'Dragon Ball Heroes' Drops Big Cooler, Evil Saiyan Tease

Dragon Ball Heroes recently released the first episode of its special promotional anime, and while fan response has been split, the anime short certainly had a lot of great elements of fan service.

One such thing is teasing the arrival of fan-favorite villain Cooler, and the mysterious Evil Saiyan Kanba at the end of the episode for a bigger fight in Episode 2.

The first episode spends its time having a mysterious Goku from an alternate world fight Goku as they transform into Super Saiyan 4 and Super Saiyan Blue, respectively. But at the end of the first episode, Cooler appears in front of Future Trunks in the Prison Planet demanding a Dragon Ball. As for Kanba, he's seen somewhere charging more of his dark energy.

While these brief cameos only tease future fights, what really ties it together is the new villain Fu, who's placed Goku, Vegeta, and Trunks in this Prison Planet for an unknown reason. His goal for now seems to be pitting the strong fighters against one another, and he's sure to get his wish with these next additions.

Cooler and Kanba play big roles in the Universe Mission 2 that's being adapted for the promotional anime, with Cooler even reaching a Golden Cooler state. It would be the coolest thing if that made it to the anime special in any way.

The synopsis for the Dragon Ball Heroes promotional anime reads as such:

"Trunks returns from the future to train with Goku and Vegeta. However, he abruptly vanishes. The mysterious man "Fu" suddenly appears, telling them that Trunks has been locked up on the "Prison Planet", a mysterious facility in an unknown location between universes. The group searches for the Dragon Balls to free Trunks, but an unending super battle awaits them! Will Goku and the others manage to rescue Trunks and escape the Prison Planet?"

If you're unaware of this cool game the anime is based on, Super Dragon Ball Heroes is the latest digital card fighting game and the top earner in the digital card arcade scene in Japan. Developed by Dimps, the update brought enhanced graphics and the ability to play as seven characters at the same time.

Fans will most likely recognize some of the characters as many of them (such as new character Fu) appear in the Dragon Ball Xenoverse and Dragon Ball Online. Dragon Ball Heroes adds many fan service things to the series like Super Saiyan 4 Gohan, a fusion of Super Android 17 with Android 18, the time patrol, a greater role for the mystical demons in the series like Dabura, and even properly integrates Android 21 of Dragon Ball FighterZ into its story.

If you're waiting for more Dragon Ball Super instead, Dragon Ball Super currently airs its English dub on Adult Swim during the Toonami programming block Saturday evenings at 9:30 p.m. It is also available to stream on Funimation and Amazon Video. The Japanese language release of the series is complete, and available to stream on Funimation, VRV, and Crunchyroll.

The first Dragon Ball Super film is set to release this December in Japan, and it has released its first trailer. The film will focus on the Saiyans, the "origins of Goku's power," and potentially the story of the very first Super Saiyan. Not only does it aim to be the best film in the series, original creator Akira Toriyama will be contributing to the film's script and character designs.