Dragon Ball Super Beerus ep 3: is Vegeta's purple aura Ultra Ego?

Dragon Ball Super Beerus episode 3 has some fans convinced that a new effect on Vegeta's aura foreshadows Ultra Ego, his God of Destruction form. It doesn't. That purple glow is an effect, not a tease. Overall, I think this is probably the weakest of the Dragon Ball Super Beerus episodes so far, even though I liked the faster pacing and the new Vegeta versus Beerus fight.

Dragon Ball Super Beerus is the enhanced, recut edition of Dragon Ball Super. Its third episode cuts, rearranges and polishes the story as the series closes in on Super Saiyan God.

New animators are joining Dragon Ball Super Beerus ahead of the Moro arc

The previous episode had everyone talking about its reanimated Super Saiyan 3 Goku versus Beerus scene. Many of the animators behind that work are new to Dragon Ball. A lot of them made their debuts in Dragon Ball Daima. They're now working on the Moro arc under Naohiro Shintani, the lead animator and character designer for Dragon Ball Super: Broly and one of the most respected names in the industry.

I'm excited to see new blood on the staff helping to enhance the series, and I can't wait to see how the Moro arc looks in 2027. The episode 3 staff list mixes names from Daima with names from the distant past, including an animator who worked on Dragon Ball Z. They didn't have much to do in this one, but it's good to see different talent being mixed in.

No Super Saiyan 4 line, and Bulma's party moves to a cruise ship

Some people hoped a Goku scene here would add a line about him not accessing Super Saiyan 4, as a way to bridge Daima and Super. I didn't expect that. It isn't as simple as a canon question; there's more to it involving Toriyama's death. This is one of only about two scenes with Goku in the episode, because most of it takes place on Earth aboard a giant cruise ship for Bulma's birthday party.

In the Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods film, Akira Toriyama and Yusuke Watanabe held the party at Capsule Corporation. In Watanabe's original script, written before Toriyama joined, the event was going to be the wedding of 18 and Krillin. Krillin had already more or less confirmed he was married to 18 earlier in the Z era, so it was changed when Toriyama came in.

I'm not sure where the cruise liner idea came from. I think it was done for a change of scenery, since we rarely see Dragon Ball fights over water. They're almost always in a mountain range or a desert. I commend them for that. But this is supposed to be closer to Toriyama's vision, and I'm skeptical of that claim.

A darker Beerus meets Vegeta much sooner

They sped through a lot here. In the original version, the build up to Beerus reaching Earth took much longer. Now Vegeta has already been contacted by Kaio, also known as King Kai, knows what happened to Goku, and the episode races to his meeting with Beerus.

I like how they played with shading and contrast to make Beerus seem more threatening. That's one of the big intentions of this recut. We know he later becomes a trainer for Goku and Vegeta, and arguably a friend, but it's cool to see how dark this version is. Several shots have been darkened from the original, and I think they're much more appealing visually. That said, this episode has more moments that lighten the mood than the previous ones.

As in the original Dragon Ball Super and Battle of Gods, Vegeta flashes back to decades earlier, when Beerus was slapping around his father, King Vegeta. Kid Vegeta has multiple designs. One appeared in the Dragon Ball Z anime and wasn't originally drawn by Toriyama; Toriyama later drew his own. When it comes to canon, the Japanese side, especially those working on this show, don't care that much. That's why there are five versions of Battle of Gods, which I think is too much. I think either Kid Vegeta design works, and I expected them to preserve this one.

Super Saiyan God, and the cast introductions become a montage

Beerus asks about Super Saiyan God and Prince Vegeta has no idea what he means, in line with earlier versions. Toriyama revealed in 2017 that Super Saiyan God traces back to an ancient Saiyan named Yamoshi, in a story lost through time.

In the original Dragon Ball Super, Beerus took time introducing himself to the main cast. This version chops a lot of that into a montage, which I felt was perfectly fine. Some people say it only works if you know the original Battle of Gods story. I don't think that's a big leap. I'm probably going to stick with the movie version, but I think future generations will put two and two together.

Cutting Vegeta's Bingo dance from Battle of Gods breaks the Toriyama promise

A scene was completely omitted where Vegeta, afraid Beerus will get angry and destroy everything, puts on a chef's apron and makes takoyaki for him. I enjoyed it in the original Dragon Ball Super. It wasn't in the 2013 film either. There, Vegeta does his humiliating Bingo dance, which I thought was classic and showed what Vegeta would do to save everyone. Both are now gone.

I'm not that mad they were cut. But they promised this would be closer to Toriyama's vision, and the Bingo scene was in the original Battle of Gods script. Leaving it out is them not holding to their word. I feel they could have spliced in the movie version without any problem. Instead, they seem to be borrowing assets only from the 2015 Dragon Ball Super, not the earlier movies.

