It’s a no-brainer that if you are a “Dragon Ball” fan that “Dragon Ball Super” is a must-watch series. And for all its worth, this series created for the past and present fanbase and a new generation of “Dragon Ball” fans, will no doubt love the humor and the action of “Dragon Ball Super”. I definitely recommend this anime series!
Image courtesy of © Bird Studio/Shuiesha/Toei Animation. All Rights Reserved.
TITLE: Dragon Ball Super – Part 2
DURATION: (Episodes 14-26) 325 Minutes
BLU-RAY INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition (16×9), English Dolby TrueHD 5.1, Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0, Subtitles: English
COMPANY: Funimation
RATED: TV PG
Release Date: October 3, 2017
Originally created by Akira Toriyama
Directed by Kimitoshi Chioka
Script by Atsuhiro Tomioka
Produced by Kazuya Watanabe, Kohei Obara, Kyotaro Kimura, Makoto Seino
Character Design by Tadayoshi Yamamuro
Music by Norihito Sumitomo
Art Design by Shinzo Yuki
Anime Production: Toei Animation
Featuring the following voice talent:
Masako Nozawa/Colleen Clinkenbeard as Son Gohan
Masako Nozawa/Sean Schemmel as Son Goku
Hikaru Midorikawa/John Burgmeier as Tenshinhan (Tien)
Hiromi Tsuru/Monica Rial as Bulma
Masaharu Satou/Mike McFarland as Kame-sennin
Mayumi Tanaka/Sonny Strait as Krillin (Kuririn)
Naoki Tatsuta/Brad Jackson as Oolong
Naoko Watanabe/Cynthia Cranz as Chi-Chi
Ryo Horikawa/Christopher R. Sabat as Vegeta
Brina Palencia as Chiaotzu/Puar
Tohru Furuya/Christopher R. Sabat as Yamcha
Toshio Furukawa/Christopher R. Sabat as Piccolo
Ayano Hirano/Justin Cook as Dende
Eiji Hanawa as Jiren
Eiko Yamada/Carmen Smith as Mai
Kouichi Yamadera/Jason Douglas as BeerusÂ
Kozo Shioya as Majin Buu
Masakazu Morita/Ian Sinclair as Whis
Miki Itou as Cyborg #18
Mitsuo Iwata as Champa
Takeshi Kusao/Alexis Tipton as Trunks
After reaching an alliance with Beerus, the world is at peace once again. But one of the Z Fighters is feeling restless—namely, Vegeta! The Saiyan prince seeks a new way to become stronger and wants to do so under Whis’ guidance. When Goku finds out they’ve left to train, he’s just as eager to join in.
While two of the strongest fighters train in another world, trouble stirs for planet Earth. The remains of a powerful force have started to gather, seeking revenge for their fallen leader—the wicked overlord Frieza! When evil takes on a new form with the force of 1,000 troops, can Gohan and the remaining Z Fighters take him on? Or will Frieza’s vengeance finally see the light of day?
With the completion of the hugely popular anime series “Dragon Ball Z”, while a new story was created titled “Dragon Ball GT” (1996-1997) and not based on Akira Toriyama’s previous work, Toriyama would return to create an overall plot outline for a new series titled “Dragon Ball Super” produced by Toei Animation.
The series is considered as the true sequel to “Dragon Ball Z” and would take place four years after the DBZ storyline.
The series began airing in July 2015 and as of October 2017, a total of 113 episodes (five seasons) have aired. The first season is 14 episodes long (known as the “God of Destruction Beerus” Arc) and Funimation had released “Dragon Ball Super” Part 1 featuring episodes 1-13 on Bl-ray and DVD.
And now, part 2 (featuring episodes 14-26) which includes the season one finale and the majority of all episodes from season two (known as the Golden Frieza arc).
In season one of “Dragon Ball Super”, Son Goku had defeated Majin Buu and Beerus, the God of Destruction has awakened and wanting to battle a worthy opponent, he chooses Earth and if the hero loses, he will destroy the planet. Son Goku is chosen to defend Earth.
Son Goku has since learned to transfom with the help of the Saiyans and Videl to become Super Saiyan God Goku but is this power enough to fight the strongest opponent in the universe?
In season two, Vegeta undergoes training from Whis, Gohan and wife Videl welcome a new baby named Pan, Sorbet and Tagoma are searching for the Dragon Balls in order to resurrect their leader, Frieza.
And with Frieza resurrected, he plans for his revenge against Goku and Future Trunks and this time, to show him his transformation to Golden Frieza.
Here is a basic summary of “Dragon Ball Super – Part 2” (episodes 14-26) on the two Blu-ray discs:
Disc 1:
- EPISODE 14 – Â The conclusion of the battle between Son Goku vs. Beerus.
- EPISODE 15 Â – Aliens come to Earth and want their champion to fight against Mr. Satan.
- EPISODE 16 – Krillin wants to start training again and Whis trains Vegeta.
- EPISODE 17 Â – The birth of Pan
- EPISODE 18 – Goku and Whis arrive on Beerus planet to see how far Vegeta is with his training.
- EPISODE 19 – Sorbet and Tagoma look for the Dragon Balls to revive Frieza.
- EPISODE 20 – Frieza has been revived and wants revenge against Goku and Future Trunks.
