The Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero manga’s adaptation fails to hit the dynamic and emotional beats of the film or flesh out the story meaningfully.

The latest arc in the Dragon Ball Super manga adapted the Gohan and Piccolo-centered Super Hero film, but did the manga expand on the film’s story meaningfully, or was it an unnecessary adaptation to fill time until the next anticipated manga arc? Since the anime’s epic Tournament of Power arc concluded with Dragon Ball Super‘s final fight against Jiren, the manga has continued with three entertaining arcs. However, the latest recently concluded with Gohan, Piccolo, and even Pan working together to defeat the Red Ribbon Army and a rampaging Cell Max.

Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero was released in theaters in 2022 and was a worldwide hit that presented the series like never before. The latest Dragon Ball film was primarily animated with CGI, and the results were a smorgasbord of vibrant battles and an emotionally satisfying storyline that gave Gohan and Piccolo fans a lot to celebrate. However, the manga’s adaptation of the same story fails to make the same impact.

Chapter #91 – #100 of the Dragon Ball Super Manga re-adapts the events of the Super Hero movie. Unlike the film, the manga provides a short prequel story starting with chapter #88 that introduces Dr. Gero’s grandson, Dr. Hedo, in a completely different way than the film. And that’s not the only difference in the Dragon Ball storyline that leads to Gohan unlocking his Beast Form and finding out who is stronger: Goku or Vegeta?

Goten & Trunks Foiling Hedo Felt Like A Spin-Off Rather Than Real Plot Development

Dragon Ball Z‘s evil scientist, Dr. Gero, created many deadly androids that threatened the world, but he also created a family. His grandson, Dr. Hedo, has a different introduction than the film that attempts to make him more likable, despite the Dragon Ball Super manga not altering the disturbing scene of the young doctor seemingly murdering a jail full of people. The short prequel adventure also gives readers a glimpse into the teenage lives of Goten and Trunks, who foil Hedo’s plans and inspire the doctor to create the Gammas. While the franchise is no stranger to fun slice-of-life moments, the prequel section feels too drastic of a turn from the dramatic DBS‘s Granola arc.

Unfortunately, the manga’s monthly release schedule didn’t do the Super Hero arc any favors. Once the prequel section concluded, it became more apparent that Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero‘s story works better as a film than a monthly manga’s story arc. While the film was able to balance humor, action, and intense character moments with its brisk pacing, the manga struggled to maintain the excitement and tension with its awkward cliffhangers and questionable paneling that actively subdues some of the film’s most impactful moments, like Pan’s first flight and Gohan’s intimidating Beast Transformation.

Super Hero’s Super Manga Adaptation Wasn’t The Sensu Bean The Film Was

The Super Hero movie was released over a year ago. Hence, the Dragon Ball Super manga had the opportunity to flesh out the film’s newly introduced characters. Extra dialogue for characters like the Gamma’s helps add some much-needed characterization.

The manga also provides a few additional welcome moments that give each Z fighter a reason to show up before Cell Max’s rampage. Still, by the end of chapter #100, the manga does little to justify its adaptation of the film’s storyline. This is disappointing because moments like Broly coming to Beerus’s world and the creation of the Gamma’s could have been both entertaining and informative.

Besides the missed opportunities to add more character moments that the film needed more time to explore, the manga also struggled to present the arc’s most epic moments. Vegeta proved that he was stronger than Goku in the past, but their incredible base-form bout and several of Gohan’s moments during the Super Hero film had movie theater audiences cheering in their seats.

The dynamic action scenes felt more empty and lacking compared to the scale of action in the film’s adaptation. The manga failed to capture the tension, excitement, dread, and triumph the movie was able to convey, and those issues might have felt less prominent if the animated film had been released after the comic.

Final Thoughts On A Manga Arc That Could Have Been More Super

Whether it be the disjointed pacing of the manga’s monthly release or the action scenes that didn’t come across as fun or dynamic as the film’s adaptation, Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero was created to be a movie. The manga’s arc doesn’t feel justified in its existence, and its story could have been summarized much like how the Broly film’s was in five pages of chapter #93. Author Akira Toriyama and artist Toyotarou likely wanted more time to devise what’s next for the Dragon Ball Super storyline and what role Beast Gohan and Dr. Hedo’s androids will play in the future story. Giving them more time is one of the few benefits the latest manga arc provides.