Dragon Ball Super (ドラゴンボール超スーパー Doragon Bōru Sūpā) is a Japanese anime television series produced by Toei Animation, which began airing on July 5, 2015. It's a continuation of the original Dragon Ball manga, featuring the first new storyline in 18 years. The series takes place after the defeat of Majin Buu in Dragon Ball Z and reveals the events of the ten year time skip following the Buu Saga, also repeating the events of the movies Battle of Gods and Resurrection ‘F’.
The show aired on Sundays at 9:00 a.m. on Fuji TV. Its overall plot outline is written by Dragon Ball franchise creator Akira Toriyama, while the individual episodes are written by different screenwriters. It is also a manga series illustrated by Toyotarou, serialized in Shueisha's shōnen manga magazine V Jump.
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Dubbing History
The first announcement of an English dub came from Toonami Asia in November 2015, who announced they were producing their own English dub to air exclusively in Southeast Asia and India. The dub was produced by the Los Angeles based Bang Zoom! Entertainment. Although intended to air by mid-2016[1], the release ended up being on January 21, 2017 (14 days after the premiere of FUNimation's dub). Voice actors that were involved with Harmony Gold's brief dub of Dragon Ball and Animaze's dub of the video game Dragon Ball GT: Final Bout are present in this dub, though none of them reprise their roles (with the exception of Wendee Lee, who reprises the role of Bulma). The casting for this dub mostly stays close to the vocal types of the original Japanese actors, with some exceptions (Goku, Krillin, etc.). The dub also has various script censors, toning down Roshi's perversion and, once again, referring to Mr. Satan as 'Hercule'. The dub was cancelled after Episode 27 (according to Ray Chase they were hired to do 52 episodes) due to the closure of Toonami Asia in early 2018.[2]
On November 4, 2016, after much fan anticipation, FUNimation Entertainment announced that they had acquired the rights to Dragon Ball Super and would be producing an English dub, with many cast members of their previous English-language releases of Dragon Ball media reprising their respective roles. As well as officially announcing the dub, it was also announced they will be simulcasting the series on their streaming platform, FunimationNow. On December 7, 2016, IGN reported that the FUNimation dub of Dragon Ball Super would air on Adult Swim Saturdays at 8 p.m. with an encore showing in their Toonami block later that night at 11:30 p.m. beginning January 7, 2017. This was later confirmed on Toonami's official Facebook page. The North American premiere of Dragon Ball Super was watched by 1,063,000 viewers for its 8 p.m. showing on Adult Swim. The series completed its run on October 5, 2019.
Cast
Episodic Characters
| Image | Character | Seiyū | Bang Zoom! Dub | FUNimation Dub | Episode |
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King | Yasuhiro Mamiya | Steve Kramer | Markus Lloyd | 1 |
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Chef | Yūsei Oda | Christopher Bevins | ||
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Cosmetics Vendor | Yukiko Morishita | Tia Ballard | ||
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Old Man | Chris Cason | |||
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Bubbles | Takahiro Fujimoto | Christopher Sabat | 2, 4 - 5, 12 | |
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Chief Moginaian | Sōta Arai | Michael Sorich | 2 | |
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Emcee | Hiroaki Miura | Duncan Brannan | ||
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Oracle Fish | Shōko Nakagawa | Brian Beacock | Monica Rial | 3, 18 |
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Gregory | Yūsuke Numata | Spike Spencer | John Burgmeier | 4 - 5 |
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Receptionist | Yukiko Morishita | Michelle Rojas | 4, 77 | |
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King Vegeta | Masaharu Satō | Michael McConnohie | Christopher Sabat | 6 |
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Sushi Chef | Yūsuke Handa | 7-8 | ||
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Purple Dragon | Fumiya Kosugi | Jason Douglas | 12 | |
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Red Dragon | Kōji Kawakami | Sean Schemmel | ||
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Reporter | Takahiro Fujimoto | Daniel Penz | 12-14 | |
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Piiza | Yukiko Morishita | Philece Sampler | Linda Young | 13-15, 42 |
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Pirozhki | Hisao Egawa | Kyle Hebert | 13, 15 | |
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Caroni | Takahiro Fujimoto | John Burgmeier | 13, 15 | |
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Galbee | Mitsuaki Hoshino | Kirk Thornton | Bob Carter | 15 |
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Snackian Ambassador | Jirō Saitō | Ray Chase | Jim Foronda | |
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Secretary | Tetsuo Gotō | Bob Reed | ||