- EPISODE 21Â Â – With Goku and Vegeta in Beerus’ planet, they are unaware that their friends and family are taking on Frieza’s soldiers.
- EPISODE 22 – The fight between Piccolo, Gohan, Gotenks vs. Frieza’s soldiers. Someone dies!
DISC 2:
- EPISODE 23 – Bulma is able to communicate to Whis of what is happening on Earth and Frieza’s resurrection and Goku and Vegeta try to get to Earth as soon as possible.
- EPISODE 24Â Â – Goku vs. Frieza
- EPISODE 25 – Frieza shows his transformation, Golden Frieza
- EPISODE 26 – The fight between Frieza and Goku continues!
VIDEO:
“Dragon Ball Super” is created in 1080p High Definition (16×9 HD Native). The episodes are colorful and absolutely vibrant. Great detail with character designs and wonderful animation for fight scenes. I saw no major softness, banding issues or artifacts during my viewing of the series.
AUDIO & SUBTITLES:
“Dragon Ball Super” features a wonderful soundtrack on Blu-ray. The series is presented in Dolby TrueHD 5.1 (English) and Dolby TrueHD 2.0 (Japanese). Featuring the return of the original Dragon Ball Japanese and also English voice dub talent, the quality of the series voice acting continues with this newer series.
Because the English is mixed and utilizes more channels, there is a dramatic difference in sound, although for those with a modern receiver and have a solid 5.1 or 7.2 setup, can easily switch their receiver to stereo on all channels for the Japanese soundtrack for a more immersive soundscape.
There are online stores showing that the Japanese is Dolby Digital 2.0 but this is incorrect, it is indeed a lossless Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0 soundtrack. And both soundtracks sound great!
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“Dragon Ball Super – Part 2” comes with the following special features:
- Watching Dragon Ball Super with Jason Douglas and Ian Sinclair – (12:02) Jason Douglas (voice of Beerus) and Ian Sinclair (voice of Whis) and hanging out at Brina Palencia’s apartment to watch “Dragon Ball Super”.
- Textless Opening Song
- Textless Closing Song
- Trailers – Trailers for upcoming or currently available titles from FUNimation.
EXTRAS:
“Dragon Ball Super” Part 2 comes with the Blu-ray and DVD of episodes 14-26.
I grew up watching “Dragon Ball” and “Dragon Ball Z” (as well as “Dragon Ball GT”) and at the time, I was a college student watching these episodes in straight Japanese until over a decade later, they were released on DVD and eventually on Blu-ray courtesy of Funimation.
I played the Japanese video games and always purchased the Japanese animation magazines every month back when Tower Records existed in the US.
So growing up with the anime series and now as an adult with a teenage child who watches “Dragon Ball”, it’s a bit of a surreal feeling that the storyline of Goku and friends are continuing for a new generation of anime fans but also entertaining both young and old.
A series taking place not long after Goku defeated Majin Buu, I liked how the new anime series are now more condensed in storyline arcs. Where battles would last for months (many, many episodes long), I liked how there were only 14 seasons in season one and completed the fight between Goku vs. Beerus and I think any fan couldn’t help but be happy to see Goku’s powers evolve.
And with this part 2, we get the conclusion of season one. But here we are with season two and with this storyline, we get a lot of humor as Chi-Chi is adamant of Goku not fighting, an alien race coming to Earth to challenge Mr. Satan and also Krillin and Gohan getting an itch to wanting to fight and get in battle again. And as the storyline of Goku and Vegeta wanting to get stronger are part of these main episodes, the surprise is Frieza’s soldiers finding the Dragon Balls to bring his body back and Frieza then showing everyone his latest transformation to Golden Frieza.
And it’s no surprise to me, as I remember when the Frieza arc was taking place for “Dragon Ball Z”, his character was among the most popular in Japanese polls at the time and it was no surprise that we see the character back again and proving to be deadly (as another character dies) and difficult to take down.
While nearly all episodes of season two are featured (the conclusion is episode 27, which will be in part 3), this is no doubt a fun and action-packed collection of episodes and I’m glad that Funimation is releasing these regularly and hopefully we’ll get caught up with the Japanese releases (unlike “One Piece” which Funimation is still hundreds of episodes behind).
I love the fact that Toei Animation was consistent in bringing the original voice talent back and Funimation following the same practice with their English dub voice actors. Both soundtracks are well-acted and on Blu-ray, the anime series is vibrant and colorful in HD while the lossless soundtrack features crystal clear dialogue and sound effects (much better on the English soundtrack thanks to the 5.1 lossless soundtrack).
I also love how Funimation is coming up with newer kind of special features showcasing their English dub actors. In this case, it’s interesting to see a video featurette with Ian Sinclair, Jason Douglas and his three children to watch “Dragon Ball Super” at Brina Palencia’s apartment. That was something new and different but major props as this idea was very cool and hope to see more like it from Funimation!
Overall, it’s a no-brainer that if you are a “Dragon Ball” fan that “Dragon Ball Super” is a must-watch series. And for all its worth, this series created for the past and present fanbase and a new generation of “Dragon Ball” fans, will no doubt love the humor and the action of “Dragon Ball Super”. I definitely recommend this anime series!
