Highlights
- The Super Hero Saga marks the latest arc in Dragon Ball Super, introducing new villains and challenges for the Z-Fighters to face.
- Piccolo trains Pan to become a superhero like Goten and Trunks, showcasing her growth and potential in combat.
- A fierce battle against the Gamma Androids leads to Gohan unlocking his powerful Beast form to defeat Cell Max, saving the day.
Dragon Ball Super has had quite a few arcs at this point, some of which are loved and some that fans are far more critical of. All in all, however, the series has been quite a lot of fun to watch in anime form or read in manga form, as it shows all the characters that fans have grown up with as well as their personal journeys that have led to how much they have grown since their introduction into the series.
The most recent of these arcs is the Super Hero Saga, a story that is the most recent point reached in both the anime and the manga. Originally released as a movie in June 2022, the arc was later adapted into manga format and picked up on Earth after the events of the Granolah arc. This arc served as a great reset to the story and brought some characters back into relevance, so let’s see what went down in Dragon Ball’s Super Hero Arc.
Vestiges Of An Old Enemy
Fans thought that the eventual defeat of Dr. Gero and his Androids was the last they would see of the infamous Red Ribbon Army that had been haunting Goku since the early days of Dragon Ball. However, the Super Hero Arc opens with Hedo, Dr. Gero’s genius grandson, being freed from prison by Magenta and Carmine, high-ranking members of the Red Ribbon Army. They entice Dr. Hedo to join their cause in order to defeat Goku and the Z-Fighters, who they have convinced the young scientist to be evil villains.
In his efforts to help the world against the falsely perceived threat of the Z-Fighters, Dr. Hedo creates the Gamma Androids, extremely powerful but sentient machines who have the sole task of bringing down the heroes. Seeing how Goku and Vegeta, the strongest of their enemies, are not on the planet, they instead target those of the Z-Fighters who are.
Piccolo And Pan
As the arc begins properly, fans are shown that Piccolo’s duties as a mentor have not ceased, as he is now training Pan. After picking her up from school, they make their way to his home where the training commences, as Pan had previously expressed a desire to become a superhero like Goten and Trunks, and here, Piccolo states that she has even more talent than her father, Gohan.
You’re pretty good. In fact, your aptitude is even better than Gohan– I mean your father’s.
6 months after this, the training between Pan and Piccolo has become a regular occurrence and she has grown considerably in strength these past few months. At the same time, the Sunset City Police Department gets note of Hedo’s recruitment into the Red Ribbon Army, prompting Krillin to intercept the vehicle. However, he gets distracted, losing the car and missing any information about their secret hideout.
Enter The Gamma Androids
After all this, Piccolo is seen meditating at his home when, suddenly, he is attacked by a powerful enemy. Brash and confident, this enemy is revealed to be an Android in the ensuing fight, where he keeps on getting the better of the Namekian due to his overwhelming strength. At the end of their bout, he fires off a massive Ki attack from his gun and seemingly obliterates Piccolo.
The Namekian, however, is alive and hiding close by. Sneakily, he follows the Android to the Red Ribbon Army HQ, where he wears a guard uniform to blend in with the crowd. After learning of the existence of 2 new powerful Androids, Piccolo realizes that the Red Ribbon Army is back, waiting to take revenge on everyone who had a hand in defeating them and taking over the world in the process. These 2 new Androids, Gamma #1 and Gamma #2, are stronger than all others of their kind and would be instrumental to the success of this plan.
Moreover, it is here that the existence of a ‘Cell Max’ is mentioned, rumored to be even stronger than the Gamma Androids. Knowing the danger, Piccolo flies off to somehow inform Goku and Vegeta of this, though all attempts to reach them prove to be unsuccessful, leading to him finding the Dragon Balls and wishing to have his potential unlocked. Not only does Shenron grant him this, but he even throws in an extra surprise for later.
Flying back to the HQ, Piccolo sees the Red Ribbon Army’s sinister new plan; luring out Gohan by kidnapping Pan from her school, since Goku and Vegeta are nowhere to be seen. Piccolo then volunteers to do this and goes to pick up Pan with one of the regular guards from the Army, reassuring Pan and telling her of his plan to have Gohan finally get even stronger.
The Final Battle At Red Ribbon Headquarters
Hearing about Pan’s disappearance, Gohan makes his way to the Red Ribbon Army HQ with Piccolo, where the battle against the Gamma Androids begins. Gohan takes on Gamma #1, who proves to be an incredibly powerful combatant that can withstand Gohan’s Super Saiyan transformations, while Piccolo, with his new power, takes on Gamma #2.
Eventually, Gohan goes Ultimate, making the fight between him and Gamma #1 even more exciting, but Piccolo’s new power still falls to Gamma #2. However, Piccolo remembers that Shenron left him an extra gift when his wish was made, which turns out to be his awesome new Orange Piccolo transformation that is so powerful that he defeats Gamma #2 with a single punch.
It felt like some switch inside me got flipped, the same way it does with you.
From here, the outcome of the fight becomes clear as most of the Red Ribbon Army, including the Androids, surrenders to the Z-Fighters. Magenta, however, prematurely activates Cell Max despite Hedo’s warnings and attempts to stop him. Now, Gohan and Piccolo are joined by the remaining Z-Fighters on Earth, as well as the Gamma Androids, who all work together to stop Cell Max.
The fight goes on for quite a while and Piccolo shows himself to be incredibly powerful, even growing to a gigantic size to fight this towering enemy. However, Piccolo is eventually bested by Cell Max and is seemingly killed, prompting Gohan to give in to his sorrow and rage to unlock his Beast form in a scene reminiscent of his iconic Super Saiyan 2 transformation.
The strength of this Beast form is staggering, as Cell Max is seen to be far weaker than the Saiyan. Here, Gohan begins to charge up his Special Beam Cannon, as Piccolo reawakens and subdues the monster in place. The Saiyan then fires his attack on Cell Max’s head and kills the villains once and for all.
Meanwhile, On Beerus’ Planet
While all this is happening on Earth, Goku and Vegeta are training themselves and Broly on Beerus’ planet. Since the latter cannot seem to control his power, Whis suggests that the two protagonists initiate a non-powered spar to show him how to do it.
This fight then ensues and runs parallel to all the events happening on Earth, and the conclusion of this fight is that Vegeta defeats Goku by the tiniest possible margin. During the fight, Whis’s staff was out of range, so they could not have been informed about whatever happened on Earth.
Dragon Ball can be streamed on Crunchyroll.
Leave a Reply