Big Bang Mission episode 1: is a Goku vs Beerus rematch coming?

The first episode of Super Dragon Ball Heroes: Big Bang Mission, the new arc of the Super Dragon Ball Heroes promotional anime, opened a fresh chapter with all 12 Gods of Destruction and the setup for a Goku and Beerus rematch. My verdict is that it was a fun and interesting start. I'm still wary, though, because Dragon Ball Heroes has a habit of ruining its own best ideas.

Before I started, I noticed the episode ran under 10 minutes. I wondered whether it would improve on the earlier Dragon Ball Heroes promotional anime, or at least be enjoyable.

Big Bang Mission opens with Goku, Vegeta and the Time Patrol

Everything here feels new. There's a new opening song and new animation. It shows Goku and Vegeta from the Dragon Ball Super timeline, and also Xeno Goku and Xeno Vegeta from the Time Patrol. This is an alternate version of the Super timeline, and Moro doesn't seem to exist here. Not yet, anyway. I'm sure he'll show up at some point.

Newer fans need a reminder. Dragon Ball Heroes is its own world. It has its own continuity, where almost everything counts as canon and the timelines are infinite. That's why you get every kind of variation on the characters.

The episode's title is about the Gods of Destruction attacking, with a new battle beginning. Why didn't we get this in Dragon Ball Super? Why does Heroes get all these great potential stories and ideas? That alone made me smile, even though I'm worried about where things will go, because it's Heroes.

Chronoa sends Xeno Trunks and Xeno Pan after the missing bird Tokitoki

The episode drops you straight into the plot. It wastes no time because it has none to waste at roughly 10 minutes or less. Chronoa, the Supreme Kai of Time, says that Tokitoki, the bird that can hatch universes, has gone missing. Xeno Trunks and Xeno Pan of the Time Patrol set out to find it. If it falls into the wrong hands, a real disaster could follow.

If you've played Xenoverse 2, you'll be somewhat familiar with these concepts. If you haven't studied the history of Heroes, some of them may be confusing.

Goku's classic orange gi and a confused Capsule Corp gathering

It turns out Tokitoki is in Goku's hands. I love that Goku now wears his orange gi with black underneath. That's classic, like Goku at the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament. I like that look on him, and it's been decades since we saw Goku wear it. There's a comedy moment where the bird bites Goku on the nose, so things start out light and playful.

Nobody has any idea what the bird is. They're at Capsule Corp with Krillin and Piccolo. Gohan is there in his Ultimate Gohan outfit and hairstyle, which makes me happy. Android 17 is there too. Since 17 is a forest ranger, you'd think he would know all kinds of creatures and animals. Goku points out that even he knows nothing about this bird.

Xeno Trunks, purple hair and the Gohan and Pan moment that never came

Then Xeno Trunks and Xeno Pan appear in the present timeline. Goku recognizes Trunks, so Vegeta explains that this isn't the Trunks we know. He's from a different dimension, which is how Dragon Ball Heroes works. Trunks says he's from the Time Patrol. You'll notice this Trunks doesn't have blue hair. He has the original purple hair from Dragon Ball Z. That's how they distinguish the regular Future Trunks of Super from this one. The whole thing is a big mess, so try to keep up.

What interests me is that Gohan is there. He looks like Ultimate Gohan, and he's the Gohan of Dragon Ball Super. Then you have Pan, his daughter, but not the Pan of the main timeline. I was hoping for more interaction between them. Gohan could have asked who she was while she gave him that look, because she knows he's her father. We didn't get that.

That's the problem with short, rushed episodes again. These moments have huge potential, but we don't see them because everything has to move so fast.

All 12 Gods of Destruction arrive, and Tokitoki cancels Beerus's hakai

Then we get another catastrophic situation: all 12 Gods of Destruction show up. Beerus, Champa and the rest from the 12 universes. Their entrance is awesome. The scary music plays as they all appear and Beerus steps forward. My reaction was that this was a great opportunity for a great story, followed by the worry that they're going to ruin it.

Beerus extends his hand, and I thought someone was about to die. Then Tokitoki flaps its wings and dispels the hakai. It's gone. How powerful must this bird be to cancel a hakai? We've never seen that before.

My theory: Beerus may have the wrong strange bird

Beerus explains to Goku that, according to his prediction, a strange bird will appear and destroy Universe 7. It sounds more like something the fish character who makes prophecies would predict than Beerus. Keep in mind that he said a strange bird. I suspect it isn't the bird Goku is holding and that he only thinks it is. Maybe there's another bird. If I remember the original poster for this arc correctly, I think another bird is on it.

It could be that the Gods of Destruction are confused and think Tokitoki is the bird that will destroy the universes, when it's actually a different one. That's only my guess. The episode doesn't say it.

Trunks also tells them they're wrong, because this bird has saved different dimensions. That clearly refers to the other Heroes stories, like the ones where they fight the Demon Realm. Tokitoki is very important there. So Trunks tells Beerus he seems to have the wrong bird. It can't be this one.

Quitela loses patience and Beerus takes charge of Universe 7

Quitela, the talkative mouse from Universe 4, gets very annoyed. He feels the people of Earth don't respect the Gods of Destruction. That leads to a scary, awesome scene where all 12 Gods of Destruction charge up their hakai energy. Beating even one of them is a big problem. Beating 12 could be a real problem. That's the potential here.

Beerus tells them all to power down because this is Universe 7 and it's his responsibility. That's interesting to me, because it feels a bit out of character. Beerus has always been lazy and doesn't care much. He just doesn't want to deal with this kind of thing. In this case, I think he cares because the universe is on the line. I was still surprised he stepped in like that and said he'd handle it, and that's cool.

Goku and Vegeta go Blue for the Goku vs Beerus rematch

Everyone wants to fight, including Gohan and Trunks. Goku and Vegeta transform into Super Saiyan Blue. Goku even says the last time they fought was the first time they met, and sparring matches don't count. So the episode tells us this is the rematch between Goku and Beerus. That's unfortunate, because I wanted it to happen in Dragon Ball Super first. What can you do?

Goku charges up and moves in to hit Beerus with his right hand, then the scene fades out. We don't get the fight in this episode. What a cliffhanger.

Fu, a sinister tree and a second, creepier bird

There's a bonus scene at the end showing the mastermind behind everything, presumably Fu. He says something about beginning now, or comments on starting a new experiment. They also show a frightening tree. It has a scary pulse with quasars around it. It's creepy, but it looks great. I loved the art style and the design.

Then they show the other bird, maybe the one Beerus saw in his vision. This bird is scary. Its eyes contain what look like squares or crosses. It's a strange looking creature and probably not a good one. Fu talks about it as the bird you're looking for. That probably means it's the bird Beerus is looking for. I have no idea what's going on here, and I mean that in a positive way.

My verdict: an interesting start, but I don't trust Dragon Ball Heroes yet

I have to be honest. This series' story is interesting, and I'm interested. At the same time, I feel like a torture victim, because every time Dragon Ball Heroes offers something interesting, it ends up ruining it. Because of that, I'm very cautious about getting excited. I probably won't get too excited, because I want to wait and see the quality of the episodes. The previous Dragon Ball Heroes anime weren't very good.

Still, the ideas and concepts appeal to me, like everything about Dragon Ball Heroes and its history. I love branching stories, so I'm excited about that side of it. I just think the execution will end up being a disaster.

So far, though, this episode is an interesting start for Super Dragon Ball Heroes: Big Bang Mission. I'll keep following it and hope it turns out good, or at least decent and watchable. This episode was fun, and so far things are good. Let's see where it goes, because I don't trust them.