him "Saiyan" in the final moments, rather than "monkey" or "ape" or "fool". That we get to see throwback after throwback after throwback and none of them feel forced, but rather just show how elevated the stakes are. It's brilliant, I loved it, quite possibly the best Dragon Ball arc ever; definitely top three!