Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero Opening - Animation Breakdown

Chikashi Kubota was attached to the series from the start, and decades later after entering the animation industry, would have the opportunity to work on the series he loved so much with Dragon Ball Super Broly.
However, Kubota would get another chance to leave a mark, and quite a significant one for the next movie, Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero. Not only would he be assigned to the position of character designer and animation supervisor, but had the opportunity to create a short opening for the film.
The end result turned out to be very much a love letter to the franchise, chocked full of past references and quite a nostalgic aesthetic to tie it together.
So join me today as we break down this spectacular opening by Chikashi Kubota!
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💿Music credits:
khadija al hanafi - Youuuuu
neuns - BASTION
NJOY - ジューシーな (JUICY)
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[@zangetsu111]

The cut where goku fights black is probably my favorite one in the whole movie. The one before that with the nimbus was also incredible

[@njnjnjom2278]

I didn’t see Goku Black in this movie 🤔

[@bruhbebuh3105]

@njnjn jom lol

[@Via_Satellite]

@@njnjnjom2278 HAHAH BROOO YOU FEEL FOR THE OLDEST TRICK IN THE BOOK OR IN THIS CASE *MANGA* _😂😭_

[@baby_r4gna628]

@@njnjnjom2278 general black

[@SAsaiyajin]

@@njnjnjom2278 General Black.🤣 I like him more than Goku Black to be honest.

[@otsu3011]

its a cute detail how the Flying Nimbus has a pink tone, as it is a reference of how Toriyama paint it in the manga

[@forgottenrelics1197]

Didn't even realise that, nice spot!

[@oblivion5390]

Also the greenish skies. That's also how it was mostly colored in the manga covers

[@IamJay02]

That's actually really cool lol

[@otsu3011]

@@IamJay02 really cute too

[@mechajay3358]

This intro has gotten people wishing this whole movie should've been 2D, Kubota really knocked it out of the park here

[@derock4art608]

It really should have been. I think their think tanks believed that 3d is the reason for success in other animated features which isn't the reality.

[@yonyalexander3833]

@@derock4art608 fuck this was such a disappointment.

[@uwin23]

Fr😭

[@derock4art608]

@@yonyalexander3833 they lure us in with an amazingly animated segment at the beginning and the rest just doesn't hold up. Reminds me of the PS2 days where you would boot up a game and have those amazing cinematics just to be disappointed later haha

[@ramenemu_4376]

​@@derock4art608 Have you seen the rest of the movie It's not animated badly.

[@shiprek900]

It's a shame that they didn't use this animation style for the movie. The CG was good, but this just blows it out of the water completely

[@saaalut]

This opening was GORGEOUS ... one of the best sequence of the whole Dragon Ball series

[@Seedonator]

8:53 It's so cool how accurate this scene is to the original from Z. Goku's eyes start wide and without the outlines in the inside, then turn green as his hair takes the shape of the SSJ form before his aura explodes and he gets those classic thin rectangular eyes with fully defined outlines. Also the SSJ hair is done in that og fluffy style seen in the early android saga, and the pose at the end as he flies towards the camera is perfect. It's like they took the scene straight out of Z and changed the camera angle.

[@levig3576]

That slide with vegeta compared to the manga panel is practically the same, it’s amazing and I believe kubota is the closest to animating toriyamas manga style on point

[@AlexanderDiviFilius]

This is the first time in forever that we’ve seen Kid Goku drawn and animated properly. He’s still got that rounded chubbiness to him.

[@e1622zelda]

Omg I know right!!! Loved seeing it!!

[@jasonone8726]

The only time I could think of, in the Z era onwards, where early kid Goku, wasn't drawn like Goten, was that short clip of adult Goku, meeting his younger self, when he was time traveling with Future Trunks. I have no idea where that clip was from lol

[@specialnewb9821]

@@jasonone8726 origin is "DBZ: Gather Together! Goku's World!" A game released for a VHS game console in 1992.

[@e1622zelda]

@@jasonone8726 Yea to me when you change the character model too much it destroys that character, you can add details and new tech, but if you get rid of the basic model than they are not the same. love that he did it so well.

[@buster3041]

To be fair everyone had style changes throughout the franchise. So they never looked consistent.

