Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero

Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero (ドラゴンボー スーパーヒーロー) is a 2022 Japanese animated martial arts fantasy adventure film and the sequel to Dragon Ball Super: Broly (2018). It is the twenty-first animated feature film based on the 1984–95 manga series Dragon Ball, the second to carry the Dragon Ball Super branding, the first to be produced mainly using CGI animation, as well as the fourth and final animated Dragon Ball film to be produced under the supervision of franchise creator Akira Toriyama before his death in March 2024. In the film, Piccolo and his former student Gohan head on a mission to save the world from the newly reformed Red Ribbon Army.

The film was originally set for release in Japan on April 22, 2022, but was instead released on June 11 due to a cyberattack at Toei. Internationally, including the U.S. and the U.K., it was released on August 19, 2022, in both English dubbed and sub-dubbed versions.

Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero received positive reviews from critics with praise for its nostalgia factor, characterization, fan service, action sequences and humor. The film grossed ¥13.8 billion (about US$102.5 million) worldwide, thus becoming the second-highest grossing Dragon Ball film to date.

Plot
Commander Magenta, CEO of Red Pharmaceuticals, seeks to revive the Red Ribbon Army previously led by his father Commander Red before it was ultimately destroyed by Goku over three decades prior. Magenta and his assistant Staff Officer Carmine seek to recruit Dr. Gero's surviving grandson Dr. Hedo, a superhero-obsessed mad scientist who was released from prison after serving a lengthy sentence for grave robbing. Despite his initial reservations, Hedo accepts the offer after Magenta convinces him that Bulma's Capsule Corporation is an evil organization, which is bent on world domination.

While Goku, Vegeta, and Broly are training under Whis on Beerus' planet, Piccolo is annoyed over Gohan wasting his potential while training the latter's daughter Pan. Piccolo is attacked by a Red Ribbon android Gamma 2, but manages to evade the android and follows him to the Red Ribbon Army's base. Piccolo disguises himself as a soldier to infiltrate a meeting, where he learns that Gamma 1 and 2 were created by Hedo to defeat Capsule Corporation and their superpowered allies. Hedo also reluctantly used his grandfather's schematics on Cell to create an improved version, known as Cell Max. Piccolo asks Bulma to make contact with Whis to alert Goku and Vegeta to the threat, but she is unable to reach him. Piccolo asks Shenron to unlock his full potential before learning of Magenta's scheme to kidnap Pan in order to lure Gohan into a trap.

Piccolo volunteers himself for the kidnapping and directs Pan to play along. Enraged upon learning of Pan's abduction, Gohan launches a full-scale assault on the Red Ribbon base and fights Gamma 1, while Piccolo faces Gamma 2, with his full potential manifesting in a new form dubbed "Orange Piccolo". Piccolo manages to convince Gamma 2 that Magenta is lying about Capsule Corporation and the Gammas realize that the true villains are the Red Ribbon Army. Carmine is knocked out by Pan after attempting to kill her, while a furious Magenta activates Cell Max and gets killed by Hedo.

Cell Max emerges as a giant, rampaging monster. Bulma arrives with Goten, Trunks, Android 18 and Krillin as reinforcements. Gohan, Piccolo, the Gammas and the other fighters battle Cell Max. Goten and Trunks try to fuse into Gotenks, but their fusion technique is imperfect. However, Gotenks does manage to crack Cell Max's skull, revealing that he does not have a regeneration ability like the original Cell. Gamma 2 sacrifices himself in an attempt to kill Cell Max, but only succeeds in destroying Cell Max's left arm. After Piccolo is defeated by Cell Max, Gohan's inner rage manifests into a new "Beast" form and he fires a "Special Beam Cannon", killing Cell Max. Gohan is reunited with Pan, while a repentant Hedo and Gamma 1 are given positions at Capsule Corporation.

In a post-credits scene, Vegeta defeats Goku in a lengthy sparring match on Beerus' planet, by landing the match's final blow before collapsing himself.

Production
Production of Super Hero began before the release of Dragon Ball Super: Broly. It is the first film in the franchise to be produced largely in CGI, and the fourth to have heavy involvement from series creator Akira Toriyama, who provided the original concept and character designs. The use of CGI visuals was a decision made by Kodama, who is experienced with using them.

To differentiate the movie from prior films, Piccolo and Gohan were made protagonists (as opposed to Goku and Vegeta) and the Red Ribbon Army were brought back as villains. Toriyama personally designed the characters of the Red Ribbon Army, as well as their vehicles. Kodama explained the narrative would further explore human drama, most notably the idea of Gohan being a warrior and a scholar at the same time. Toriyama said that he wanted the plot to focus on the Gohan-Piccolo relationship, given Piccolo motivates Gohan to fight even more than his father, Goku.

