While not a lot necessarily happened in the story department, the animation for Super Dragon Ball Heroes has hit a new stride with its 13th episode. Displaying a titanic first battle between Goku in his Super Saiyan Blue form and Hearts powered up, the animation gave audiences a dizzying fast paced battle that seemed on par with the best battles we’ve seen to date from the Dragon Ball franchise. Viewers may be wondering why this episode happened to have such amazing animation and we have the answer for you!
Videos by ComicBook.com
In one name, we can find our answer for why the animation went up a tick in terms of quality and that’s Naotoshi Shida. The Dragon Ball director has put together several of the high octane battles that were found in Dragon Ball Super proper, with such examples being the fight against Zamasu, the Vegitto Blue brawl, and the final battle against Jiren in the Tournament of Power by Ultra Instinct Goku to name a few.
His work however wasn’t just relegated to the Super series, as Shida’s work goes back to the original Dragon Ball series, Dragon Ball Z, and nearly all of the Dragon Ball movies that have made their way to theaters. Aside from the Saiyan sagas, Naotoshi has worked on several anime series and movies such as Sailor Moon R, One Piece, Halo Legends, and Street Fighter Alpha, though he has many many more to his name.
While its cleary that Naotoshi can’t animate the Dragon Ball series entirely week to week, its still a testament to see how amazing his direction and animation skills are when it comes to the high flying battles.
What did you think of Super Dragon Ball Heroes Episode 13? Was this some of the best animation to date for the Dragon Ball franchise? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, or Dragon Ball fights!
If you wanted to catch up, Episode 13 of the Super Dragon Ball Heroes promotional anime series is now live and is titled “Super Hearts Joins the Fight! An All-Out Earthshaking Battle Fighters Assemble!” The synopsis for the episode describes it as such, “Hearts has finally shown his true power! Goku transforms into Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan and a fearsome, evenly matched battle unfolds. How will this earthshaking battle end?”
If you’re unaware of this arcade game the promotional anime series 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 and provides all sorts of fantastic fan-service never seen in the original series. You can experience it in a way through Super Dragon Ball Heroes: World Mission on Nintendo Switch. Check out our review of the game here for more details.