[@specialnewb9821]

Had to watch the Vegeta bit 4 times in a row. Just mind blowing

[@CressAuri]

I also love how the background on some shots looks traditional and old school

[@forgottenrelics1197]

same :)

[@jasonone8726]

I've been saying for a while, I wouldn't mind Kubota being the new character designer on the anime, over Shintani. Unfortunately, the divisive CG overshadowed his designs. Now with this intro right here, people are seeing his greatness, he should be getting more respect now.

[@forgottenrelics1197]

yeah I'm really glad to see Kubota get put in the spotlight and the praise he deserves

[@mohkhider4342]

Yes yes

[@jasonone8726]

@@forgottenrelics1197 Don't know if you mentioned this in the video, but I like how it sticks to the Broly Movie color pallet and not the modern Yamamuro shiny plastic look.

[@piotrj.451]

I still prefer Shintani, but Kubota is great too.

[@sydneyowusu3750]

​@@piotrj.451 prefer kubota's animation but shintani's character designs tbh

[@nazarenomilohanich4883]

6:38 I also mistook that part for cgi for quite some time. Geniunely cant believe how incredible the cut is, from the background to the projectiles to Goku himself, what an insane setpiece. Now lets just pray he sticks to the series once the anime returns lmao

[@forgottenrelics1197]

Yeppp, really speaks to how skilled he is! But yeah I pray it's sooner rather than later haha

[@Milos15GameplaysYT]

I have to say, I too mistook that part for Naotoshi Shida. Just how smooth and fast the cut is.

[@Jackie___-]

@@Milos15GameplaysYT if that was done by shida it would’ve been more smooth

[@jamiemcneil9682]

I just want more Dragon Ball like this. It looks stunning, energetic and fun.

[@Ayeato]

the art style here is so clean, i really hope this is what super looks like on its return, the colors and everything look really nice. it literally looks like z but just modernised and without that stiff plastic look of super

[@archbigmac]

I absolutely adore the art style of the beginning of dragon ball so seeing it reanimated like this was a treat.

[@25vegita]

Beautiful animations

[@j.r.1704]

Super cool to see an animator inspired by the original dragon ball as a kid animate a sequence from OG DB and at a higher fidelity too, the sequence with nimbus looks incredible. I would’ve never known that some of the same animators from Gurren Lagan and One Punch man are working on Dragon Ball now. Props to being able to follow the world of animation and put it into a pretty informative video

[@grapespace]

I’d never heard of Kubota until he was announced to be the character designer for Super Hero, but his work is absolutely mind blowing

[@leokingh6472]

God tier animation. I am crying right now.

[@shadowninja1059]

I never knew he worked on one punch man now I want him to be in super when it comes back

[@derek2288]

Shintani has a rival now lol

[@tengoodquestions]

They have their slight differences. This designer has nailed the anime look but shintani has added like his own 5% spin

[@jasonone8726]

@art I can see people liking Kubota more, his designs feel very late Z looking, which a lot will agree, was the best style of DB, even when you look at the promo pictures. Shintani's is more of a mixture of Minoru Madea and modern Toriyama, his one issue, is making everyone look much younger.

[@basheerc.7245]

It’s incredible as to how smooth his animation is!! Even though it was very short, I just love the shot with Tien, performing the Tri-Beam. The way the blast absolutely crashes into the ground-😮‍💨👌🏽 I really hope Kubota sticks around for future projects!! And great breakdown 🙏🏽

[@tommycrumb6064]

What if they will animate dragon ball super like this? Just a recap episode like for example Vegito vs zamasu recap Goku vs jiren recap IT WOULD BE AWSOME! But too sad they don't have enough budget for this right now 🥺🥺

[@ThomasWilliamson]

I also loved how they kept the design's faithful to the original style. Would love to see more modern DB in the OG style, great video!

[@miked4088]

this is perfect, perfeect to the single little minute detail.

[@user-do3kl9jv6h]

when super comes back i really hope it looks like that it looks so good

[@troll1367]

True, would probably be too expensive tho

[@snakewatch5468]

@@troll1367 would probably need some time and a good schedule*

[@awsomeboy360]

@@troll1367 No it wouldn't be too expensive. It would just require good scheduling.

[@shozinks]

The cinematography of this movie was by far the best. Specifically the camera angles and movements. If only dbs broly had it.

