Dragon Ball Super: Beerus episode 4: is it worth watching?

Dragon Ball Super: Beerus episode 4 is a disappointment you can skip. There's nothing great in it except the reanimated Super Saiyan God sequence, which looks stunning. The episode also kicks off the hierarchy of god forms that changed Dragon Ball forever, so I'll cover where Super Saiyan God came from as well.

The episode pulls together material from the 2015 Dragon Ball Super anime and the 2013 film Battle of Gods.

The Beerus and Oolong rock, paper, scissors scene is unnecessary filler

As I said in my review, the first half of this episode is a back and forth game of rock, paper, scissors between Oolong and Beerus. That scene first appeared in the extended director's cut of Battle of Gods, released in 2014. I suspect some people didn't know Battle of Gods had two versions. The director's cut restored a lot of material that didn't fit in the theatrical cut, including this game.

The 2015 Dragon Ball Super anime then turned it into almost a full episode. Episode 8 of that series was all rock, paper, scissors. I know it was Toriyama's joke, and I respect his writing and his wish to include it, which is why it came back in the 2015 version. But spending half an entire episode on it was unnecessary. The original scene was a quick gag before the story moved on. Giving it a whole episode, or even half of one, is a waste of time.

The pacing of Dragon Ball Super: Beerus has been inconsistent. The first two weeks felt very fast. The last episode or two are still fast, don't get me wrong, but with a lot of unnecessary additions. I've seen some people complain that too much was cut. My answer is no: they could have cut more, because the film didn't have this much filler in the middle. The original 2015 Dragon Ball Super is still available, and it has been around for more than 10 years, so that option is always there if you don't want the Beerus version.

For this series, though, I think the game was completely unnecessary. It returns us to exactly where we were before, with Beerus about to blow up the planet and Goku showing up.

Goku's arrival is fixed compared with Dragon Ball Super

Goku's arrival has been completely fixed compared with the 2015 Dragon Ball Super version. That earlier version was bad, and I never want to hear that music again.

This time there's no cheesy music or anything like it. It's polished, well drawn and wonderfully reanimated. It looks amazing and has a fully serious tone. There's none of that business with Goku sliding around. He's simply there, ready to defend the planet against Beerus, which is how it should have been from the start.

I should also mention two extra scenes with the Pilaf gang that neither add to nor take away from the story. Much as I love the Pilaf gang, they weren't needed.

Bulma's age joke and Beerus' hint at the Super Dragon Balls

At one point Goku asks Bulma how old she is, and since it's her birthday party, she yells at him. I think this is meant as an inside joke about Bulma's age. In Battle of Gods, Bulma says she is 38 and celebrating her 38th birthday. That doesn't fit her age in the original series. She was born in the year 733 and the film takes place in 778, so she should be 45. The joke is that she lies about her age. It has run since the original film, and they are still making it in this new Beerus version.

Goku asks for more time, which he uses to summon the dragon and ask about Super Saiyan God. This time Beerus says that if they don't deliver, the whole solar system will be destroyed, not just Earth.

There's a small hint when Beerus remarks that he thought the Dragon Balls were a bit bigger. He's referring to the Super Dragon Balls shared by Universe 6 and Universe 7. Universe 6 is Universe 7's twin and falls under the authority of his brother Champa, whom we'll see later in the show.

The dragon summoning gets new effects and a redesign

The summoning of the dragon includes some new effects shots, such as lightning. I think it's a noticeable improvement over what we had before. Still, I don't think it lives up to some of the summonings in the old Dragon Ball Z episodes and films. Those remain the best in my opinion.

Toei brought in a group of new artists to redo two scenes here, the two big final scenes of the episode: the dragon summoning and the Super Saiyan God transformation. As I noted in my review, in previous Dragon Ball releases the dragon's mouth movements matched what it was saying. In this version they seem to have gone for a telepathic approach, with the dragon appearing to speak to Beerus telepathically.

The idea is the same as in the original Super. The Namekian book of legends tells of five pure hearted Saiyans joining together so a sixth can become a Super Saiyan God. That hasn't changed. The Namekian book of legends isn't in Battle of Gods, but almost everything else is the same as in the 2015 Dragon Ball Super. The dragon also appears to have been redesigned, and frankly, I still slightly prefer the original.

The staff list for this series, courtesy of DBS Chronicles, includes a lot of new blood from the Dragon Ball Daima team.

