Dragon Ball Super Beerus: was Super Saiyan God nerfed?

Episode 5 of Dragon Ball Super Beerus covers the start of the battle of the gods: Super Saiyan God Goku against Beerus, the god of destruction. The big question coming out of it is whether Super Saiyan God was nerfed. My answer is perhaps a little bit. The abilities that were removed were never part of Akira Toriyama's version of the form, so I don't hate the change all that much.

We've seen this fight play out since 2013 in several formats: video games, the manga and the anime. Dragon Ball Super Beerus reworks the 2015 Dragon Ball Super anime. The question was how this version of Super Saiyan God Goku versus Beerus would differ from what came before. There were many small touch ups and little fixes on scenes from the 2015 version. I'm only going into the changes I think matter most.

Dragon Ball Super Beerus episode 5 brings back a proven Super Saiyan God animator

The staff list for this episode, translated by DBS Chronicles, was encouraging. It was good to see the newer Daima crew mixed in with a legend from Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z. The list also includes the animator who did great work on Dragon Ball Super: Broly. Much of the Goku versus Broly fight with Goku in Super Saiyan God was this animator's work. So we know he's good at animating Super Saiyan God, and it's good to have him back in 2026.

Unfortunately, much of this episode still had the same choppiness and rough animation from 2015. Yes, it was improved upon somewhat. But I would have preferred brand new animation for some of this, like what we saw in episodes 1 and 2. I think that's what made this episode so disappointing for me, at least. I wanted more of that here, especially with a fight this important.

Goku versus Beerus is the launch pad for the remainder of the series. It's how Goku first becomes acclimated with God ki. That leads to Vegeta training with Beerus and Whis, and to the powerups they get as the series progresses. It also made Beerus and Whis regular members of the cast. This needed something special, and I think it was missing.

Four episodes of the 2015 Dragon Ball Super were cut down into one

There were a number of substantial cuts, and they crunched four episodes of the 2015 Dragon Ball Super into one. Many cutaways from the original were removed to make room for more of the Goku and Beerus fight. Most of those cutaways were there for humor, and Beerus is a far more serious cut tonally. One removed sequence had Bulma's ship following the fight while the rest of the crew watched. A version of that still exists in the Battle of Gods movie.

Reactions from other characters that were originally in episode 10 are gone, along with a scene where Goku falls into the ocean. A scene where Whis meets the Pilaf Gang was also cut. I only enjoyed that one because I love the Pilaf Gang, and I was okay with it going.

Beyond that, whole sections of the fight were removed. The blast Beerus fires at Goku, which Goku crunches and dissipates with the power of Super Saiyan God, was yellow in the original and is now purple. I think that was done because it makes more sense for Beerus's power to match his color palette, and a purplish color fits him better. That change wasn't all that crazy. There was also an awesome sequence from episode 11 where Goku pummels Beerus with body shots, and I missed that. There were other parts from that episode that didn't look too good.

Beerus stabbing Goku and the Super Saiyan God healing scene were removed

The big cut people are going to be talking about was probably the best remembered moment of episode 11. Beerus stabs Goku in the stomach from the sky with his bare hand, putting a hole in him and sending him down to the ocean. That's the first and one of the only times we see Super Saiyan God heal.

Does this nerf Super Saiyan God? To a degree, I would say yes, because people liked that healing power. But it isn't in any of the Toriyama written versions of Super Saiyan God. It's something Toei Animation added for the 2015 Dragon Ball Super. If the goal is to bring this closer to Toriyama's vision, taking it out is an example of that. The staff do pick and choose what they treat as Toriyama's vision, which I'm not a huge fan of, but this is something they've cut.

I know many people are bothered by this, and I understand, because that healing power was very cool. But it exists only in the Dragon Ball Super TV version, which is why we never saw Super Saiyan God do it again. I knew back in 2015 that it wasn't Toriyama's idea. If you prefer the 2015 version, it's always going to be there for you. For me, it's the movie.

The universe-shaking clash from episodes 12 and 13 is gone

Another cut from episode 12 is going to irritate many people, especially power scalers. One of the biggest story elements of the 2015 version, across episodes 12 and 13, was the danger the battle posed to the universe. The collision of Goku's and Beerus's punches rattled the entire universe, all the way to the realm of the Kais. It showed how scary Beerus's power was, and how the two of them fighting at once put the whole universe at risk of collapse.