[@uwin23]

Finnaly someone who sees good aspects of the movie👍🏿👍🏿

[@shozinks]

@@uwin23 Trust, I have my critisisms marketing and narrative wise. But The cinematography, hand to hand combat, and character interactions were great.

[@troll1367]

@@shozinks agreed 100% also the soundtrack also separated this from the the other movies

[@MrBonesYT]

This makes me want to see the whole series reanimated

[@sydneyowusu3750]

dragon ball is a classic and honestly want it to stay that way the old voice actors, the humor so great

[@ariathyf144]

GODLY SKILLS. Give this man all the time and money needed to produce a remastered DBZ, we'll be eternally happy.

[@christianalcantarast7584]

Did you mean all 520 adapted Dragon Ball chapters.

[@VITAS874]

True.

[@DarkSpiritShleah]

To all who thought this was 3D, no judgment but what about it looked 3D at all? It seemed clear as day to me

[@forgottenrelics1197]

Tbh it threw me off at first as well haha because I simply didn't expect a full 2d animated section. So I can see where people are coming from.

[@mindstate613]

@@forgottenrelics1197 i agree. probably having that sense of doubt after seeing the first section and then being thrown into a fully cgi film for over an hour your mind would probably be conditioned to think that and not use energy trying to recall further

[@cia4u401]

The highlight of the movie was this for me, wish the whole thing was animated like this

[@e1622zelda]

I was on team shintani until I saw kabuto do this intro!! Holy shit I would love him to take over the new series!!!

[@navi7402]

Kabuto 🥵

[@e1622zelda]

Kabuta I mean lol

[@navi7402]

@@e1622zelda Kabuta 🥵

[@sokool3994]

It's Kubota...

[@e1622zelda]

@@sokool3994 sorry your right lol!!! thanks!!! he is great huh!!

[@taunttitan1714]

This entire opening is utterly amazing I love it I'd definitely love them to remake Z in this style for sure it would be fantastic/phenomenal

[@FrankEShaw05]

This is the best thing to come out of the movie in my opinion, the 80’s era toriyama style is the best dragon ball ever looked (style wise) and its so good to see it animated this smooth

[@uwin23]

Ye it made me wish the WHOLE movie was like that

[@sydneyowusu3750]

​@@uwin23it should've been.

[@brianlaureus]

Yes he said it so perfectly the old style with a blend of more modern camera work art and animations. Idk if it would be an unpopular opinion but I am a big fan of the original dragon ball, it has some of the best fight scenes in the series especially in terms of choreography. On KZbin you can find some of the best scenes from dragon ball z if you type “ the good part “ after the fight you want to see. Cell vs Goku being a great example. But what many don’t realize the good part fight scenes in Z is like the majority of a lot of fight scenes in the original dragon ball I think the choreography for some of the fights in dragon ball might be better then some in Z. So I’d love to see the series redone in a modern style such as the one in that opening animation for the new movie. I think it would be out of this world and a great way to bring dragon ball the original series to a lot of modern fans. Especially with the obsession this generation has with art and animation, if the art an animation isn’t up to snuff many want even check out a series . But I think it would just be incredible to see in general , many of the classic fights with the enhance art animation and camera work plus a big possible of removing a good amount of filler . Although there are some I’d like to keep , but regardless I’d give anything to see that..

[@Aronsr19]

the animation of the begging is just wonderful

[@erom7904]

Excellent job he did with this animation, it brought me memories from old dragon ball

[@Snaaaaap]

Kubota giving out a passionate love letter to DB fans old and new with that amazing introduction! I wouldn't mind if he directed a remake of the anime with that style.

[@aimacmaster6197]

Reboot of dragón ball súper *

[@erniekai4945]

I like how when they chose to make a Dragon Ball movie 3D they had Chikashi Kubota as character designer lol hope if the anime comes back they have it 2D

[@shadowninja1059]

I’d liked that

[@charleschase7945]

I hope it is in 3D.

[@uwin23]

@@charleschase7945 hell na🙅🏿‍♂️

[@homomagii]

@@charleschase7945 nah you’re trippin

[@charleschase7945]

@@homomagii Movie was amazing. I want Dragon Ball to be 3D from now on and all renders to be 3D.

