Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball Z remains one of the greatest milestones in anime history, achieving the level of fame and recognition that very few titles have matched. For many fans, especially in the West, Dragon Ball Z served as the gateway into the Dragon Ball universe. More than just a series, Toriyama’s masterpiece helped bring anime into mainstream conversations and established the style as a widely popular form of entertainment.
Toriyama left behind a rich legacy by giving the world Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, and even Dragon Ball Super — a series he oversaw editorially, while his long-time friend and collaborator, Toyotarou, illustrated it. He popularized the iconic Super Saiyan transformations, which became a defining facet of the Dragon Ball Z franchise. While Dragon Ball Z defined the Super Saiyan transformations as narratively significant events, Dragon Ball Super introduced new forms at a faster pace, arguably diminishing their impact. This introduction of a new transformation paradigm is a point of contention that tells fans that it is the end of an era for the classic SSJ-style transformations.
Goku’s Super Saiyan Transformations
Toriyama established Dragon Ball Z as one of the defining works of the shōnen manga genre, which set the standard for tropes such as escalating power levels and dramatic transformations. Goku’s Super Saiyan transformations are unforgettable, and there’s a relatively high degree of aesthetic and narrative importance attached to them. These epic moments pushed Goku’s physical and emotional boundaries, as well as contributed to his popularity. They are part of the reason why the series is seen as a landmark in manga and anime history.
The Super Saiyan transformations were more than just Goku’s power boosts; instead, they went on to define his character, emotional, and physical struggles. As such, they hold immense importance for kids growing up in the late 1990s and early 2000s, especially in the West. Goku’s Super Saiyan transformation against Frieza on Namek is an unforgettable moment, and a shared memory for an entire generation of fans, especially in the West.
Dragon Ball Z And Transformations In The Shōnen Genre
Transformations In Dragon Ball Z Vs. Dragon Ball Super
Transformations, a foundational concept in the shōnen battle genre, were popularized by Dragon Ball Z through Goku’s unforgettable Super Saiyan form. These legendary and unforgettable motifs became a blueprint for the successive shōnen series. But here is the catch: the recently released Dragon Ball Super manga bid goodbye to the traditional Super Saiyan form and gave characters new and unique transformations.
Toyotarou showed a wave of transformations in Dragon Ball Super: Vegeta attained Ultra Ego, Goku Ultra Instinct, Broly unlocked green-haired Full Power Super Saiyan form, and Piccolo and Gohan gained their Orange and Beast forms, respectively. These transformations pointed out that a new era for the Dragon Ball franchise is underway. This signaled a shift away from the legacy motif and towards a more diverse set of power evolutions.
Unlike the legacy Super Saiyan transformations, the new forms in Dragon Ball Super are devoid of any emotional weight and function more as strategic and stylistic evolutions. They undoubtedly carry a visual appeal but have a lower narrative appeal, compared to Goku and Gohan’s transformations in Dragon Ball Z. The new forms undoubtedly have a new visual aura, but their significance has diminished because of their frequent introduction. The unique colors without the emotional build-up of the originals have undoubtedly diminished the impact of these transformations. In no way can they be compared to the epic transformations of the past.
The Emotional Impact Of The Original Super Saiyan Forms
The original Super Saiyan transformations carried the weight of the story’s climax. They came only after sufficient narrative build-up, making them feel more than mere power-ups but climactic and hard-earned rewards born from immense physical and emotional toil. Each transformation was directly supported by sufficient build-up; take, for example, Super Saiyan Goku was unlocked after he experienced grief and rage watching Frieza kill Krillin. This event is one of the most emotionally charged events and an unforgettable moment in the entire franchise. It is also the key reason why fans resonate more with Dragon Ball Z than with later installments. Moreover, the rapid and strategic power-ups in the later installments remain their most common critique to this day.
The Shift In Dragon Ball Super’s Narrative
By now, it’s sufficiently clear that Dragon Ball Super introduced a transformation paradigm that hasn’t quite struck a chord with as many viewers. By leaving the narrative model of Dragon Ball Z behind, the ongoing Dragon Ball Super has diminished the impact of vibrant power-ups. These transformations have also lost core appeal with the veteran fans of the Dragon Ball franchise, on account of their frequent introduction in the story.
While there is no denying that the newer transformations serve as a spectacle of visuals, they ultimately serve as an indication that the future of Dragon Ball Super manga under Toyotarou is moving solely towards a power-focused storyline. This is a huge injustice to its narrative philosophy, but signals the coming of a new era. A more straightforward storyline is a sign of a new time. Since Goku’s Super Saiyan against Frieza and Gohan’s Super Saiyan 2 were hard-earned milestones, they were, therefore, visually spectacular too. What made them memorable was the emotional weight behind them. Audiences resonated with them, and they didn’t need to be flashy to stand out.
The Only Exception In Dragon Ball Super’s Power-Up Narrative
Broly’s Full Power Super Saiyan form remains a unique exception in Dragon Ball Super’s power-up narrative. For one, his character and this transformation were made canon in the movie Dragon Ball Super: Broly, marking progress in his journey. Unlike Goku's Ultra Instinct and Vegeta’s Ultra Ego, Broly’s transformation is an emotional breakthrough, fueled by his rage and suppressed power. It took place much like the original transformations in Dragon Ball Z.
Can Dragon Ball Super Go Back To Legacy Super Saiyan Transformations?
Dragon Ball Super can go back to traditional Super Saiyan style transformations in the future. With fiction, creators are blessed with the freedom to take any creative leap and steer the story in a new direction. That said, this narrative shift would require a massive change in the current direction of the story, and that seems difficult to execute, especially in the absence of Toriyama. His successors may prioritize innovations over tradition, but revisiting the SSJ-style transformations will only increase the narrative weight of the story and give the characters adequate development that many will feel has been diluted over time.
In long-standing franchises, in this case Dragon Ball, the clash between innovation and tradition is a common point of contention between older and newer fans. But those who have watched the series since its early days will know that the characters don’t feel as compelling anymore in the absence of adequate development being given to them. While Dragon Ball IP continues to expand in different directions, the narratively hard-earned Super Saiyan transformations remain the defining feature of the franchise that went towards cementing Dragon Ball Z’s legacy.
Dragon Ball Z paved the way for shōnen hits such as My Hero Academia, Naruto, and Bleach. It is considered a must-watch for fans of the shōnen genre. It is easily accessible and available to watch on Crunchyroll.
Dragon Ball
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- 1986 - 1989
