New Dragon Ball Super episodes announced at NATPE Licensing Convention

UPDATE: Toei Animation has denied of any plans to produce new episodes of Dragon Ball Super at this time. 

UPDATE 2: Dragon Ball super fan and Youtuber Geekdom 101 has made a tweet refuting Toei's denial of new Dragon Ball Super episodes.

Original Story is below:

Toei made an announcement at the NATPE (National Association of Television Program Executives) convention in Miami regarding new episodes of Dragon Ball Super, among other anime projects. Here's a highlight image of the announcement provided by Kanzenshuu:

There is still no set date as to when the new episodes will be released. However, the current GeGeGe no Kitaro anime series (which took over DBS's timeslot) is near the end of its run with 10 episodes or less left to go as of this writing. As there is yet to be an announcement of a new series to replace GeGeGe no Kitaro come April of this year, there is a small possibility that Dragon Ball Super may return to that timeslot. DBS debuted on Japan's Fuji TV on June 20th, 2015, just a little over two months after the theatrical release of Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection F.

Dragon Ball Super 100th Episode Review

So this weekend, Dragon Ball Super celebrated its commemorative 100th episode, which is no small feat by any means. Sure, we have Naruto, Bleach, and One Piece as those who have hundreds of episodes, but for most anime, they don't go beyond 50 or so. It just seems like Japan can produce these shows more quickly, and at times more efficiently, when compared to places like the US where it would take anywhere between 3-5 years for a show to reach its 100th episode.

For the 100th episode of Dragon Ball Super, you'd think the show would do something a bit special. In a way, yes. The 100th episode is where we finally get to see Kale aka the female Broly in action in the Tournament of Power.

Now just a quick crash course for those not up to speed, the current arc of Dragon Ball Super has Goku and his companions engaged in a battle royale against warriors from other universes, where the last team members that survive has their universe spared from erasure by the Omni-Kings.

In the highlights of this episode, Caulifla, the fighting genius of Universe 6, finally faces Goku and demands that he teaches her the Super Saiyan Blue form, in return to activate it and take on Goku at full strength. To show that she's serious, she goes Super Saiyan, but with bigger muscles. This is similar to the form Trunks used back in Dragon Ball Z against Cell. Goku of course notes the weaknesses of Cauliflas's form and demonstrates Super Saiyan 2. Caulifla naturally fangirls over this and Goku's more than happy to teach her the form, much to Beerus's chagrin.

I think I can speak for everyone that in this brief encounter, Goku and Caulifla would make quite a couple if Goku never married Chichi. The two are just kindred spirits as Caulifla is more than eager to learn on how to become stronger and take on stronger opponents. You could say that Caulifia is Goku's true counterpart of Universe 6. Or to put it another way, Caulifla is a gender bent Goku as Fionna is to Finn in Adventure Time.

Unfortunately, this goody-goody relationship between the two is making Kale jealous, who at this point is unable to transform into a Super Saiyan at will and can only do so in extreme anger. While the show never addresses it, I'll put it out there and say Caulifla and Kale are a lesbian couple. subtly speaking. This is because the two share opposite personalities that draws them both together - Caulifla is what anime and manga fans call a 'Tsundere', where she shows off as being a bully, but is actually a kinder person on the inside. Evangelion's Asuka Langley-Soryu popularized that particular character trait. Kale on the other hand is a 'Yandere', which is the opposite of a Tsundere character. She appears shy and timid, but if you want to live up to old age, don't ever screw with her.

So when Kale sees Caulifla and Goku, no pun intended, 'hit it off', Kale's Yandere trait kicks in and transforms into a Super Saiyan with only one thing in her mind - kill Son Goku.

For fans of the character Broly, who only appears in the non-canon Dragon Ball Z movies, Kale is without a doubt his counterpart in Dragon Ball Super, quite literally. Furthermore, Kale has shown in this episode that she is far more powerful than Broly could ever be. This may upset some Broly fans who in their mind still places Broly as the most powerful of all the Super Saiyans, including Goku. Nevertheless, Kale has such unprecedented power that she forces Goku to go Super Saiyan Blue and throw a Kamehameha. But Kale just walks through it without a flinch.

Compare this when Goku, in his SSB form, through a Kamehameha against Merged Zamasu back in the Future Trunks arc. Merged Zamasu is totally unaffected thanks to his half-immortality. Kale of course doesn't have that feat, but is able to tank the Kamehameha anyway.

As expected, some fans argue that Goku isn't even using the SSB form at full power and actually lowered the power of his Kamehameha as a way of 'testing' Kale's power. I've made a video months ago about that subject, which you can find in the video description if you want my detailed opinion on that. But my short reply is, given that the fate of Universe 7 is at stake, Goku is in no position to 'test' someone's power. If Goku were to lower his guard and power at this point, he will be pushed out of the ring, and in the past few episodes, he was very much close to that.

That said, it is true Goku is trying to conserve as much of his energy as possible. Whis has stated that as powerful as the Super Saiyan Blue form is, it eats up quite an amount of stamina. And since healing items like Senzu Beans are forbidden in the tournament, Goku as much as possible, has to avoid using the SSB form until the final stretch. Otherwise, Goku would be too worn out in the closing moments. However, Goku has been forced to use this form a number of times already the past few weeks, and has to use that form yet again to avoid being pushed out by Kale.

As exciting as the highlights of this episode may be, I am actually quite disappointed. For the 100th episode, I was expecting Toei to at least feature what we would call 'Sakuga', which are moments in which the overall animation in one scene or another is done with incredible detail. Toei has done this with Goku Black in the Future Trunks arc. But for this episode, you don't get any Sakuga and instead have moments of bad character design and animation. Not as terrible as the infamous episode 5, or what we see with Goku and Golden Frieza, but it is there and is quite noticeable.