[@mossex4447]

I'm baffled that people could look at this and think "THAT'S 3D!!" And then argue about it? Like excuse me?? Got a keen eye for backgrounds I guess...

[@FinnOtaku]

Honestly when I first saw this clip, I was blown away by its quality and its faithfulness in depicting the different Dragon Ball eras and their respective styles. And while I think it would've been cool if the whole movie was 2D in a similar fashion, I can understand that it's precisely because it's such a short segment that they could afford to make it _this_ detailed. Though in all honestly they probably could've afforded to make the movie fully in 2D like this, but it seems like they really wanted to prioritize lesser production times in that regard :/

[@forgottenrelics1197]

It's amazing aye, although it was more so that Toei specifically wanted to create a CG film this time around, not for a lack of funds, staff, or even time considering pre-production began in 2017. Kozou Morishita (Toei producer on DB, DBZ, GT and Super) expressed the desire to create a full CG film back in 2015 and it seems several other staff had that same desire.

[@OfficialRedTeamReview]

Kubota needs to be given every resource possible to go forward with this series

[@Sp1nJ3stRR]

I love how they didn’t change the character proportions/Designs when reanimating these old scenes. It is most obvious when seeing SSJ vegeta’s face and how he looks nothing like his super counterpart

[@jasonone8726]

Well, Vegeta was in that bulked up SSJ form, that's why.

[@Sp1nJ3stRR]

@@jasonone8726yeah but if they tried to do that in super it would’ve looked different because they changed the designs

[@powerburster1456]

Freaking amazing animation! I would had loved to watch DBS like that ...

[@derock4art608]

Amazing breakdown!!! Very interesting to see how closely it matches the old style. I love how you compared matching shots to previous takes from the old anime and other media!! So good and really shows how good 2d can really be

[@BryanPlush]

I love how when goku went ssj he had the old color palette

[@IamJay02]

Man this was amazing to watch. That explains why the intro looks so fucking good lmao

[@MegaDrainProductions]

That scene of Cell absorbing 17 and his aura flaring was so cool!

[@TheArtCorner74]

Seeing this animation (especially the dragon ball portion) brings a tear to my eye, I can't begin to admire the part where Goku is dodging missiles and can only imagine how difficult it was to animate that section. The little details and frames of animation really sell this and my favorite aspect of this is the fact that especially during the dragon ball portion, the artstyle actually looks like OG Dragonball, a little gripe I had with GT and even Super and Super Broly was that whenever kid Goku was redrawn, it was in a way that made his proportions look more like Goten rather than Kid Goku, baby Goku in dbs broly almost looked the exact same size as Goku when we first see him in Dragon ball and while none of the art is bad it does throw me off everytime I see it so I'm glad the artstyle is kept in check for this animation.

[@mmyummers]

been waiting for this

[@hellodigitalworld8224]

Imagine a remake of OG DB and DBZ like this

[@derek2288]

Yes please, they nailed kid goku in this art style. He still got his chubby arms.

[@ca8550]

yea and the first season of Super all need the new treatment cause it was not that good only a few episodes and one saga TOP was nice

[@hellodigitalworld8224]

@@ca8550 to this day I will never understand why didn’t they just used the movies and edited them to fit into the tv format that would give them more time to work on the show and the movie quality was so good! Just re-edit and make extra new animation here and there Boom! Solid animation for the first two arcs , good schedule=Good animation but I don’t think toei cares about the quality they only care about the money I mean Dragon ball super alone made billions of dollars with poor production

[@hellodigitalworld8224]

@@derek2288 Simple designs always looks better and I think simple designs give the animators more freedom to do what they want

[@ca8550]

@@hellodigitalworld8224 Exactly regular people have more sense then some of these people in business lol I definitely sure what you suggested was possible

[@AntwoneAntJackson]

Artist like Fenyo and Kubota really nail Dragonball...man....Those soft designs really make me nostalgic af. Its funny also how western animation leans more into super soft designs nowadays. I remember the early 2000s having more straights and triangles. Irony? Who cares... Kubota is a mad lad ! He is Shenron along with every artist that grants our wish of enjoying this franchise for so long. Can't wait for the Naruto breakdowns. Ty and yt, pateron, and wherever we got you Relics!