A Vegeta flashback returns, but the Super Saiyan God legend loses its visuals

There's a joke that Vegeta doesn't really have a pure heart, which leads to a quick flashback to a scene we never saw in Dragon Ball Super: Beerus. It comes from episode 2 of the 2015 Dragon Ball Super, when Vegeta took his family on vacation. None of that appeared in the Beerus version, but it's good to see those shots again here, even as still images.

When the dragon talks about Super Saiyan God, we get no visual aids like in the original film. There you see a Saiyan who appears to be Yamoshi, only as a silhouette, even though Toriyama hadn't created the character of Yamoshi at that point. In this version it's just the dragon talking. It's done in a dry, dull and uncreative way, when they could have shown so much visually. In my opinion, that was a completely wrong move.

How episode 4 remixes Dragon Ball Super episodes 2 and 8 through 10

Dragon Ball Super: Beerus episode 4 borrows elements from episode 2 and episodes 8 through 10 of Dragon Ball Super. The transformation ends with Goku in the sky, which is where episode 10 of Dragon Ball Super begins, with Beerus flying up to meet him. Some shots were taken from that episode to close out the transformation here. The vast majority came from episodes 8 and 9, with no material taken from the manga.

In this version of the ritual, the characters look more accurately drawn and designed than in 2015. If you look at them, they look exactly the way they should. I enjoyed all the natural disaster elements accompanying the transformation, which show how powerful it is. There are some new shots too that look very good, especially Goku turning Super Saiyan. That isn't the correct ritual, though, because they need one more Saiyan, which leads to Videl joining.

Whis corrects them: they aren't just giving their energy, they're putting their soul and determination into it. That ultimately brings Videl in. She reveals she is pregnant with Gohan's child, a girl who will later be known as Pan, and that allows the correct ritual to form Super Saiyan God.

The reanimated Super Saiyan God transformation is the highlight

This version has a beautiful set of effects: glow effects, golden effects and music. It's executed with real skill and is much better than the 2015 version. Everyone is drawn precisely, everything looks clean and clear, and it has a truly regal feel. In my opinion it's also slightly longer than the Battle of Gods film version.

The Dragon Ball Super version had music that was maybe better, or at least sounded more epic, and this version keeps that epic feeling. Seeing the golden clouds gather made the transformation look amazing in every sense. It has never looked this beautiful before. Look at the 2015 Dragon Ball Super shot and see how awful Vegeta looks there. It's amazing that actually aired, but the production problems on Dragon Ball Super have been discussed a lot. You can see them right in front of you.

This is what can happen when you have a talented crew working hard and wanting to make something special, and I think they made something special here. This is one of the greatest transformations ever, visually, in Dragon Ball, especially in selling how epic this godly power is and how far beyond anything we'd seen before it is, with the smoke rising off Goku. It's simply very beautiful.

The Battle of Gods scene where Gohan learns Videl is pregnant is one of the most touching and realistic scenes in the whole series. It's amazing and moving, and it was so satisfying for Dragon Ball fans who waited all those years to finally see that moment. That version will never be beaten.

Where Super Saiyan God came from before Akira Toriyama redesigned it

Super Saiyan God wasn't originally created by Akira Toriyama. It was first conceived for the film in 2012, when Toei was going to produce it without Toriyama's involvement. The original design was supposed to resemble Super Saiyan 4 hair with a cape. When Toriyama came on to help with the script and change the designs, he created the hair and the slim armed look that became Super Saiyan God.

Over the years, the form went from somewhat disliked to very well liked, especially when we hadn't seen it for a while. The Dragon Ball Super manga also gave it a touch the anime didn't, in terms of how useful it is in certain combat situations. Toriyama later revealed a backstory for Super Saiyan God involving Yamoshi in a 2017 interview, and there are many mistakes and misconceptions about the story he told there.

Verdict: skip Dragon Ball Super: Beerus episode 4 unless you want the transformation

Dragon Ball Super: Beerus episode 4 is a disappointment you can skip. Nothing in it is really great except the reanimated Super Saiyan God scene. You can check it out if you want, but you don't have to, because at the end of the day it simply looks great. Beyond that, you won't get anything I think is worth the trouble.

Hopefully the fight between Goku and Beerus in episode 5 turns things around into something great we can all enjoy.