Another reason I didn't like this is the writing and direction of this episode. Kale has Goku at her mercy and the latter's only option at that point is to go Super Saiyan Blue + Kaioh-ken, if not his yet to be revealed new power-up. Instead, Kale tosses Goku aside and rains a barrage of Ki blasts over the entire ring, destroying much of the place before looking for Goku again. Piccolo explains that Kale is losing control of her powers, but doesn't really appear that way and is more of Toei having trouble with Kale's rampage while making sure Goku doesn't get beaten up or eliminated in the process. Time constraints may also play a role as the show doesn't get season breaks and Toei has little time to polish things up.

And what is perhaps the most disappointing part, as Kale's shows off more of her power, Jiren steps in and knocks her out in one shot. All of a sudden Jiren shows he is far more powerful than Goku has ever faced previously and is eager to fight him right away, this is despite his beat up by Kale. The latter wasn't eliminated, but is out cold.

What I'm saying is that I want Kale to be around for a few episodes and engaged in multiple battles against other characters before finally getting eliminated. Sure, she wasn't pushed out, but it feels so anti-climactic that Jiren takes her out easily with one shot, and that's not even him at his full power. So at this point Kale's time is done and is no longer relevant because now we have Jiren who, based on this performance, can take out everyone else with very little effort.

On that note, I wanna go back to the part where fans are saying "Goku isn't taking Kale seriously" when he went SSB. So Goku threw a Kamehameha and Kale was unaffected, but when Kale is hit by Jiren's attack, she was knocked out. It's clear Jiren wasn't attacking Kale at full power. So if Jiren had no trouble taking out Kale with a small portion of his power, why did Goku struggle? If Goku is as strong as fans say he is, then Goku should have no problems in handling Kale even if he used a small portion of his power as a Super Saiyan Blue as fans claim him to be. That is not the case. Kale was going Berserk and Goku had to take her seriously if he wants to stay in the game. Goku didn't turn SSB to test Kale's strength, he used it because Kale is about to do some serious damage to him.

Kale wants Goku dead, so there is no reason for her to be holding back. Even Hit has mentioned that Kale would be disqualified if she kills Goku and Caulifia is trying to calm her down. Was Goku holding back with Broly when the latter wants him dead? Of course not. Was Goku holding back in his SSB form when he took on Frieza's Golden Form for the first time? No. In fact, in the TV version of DBS, Goku has said that he is keeping his guard up on Frieza rather than be excited for their rematch. Why? Because Goku knows Frieza is not someone he should take lightly. So he must fight Frieza at full strength. Same when he faced Merged Zamasu, and same when the Trio de Dangers are using their ultimate attack, and the same when Kale was out for his blood. Never mind the crappy writing from Toei.

If I am to describe this episode, it's like watching an episode of WWE RAW where they hype up the next big feud between their biggest stars, and though it has its moments, in the end, you spent 2-3 hours of watching a WWE program for virtually nothing at all. You'd complain about it, but Vince McMahon doesn't care as long as his shows are always at full house, high ratings on TV or online, people buying their merchandise, and saying New Japan Pro Wrestling is total crap, despite the contrary NJPW is a far better product. Same thing with Toei's handling of DBS. They don't care how bad it is as long as it's a ratings hit in Japan, more people buy the merchandise, and the fanbase thinking it's the greatest anime of all time that everything else is pile of bullsh--.

Dragon Ball Super - New Universe Survival Arc info

Latest scan from Dragon Ball Park Monthly shows the sibling Androids in their new look for the upcoming Universe Survival Arc, expected to to begin on Toei's Dragon Ball Super series Feb 5th.

To the left you will see another God of Destruction (Hakaishin) and Angel from one of the 12 Universes, though they did not specify their names. In true Toriyama-style, the God of Destruction does bear a striking resemblance to one of the characters from the Dragon Quest games.

The bottom left is a battle stage for the Universe Survival arc. And yes, it looks like one giant top.

Finally, the scan also announced a new OP theme for the Universe Survival arc titled "Genkaitoba x Survivor" performed by Kiyoshi Hikawa, famous in Japan as the "Prince of Enka".

Is The Plot of The Next DBS Arc Borrowed from Another Anime?

Last week in Japan, they celebrated Jump Festa, which is an annual expo celebrating currently running manga series under publisher Shueisha. Among those series is the Toyotaro version of Dragon Ball Super, serialized in V-Jump, Shueisha's Video Game Magazine.

One of the things Dragon Ball fans were hyped about at Jump Festa was the announcement of the next major arc in the series. And a teaser trailer of the next arc was shown, slated to take place Feb. 5th of 2017. The trailer features scenes from the manga version and is titled the "Universe Survival Arc", and it features the much anticipated multiverse tournament, with each universe represented by 10 fighters.

In Universe 7, Team Beerus consists of Goku, Vegeta, Gohan, Krillin, Tenshinhan, Master Roshi, Piccolo, Majin Buu, and Androids 17 and 18.

However, what surprised many fans of Dragon Ball is the added stipulation in the tournament - the losing team has their Universe, and everyone in it, completely destroyed. What was thought as just a simple tournament to determine the best fighters in the Dragon Ball multiverse, is now a fight to be the sole surviving one. I don't know what creator Akira Toriyama was thinking when he came up with this arc, but the stipulation ruined it for me.

For one, it's pretty obvious that Universe 7 will be the eventual victor here. So there is no need to add the stipulation of the losing Universe being destroyed when we happen to know the eventual outcome. The chances of Universe 7 actually losing in this tournament is like trying to win the jackpot in the lottery. I would prefer the tournament to be a friendly one without such a stake as the one that's announced.

But what really got me disappointed in the stipulation was that the concept is nothing new and the first thing that popped on my head is that Toriyama may have borrowed it from another work with a similar concept. That work in question, is "Bokurano".

