Dragon Ball Heroes episode 13 review: Planet Vegeta returns

I'll say this up front: this was a good episode. For Dragon Ball Heroes, Big Bang Mission episode 13 was one of the better ones. It's amazing how much aesthetics and the look of an anime can lift its quality and feel. The story picks up with Goku in the copy universe, confronted by Frieza and Cooler, with Hearts there too. By the end, something fans have wanted for decades happens: Planet Vegeta is back.

Episode 13's animation moved past the usual Heroes plastic look

Compared to Z and the original Dragon Ball, it isn't that good. It's one of the shorter episodes. They all run around 8, 9 or 10 minutes, and this one felt shorter still. But for Heroes, it was good because of the production.

The animation took a step up from the usual plastic, digitized, flaky look, and it felt smooth. There were transitions here. There were moments of animation and art that felt extremely smooth, and I can appreciate that. If I'm not going to get a compelling story, give me that.

The fan service is also turned up in this episode. A lot happens, including the moment at the end.

Goku and Hearts fight golden Frieza and Cooler, who carry dark Dragon Balls

Goku and Hearts are fighting Cooler and Frieza in their golden forms, with the dark Dragon Balls in their chests. As I covered in my last Heroes review, the dark Dragon Balls are not the Black Dragon Balls.

That lore comes from the Japanese game. Most of us haven't played it, so it's easy to lose track of what's going on. Remember, the Dragon Ball Heroes anime is for the Japanese audience, not for us, because we don't have the games. If we did, it would all make more sense.

The animation in this fight is great. There's even a split screen shot of Goku and Hearts fighting Cooler and Frieza.

Broly from Dragon Ball Z interrupts, and he isn't in the manga version

Then the fight is interrupted by Broly from Dragon Ball Z, who isn't in the manga version of these events. Thanks to DBS Chronicles for that information. Broly smashes everyone, all four of them, because he's got his own agenda, which is to smash.

Don't try to make sense of it. The Broly in Heroes isn't the Broly from the Z movies. Obviously he is the one from the Z movies, but he's from an altered timeline, and he can do things the other Broly can't. Power scaling in Heroes never made any sense, so this version has obviously been scaled up. He could also probably do that limit breaker SS4 form. Trying to make logical sense of the scaling in this show is a waste of time.

The animation here was phenomenal: the colors, the line art. It looked good. If you only see one episode of Heroes, make it this one for the animation. Anyone who appreciates good art will appreciate it.

A caped warrior who may be voiced by Nozawa steals the dark Dragon Balls

Masked Goku Black is there, of course, observing everything. Nozawa's performance is superb. That whole thing is back and it's lovely. I'm glad she gets to be Goku Black again outside of video games.

Then a mysterious caped warrior appears and takes the dark Dragon Balls right out of Frieza and Cooler's chests. From what we understand, we don't know who he is yet. But it's somebody Nozawa voices, because in the game, when he gets hit, Nozawa does the sound effects. So it could be anybody from Future Gohan to another timeline Goku.

I know the objection: Future Gohan is dead and has one arm. It could be a Future Gohan from a different timeline, because Heroes borrows from everything. It could be another version of Gohan or Goten, or another Goku. It could be anybody. Goku was down there and didn't recognize this warrior's energy. So either the warrior is suppressing his energy or Goku doesn't know who he is. That's something to think about.

Frieza attacks the cloaked warrior and deals no damage. Again, fantastic stuff for a Heroes episode. I love the way they did their shots. It was very dynamic and felt like Dragon Ball, like the good stuff. Broly and the cloaked warrior have a confrontation, then vanish to fight somewhere else.

Hearts asking Goku Black about Fu raises a logic hole

Goku Black then shows up on the battlefield and confronts Hearts and Goku. He tells them everything is fine as long as they keep fighting. Hearts asks if he's in alignment with Fu, and that's weird. It's almost like Hearts doesn't know who Goku Black is.

Hearts has to know who Zamasu is based on the previous arc. The two of them have history. Did Zamasu never tell him about the Goku Black thing? Is there no Goku Black in that version? You can point out the logic holes like I am, but don't try to figure it out. This isn't Dragon Ball Super or Z. It's its own universe.

The Dragon Balls become a focal point in Heroes again

Hearts gives Goku a Senzu, which he learned about by reading Goku's mind. That's a useful tactic. He also has the four star Dragon Ball. He tells them the Dragon Balls work in the copy universe the same way they work in the regular universe. That holds even though the regular universe hasn't fully blended with the copy universe yet.

As I discussed in my last episode review, the copy universe will slowly consume the time space of the main universe, which is bad. That means they have a limited amount of time. The copy universe's rules still work, including Senzu beans and Dragon Balls.

The Dragon Balls haven't been a focal point of the Heroes anime whatsoever. So I like that they're being brought in, hopefully as a MacGuffin or something important. This show is Dragon Ball, and I miss the Dragon Balls being part of the story. They've always been used to accomplish things, but hunting for them has been put on the back burner. I do wish we had an arc about hunting for Dragon Balls like GT did, but probably a lot better. Not in Heroes, but maybe in a future Dragon Ball manga or Super. Still, it's good to have them be the focal point again.

Planet Vegeta returns with Vegeta, Turles and Cumber on it

Goku gets a Dragon Radar from Bulma's house to find the other balls, and the next one is above them. They look up and there's a giant planet in space. Yes, it's Planet Vegeta. Plenty of Dragon Ball fans have asked what would happen if Planet Vegeta came back and the Saiyans returned.

We don't know if all the Saiyans are back, but we know some are there. Vegeta has been missing for a couple of episodes. Last episode we wondered where he was. He's on Planet Vegeta, his namesake, with Turles, Cumber and Masked Goku Black, who wants them to fight. Fu and Goku Black want them to fight for whatever reason, really to entertain us.

Planet Vegeta's return could mean King Vegeta and Bardock appear in Dragon Ball Heroes. We haven't seen them in the anime yet, but they're a major focal point in the Heroes game storylines. That's especially true of the masked Time Breaker King Vegeta Xeno, who is an absolute beast.

These fan service ideas that the Dragon Ball Super anime and manga haven't done yet are getting done in Heroes. They're probably not as good as a fully fleshed out story arc would be. This is the Universe 7 Planet Vegeta, so we could see other Saiyans. We only see three in this episode, but there could be more elsewhere. Then again, it's the copy universe, so perhaps they're not there yet. This universe is a weird hybrid of time space, where past, present and future are merging. It's a fifth dimensional thing to think about.

My verdict: a positive review for one of the better Heroes episodes

This episode was a huge step up from however many Heroes episodes came before it, and it was enjoyable. It's worth eight minutes if you want to see some good animation, and we'll see where the story goes.

I have to give it a positive review. It isn't on the level of the actual Dragon Ball anime, any of them, but it's better than what we've gotten from Heroes so far.