A Pilaf Gang scene returns as the story is restructured

I noted before that all the Pilaf Gang material from Dragon Ball Super episode 4 had been cut. Some of it is now back: the Pilaf Gang making it onto the ship and meeting Goten and Trunks. Episode 5 was already adapted into Beerus episode 2, so this pulls in something from an even older episode.

That's an example of what I've been saying for weeks: Dragon Ball Super Beerus is a restructured narrative. Scenes will appear in a different order and material will be shuffled between episodes for a more concise story, and you'll see more of it as the series goes on. It's not a big deal, but it shows how they're trying to make this flow better.

Other cuts from the 2015 version include Vegeta trying to calm Beerus down, Gohan's entire confrontation with Beerus as Ultimate Gohan, Dende panicking over the God of Destruction, Goku training after losing to Beerus, and many scenes of the Pilaf Gang, Goten and Trunks playing on the cruise liner. I don't hate any of it, but it slows the pacing. I think they had to keep the Pilaf Gang boarding the ship, or their background appearances in later episodes wouldn't make sense.

Majin Buu and Yamcha voice changes

Majin Buu's voice actor, Kozo Shioya, passed away on January 20 this year. All his Buu lines in this episode come from the original 2015 Dragon Ball Super. A new actor has taken over the role, and you'll hear him when the Moro arc arrives.

More unusual, Yamcha's original voice actor, Toru Furuya, has had his lines taken out of this show, which is surprising. The new Yamcha voice actor re-recorded the lines from the 2015 version.

Why Beerus elbows Bulma instead of slapping her

The Vegeta versus Beerus fight got a lot of touch-ups. Gohan and Majin Buu charge in and are both knocked away, and it's all polished well. The shot of Vegeta going Super Saiyan is beautiful. Then, mirroring the King Vegeta flashback, Beerus brings Prince Vegeta to his knees.

The original "my Bulma" moment was something fans had wanted for years: Vegeta showing his love for Bulma when she's disrespected or attacked. Vegeta does love Bulma. Anyone claiming Vegeta regressed in Dragon Ball Super shouldn't be trusted for Dragon Ball analysis, because there's so much evidence of how he changed from the Dragon Ball Z version.

In the original, Beerus slapped Bulma and Vegeta went nuts. The 2015 version was similar but more drawn out. Here, Beerus kind of elbows her instead, and it doesn't seem as impactful. I have no idea why. Maybe it was an executive decision to avoid showing a woman being slapped, or maybe it was creative. But in the Toriyama and Watanabe script for Battle of Gods, Beerus did slap Bulma.

Vegeta's purple aura is not Ultra Ego foreshadowing

Vegeta's rage now has new effects, his power flowing as if transcending the physical realm. It looks cool. While reviewing the episode, I predicted people would call it Ultra Ego, and some did. I'm not picking on them; a lot of them are friends of mine.

Ultra Ego is Vegeta's God of Destruction transformation, unlocked by training with Beerus during the Granolah arc, which comes after the Moro arc in the manga. This isn't it. Vegeta has had a purple aura since Dragon Ball Z, when he fought Goku with the Galick Gun, the same move he uses on Beerus here. He hasn't trained with Beerus or Whis yet and doesn't even know what God ki is. Hakai energy looks different, too. Sharing the color purple doesn't make it foreshadowing. "It's just an effect."

We'll see Ultra Ego animated sooner than you think, but not here. A rage boosted Super Saiyan 2 would make more sense, though there isn't enough evidence for that. Without question, though, it's a rage boost: Vegeta is furious about his wife, but he's no match for Beerus.

Did Vegeta surpass Goku here?

In Battle of Gods, Master Roshi says Vegeta in Super Saiyan 2 surpassed Goku, which was a big deal at the time. That line is gone. Instead, Beerus says Vegeta was more fun than the Saiyan on North Kai's planet. Maybe you could read that as Beerus implying Vegeta surpassed Goku, as in the movie. I don't know. A fight being more fun doesn't necessarily mean the fighter is more powerful.

Oolong's cliffhanger and my verdict on episode 3

Beerus prepares to destroy the planet, remembers the good food, and decides to give Earth one more chance, which rests on Oolong in a game of rock, paper, scissors. That's the cliffhanger. The Oolong material wasn't in the theatrical cut of Battle of Gods but was in the director's cut, which Toriyama and Watanabe both worked on. I think keeping it makes sense for a version closer to Toriyama's vision, but it doesn't explain cutting the Bingo dance, which was also Toriyama's.

It seems the crew at Toei are picking and choosing. If you want the true Toriyama Battle of Gods, it's the movie he wrote on. The 2015 anime was Toei reworking the movie assets and adding material, and this is a chopped down version of that. The episode borrows from Super episodes 4 and 6 through 8, with nothing really from the manga that would be considered exclusive content. I wish they'd included the manga's Champa tease. I think they could have done a lot better, and this one was a little disappointing. The pacing and the new Vegeta and Beerus fight are great, but it still doesn't touch the movie.