"Bokurano" or "Ours", is a manga series by Mohiro Kitoh that was later adapted into an anime series. The story is of 15 kids tasked to defend Earth from alien invaders using a giant robot. You might say "Ok, so it's just your typical mecha series. What does that have to do with Dragon Ball Super?". Well, there is a twist to this - the 'invaders' are actually kids as well from a different universe also given the same task, and the loser has his/her universe completely destroyed. Furthermore, the giant robots in these battles drain the life force of its pilots as a power source. By the end of the battle, regardless of who wins, the pilots are already dead and must be replaced with the next one.

Yes. "Bokurano" is a very depressing series. Some people even call it as the "Anti-Gurren Lagann" because of the countless universes, and its inhabitants, destroyed in this manner, and nothing can be actually done about it. Somehow I think Toriyama may have heard of Bokurano at some point and decided to use it as a basis for the upcoming arc.

Then again, it's possible this may all be just a coincidence and Toriyama just thought about it. It's not the first time we see a huge death count in Dragon Ball, but not in this massive scale. Another possiblity why this is happening is something I thought of after a brief discussion at a Facebook group about the Omni-King. I mentioned that the Omni-King, or Zen-Oh, however you want to call him, may not be as omnipotent as we thought him to be. Evidence of this is from the Future Trunks arc, where we know that the Omni-King has no dominion over alternate timelines, and thus, we now have two Omni-Kings in the Prime Timeline.

I also mentioned that, based on what we've seen so far about the Omni-King, that he is very simple minded and will just act on his feelings rather than think about what he is doing. The Future Omni-King could've just destroyed Zamasu and that would be end of it. But instead, he destroyed the entire timeline for the simple reason being he doesn't like Zamasu. So everyone else who's not involved in the conflict gets wiped out anyway out of the Future Omni-King's whim. This got me thinking if one of the Omni-Kings (I suspect the Future one) thought about adding the stipulation in the tournament for the hell of it. I would also guess that one of the Omni-Kings (again I suspect the Future version) may have some malevolent thoughts on doing this. But this is just a theory and nobody knows for sure.

What is certain is that the arc begins in February, and the current arc right now in the Dragon Ball Super anime is a lead up to that. It's worth noting by the way, that the trailer did not include any scenes from the Toei version, which I would assume Toei hasn't produced those episodes yet, and that the Toyotaro manga will skip the current arc of the Toei version and begin the Universe Survival Arc right away, in line with the intention for the Toyotaro manga to be ahead of the anime.

So again, I'm disappointed with the added stipulation, but it's less than 2 months away, so anything can still happen. I don't expect much storywise on how this turns out. This is Dragon Ball Super after all, and not Ajin or Lupin III. Nevertheless, we'll see how this goes.

Suspending Episode Reviews For Now

The last couple of days (weeks, actually) has been especially hard for me personally that I've chosen to suspend my episode reviews for all my recent anime at least until I've gotten a better hand of the situation. I will continue to do full series reviews, and I plan to do that for Ajin, Drifters, Keijo, and Diamond is Unbreakable. I'm also working on an incredibly long review of Bee & Puppycat after seeing the final episodes and, if time willing, I'll do my Top Animes of 2016, of which I may put it out either before or after New Year's Day.

So again, sorry for being quiet, but please look forward to my future posts (and videos) soon.

Dragon Ball Super Ep. 70 Thoughts

It is the third episode of stand-alone, slice-of-life/comedy episode of Dragon Ball Super. And this one I will give my seal of approval for funniest episode yet. It's essentially an episode that, for the most part, doesn't really make much sense. But the writers from Toei decided to say 'screw it' and just write whatever is going on in that episode and mess it up a notch.

The plot of this week's episode of Dragon Ball Super is Champa challenging Beerus to a Baseball game as part of strengthening relations between the two universes. In reality, Champa was plotting to use the Baseball game as a distraction while he steals all the food on Earth. This is in spite of the fact that there already IS an Earth on Champa's universe (see what I mean with the 'not making sense' part?). Beerus accepts because he wants to win it. More importantly, there is a huge feast by the game's end.

So it's a rematch of sorts between Team Beerus and Team Champa, with Vegeta and Trunks joining Team Champa to fill in for the now imprisoned Frost and the missing Hit (who will appear in the next episode). Yamcha fills in for the missing Monaka. Trunks, Krillin, and Gohan also join in Team Beerus. Unfortunately, it seems Yamcha is the only one besides Whis and Vados who know a thing or two about Baseball.

It's a common meme among Dragon Ball fans of using Yamcha as the weakest of the Z Fighters and getting the butt end of jokes. It seems Toei caught wind of this and used it to the fullest, as Yamcha takes the receiving end of all the shenanigans everyone is doing in the game, with hilarious results. Yamcha's 'sacrifice', also gave Team Beerus the win.

Now because this is an episode that will not be featured in the Toyotaro manga, the Toei staff was totally lax in terms of the animation and writing of the episode, which can be seen with the naked eye. But I honestly don't mind this as you're not supposed to take this episode seriously, anyways. Besides, I had such a good time watching this episode that I wish Bandai Namco capitalize on it by making a Baseball game featuring various characters from Shonen Jump, with elements of the Kunio-kun/River City Ransom games for comedic effect. Having Yamcha break the fourth wall is a nice touch, as it's something rarely seen in a Dragon Ball series.

The Baseball episode definitely trumps the Arale episode from last week and is just a whole bucket of fun and laughter, of which I enjoy a lot. I do saw some people hating on it because it's not a serious plot-based episode, which is a shame because those people think Dragon Ball is like Batman or something, when it does not forget its roots as a light-hearted adventure series. Nevertheless, next week's episode features the return of Hit and is on really serious business regarding Goku. So if you want your action back, you're gonna get it.

