Is Dragon Ball Heroes worth watching

Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball series is one of the pivotal anime titles in the history of the medium. And while the manga is also popular, the anime has helped expand the cultural influence of Japanese animation when the West did not know much about anime. Now, the overall structure of the series isn’t overly complex, but there are a lot of different iterations of the series and fans are not always sure about the Dragon Ball canon. Namely, Super Dragon Ball Heroes is one of the series that causes confusion among the fans and in this article, we are going to tell you whether it’s canon and whether it’s worth watching or not.

Super Dragon Ball Heroes is not canon. The series is set in an alternative universe and is based on a video game, so none of it is actual canon written and endorsed by Toriyama. Super Dragon Ball Heroes is actually web series, not a proper anime, which means that it only shares the brand name, but is a separate production as well.

In the rest of this article, we are going to tell you everything you need to know about the canon status of Super Dragon Ball Heroes. You’re going to find out the basic production information so that you know the idea behind the series, as well as how the plot of the series fits into the overall narrative. We’re going to help you resolve this issue swiftly.

The first trailer for the series called “Special Anime Commercial” was released on June 21, 2018. The anime previewed its first episode on July 1, 2018 at AEON LakeTown Mall in Koshigaya, Japan as a promotion animation for the arcade game of the same name, beginning with the events of the Prison Planet Arc.

On the same day, the anime’s official website began broadcasting the episodes as a streaming service in the “Movie” section and on its official YouTube channel as they premiered. Shortly after, the second episode of the series was broadcast on the 16th of the same month. On October 28, 2018, the fifth episode of the anime was broadcast live on AEON LakeTown as part of the Dragon Ball Heroes eighth anniversary event.

The sixth and final episode of the Prison Planet Arc was broadcast on December 22, 2018, followed by the Universal Conflict Arc, which began on January 10, 2019 with the seventh episode. Being merely a promotional anime for an arcade trading card game, the episodes are usually around 7-8 minutes in length.

Super Dragon Ball Heroes: Big Bang Mission adapted the stories belonging to the game’s Big Bang Mission expansion series, the Universe Creation Arc and the New Space-Time War Arc. The premiere of the anime took place on March 5, 2020 in Japanese language, being the second series belonging to Super Dragon Ball Heroes promo anime.

Super Dragon Ball Heroes: Ultra God Mission adapted the game’s Ultra God Mission expansion series, the Supreme Kai of Time Arc. The premiere of the anime took place in February 2022 in Japanese, being the third series belonging to Super Dragon Ball Heroes anime series.

Now that we have described the overall structure of the series, you can probably deduce for yourselves that this series has little to nothing to do with the canon. Namely, it was made to promote the arcade game of the same name and nothing else; no one really cared about the canon, as the web series was just a marketing thing. This was also confirmed as the series aired, as its plot had little to nothing to do with the main Dragon Ball canon. So, to finally confirm – no, Super Dragon Ball Heroes is not canon.

Is Super Dragon Ball Heroes worth watching?

Well, as we have said, the series itself is not canon, and while it does have some cool moments and scenes, it’s really not something you have to watch. It is interesting, and entertaining, but it lacks the depth and overall value of the canon series. Still, we don’t think you shouldn’t watch it, but you don’t have to rush it – take your time and enjoy the show at your own pace, without having to worry about catching up. To prepare you for that, here is a brief synopsis of the series:

After his death in the Cell Games, Trunks of the Alternative Future returned to his future to finish once and for all with the androids and with Cell of the future, all this is remembered by Trunks until he wakes up in an unknown place, surprised, He sees a small woman attacking him, however, he manages to evade her.

This woman calls Trunks an idiot, and she calls herself the Kaioshin of Time, she mentions that she can’t stand all the unexpected events that happen in the story and she scolds the future Saiyan for manipulating time. At first, Trunks looks confused, but the Kaioshin shows him proof of his sin on a scroll. The Kaio-shin is still angry with Trunks, who, confused, asks where he is.

She replies, saying that this is the Nest of Time, the place where the flow of time is controlled and that she is the Kaioshin of Time and her Tokitoki bird. She mentions that she called him because she found out that she traveled in a Time Machine, which is a mistake that can destroy everything. Trunks is shocked and forgives himself before Kaio-shin since he didn’t know.

The Kaio-shin finds a place in history that Trunks did not create, so she decides to go investigate with him, who offers to go. The Kaioshin of Time understands that Trunks has no bad intentions, but that he cannot let something like that go unnoticed and proceeds to give him new clothes, later telling him that along with supervising him, he will be able to interfere with the flow weather.

The Kaioshin of Time says that they could be called the “Time Patrol” and asks Trunks if that sounds good, but he is not interested in that and suggests that they hurry up. Trunks Xeno and Chronoa go to the place that shouldn’t exist in history, where Towa, Mira, and someone masked are found. These are in search of Kiri to be able to “free themselves”.

The Kaio-shin confronts these evildoers who are disrupting the flow of time. Mira attacks the Kaio-shin and Trunks defends her with her back to be attacked with an elbow by the masked man. Meanwhile, Chronoa stops Mira with her freezing technique. Trunks Xeno decides to get serious and transforms into a Super Saiyan, attacking the masked man and partially breaking his mask.

Chronoa praises Trunks, but Mira suddenly transforms and breaks the Kaioshin of Time’s freeze. Mira decides to attack Trunks, but is suddenly shot by the masked man, whose mental control has disappeared and declares that he feels alive again. He forgives Trunks for giving him trouble and suggests that they attack Mira. Trunks notes from his tail, voice and appearance the similarity of this person to Son Goku and realizes that he is a Saiyan.

Trunks fights alongside this Mira, overcoming him. However, Towa teleports herself and Mira away before the battle can end. Trunks chats with Bardock to ask him about the identity of these guys. However, Bardock doesn’t remember anything while he was controlled. Chronoa grabs Trunks to return to the Nest of Time.

Chronoa explains the Demon Realm to Xeno Trunks, when Demigra unexpectedly appears. After a brief conversation, Trunks prepares to fight after Demigra threatens Tokitoki. However, at that moment, Chronoa summons Xeno Son Goku, the most powerful warrior known from Xeno Trunks memories, to help them.

• 

  Arthur S. Poe has been fascinated by fiction ever since he saw Digimon and read Harry Potter as a child. Since then, he has seen several thousand movies and anime, read several hundred books and comics, and played several hundred games of all genres.