All of that has been removed. There's a part earlier in this episode where Beerus toys with Goku getting behind him, but nobody cares about that. This is the part people care about. In the original, the two Kais discuss the fight and conclude that if it continued, the universe itself would be turned into an empty void. Other parts of the Earth were shown too, like Mr. Satan on the phone worried about his daughter and other people on the planet.

That added a layer of drama, so that everyone was at risk, not just the Earth. It also raised Super Saiyan God and Beerus higher on the power scale than any of us had thought. The reason it's gone is that it isn't in the Battle of Gods movie or Toriyama's script. Toei added it in 2015.

Why the cut matters for power scaling Goku's later forms

This feat was a major debate topic among power scalers. I've argued before that if you go by the 2015 version, God Goku is way stronger than we thought. Scaling upward from that foundation, all of Goku's later forms, like Blue and Ultra Instinct, would be even more powerful. My friend Chuck isn't going to like this. But it's the truth.

I have always had a problem with that feat in the original Dragon Ball Super. If clashes like this endangered the universe, then later battles with god tier characters like Goku Black in his Rosé form, and even Moro and Granolah, should have endangered it too. I think the Dragon Ball Super Beerus staff at Toei decided to get rid of all that now and keep going without it. Again, it isn't in Toriyama's original script.

The Dragon Ball Super manga was adapting the anime at the time

The universe-shaking feat also appears in the Dragon Ball Super manga. But the manga was originally a promotional vehicle for the anime. Some folks weren't around 11 years ago. Before the manga did its own thing, Toyotarou was adapting it from the anime.

That's why the ship appears in the manga instead of Bulma's birthday party at Capsule Corp. Toyotarou wasn't adapting Toriyama's script during that period, and he and Toriyama didn't start collaborating until a little later. Please don't forget that.

Other cuts, from the old Kai's gag to the twin dragons in space

There's one cut from episode 12 I wish they'd kept. In the original, the old Kai offers the Supreme Kai an adult magazine, and the Supreme Kai responds with a low blow. Why did they have to cut that? That's something I would have wanted back. I guess you can't win them all, but if the power scalers are going to suffer from this, I'm right there with you.

The one thing I'm definitely glad they cut was that horrible scene with the twin dragons in space. Even back then I thought it was corny, and I'm glad it's gone.

From episode 13, a scene where Mr. Satan offers Whis an all you can eat buffet pass to protect everyone from the destruction was cut. Some of Goku and Beerus's hand to hand combat was also removed, which I'm a little sad about. Some of it is still here, but there were cool aikido moves from Beerus reminiscent of the ones he used in Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods. More reactions to the rising power scale were also cut.

Goku shifting between Super Saiyan God and Super Saiyan is new

Something interesting happens in the Beerus version that wasn't in the original. Goku starts dropping from God down to regular Super Saiyan and then back up to God again. You can see him slowly regressing into a regular Super Saiyan and then back into a god. In the 2015 version, he simply went back to regular Super Saiyan in the middle of episode 13. I like what the Beerus version did with this in particular. I think it looks cool.

In the 2015 episode 13, everyone notices they can sense Goku's energy again because he's dropped from God ki to Super Saiyan, and Goten worries his dad won't survive. That isn't in the Beerus version, but I have a feeling it will be in the next episode, with some comment about Goku being back in his Super Saiyan form.

What Dragon Ball Super Beerus episode 6 could include

At the end of episode 13, Beerus tells Goku that his Super Saiyan aura is gone. The last few minutes of that episode are probably going to be in episode 6, as Goku tries to fight Beerus in Super Saiyan. But there might be some surprises. I heard there were going to be some changes made, though I don't have all the details, so we should wait and see.

This Beerus episode drew from four episodes of Dragon Ball Super, 10 through 13, and nothing from the manga. Episode 14 of the 2015 series ends the Battle of Gods arc before the story moves to Frieza. So I assume episode 6 will use what's left of episode 13, plus episode 14 and whatever new material they add. There's also a possibility we'll see Frieza's forces, but I don't have that for certain yet.

Was Super Saiyan God nerfed? My verdict

Perhaps a little bit. But Akira Toriyama never wanted those abilities there, so I don't hate it all that much. Yes, Toei added some things I like, no argument there. I thought the healing and the cosmic power that rattled the universe were very cool. But I've always felt they weren't necessary, because I lean more toward the movie, which, by the way, actually had blood.