Weekend Anime Rankings (Nov 28-Dec 4)

Latest Top 10 Anime Rankings from the week of Nov 28-Dec 4. For the second week in a row, One Piece remains among the Top 5 spot and even went up 1 place to No. 4. Time Bokan 24 returns after last week's absence, and the latest Precure series maintains its spot in the Top 10.

Here are the Top 10 as follows:

1. Sazae-san (12.5%)
2. Chibi Maruko-chan (9.3)
3. Crayon Shin-chan (8.9)
4. One Piece (8.2)
5. Doraemon (7.6)
6. Detective Conan (7.4)
7. Dragon Ball Super (7.1)
8. Time Bokan 24 (4.9)
9. Pokemon Sun & Moon (3.6)
10. Mahou Tsukai Precure (3.4)

Dragon Ball Super Ep. 69 Thoughts

We're now in the second week of stand alone/slice-of-life episodes of Dragon Ball Super, and this one is the anticipated 3rd (or was it 4th? I lost count) crossover between Dragon Ball and Dr. Slump.

Before I go into the episode, it's best for me to write a bit about Dr. Slump, as most of the Dragon Ball fanbase (especially those in the West), are not too familiar with it. Dr. Slump is an earlier work by Toriyama that became a major hit prior to writing Dragon Ball and is about the title character (real name Sembei Norimaki) who created an android named Arale to become his helper, which results into a series of misadventures for the little android. An anime adaption was made in the 80s, with a remake in the 90s. Arale has made a number of appearances throughout the Dragon Ball franchise, her first appearance was in the original series where she aids Goku in defeating Mercenary Tao (Tao Pai Pai).

It's worth noting that Dr. Slump, throughout its entire run, has always been a comedy series, whereas Dragon Ball started off as an adventure series before becoming an action series from Dragon Ball Z onwards. Dr. Slump also has its own set of lore completely separate from the Dragon Ball mythology. This is unlike Jaco The Galactic Patrolman, which is officially a spin-off of the Dragon Ball series as it's set in the same world.

In other words, because of Arale being made intentionally as a gag character, she has the advantage of beating down anyone in the Dragon Ball franchise for that simple reason.

Now that you got an idea about Dr. Slump. It makes watching this week's episode of Dragon Ball Super a little more sense. The episode has Dr. Slump beating Bulma at a Science Award for creating what Senbei calls a "Reality Making Machine Mk II", which is an anthropomorphic rice cooker who can materialize anything a person desires.

As Sembei celebrates his award, his old rival, Dr. Mashirito, who was killed back in the original manga, came back as a ghost to instill his revenge - by making a potion that increases Arale's playfulness by a hundred fold. This causes Arale to wreak havoc even to a point that she literally splits the Earth into two by simply knocking on the ground.

Vegeta is called in to defeat Arale, and much of this episode has Vegeta in the wrong end of the stick, as he gets pummeled quite humorously by Arale. This leaves Goku going Super Saiyan Blue against Arale, which cause worry as the two fighting would destroy Earth (even though Arale split it into two earlier). Taking cues from the final parts of the Kid Buu arc, Bulma uses a camera to address the worldwide audience to think of the most delicious food in the world at Senbei's invention to create a food that would get Beerus's attention. Beerus arrives and vaporizes Mashirito and is about to do the same towards Arale have it not for the food he ate being too much even for him to handle. The potion that affects Arale eventually wears off and everyone heads home, except for Vegeta, who is stuck in a branch somewhere.

I give this episode a 50/50 or 3 out of 5. On the one hand, it is more of a Dr. Slump episode than a Dragon Ball episode. As such, I was laughing a lot at the comedy and seeing poor Vegeta gets a mouthful of Arale's antics. My biggest disappointment is her fight with Goku, as other than a stalemate in Ki blasts, not much really happened. I really wanted to see Goku and Arale go all out, just to see how Arale can trump Goku at his full potential. Another disappointment is Beerus, who's only there briefly and almost instantaneously knocks away Arale and is on the verge of destroying her totally and easily had it not been for his diarrhea. I would have really preferred that Arale and Beerus get it on, for the simple reason this is more of a Dr. Slump episode. Sadly, but understandably, this was cut short due to the runtime.

It's a good episode and I enjoyed it for the laughs, but I really wish it was written and executed better. I highly doubt this episode will be featured in the Toyotaro manga as it is a stand-alone episode. In any event, it is good to see Arale again, and I encourage any Dragon Ball fan out there to check out Dr. Slump and see what placed Toriyama on the map.

Weekend Anime Rankings (Nov 21-27)

Here are the latest Top 10 Anime Rankings from the week of Nov 21-27th. Notable news here is One Piece making it back to the Top 5 spot while Detective Conan takes a dive down 3 places. The absense of Time Bokan 24 has allowed the latest Precure series to make it to the Top 10.

 

1. Sazae-san (14.2%)
2. Chibi Maruko-chan (10%)
3. Doraemon (8.6 %)
4. Crayon Shin-chan (8.2)
5. One Piece (7.3)
6. Dragon Ball Super (6.2)
7. Detective Conan (5.4)
8. Pokemon Sun & Moon 1 Hour Special (3.8)
9. Yokai Watch (3.7)
10. Mahou Tsukai Precure (3.4)

Dragon Ball Super Ep. 68 Thoughts

I find it weird that when it comes to Dragon Ball Super, the best episodes aren't the ones where we see Vegito, or Future Trunks, or the powerful villains, or epic fights. It's the episode where everyone lives out their normal lives and the shenanigans that come along with it. This week's episode "Come Forth, Shenron! Whose Wish Will Be Granted?!", is no exception.

