Dragon Ball Super: Beerus, Toei Animation’s rebuilt version of the Dragon Ball Super anime, has premiered on Fuji TV in Japan, and Crunchyroll is simulcasting it with English subtitles across North America, Latin America, Europe and much of Asia. It is not a sequel. Toei calls it an “enhanced” edition: the same story of Goku’s first clash with the God of Destruction, restructured, with new and redrawn cuts, re-rendered footage and newly recorded dialogue, music and sound effects. It is a shōnen action remake aimed at fans who watched the original and at viewers who never did.
The premise is unchanged. Years after the fight with Majin Buu, Beerus wakes from a long sleep and sets out to find the Saiyan who defeated Frieza, and Earth is in his way. Koichi Yamadera, who has voiced the cat-like god since the character’s first film, returns as Beerus, and Masako Nozawa voices Goku, as she has for four decades.
What Toei means by “enhanced”
The original Dragon Ball Super ran for 131 episodes between July 2015 and March 2018, and Funimation and Crunchyroll streamed it outside Japan as it aired. Its opening arc retold the story of the 2013 film Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods, which introduced Beerus and his attendant Whis to the franchise.
Toei announced the new version in January as part of Dragon Ball’s 40th anniversary. Akio Iyoku, who oversees the Dragon Ball brand, has described it as an enhanced edition with a reconstructed story, new and redrawn cuts, footage re-rendered from scratch and a new dub with added score and sound effects, and told Anime News Network that the work began a few years ago. TMDB and several reports list 19 episodes, a far shorter run than the original’s 131. The official “Super Surge” trailer, published by Toei Animation, closes on Frieza.
The team behind the remake
Matsuto Seya handles series composition and direction. Tadayoshi Yamamuro, credited with character design and chief animation direction, was animation director on Battle of Gods, so the remake returns the Beerus story to one of the artists who first animated it. Norihito Sumitomo, composer of the original Super and of Battle of Gods, returns for the score. Eiichi Nishimura edits, and Yōsuke Motoki directs compositing. Akira Toriyama is credited for the original work, story and character design.
Ryō Horikawa voices Vegeta, Toshio Furukawa returns as Piccolo and Masakazu Morita voices Whis. The opening theme is “ONOGAMI” by MEGATERA ZERO, and VK Blanka performs the ending theme, “Kan Peki No Peki.”
Where to watch Dragon Ball Super: Beerus
In Japan, the series airs on Fuji TV and its FNS affiliates on Sundays at 11:15 p.m., in the timeslot One Piece had occupied. Prime Video and U-NEXT post each episode 30 minutes after broadcast, and other Japanese services follow on Wednesdays. Episode 2 is scheduled for October 18.
Outside Japan, Crunchyroll began streaming the Japanese version with English subtitles on October 11 in the United States, Canada, Latin America including Brazil, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Southeast Asia and Europe. In the United States, Hulu also carries the series from October 11, and Netflix adds it on October 17; Anime News Network reports that Netflix’s listing shows an October 14 start in selected regions.
Early reactions: faster, sharper, thinner
Episode 1 had its world premiere on October 8 at a New York Comic Con panel that Anime Corner put at about 3,000 attendees, three days before the Japanese broadcast. Yamadera sent a video message: “Beerus is right there in the title, so please be sure to watch Beerus in action; how cool he is, how frightening, how strong!” Anime Corner’s Jay Gibbs wrote that “visually, the anime looks great in Episode 1” and added: “From what I’ve seen thus far, I’m quite hopeful.”
The first reviews split over what the remake leaves out. At Final Weapon, Raul Ochoa called the premiere “exactly what I wanted in an anime remake” and wrote that “the pacing of this first episode is really good.” Charles Hartford of But Why Tho, who scored it 6 out of 10, noted that it “trims ‘unnecessary’ elements from the first two episodes of the original series to make it faster-paced,” and argued that “it still feels lacking without the side stories.” His verdict: “If you just want to get to the action the Dragon Ball franchise is known for, this could be for you.”
Dragon Ball Super: Beerus: quick answers
Is Dragon Ball Super: Beerus a new story? No. It is Toei Animation’s enhanced remake of the 2015 Dragon Ball Super anime, starting with the God of Destruction arc.
Where can you watch it? On Fuji TV, Prime Video and U-NEXT in Japan, on Crunchyroll in most international markets, and on Hulu and Netflix in the United States.
How many episodes will it have? TMDB and early reports list 19 episodes.
Who voices Beerus? Koichi Yamadera, who has played the God of Destruction since Battle of Gods.
Hartford’s objection is the test the remake now faces: Toei has bet that a faster Dragon Ball Super, with its side stories trimmed, will satisfy the audience that knew the original by heart, as well as the newcomers it needs to win.
Photos: The Movie Database (TMDB)
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