Dragon Ball Super Nerfed the Entire Franchise

Dragon Ball is and always will be one of the most iconic, defining, and influential shōnen series ever created. The franchise set a standard for intense battles, legendary transformations and rivalries, and most importantly, epic storytelling by balancing humor and drama.

For decades, fans around the world have celebrated the series and all its accomplishments, with many supporting every new installment, whether it was a spin-off or a new video game. Every new addition to the franchise brought forward new characters, transformations, techniques, or lore that expanded the series, often for the better.

However, now, more than ten years following Dragon Ball Super’s debut, it might be time to admit that the series didn’t fully deliver the experience fans expected. While Super is a fun addition and ambitious, it struggles in more areas than one in ways that erode what Dragon Ball Z left behind.

Dragon Ball Super Isn’t Living up to Expectations

Dragon Ball Super promised a revival of the franchise and reinvigorated the story with fresh storylines and intense battles. With new universes, gods of destruction, and multiverse tournaments, the series gave fans thrilling new characters and raised the stakes like never before, evoking a nostalgic sense of excitement among longtime fans.

However, the series’s ambition has noticeable flaws that detract from the experience for many viewers. Throughout the story, power scaling became increasingly inconsistent, and many fans were displeased with how easily Universe 6 Saiyans achieved the Super Saiyan transformation, with some noting that it felt rushed and lacked even a fraction of the emotional weight found in Dragon Ball Z.

Instead, the significance of the transformation now feels diminished, reduced to a “tingly feeling” in their lower back. Beyond that, with the introduction of new characters, many returning characters have become static and are given little more than the occasional cameo, contributing little beyond comic relief or a superficial presence in battle.

The series struggles under the weight of its expanding universe and lore, making it clear to viewers that its efforts to balance established heroes with brand-new characters have fallen short of expectations. One of the strongest examples of this is that Gohan, a fan-favorite character once considered the most powerful, had few major roles in the first half of the story.

Dragon Ball Super Is Undermining Many of Its Characters

With its large cast, Dragon Ball Super took a bit of time to fully find its footing. It wasn’t until the Super Hero arc that Gohan truly got the spotlight he deserved, and in the manga, other characters like Trunks and Goten had moments to shine as well. However, they are far from the only characters that have been overlooked or mismanaged in the series.

The greatest example of this is how the series handled Future Trunks’ story arc, which concluded near-perfectly in Dragon Ball Z. Future Trunks achieved his goals and saved what was left of his universe, only to have it destroyed by Zamasu and Goku Black, undermining hisarc in Dragon Ball Z.

Dragon Ball Super’s choice to emphasize battle and visual spectacle over character integrity has undermined the franchise and the characters that many fans grew up with.

This mismanagement of characters extends to the series’ protagonist as well. Goku himself suffers from significant character regression compared to his counterpart in Dragon Ball Z. He once stood as a hero whose growth was part of his strength; however, Super reduces him to a near single-minded fighter.

Goku’s intelligence, empathy, and occasional humility have practically been erased in favor of a character who is naïve, reckless, and far more selfish than he was originally. Dragon Ball Super’s choice to emphasize battle and visual spectacle over character integrity has undermined the franchise and the characters that many fans grew up with.