Story is quite simple. The Dragon Balls from Earth are now active after it was used last time to find out about the Super Dragon Balls (which means a year has passed since the Champa Arc. So we are technically in the 2nd of the 10-year time gap between Kid Buu's defeat by Goku, and his meeting with Uub at the end of Dragon Ball Z). So Goku has decided to find the Dragon Balls again to keep his promise to revive King Kai. Apparently, there are still two wishes left that were unused (as Shenron can only be around at a set time before he disappears), so Shenron asks what those wishes are.

Unbeknownst to Goku, everyone else has their own plan of getting to Shenron and granting their wish - Bulma wants to obtain the material needed to power up the Time Machine she rebuilt after it was destroyed by Goku Black; No. 18 wants to find a gift for Krillin; Oolong and Master Roshi want, well, we all know what THEY want. Even the Pilaf gang want to take advantage of the situation and use the Dragon Balls to rule the world.

So we have one character after another popping up giving their own reasons for asking a wish from Shenron. Ultimately the first wish goes to Gohan to cure Pan of her illness, which is found to be incurable by modern medicine due to her Saiyan blood. It's weird considering Gohan, Goten, and Trunks are part-Saiyans as well and are able to live off healthy lives. But since this isn't a major plot, I'm willing to forgive Toei's writing on this loophole.

Later Bulma, determined to have her wish granted, solves the problems of the rest of the cast - she tells 18 that what Krillin wants are her and Marron's happiness; she orders some call girls to hang out with Roshi for 10 Million Zeni; paid 18 even more Zeni to get rid of Oolong; Goten and Trunks apparently don't know WHAT they wish for; and Pilaf gets wasted.

This leaves Goku and Bulma's wishes. Goku agrees to help Bulma find the mineral for the Time Machine in exchange for granting his wish. However, Goku is concerned about traveling to the Earth's core as magma would kill him, thus Bulma's assist on giving him a special suit. It may seem weird given Goku's incredible power, but in actuality it does bring credence. Ki-based attacks are not exactly similar to a flamethrower, TNT, or even a laser. Rather it's more akin to be hit by a powerful punch. This is very much evident in Dragon Ball when Goku used the Kamehameha for the first time to knock over a car, rather than see it blown to bits.

Recall the Resurrection F arc where Vegeta was among those killed by Frieza due to the destruction of Earth. So even a Super Saiyan Blue is not immune to a planetary explosion. It also means Vegeta's fight against Magetta in the Champa was indeed a dangerous one because of Magetta's lava being capable of melting Vegeta had he not have the means to protect himself from it.

Sadly, Beerus and Whis found out about Bulma attempting to Time Travel and foiled her plan by destroying the mineral she's looking for, the Time Machine itself, AND the notes left by the Future Bulma.

And does anyone honestly think Goku would keep his end of the bargain? Of course not! So with time ran out, the Dragon Balls are dispersed once again, much to King Kai's dismay.

What I enjoy most of this episode is actually 18. From what I can recall, she is the only Dragon Ball Z character that was never given a light-hearted moment as she always looked dead serious. While the episode did not give her a funny reaction face, her blushing is a good consolation and shows that even someone like 18 can have such moments. It also shows her character rarely seen throughout Dragon Ball as being a very caring mother and devoted wife to Krillin, while also jumping at the chance to get a LOT of money for next to nothing.

So once again, these slice-of-life (for lack of a better term) episodes are what really give Dragon Ball Super its shine. I'm not surprised at those turned off by this, but this is what made the original Dragon Ball popular and Super isn't afraid to return its roots, which I find it very welcoming. This is especially in the case of next week's episode, where Goku and the mighty Arale square off.

Weekend Anime Rankings (Nov 14-20)

Here's the latest weekend Anime Top Rankings as noted from Video Research Ltd.

1. Sazae-san (12.8%)
2. Crayon Shin-chan (9.1%)
3. Chibi Maruko-chan (8.8)
4. Detective Conan (8.6)
5. Doraemon (7.6)
6. One Piece (7.1)
7. Dragon Ball Super (6.7)
8. Time Bokan 24 (4.9)
9. Pokemon Sun & Moon 1-Hour Special (4.4)
10. Yokai Watch (4.3)

Dragon Ball Fusions Online Content for US Slated for 2017

If you haven't already, Dragon Ball Fusions for the 3DS is finally available in English for US players. Crunchyroll reports that the online features for the game will be available early 2017. 

For those not in the know, Dragon Ball Fusions is an RPG game for the 3DS that, as the name suggests, focuses primarily on fusions. Via the "EX Fusions", players can have the opportunity to fuse several characters throughout Dragon Ball's history. Possible fusions include "Karoli" (Broly & Goku), "Beerusuis" (Beerus & Whis), "Vegenks" (Vegeta & Trunks), "Pandel" (Pan & Videl), "Toware"(Towa & Arale), "Majin Satan" (Buu & Satan), and many more.

Recently, the Japanese version has a special online quest that gives players the opportunity to obtain Goku Black, Zamasu, and Future Trunks from the now completed "Future Trunks Arc" from Dragon Ball Super.

You can watch the trailer of the game below:

And if you want to grab a copy of the game, you can order one right now from Play-Asia for $29.99.

Dragon Ball Super Future Trunks Arc Review

So the Future Trunks Arc has reached its conclusion. Looking back, this is also the longest out of all the arcs in Dragon Ball Super or DBS, lasting 20 episodes, or almost a long season of around 20-25 episodes. Still, it's much shorter compared to the episodes from the Frieza Arc in Dragon Ball Z. There were also a few weeks of breaks because Fuji TV, the Japanese broadcaster for Dragon Ball Super, were providing live events like this year's Olympics. So it feels like we've been watching the arc in like forever.

I can blame it on the fact that most anime nowadays end their seasons, if not the series altogether, within the range of 10-26 episodes. Others like JoJo's Bizarre Adventure tend to run longer around the 40-50 episode mark or so. And then of course, shows like Naruto, One Piece, Pokemon, and Detective Conan that tend to be like literally forever, airing in the hundreds, if not thousands, over several years, if not decades.