The film introduces new transformations for Gohan and Piccolo. Gohan Beast (孫 悟飯・ビースト), a form unique to Gohan, is based on the awakening of his powers ("the wild beast", per Toriyama) as a boy. Toriyama attempted to draw Gohan Beast with a "scary face", but finding this did not fit his character, gave him upturned hair as well. Orange Piccolo (オレンジ・ピッコロ), which Toriyama considers Piccolo's first transformation, was made orange and extremely muscled to distinguish him from Piccolo's regular form.

Hiroshi Kamiya and Mamoru Miyano voice the androids Gamma 1 and Gamma 2. Miyu Irino voices their creator, Dr. Hedo. Kamiya was surprised by his casting, as he was a fan of Miyano, and also because the two would be a duo of villains. Despite the similarities of both androids, Kamiya looked forward to potential differences in their personalities, as it would bring an element of surprise to the narrative.

Promotion
A sequel to Dragon Ball Super: Broly was officially announced on May 9, 2021. At 2021's San Diego Comic-Con, a short clip of Goku with the film's logo was shown, revealing its title as Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero. Character designs for Piccolo, Pan, Krillin, Gamma 1, and Gamma 2 were also shown, as well as the design of Piccolo's home. The first trailer was released on October 7, 2021. The Japanese release date was announced with a new trailer at Jump Festa 2022.

Novelization
A novelization of the film written by Masatoshi Kusakabe was released on June 14, 2022. In its first week, it sold 3,946 copies, making it the seventh best-selling light novel in Japan.

Theatrical
The film was originally scheduled to be released in Japan on April 22, 2022, but it was postponed to June 11 after Toei Animation was affected by ransomware. The film was released in IMAX, 4DX, Dolby Cinema, and MX4D.

Distribution
The film is distributed in Japan by Toei. 20th Century Studios (formerly 20th Century Fox) had no involvement in the distribution of this film as a result of their Japanese division being absorbed into that of Disney's on September 1, 2020 following the latter's acquisition of the former, making this film the first to be released by Toei independently since Dragon Ball: The Path to Power (1996).

Crunchyroll is distributing the film outside Japan with Sony Pictures Entertainment (through Sony Pictures Releasing International). It was released in theaters worldwide in August and September 2022. This is the first Dragon Ball film to be distributed under the Crunchyroll brand after Sony Pictures acquired Crunchyroll in 2021 and merged it with Funimation in 2022.

Home media
Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero was released on Blu-ray and DVD on March 14, 2023. The film features an English-language dub and original Japanese-language with English subtitles.

Crunchyroll also announced that the movie will be available for worldwide streaming on its service on July 12, 2023, with subtitles available in 11 languages and 9 languages with dubs.

Japan
Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero topped the Japanese box office on its debut weekend, selling about 498,000 tickets and earning around ¥670 million (about $4.98 million). In its second weekend, the film's gross earned ¥300 million (about $2.2 million), placing it second behind Top Gun: Maverick. After 12 days of release, the film had sold over 1 million tickets. In its third weekend, the film remained in second place, earning about ¥232 million (about $1.71 million) from 166,000 tickets. It had cumulatively sold 1.21 million tickets and earned about ¥1.64 billion (about $12.11 million).

In its fourth weekend of release, Super Hero dropped to fourth place at the box office, earning about ¥155 million (about $1.13 million). In its fifth weekend, the film surpassed the ¥2 billion yen ($15.04 million) mark, although it also dropped to fifth place with earnings of ¥121 million (about $879,900). In its sixth weekend, Super Hero dropped to sixth place, earning about ¥72.4 million (about $523,900). In the film's seventh weekend in theatres, it earned about ¥44.3 million (about $324,600), dropping to 8th place.

Cumulatively, Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero has earned ¥2.3 billion (about US$17.03 million), surpassing The Quintessential Quintuplets Movie to become the fourth-highest grossing Japanese anime film of 2022.

Other territories
In the United States and Canada, Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero was initially projected to gross $13–15 million from 3,130 theaters during its opening weekend. After making $10.74 million on its first day, including $4.3 million from Thursday night previews, estimates were raised to $21–23 million. It went on to debut at $21 million, topping the box office. In its second weekend, the film earned $4.7 million, finishing fifth. Eventually, the film earned $38.1 million, becoming the fourth highest grossing anime film in the United States.

Critical response
American audiences polled by PostTrak gave the film an 85% overall positive score, with 75% saying they would definitely recommend it, while Japanese audiences on Filmarks, the Japanese survey firm, gave Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero a ranking of 4.0 out of 5.0.

Richard Eisenbeis of Anime News Network gave Super Hero a B−. He noted its extensive callbacks to prior Dragon Ball moments and appreciated its exploration of Piccolo, who he considers a neglected character. He also praised the film's animation. However, Eisenbeis criticized Cell Max for being a lackluster villain. Cezary Jan Strusiewicz of Polygon described the movie as nostalgic, remarking on its accessibility to casual fans and people who have never watched Dragon Ball before. Unlike Eiseinbeis, Strusiewicz disliked the animation, which he found to be unusual for the series.