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Reporter | Yui Kano | Wendee Lee | Tia Ballard | |
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Beevis | Yūsuke Handa | Jason Douglas | ||
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Chef | Jim Foronda | 16 | ||
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Bank Robber 1 | Keiji Hirai | Ricco Fajardo | 17 | |
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Bank Robber 2 | Sōta Arai | Jim Foronda | 17 | |
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Frog Officer | Tomohisa Asō | Charles Campbell | 18-19 | |
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Fairy | Chihiro Ikki | Morgan Berry | 19 | |
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Pink Angel | Natalie Hoover | |||
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Soldier 1 | Phil Parsons | 21 | ||
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Soldier 2 | Markus Lloyd | |||
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Tights | Hiromi Tsuru | Anastasia Muñoz | 29, 31 | |
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Zuno | Keiichi Sonobe | Daniel Penz | 31, 57-58 | |
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Zuno's Assistant | Kōhei Imai | Jim Foronda | 31 | |
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Galactic Patrol Member | Yūsuke Handa | Mark Stoddard | 31 | |
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Burpman | Yasunori Masutani | Vic Mignogna | 31 | |
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Singer | Lee Murphy | 32 | ||
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Fuwa's Attendant | Rawly Pickens | 32 | ||
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Arale Norimaki | Mami Koyama | Brina Palencia | 43, 69 | |
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Professor | Jirō Saitō | Graham Sinclair | 43 | |
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Professor's Wife | Kimiko Saitō | Brina Palencia | ||
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Bread Shop Owner | Takahiro Fujimoto | Chris Cason | ||
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Gryll | Jirō Saitō | Brienne Olvera | 44 - 45 | |
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Cloned Gryll | Kōhei Fukuhara | |||
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Cloned Vegeta | Masakazu Morita | Brian Drummond | 44 - 46 | |
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Potage | Shirō Saitō | Bob Hess | ||
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Trunks' Tutor | Yukiko Morishita | Jamie Marchi | 48 | |
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Future Dabura | Ryūzaburō Ōtomo | Rick Robertson | 49 | |
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Future Gohan | Masako Nozawa | Kyle Hebert | 52 | |
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Grandma | Aiko Hibi | Jamie Marchi | 56 | |
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Resistance Soldier | Toshiya Chiba | Jim Foronda | 58 | |
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Crab Castle Chef | Tomohisa Asō | Austin Tindle | 68 | |
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Senbei Norimaki | Yūsaku Yara | R. Bruce Elliott | 69 | |
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ZTV Reporter | Ai Sasaki | Jeannie Tirado | ||
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Dr. Mashirito | Ryōtarō Okiayu | Barry Yandell | ||
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Reality Machine No. 2 | Takuya Kirimoto | Chris Cason | ||
 
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Gatchan 1 & 2 | Kumiko Nishihara | Brina Palencia | ||
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Mr. Pig | Masaharu Satō | Jim Foronda | ||
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Crime Boss | Koutarou Nakamura | Chris Cason | 71 | |
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Bodyguard 1 | Toshiya Chiba | Cris George | ||
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Bodyguard 2 | Yūsei Oda | Phil Parsons | ||
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Grandmother | Brina Palencia | 72 | ||
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Great Saiyaman Stuntman | Daman Mills | 73 | ||
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Tank Operator | Austin Tindle | |||
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Extra | Ryohei Arai | Jim Foronda | ||
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Space Ramen Alien | Yūsuke Numata | Rawly Pickens | 73-74 | |
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Barry Khan | Nobuyuki Hiyama | Robert McCollum | ||
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Cocoa Amaguri | Masumi Asano | Bryn Apprill | ||
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Assistant Director | Kappei Yamaguchi | Jeremy Inman | ||
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Director | Masaru Ikeda | Anthony Bowling | ||
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Robber 1 | Keiji Hirai | Josh Grelle | ||
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Robber 2 | Yūsuke Numata | Marcus D. Stimac | ||