Dragon Ball Super, technically speaking, is among the latter, despite being the first series to air almost 20 years after the end of Dragon Ball Z. With the announcement of a 'Dragon Ball Room' by Shueisha, the publisher for the Dragon Ball mangas, including Toyotaro's Dragon Ball Super, we can expect the Dragon Ball franchise to continue for many years to come, even after Dragon Ball Super reached its conclusion. I am a bit concerned how they will do it though, especially in the anime format, given that Masako Nozawa, the Japanese voice of Goku, Gohan, & Goten, is now 80 years of age. Don't get me wrong, Nozawa-san is still very strong for a voice actress, but it is a wonder if she can continue this role for the next 20 years or even more. But I won't be putting too much thought into that for the time being.

I'll talk first on the one thing the series is getting quite the bad rap since last year, and that is its animation. Regardless of what everyone says, the bad animation in Dragon Ball Super is there, and is quite noticeable. Not to say the earlier Dragon Ball shows have any bad animation, as they actually do. Just not as frequent and not as noticeable that it would make headlines even in the dial-up era of the Internet. Toei has at least acknowledged this and did something about it, making it less frequent and less noticeable. You can still still see them, if you have quite a good eye.

Toei has also placed focus on specific scenes of the Future Trunks arc where the animation itself is mind-blowing, a practice known as Sakuga. One Punch Man and the films from Studio Ghibli are examples of Sakuga-style animation, with virtually no signs of bad animation at all. In the case of Dragon Ball Super, we can see the Sakuga on key battle sequences, such as the first fight between Trunks and Goku Black, and more recently with Vegito's fight against Merged Zamasu, and later, with Trunks and his Spirit Blade.

Question remains on whether Toei will continue to do this or improve as the series progresses. Personally, I don't think Dragon Ball Super will ever reach a point where an episode onwards are all done in Sakuga. Toei is the largest animation studio in Japan. However, they have a lot of projects working at the same time as DBS - One Piece, Sailor Moon Crystal, Digimon, Tiger Mask W, and others. The studio should be aware at this point that Dragon Ball Super is being watched worldwide now, and not just in Japan. Given Dragon Ball's reputation, Toei has to deliver the product well and not just rely on fanbase loyalty for the franchise to maintain its popularity.

Which leads us to the writing part of Dragon Ball Super. Just to remind everyone, Akira Toriyama, the creator of Dragon Ball, only provides a draft outline on various key plot points in Dragon Ball Super. So if the outline says it is Trunks who will defeat Zamasu and NOT Vegito, then it is Trunks who will defeat Zamasu, NOT Vegito. You will see that in the Toei anime, and you will also see that in the Toyotaro manga. But the details and the lead-up to Trunks defeating Zamasu, that will be filled i by Toei in the anime, and Toyotaro in the manga. It is at this point that the two versions diverge.

Having said that, fans are split over the presentation of the plot of the Future Trunks arc. On the one hand, they love that Future Trunks returns and are amazed at the feats he has done in this arc, and by extension, Vegeta. Goku Black and Zamasu being incredibly powerful villains, and of course the return of Vegito. Mai and Bulma are also given a more active role in this arc, as well as the number of throwbacks to the original Dragon Ball series. 

On the other hand, the Future Trunks arc had several retcons and plotholes that changes, if not totally disregards, the establishment of the Dragon Ball mythology up to this point. One I made an 8 minute recording of because it was what I really didn't like in this arc at the time. I haven't made a video about that particular subject until now. So for the next 8 minutes, you will hear a pre-recording of me from November 1st voicing my thoughts on that one particular subject:

(click the link here for a transcript on my rants regarding the Future Trunks Timeline Chart)

So what you just heard was an older recording of me ranting over the way Toei handled the chronology of events regarding the Future Trunks arc, which was done around November 1st. Looking back, it did remind me of the Official 30th Anniversary website of Dragon Ball Super that provided an updated, yet truncated version of the history of the Dragon Ball series that led to a bunch of complaints, just as I have issues with the way the timeline is explained in the Future Trunks arc. I would not be surprised if somewhere down the road, Shueisha and Toei would update on these things in hopes of making it more easier to understand, if not worse.

The other is something that I have been always critical of with regards to Dragon Ball, and that is its overuse of the Power-Up Trope - To defeat the villain, the hero must grow stronger than the villain; To challenge the hero, the next villain must be even stronger; Rinse and Repeat. It's reaching a point where the trope cannot be used anymore because the power scaling simply can't go any further without some kind of nerfing or downpowering involved.

Imagine this. Say Goku has reached a point that he is so powerful he can destroy all of creation with a thought. How do you make a villain that will top that and challenge Goku WITHOUT nerfing? How do you make Goku even stronger than that to defeat the said villain? How do you make the next villain even MORE powerful?

If anyone who watches this video, or read my transcript version on my Toon Inferno blog (which is what you are reading now), is able to come up with a very convincing solution to my earlier example, go to Japan, go to Toei and Shueisha and Toriyama, and show them your proposal. I'm serious! If you can pull it off, you're one hell of a genius writer and you should be hired in the Dragon Ball Room!

Going back to DBS, as of Episode 66 of the Toei anime, everything regarding Battle Power or Power Level scaling has been disregarded. I've explained it on my episode review on my Toon Inferno blog, but the short version is Vegito, as a Super Saiyan Blue, could've, should've, would've, surpassed Beerus in power, meaning Vegito's attacks is supposed to break all of Universe 7. However, not only was Universe 7 completely fine and not in danger of being destroyed by Vegito's power, but in spite of all this, Vegito did not defeat Zamasu, Trunks did.