[@forgottenrelics1197]

Agreed man and thank you!

[@fitzhugh7463]

I think toei is experimenting with new production pipelines; I’m pretty sure they did some 3D previs animatics for backgrounds so the shots have more dynamic camera movements. I think they’re trying to come up with ways to make production faster without sacrificing polish

[@forgottenrelics1197]

There's a chance Kubota used something like blender to assist him in the part around the building although I believe he still works with paper and pencil

[@DennisTrovato]

I want a whole movie like this

[@uwin23]

Ong

[@moonman9473]

Another amazing review

[@Vegeta-er1su]

The animation was just perfect perfect perfect💯🔥👏🏽 I just hope when they use this animation from now on

[@yaboizero.]

Another excellent animtion breakdown👏🏾💯

[@GarciaXVLegend_04]

Great video breakdown dude, I thought to myself that it was all 2D Animated at first hand but I had to double check myself to see if there were just TINY BITS of 3D/CG-like Aspects in Small Areas like the 'Camera Angle' for Kid Goku at at the Beginning of the video you mentioned so it made me went from Uncertain to now being Impressed on that part. The other part that still keeps me wondering is with Imperfect Cell from the Angles I am seeing, it comes across as a 3D Model with tons of Textures to make it 2D but can be mistaken on my behalf, it could be more Camera Angle work on that piece. Everything else does seem to be 2D Animated unlike the 2 Areas that I mentioned that made me wonder if it was a blend of using 2D & 3D Animations mixed together in some extent considering we do have the technology to do that. Again, thank you ForgottenRelics, I love your Breakdowns & very knowledgeable on the 'Key Animations', 'Visual Art Styles', and Artists.

[@DankMayogetsnogirls]

This opening was so good, man Kubota's kinetic flow in action scenes alongside his attention to detail really sold it for me Also, I'm glad you talked about Kubota, more specifically next-gen animators, deserving of more praise other than their more notable older peers Kubota's definitely vibing with titans like Sato, Shida, Takahashi and Nakatsuru

[@xfurygamingx3027]

The opening was perfect man the animation is top notch

[@Hieillua]

A whole remake of DB + DBZ in a series simply called ''Dragon Ball'' (like the manga) would be so damn good. Imagine a whole remake with this style and this level of quality. With a score that takes the best Kikuchi and Yamamoto OST's and reworks them into new music. And also bring back the OG soundeffects

[@spikestoyou]

The original japanese Dragonball OST was sooo perfect. That soundtrack with the original sound effects with this exact animation style (with the proper saturation) would bring me so much joy.

[@mindstate613]

I like the motion of vegetas kick and also i like gokus expression where he flies through commander blacks mecha

[@dragonrazer12galxy66]

That was a pleasant beautiful surprise

[@grapes9h5]

The coolest part of the movie was this hahahaha - I was like new 2D this amazing!!! Man I hope they give Kubota more to do when the anime returns or in a future 2D film

[@sub2helpGokuchargetheG-Dama]

This animation was so good! Thanks for helping me truly appreciate it man!

[@forgottenrelics1197]

no problem!

[@SON-AYAKU]

Hey brother. Wanted to thank you for your continuous research about these shows. Sad to see that you don't have more subs due to the youtube algorithm. But hey, look on the bright side, atleast you'll be able to interact with the comments in the comment section much easily. A haa haa. Much love to you man.

[@kaisoundz]

Awesome

[@KamiAnimeS1]

I loved it

[@veiregor]

Most of the fans who grew up with dbz are like 25-35. So we still have decades ahead of us to watch the inevitable remake with this kind of animation. Think about it

[@uwin23]

Next movie will definitly need to be animated like that🤩

[@Mikey-uj3dc]

This channel reminds me of AnimeAjay during the days of DBS

[@007psyren]

Damn imagine a full remake of og ball like that would be insane that fluidity is to clean! I swear if it did ever get that kinda of treatment which it should, i feel og ball will get more recognition & praise as much as Z!

[@Da4th4000]

If the Dragon Ball Super Anime's coming back, they should definitely keep Kubota!!

[@_vakas]

Seeing Kubota use the Shintani palette was amazing in DBS Broly. He NEEDS to stay!

[@jasonone8726]

@VaKAS Yeah, I really hope they stick with this color pallete.

