After almost twenty years off the air, Dragon Ball Super brought Goku back to TV with a story supervised by Akira Toriyama, who wrote the core plot outlines and designed the main new characters. The series aired on Fuji TV from July 5, 2015 to March 25, 2018, for 131 episodes, and is set in the ten years between the defeat of Majin Buu and the finale of Dragon Ball Z. It was the first new televised story since GT, and the one that threw the doors of the multiverse wide open.
Dragon Ball Super episodes
131 episodes across 5 sagas, each with a recap and our review. Open a saga or start from the very first one.
The story in brief
It all starts with Beerus, the God of Destruction, who wakes up after dreaming of a mysterious warrior, the "Super Saiyan God", and sets out to find him. To face him, Goku gains divine power through a ritual with the other Saiyans. Then Frieza returns, revived and capable of a new golden form, followed by a tournament against Universe 6, ruled by Beerus's twin brother Champa, which catches the eye of Zeno, the ruler of all universes.
The darkest saga brings back Trunks from the future, on the run from Goku Black, a Goku look-alike bent on wiping out all mortals: behind him is Zamasu, an apprentice Supreme Kai from Universe 10. The finale is the Tournament of Power: eight universes field teams of ten fighters, and the losers are erased from existence. Goku reaches Ultra Instinct, Vegeta, Gohan, Piccolo, Android 17, Android 18 and even Frieza fight side by side, and the toughest opponent is Jiren of Universe 11.
Sagas and episode counts
| Saga | Episodes | No. | What happens |
|---|---|---|---|
| God of Destruction Beerus | 1–18 | 18 | Beerus, Whis and the Super Saiyan God |
| Golden Frieza | 19–27 | 9 | Frieza returns in a golden form |
| Universe 6 | 28–46 | 19 | The tournament against Champa's fighters |
| Future Trunks | 47–76 | 30 | Goku Black and Zamasu |
| Universe Survival | 77–131 | 55 | The Tournament of Power and Ultra Instinct |
The first two sagas retell the films Battle of Gods (2013) and Resurrection 'F' (2015), with new material added for TV.
Main characters introduced
- Beerus, Universe 7's God of Destruction, moody and always hungry;
- Whis, his angel attendant and the new teacher of Goku and Vegeta;
- Champa, Beerus's twin, and Universe 6's fighters such as the assassin Hit;
- Zeno, the Omni-King, who can erase entire universes;
- Goku Black and Zamasu, the villains of the Future Trunks saga;
- Jiren, Universe 11's warrior and the final obstacle in the Tournament of Power.
Many supporting characters get their moment, from Android 17, who wins the Tournament of Power and uses the prize wish to restore the erased universes, to Gohan, who returns to training with Piccolo.
Production
The series was directed by Kimitoshi Chioka, later joined and then replaced by Morio Hatano and Kōhei Hatano; from episode 77 direction passed to Tatsuya Nagamine and Ryōta Nakamura. Toriyama wrote the overall plot outlines, which Toei's screenwriters expanded into individual episodes. The score is by Norihito Sumitomo, who had already composed the music for the 2013 and 2015 films.
There are two Japanese openings: "Chōzetsu☆Dynamic!" by Kazuya Yoshii of The Yellow Monkey (episodes 1 to 76), and "Genkai Toppa × Survivor" by enka singer Kiyoshi Hikawa (77 to 131). There are eleven endings, starting with "Hello Hello Hello" by Good Morning America.
Masako Nozawa returns as Goku, Gohan and Goten, and most of the original cast reprise their roles; Kōichi Yamadera and Masakazu Morita, the voices of Beerus and Whis in the films, carry on in the series. The show drew criticism for its uneven animation, especially in episode 5, which was later fixed for the DVD and Blu-ray release.
The manga and the movies
Two weeks before the anime, on June 20, 2015, artist Toyotarō launched the Dragon Ball Super manga in V Jump, working from the same Toriyama outlines. After the anime ended, the manga kept going with new arcs, such as the Moro and Granolah sagas, and has been on hiatus since Toriyama's death in 2024: see our Dragon Ball Super manga guide.
The story continued in theaters with Dragon Ball Super: Broly (2018) and Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero (2022), the latter made in CG. In January 2026 Toei announced Dragon Ball Super: The Galactic Patrol, an adaptation of the Moro arc, and since October 11, 2026 Fuji TV has been airing Dragon Ball Super: Beerus, an enhanced re-edit of the series that starts again from Battle of Gods.
Dragon Ball Super around the world
Outside Japan, Crunchyroll and Daisuki streamed subtitled episodes in North America and Europe while they aired in Japan. In November 2016 Funimation announced an English dub with most of its classic cast, which premiered on Adult Swim in January 2017, on Saturdays at 8 p.m. with an encore on Toonami; the first broadcast drew over a million viewers. The series later aired on ABC Me in Australia from November 2018 and on Pop in the UK from July 2019.
In Italy, Mediaset aired it on Italia 1 from December 2016 to September 2019, with Claudio Moneta as the new voice of Goku; in Spain it debuted on Boing in February 2017. Dragon Ball Super: Beerus streams on Crunchyroll, Hulu in the US and Netflix.
Legacy and why you should watch it
Super split the audience: inconsistent animation in the first half, a retread of stories already told in theaters, and transformations in ever-changing colors. Yet it pulled off something that seemed impossible, putting Dragon Ball back at the center of pop culture for a new generation. The Goku Black saga is among the most ambitious in the franchise, and the Tournament of Power, with Ultra Instinct, delivered some of the most watched and discussed episodes of recent years.
For our team, it is worth it above all for the characters: Beerus and Whis are the best additions since Majin Buu, Vegeta finally gets a co-lead role, and Android 17 becomes a real hero.
Where to start
- Coming from Z or Kai: start from episode 1. If you have already seen Battle of Gods and Resurrection 'F', you can jump to the Universe 6 saga (episode 28).
- Want the most polished version: Dragon Ball Super: Beerus retells the story with redone animation.
- After the series: watch Broly and Super Hero; our movie guide and watch order keep everything straight.
- What next: Dragon Ball Daima is set right after the Majin Buu saga: you can watch it before or after Super, and it brings back the spirit of the original series.
Did you know? The last two episodes of Super, 130 and 131, were screened for free in public squares and stadiums across Latin America, from Mexico to Bolivia, in front of crowds numbering in the tens of thousands.