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Reporter | Josh Grelle | 74 | ||
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Thief 1 | Daisuke Matsubara | Anthony Bowling | 75 | |
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Thief 2 | Kouhei Fukuhara | Cris George | ||
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Cop 1 | Keiji Hirai | Josh Grelle | ||
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Cop 2 | Yūsei Oda | Daman Mills | ||
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Merchant | Phil Parsons | 77 | ||
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Assistant Merchant | Austin Tindle | |||
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Highwayman 1 | Jim Foronda | |||
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Highwayman 2 | Anthony Bowling | |||
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Highwayman 3 | Rawly Pickens | |||
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Sweet Bean Shopkeeper | Jim Foronda | |||
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Shopping Woman | Jeannie Tirado | 84 | ||
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Old Woman | Michelle Rojas | |||
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Dorakiyan | Howard Wang | 85 | ||
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Galactic Poacher | Masaya Takatsuka | Andrew Love | 86 - 87 | |
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Renso | Randy Pearlman | 88 | ||
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Yurin | Ai Maeda | Luci Christian | 89 | |
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Ogre Guide | Justin Briner | 93 | ||
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Assassin Leader | Yasuhiko Kawazu | Reagan Murdock | 94 - 95 | |
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Jiren (young & adolescent) |
Yukiko Morishita | Terri Doty | 127 | |
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Nazeeh Tarsha |
Additional Voices
FUNimation Dub
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Notes
- Wendee Lee reprises her role as Bulma in the Bang Zoom! dub, nearly 28 years after being cast as the character in the Harmony Gold dub of Dragon Ball.
- Alexis Tipton takes over the role of Trunks from Laura Bailey as Bailey currently resides in Los Angeles. While reprising the role for a completed series or movie is simpler, an ongoing series would prove more difficult to have to be constantly flown to and from L.A. to Dallas and back, thus possibly interfering with her other works.
- Though archive audio of Bailey as Trunks can be heard in a flashback in Episode 2.
- Despite the Bang Zoom! dub sharing some consistencies with FUNimation's dub (such as the name "Master Roshi"), other established characters and terms are referred to by their original Japanese names and pronunciation (Tenshinhan, Shenlong, ki, etc.).
- Reception of the Bang Zoom! dub from the FUNimation voice cast has been mixed.
- Chris Rager expressed his disappointment for the dub on Twitter from the initial preview clips as he felt that FUNimation were the only true English voices for the series and thought the Toonami Asia dub was deliberately copying him as well as the other cast members.
- Sean Schemmel and Kara Edwards have given their support for the dub. According to Lex Lang, he and Schemmel talked about the Toonami Asia dub before it began production, with the latter offering the former advice on Goku. Kara, meanwhile, favorited tweets on Erika Harlacher's casting of Videl on Twitter and praised her performance.
- Daman Mills fills in various pieces of Frieza's dialogue for Christopher Ayres in Episodes 26 and 27. Mills has since been working as Ayres' understudy for Frieza due to Ayres' diagnosis of late-stage emphysema, including voicing Frieza in the video games Dragon Ball FighterZ and Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot. However, Ayres was able to reprise the role for the film Dragon Ball Super: Broly.
- Magetta's voice is listed as "N/A" in the end credits. His voice seems to have been done utilizing a text to speech program.
- In the FUNimation dub, Cloned Vegeta is voiced by Brian Drummond, the voice of Vegeta in the Ocean dub of Dragon Ball Z, and the first English voice of Vegeta overall.
Transmission
| Date(s) | Channel | Country | |
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| 2017-2019 | Cartoon Network (Adult Swim/Toonami) |
United States | 
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Video Releases
| Distributor | Year | Format | Contents | Region | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FUNimation Entertainment | 2017-2020 |  + 
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The Complete Series | 1 NTSC A DVB-T |
United States |
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| 10 Volumes | ||||||
References
- ↑ (Nov. 10, 2015) Toonami Snaps Up Dragon Ball Super in Asia
- ↑ (Jan 9. 2018) Anime News India on Facebook. Retrieved February 15, 2018
External Links
- Official Adult Swim Website
- Dragon Ball Super (anime) at the Anime News Network
- Dragon Ball Super at the Internet Movie Database
