Unlike the original Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z anime, which were both based on Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball manga, Dragon Ball Super was handled very differently. Kicking off with the last two Dragon Ball Z movies – Battle of Gods and Resurrection F – both the Dragon Ball Super anime and manga ran concurrently, based on Akira Toriyama's notes and outlines for the series. This resulted in each adaptation making unique choices for each arc, which often resulted in the stories being told wildly differently.
Rearrange the covers into the correct US release order.
Rearrange the covers into the correct US release order.
There are big enough differences between the Dragon Ball Super anime and manga that the new Dragon Ball Super anime remake (starting off with Dragon Ball Super: Beerus) will be adapting manga-exclusive scenes to keep the new series fresh. Whether the anime or manga's version of the arcs are better has been a hot button issue for Dragon Ball Super fans, as a result. Each medium had different highs and lows, and completely different priorities between Toei Animation and Toyotarou.
Dragon Ball Super - Complete Series - Blu-ray
9 Battle of Gods: Movie
Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods brought the series back after years of no new material. Written by Akira Toriyama himself, Battle of Gods is an amazing epilogue to the original Dragon Ball manga that shows off the full extent of Vegeta's character development, tying Dragon Ball's main themes to Goku's character, and introducing a villain that simply cannot be beaten. Sadly, neither the Dragon Ball Super anime nor manga did a good job in adapting the film into a new format.
The Dragon Ball Super anime's version of Battle of Gods is horribly animated and drags the pace out to an absolute crawl, filled with filler and tedious moments for the supporting cast. The Dragon Ball Super manga has the opposite problem: it's way too rushed and skips plenty of amazing moments in order to power through the story as fast as possible. Fortunately, Dragon Ball Super: Beerus looks like a huge improvement over the anime and manga, and will hopefully be even better than the movie version of Battle of Gods once the Dragon Ball Super anime remake begins this Fall.
8 Resurrection F: Movie
Just like with Battle of Gods, the best version of Resurrection F is the movie. The film is fast-paced, features great animation and fight choreography, and is thematically cohesive, centering Goku, Vegeta, Gohan, and Frieza's character arcs around their personal failures. On top of being horribly animated, Dragon Ball Super anime's version of Resurrection F is just a nightmare pacing-wise, bogging itself down with nonsensical filler and slice-of-life scenes that amount to absolutely nothing.
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Dragon Ball Super's Z-Fighters are stronger than ever, with the top five warriors sporting absurdly overpowered forms that make them God-tier.
Many fans don't know this, but there actually was a manga version of Resurrection F drawn by Toyotarou before he started working on the Dragon Ball Super manga (hence why it's skipped in that adaptation). The manga version is actually very well drawn and paced, but unfortunately ends before Goku's fight with Frieza, leaving the story incomplete in the manga format. In the end, the Resurrection F manga was just a promotion for the movie, and it shows.
7 Universe 6 Tournament: Anime
The Universe 6 Tournament was Dragon Ball Super's first original arc, and one of the most exciting sagas at the time of its release. For the first time in a very long time, it felt like anything could happen in Dragon Ball. For what it's worth, the Dragon Ball Super manga's version of the Tournament of Destroyers isn't bad by any means, but the manga was still running at a reduced page count, which resulted in the main fights feeling much too short.
The Dragon Ball Super anime gives each battle the room it needs to breathe, while building towards the final fight between Goku and Hit. The biggest difference between the Dragon Ball Super anime and manga is how Goku overpowers Hit. In the manga, Super Saiyan Blue is just that strong, and the only reason Vegeta lost is because he ran out of Ki after showing SSB to Cabba. The anime goes in a much more epic direction, having Goku bust out Kaioken for the first time since the Frieza Saga, using Super Saiyan Blue Kaioken's overwhelming power to back Hit into a corner (all while the anime's main opening theme plays).
6 Goku Black: Manga
Controversial opinion incoming, but the Goku Black Saga is a lot better in the Dragon Ball Super manga. The Dragon Ball Super anime's introductory episode for the arc is great, as is the mystery of who Goku Black is, but everything else in the arc is so much worse than the manga. The power-scaling simply does not work, Goku acts like a complete moron, and the back & forth trips between the present and future utterly destroy the anime's pacing.
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Vegeta fights in some of Dragon Ball's most iconic and violent battles, pushing himself to surpass Goku by any means necessary.
The Dragon Ball Super manga resolves the Goku Black mystery quickly in order to focus on actual character development for Trunks and getting to the meat of the story: Zamasu and Goku Black's relationship. Zamasu is also a much more complex and interesting character in the manga, whose flaws are far more pronounced. The action is much better in the manga, too, featuring fights with Super Saiyan Goku Black, and a battle between Super Saiyan Blue Goku and Fused Zamasu that's leagues better than Trunks pulling out Super Saiyan Rage and the Sword of Hope out of nowhere.