Only time will tell if the disregard of Battle Power scaling will continue past this arc. Personally, I'd prefer the Power-Up Trope is retired in Dragon Ball for good, and force Goku and Vegeta to learn that you can't always win by pure raw power alone. Even better if everyone gets to fight on a level playing field, much like the original Dragon Ball series back then.

There is also another part of the Future Trunks arc that totally irritates me. In both the Toei anime and the Toyotaro manga, it is stated that in spite of being a married couple for so many years and having two kids, Goku has NEVER kissed Chichi on the lips. It's just hard for me to fathom how is that even possible. Even more mind boggling is that it also implies that Chichi never initiated it either! So if they never ever kissed, and they are married, how in the world they convinced each other to have two kids?!

In closing (for real this time), the Future Trunks arc has its share of problems. But looking at it on a grander scale and comparing it to the other arcs throughout Dragon Ball Super, the Future Trunks arc is the best of the bunch. I don't see any way to say otherwise. And I do commend Toei for their improvement of the series with this arc, presentation-wise, of course. Not a great one, but an improvement nonetheless. I do hope that Toei continues to make improvements so that Dragon Ball Super can be as critically good as its competition.

Yes it has its fanbase and they will always say Dragon Ball is the best anime ever, no matter how many problems the franchise has. What I mean is for Dragon Ball reaching the same praise as the Hayao Miyazaki films like Spirited Away and attracts the Anime Community and the General Public, and not just Dragon Ball fans. DBS is nowhere close to that, but if Toei, Shueisha, and Toriyama really worked hard and invested on it, it can reach that point. We'll just have to wait and see if they actually do.

Ranting DBS's Future Trunks Timeline Chart

The following is a transcript of a recording I made on November 1st after seeing Toei's Official Timeline of the events of the Future Trunks arc in Dragon Ball Super. This article serves as a reference to my next blog post, which is another transcript providing a review of the entire Future Trunks arc. 

If there is one thing I'm not fond of with regards to Toei as a company, it's when they deal with science fiction. You could say Power Rangers is Sci-Fi, or even Captain Harlock as Sci-Fi. But neither one has the sophistication or charm like Star Trek, or Doctor Who, or the Gundam franchise. I am fine when a non sci-fi shows uses elements of sci-fi at the basic minimum, or as a gag. But when trying to apply it seriously on a series like Dragon Ball Super, it hurts my brain so much, it's frustrating. And this is Shonen anime! It's not supposed to be this complicated!

I'm willing to admit I am wrong if anyone can prove to me that an average 9 year old knows how to read the equations of Einstein's Theory of Relativity. But if that's too much, then why Toei's explanation of time travel in DBS, so-frustratingly-difficult?

So after carefully observing Toei's explanation of the events of the Future Trunks arc, and the interpretations of some people, I came up with my own conclusion on how this is supposed to work.

Now, before I go further, I want to make a few things clear. Although I am a fan of the Dragon Ball franchise, I'm not an expert on the subject. There are others who are far more knowledgeable and know the teeny little details of Dragon Ball than I ever will be. But I'm now at a certain age where I no longer watch a show like Dragon Ball just to see who's fighting who, like back in the days of Dragon Ball Z. I want to understand the plot. It's hard for me to appreciate any work of which I have a hard time understanding what's going on. As non-sensical as Alice in Wonderland is, for example, I totally get it.

So when it comes to me interpreting Toei's chronology of events of the Future Trunks arc in Dragon Ball Super, this is just my own take on it, just for sake that it makes sense to me. Whether you agree or disagree with what I think, that is irrelevant. You can go with what others are saying about it, it's not an issue for me. I'm not here to challenge others' interpretations of the timeline. This is neither the right way or the wrong way to approach it. Just my own take on the whole thing and nothing more.

Finally my observation of the timeline of events of the Future Trunks arc is SPECIFICALLY from the Anime version of Dragon Ball Super by Toei. At no point will I reference the Toyotaro manga, as the manga is its own thing and it will have a different explanation of the timeline of events of the Future Trunks arc. Again, this is for the Toei Anime and ONLY for the Toei Anime.

Before we get to Toei's chart of what happened, a recap of how time travel works and how it affects the world of Dragon Ball. To keep it simple, I will use the scene from The Flash TV series in which Barry Allen explains the events of Flashpoint.

When Barry goes back in time to save his mother from being murdered by Zoom, instead of altering history like he initially thought, he created an alternate timeline where his mother lived, and that caused a ripple effect, giving an entirely different history. But as things go bad and Barry is forced to let his mother die again, and going back in time to do exactly just that, instead of going back to the Prime Timeline before everything happened, Barry created another alternate timeline.

So by going back in time and change something in the past, rather than alter history, you simply create an alternate timeline or reality. Even J.J. Abram's Star Trek movies used this plot device to differentiate itself from the previous Star Trek works by Gene Roddenberry, and later by Rick Berman. This also applies in Dragon Ball Z when the Future Trunks goes back in time to prevent Goku from dying from the heart virus back then, as well as to defeat the Androids. Two timelines where created as a result - the Prime Timeline, where the main story of Dragon Ball takes place, and the Future Trunk's timeline, of which he is the last Z Fighter. Other timelines were made along the way, but we will focus on these two as they play a crucial role in Dragon Ball Super.

In the Future Trunks arc, Future Trunks went back to the Prime Timeline to warn Goku and company about Black. Unintentionally, this led to a series of events that resulted in Black's creation in the Prime Timeline. Fast Forward to when Zamasu kills Gowasu, Whis turns back time by 3 minutes, allowing Beerus to kill Zamasu.

Let's scratch that for a moment and say Beerus never intervened. After Zamasu kills Gowasu, he steals the Time Ring and uses it to go forwards in time by one year, in order for the Super Dragon Balls to be reactivated, since Beerus used it last time to restore the Earth of Universe 6 in the Champa arc. Zamasu at that point wishes to switch bodies with Goku, creating Goku Black.

