Dragon Ball Super: Broly‘s final marketing push has brought an onslaught of new footage from the film that fans never expected. After the epic flashback Trailer #2 that debut during New York Comic Con back in October, Broly has put no less than:
Videos by ComicBook.com
- An epic final trailer showcasing the battle between Goku, Vegeta, and Broly.
- An official music video that reveals even more of how those aforementioned fights progress.
- A major SPOILERY trailer revealing the debut of Gogeta in the film.
Interestingly enough, anime fans have NOT reacted to this rollout of new looks at Dragon Ball Super: Broly with total approval. The backlash reactions to the Gogeta trailer, in particular, have raised an interesting question:
Should Dragon Ball Super: Broly have revealed so many big spoilers before release day?
On the one hand, much of what was “revealed” in the footage was stuff that fans had either already guessed from speculation, or pieced together from various promo or merchandise releases related to the movie. Seeing all the action-packed scenes of Goku and Vegeta’s new Super Saiyan God powers, or Broly’s new berserker “Ulitmate Super Saiyan” formd, have only tapped into a much wider mainstream fanbase, who see all of these epic battles and are now intrigued (if not hyped) for Dragon Ball Super: Broly’s worldwide release.
On the other hand, Dragon Ball Super: Broly already has a massive fan foundation under it – people who were going to turn out in theaters before the big marketing push kicked in. For those fans, the anticipation of getting some big twist surprises and reveals was very real, and is now ruined by the fact that the fandom has been overflowing with commentary and reactions to all of these spoilery reveals.
At the end of the day, though, this might be less a debate about proper marketing strategies, and more a sign of the times. Dragon Ball Super has been catapulted to a new level of mainstream success and exposure since its anime series reached hiatus after the Tournament of Power Arc. The franchise has never been more profitable, the powers that be behind it are treating Dragon Ball Super: Broly like a project meant for the worldwide fanbase, rather than just the core die-hards in Japan. That essentially means that Dragon Ball Super: Broly is being treated less like an anime feature, and more like a major blockbuster movie release – and blockbuster movies have a very specific marketing formula, which includes pushing out a massive wave of final marketing, which basically gives away the whole movie.
This is going to no doubt be a big reality adjustment for anime fans, who are perhaps used to a much different rollout method for big projects (we do love those cryptic teasers…). However, it doesn’t look like there’s any turning back for Dragon Ball Super after this – especially if Broly is as good as the first reviews claim.
Dragon Ball Super: Broly officially releases in Japan this December, so fans will get to see more of Super Saiyan Blue Goku in action soon enough. Funimation will be bringing the film to theaters in the United States on January 16. 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 FunimationNOW, VRV, and Crunchyroll.