5 Tournament of Power: Tie
The Tournament of Power is very different between the Dragon Ball Super anime and manga, featuring different highs and lows. The Universe Survival Saga is different enough where there is no clear winner between the two, it's really a matter of your own personal tastes. The Dragon Ball Super anime has a much slower-paced Tournament of Power that gives focus to virtually every single fight, whereas the Dragon Ball Super manga actually makes the Tournament of Power feel like a chaotic battle royale where anything can happen.
Where each version of the arc succeeds is also completely different between both mediums. The Dragon Ball Super anime has a better final fight between Goku, Frieza, and Android 17 against Jiren, but the Dragon Ball Super manga has the far superior version of Goku unlocking Ultra Instinct, tying the transformation to all his studies & relationship with Master Roshi, as opposed to having him trigger the form by nearly dying. Either way, the Tournament of Power is excellent in both the anime and manga.
4 Broly: Movie Only
For the time being, Dragon Ball Super: Broly is the only version of the story arc. The Dragon Ball Super manga ultimately skips adapting the film entirely in order to get to the Moro arc. The most the manga gives readers is a promo shot of Goku & Vegeta fighting Broly, and later a very rushed flashback of the film in the Granolah the Survivor Saga. Hopefully, the Dragon Ball Super anime remake will eventually get to Broly and gives the film some more love.
As is, though, Dragon Ball Super: Broly is nothing short of amazing and easily the best movie in the franchise. The film's prologue depicting the end of Planet Vegeta and adapting Dragon Ball Minus is beautifully emotional. Broly's character arc serves as a strong anchor for the film, his development driving the plot forward while himself, Goku, and Vegeta are all thematically tied by the sins of their fathers. And this is to say nothing of Dragon Ball Super: Broly's outstanding animation, fight choreography, and soundtrack.
3 Galactic Patrol Prisoner: Manga (For Now)
Also called the Moro arc, the Galactic Patrol Prisoner Saga is arguably the best storyline in all of Dragon Ball Super. Moro is a fantastic villain who feels right at home with Dragon Ball Z's best antagonists, and the saga's character development for Vegeta and Goku is the best they get in all of Dragon Ball Super.
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Only the manga version exists for now, but the new Dragon Ball Super: The Galactic Patrol anime has the chance to outdo its source material. The anime can flesh out the Z-Fighters' battles against Moro and use animation & music to really enhance Toyotarou's already incredible fight scenes. If all goes well, the best version of the Moro Saga will be found in the anime.
2 Granolah the Survivor: Manga Only
It's going to be a long time until the Dragon Ball Super anime finally gets around to adapting the Granolah the Survivor Saga – likely two to three years, at least – so for the time being, the best version of the arc is the only one that exists: the manga. The Granolah the Survivor Saga is an excellent follow-up to the Moro Saga, telling a more personal story framed through the sole surviving Cerealian, Granolah, a young man who lost his race and family in a genocide committed by the Saiyans.
The Granolah the Survivor Saga features excellent character development for Vegeta as he carries the weight of the Saiyans on his back, has Goku finally take pride in his Saiyan heritage, and features Bardock in a major role for the first time since the Dragon Ball Super: Broly prologue.The fights are excellent, introducing a ferocious fighter in Gas, creative techniques via Granolah, Goku fully mastering Ultra Instinct, and Vegeta unlocking his first new form in years: Ultra Ego.
1 Super Hero: Manga
The Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero movie is great, but the manga is amazing. Toyotarou fleshes out every single version of the film, resulting in a manga adaptation that features better character development for the entire cast, amazing fight scenes, and excellent world-building. The Dragon Ball Super manga's Super Hero Saga features a prologue and epilogue that serves to bookend the movie.
The prologue is called the High School Saga and introduces Dr. Hedo early in a story focusing on Goten and Trunks. The Dragon Ball Super epilogue takes place right after the film, dealing with the remnants of the Red Ribbon Army and reuniting Goku and Gohan for one of the best fights in the series. The Super Hero Saga is so good, it'll make you wish Toyotarou took the time to adapt Dragon Ball Super: Broly properly.
- Release Date
- 2015 - 2018
- Network
- Fuji TV
- Showrunner
- Tatsuya Nagamine
Cast
-
Masakazu MoritaWhis (voice) -
Masako NozawaSon Goku/Goku Black/Son Gohan/Son Goten (voices)
WHERE TO WATCH
- Directors
- Ryota Nakamura, Masanori Sato, Kenichi Takeshita, Takao Iwai, Hideki Hiroshima, Masato Mitsuka, Kazuya Karasawa, Ayumu Ono, Takahiro Imamura, Tatsuya Nagamine, Kôjiro Kawasaki, Kouji Ogawa
- Writers
- Ryu King, Hiroshi Yamaguchi
- Franchise(s)
- Dragon Ball