[@Jeremyugryjh]

They really had the chance to make the best ever looking dragon ball movie bruh 😭

[@sydneyowusu3750]

Missed opportunities at it's finest.

[@thelegitnetwork9302]

the super vegeta scene is my favourite

[@Dogflamingo]

Such a great intro, everything is just so well put together. It almost feels like a remaster of the original anime

[@dankerbell]

i wonder how easy it would be to make a whole series like this because honestly i might even prefer it to shintani's stuff as awesome as that is, i love how ripped from the manga it feels while also being so kinetic and alive

[@Daniel_gaming24]

I'm freaking in love with Synthwave music, I enjoyed the background song.. also your video Thank you💜 I cant find it tho! Can you send the link please?

[@forgottenrelics1197]

Ayee thanks and it was only intended to be available for a limited so it's been made private on the official account, a lot of channels have reposted some of it tho -kzbin.info/www/bejne/baiuq3eCfNuBZ8U&ab_channel=DragonBallHype.

[@Daniel_gaming24]

@@forgottenrelics1197 okay thankyou, I will take a look Edit: bro I saw already the trailer 😂

[@ms.antithesis]

Quick with it I see

[@karimsaiyan_dz7876]

One piece old episodes are getting remakes, it would be great to have the old Dragon Ball and Z to be reanimated as well

[@FarahRace]

Fire animation

[@blueblazinglegend996]

Bruh when super comes back i need it to be animated like this 🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@arsen2506]

Hello! Great video analysis as always! Sorry to ask but is the art director Kubota as well? I know that he was key animator but was he the one who designed the art as well?

[@forgottenrelics1197]

He's the animation director and the main character designer for the film, but not art director :)

[@kunaload6198]

Imagine a reanimated version of db and dbz with this art style and animation. Top 5 anime of all time for sure

[@Molinill]

It’s already top 5 tho lol

[@Elfo_Scuro]

I'm not a big fan of the new villain form in the movie, but we all know that is Toriyama's favorite form. And yes, the other new transformation the "Big Orange Green" it's ok.

[@jasonone8726]

Ehh, be grateful at least, that Piccolo finally got a new power up, after 30 years lol

[@oblivion5390]

This is better than the whole movie

[@gywii]

What is there to say? It's epic! But it's frustrating to see them aknowledge the old styles and use them at the perfect times, yet now we have this CG movie... We can only hope that when the Super anime returns they take that approach into serious consideration, so that we don't have DBS's issues all over again with the bad character design, colour pallets, bland framing etc.

[@Web-Slinger42]

3:02 Where is that 2000s re-animation by masahiro shimanuki from? I never seen that clip before.

[@noob_jr_2sjrkc]

IT'S SO BEAUTIFUL

[@kayveethegoat1573]

Imagine MUI Goku with his staff using it like Merus.

[@QuantumMecha]

Super late to this, but man. What really fucking kills me is how this shows it’s clearly possible to reach the old designs in a spectacular way…they just don’t do it that way anymore. It fucking sucks.

[@MazingerDestro]

Wonder if he or Takahashi will be the new CD

[@_vakas]

0:35 I think that spin shot of Imperfect Cell was CGI but used 2D animation over it.

[@steamrazor8084]

We need dragon ball remaster as a Kai with this animation

[@akil5695]

looking forward for super dragon ball heroes animation breakdown part 2 and Naruto videos and many more

[@forgottenrelics1197]

the heroes one might be a while off but yeah the naruto one will drop next week (unless something else db related comes out)

[@jba4309]

wow

[@zyster8421]

Please do another Toyotaro video he's too Good compared to his old chapters especially Ch.66 and Ch.76 and the new volumes too

[@jasonone8726]

Nah, his new stuff, is miles better than his old chapters in Super.

[@mergedpotato]

itano circus in dragon ball... never thought i'd see the day

[@magnawaves]

The intro was seriously 2d? Some of the stuff in there is clearly 2d, but others look blatantly 3d like certain shots with Cell. It all looks incredible and I don't know the key artist's record, but if it's actually 2d and he makes it look like THAT to where it looks 3d...well, my mind is plastered on the wall because it is blown

[@ToiletBonnie.]

Someone ask toei to make a reboot using the intro style