Super Dragon Ball Heroes special review: cool but empty

The special Super Dragon Ball Heroes episode is a nine minute promo built around the arcade game, and while it delivers Gogeta versus Vegito in Super Saiyan Blue, there isn't much to it. To me it plays like a long cutscene: some cool moments, no real story, and something you'd probably see once and never need to see again.

The special is a short promotional anime episode tied to Dragon Ball Heroes, the Japanese arcade card game. It runs about nine minutes, and a subtitled version was put out by DB Hype.

The Dragon Ball Heroes special is a one shot, not part of Big Bang Mission

This episode focuses on the arcade game's main mission material, not the Big Bang Mission. That means it isn't part of the Big Bang Mission continuity, and it has nothing to do with Fu or the fight with Vegeta Blue that I covered in my last Heroes review. This is something different.

I'd describe it as a special one shot episode. It's almost like a one shot animation, or a cutscene pulled from the game, rather than a chapter in an ongoing anime storyline.

Why Dragon Ball Heroes is a big deal in Japan at its 10 year anniversary

The reason this episode exists is that the year marked the anniversary of Dragon Ball Heroes, which had been out in arcades for 10 years. Over that time it had updates and DLCs, and at one point it was upgraded to Super Dragon Ball Heroes.

I think this game is a big reason why Dragon Ball got popular in Japan again. For us in the West, the series got its reboot, its renaissance, with Battle of Gods around 2013 and 2014. In Japan, though, it was Dragon Ball Heroes that helped. It was the most popular Dragon Ball arcade game in a very long time, and the most popular Dragon Ball product over there for a very long time, even more so than some of the other games and some of the anime that was coming out.

So the anniversary is a big deal for Japanese fans, more so than for those of us in the West.

A meta story: Beat enters a Dragon Ball Heroes tournament at the mall

This special is very meta. It's inspired by a Dragon Ball Heroes manga that takes place in the real world. The story follows Beat, who represents the avatar character. He's supposed to be us, the player.

The episode begins with Beat going to the mall to compete in the 10 year anniversary Dragon Ball Heroes event. So it doesn't take place in the Dragon Ball world at all; it's set in the real world. Then it gets wacky, because the competitors get pulled into the world of Dragon Ball Heroes. Not literally, I would say. It's more like one of those imagined sequences from Rugrats, Doug or Bobby's World, or a Family Guy dream or thought sequence, where the characters are pretending they're in there.

From there, real characters from the Dragon Ball world show up, such as Bardock, Jiren and Super Saiyan God Trunks. It's like a Heroes matchup, but animated. If you're a fan of Heroes, or the Switch game, there's some cool stuff to dig into. There isn't much as far as substance goes, but it's still a cool reference point.

Gogeta vs Vegito in Super Saiyan Blue is the highlight, despite stiff animation

I think the big moment is when we finally saw Gogeta versus Vegito, both in their Super Saiyan Blue forms. The animation was very stiff and not very clean, nothing like Dragon Ball Super: Broly. Don't ever expect that level of quality in Heroes, except maybe one episode a year, if you even count that, such as when Shallot comes along. This was not that.

It's still visually cool to see Gogeta versus Vegito, but it's also "fan service schlock that has no real meaning or purpose." I'm sure some people are going to love this stuff, but personally, I prefer an actual story that can lead to a fight like this. Here it's just a matchup in a video game.

To be honest, this animation was done for the fans. There isn't much to it as far as anything of substance. I guess it's a visual tribute to Heroes, and that's what this was.

Bardock vs Time Breaker Bardock, and Yamcha as a deliberate joke

Nozawa reprised her role as Bardock and Goku and those characters. We also got Bardock versus Time Breaker Bardock. It's almost like the team was looking for great and unique pairings, the kind of matchups fans would always want to see. Even so, if you're familiar with Heroes, you know Time Breaker Bardock would absolutely maul regular Bardock. As far as power goes, it's not even a question, given the Masked Saiyans and the Time Breaker power ups.

I do find it funny that the battlefield has Gogeta, Vegito, Jiren, the Grand Priest and the Masked Saiyans, ridiculously powerful characters beyond mere mortals, and then Yamcha is out there too. That had to be done on purpose as part of the meme.

The Japanese production teams behind these games and Dragon Ball, meaning Shueisha, Toei and Bandai, know Yamcha has become a meme in the community all over the world. Putting him in here was a little wink to that. They're very aware he can't hang with any of these characters, and they've become self aware that he's a joke now.

The God of Destruction and Angels team, and Beat's Ultra Instinct Omen

After Beat wins, a God of Destruction and Angels team suddenly shows up, and our heroes are in trouble. The team has custom God of Destruction avatars that look like shorter versions of Beerus and Champa, along with Angels such as Whis and other characters. It's wacky and funny: they've just won, and then here comes a new challenger, and it's a bunch of high level gods.

The God of Destruction avatar then uses one of his moves. The Earth is about to get blasted, though it only leaves a big crater, and he thinks he's won. Then, in a very wacky turn, Beat and Goku use Ultra Instinct Omen.

As far as I'm aware, it's the first time Beat has had access to any form of Ultra Instinct. So I guess they're going to eventually have the form in the game too, if they don't already. I haven't followed the Japanese game, so I'm not 100% sure on that. After Beat tears the gods apart, he says, "All right, let's take them," and that's the end of the episode.

My verdict on the Super Dragon Ball Heroes special and the arcade game

"There is literally nothing to this hero special at all." It's a nine minute cutscene with some cool moments where you think, look, it's Gogeta versus Vegito, and that's it. There are no good fights and no substance. In some ways it almost feels made for little kids, but it isn't. It's made to promote a Japanese game that most of us can never play.

I played the game when I was in Japan, and it's okay. I'm not a huge fan. I was only there for a week, so I didn't have time to collect cards, trade and do all the things you're supposed to do. That's what makes it fun: collecting cards in person and matching them up. Still, it's not a game I particularly liked, and it's very repetitive. It's super popular in Japan, though, and if you like it, cool.

But even if you like the game, this special is a one shot. You see it once, you're done, and that's it.