After killing Chichi and Goten, Black then uses the Time Ring to travel to Future Trunks's timeline, meets that version of Zamasu, and instigate their Zero Mortals Plan. Now Black could've just done it in the other timelines and succeeded with little to virtually no resistance. But other than plot convenience, Future Trunks's timeline is chosen to punish Trunks for being the catalyst of this whole thing because of his time travelling.

Now let's go back to Beerus killing the Zamasu of the Prime Timeline. This, according to Beerus, should've prevented Black from being created. However, Black still exists in Future Trunks's timeline despite this, and Black explains that the Time Ring protected him from the Time Paradox caused by Beerus killing his past self in the Prime Timeline.

From my point of view, that was clear cut. Everything took place within the two timelines and the Time Ring does, for the lack of a better word, an 'asspull', to explain why Black is unaffected by the paradox. Metaphorically speaking, it's like a game of Yu Gi Oh where your opponent has all the Egyptian God Cards AND the full Exodia set in play that should've been an automatic win, but you had a card that prevents all of that from happening. Magic does exist in the world of Dragon Ball, though like others such as Psychic Powers, etc., it is less common and not much explored in favor of martial arts and Ki manipulation.

However, according to Toei's chart, ANOTHER timeline was created that brought the events that made Goku Black exist. This was contradictory to what was highly suggested in the Anime itself in which Black came from the Prime Timeline. Going with what the Toei chart is suggesting, one way to interpret it, whether that's what Toei meant or not, the moment which Zamasu was going to kill Gowasu is what created a Time Split - one where Zamasu failed and is killed by Beerus, thus the Prime Timeline we know now; and the one where he succeeds and becomes Goku Black.

This raises a lot of questions and confusions with regards to the technicality of all this happening. It's highly doubtful Beerus and Whis have no idea they'd create an alternate timeline by stopping Zamasu. And both are certain there will be no Time Split and the later episodes suggest it as much. Think about it. If by using Whis's power to rewind time by 3 minutes to change something actually created another timeline, then we should have another Time Split in Resurrection F in which Frieza killed everyone on Earth except those who were with Beerus. But as far as I know, nothing in Dragon Ball Super, be it Anime or Manga, or from anything Toei or Shueisha, the publisher for the Dragon Ball manga, ever mentioned a Time Split in Resurrection F.

But according to Toei's chart, a 3rd timeline was created, which is the part where Zamasu succeeds in killing Gowasu and becomes Goku Black.

This is why I'm saying Toei totally sucks at this when it comes to writing science-fiction. It just baffles me that Toei makes this so complicated for an Anime series aimed at young boys, but can also be seen by the general audience, because it airs 9 am on Sundays in Japan. If Dragon Ball were to air in the same timeslot as other late-night Anime like Drifters, for example, then Toei can throw in the complicated stuff, since the majority watching it would be the adult Anime Otaku.

It was easier for me to understand if everything is still set within the two timelines and what I explained earlier. And then they had to come up with this chart. But that's what they say it happened, so whether we like or not, gotta go with it. And the way I interpret it is, a time split happened. Others would explain it differently. Again, I'm not saying I'm right or wrong. This is just the way I see it. It's fine by me if you agree with what I say on this, or you prefer someone else's explanation. Important thing is that Black still existed despite all what happened up until he fused with Zamasu to become, well....."Zamasu".

So in closing, I blame Toei for the complications surrounding the history of events of the Future Trunks arc, by making this chart. Overall, Toei and their writing staff have been struggling to provide a very good narrative of Dragon Ball Super. It's been that way since the very first arc. They have improved a bit on the current arc with their added manpower and resources, and it shows. Plus the numerous breaks the show had due to events like the Olympics and other live events from Fuji TV and overseas, did give Toei time to polish up a bit. It's just that when it comes to them explaining the timeline of the Future Trunks arc, they screwed it up. They should have just left it alone and let the narrative of the Anime speak for itself.

Dragon Ball Super Makes The Top 5

With Crayon Shin-chan and Doraemon not airing last weekend, this pushes Dragon Ball Super and One Piece into the Top 5, a feat not often seen by the Strong 9 Block.

The full link is here:
http://www.videor.co.jp/data/ratedata/top10.htm

And for those who cannot read Japanese, here's the translated list:

1. Sazae-san (12.0%)
2. Chibi Maruko-chan (9.6%)
3. One Piece (6.8)
4. Dragon Ball Super (6.6)
5. Detective Conan (5.9)
6. Curious George (3.3)
7. Yokai Watch (3.1)
8. Pokemon X Y & Z (3.0)
9. Time Bokan 24 (2.9)
10. Anpanman & Shawn The Sheep (Tied at 2.8)

Weekend Anime Ratings in Japan (Nov. 5-6)

A few days ago, Crunchyroll (via iTech) posted a report saying that the recent episode of Dragon Ball Super has overtaken One Piece in total viewer ratings. However, no credible source of info was ever given. Nonetheless, many took the report seriously.

Well, here it is. The OFFICIAL weekend ratings on shows that aired on Japanese TV, as reported by Video Research Ltd (the Japanese counterpart to the Nielsen Ratings in the US).

http://www.videor.co.jp/data/ratedata/top10.htm




Screenshot:

For those unable to speak Japanese, here are the Top 10 most watched Anime from Nov. 4-6.

1. Sazae-san (13.1 Million)
2. Chibi Maruko-chan (8.8 Million)
3. Doraemon (8.6)
4. Crayon Shin-chan (8.3)
5. Detective Conan (6.5)
6. One Piece (6.4)
7. Dragon Ball Super (5.7)
8. Time Bokan 24 (3.7)
9. Yokai Watch (3.6)
10. Curious George (3.1)