There are some manga that should give you chills when you open the volume and Dragon Ball has to be one of them. With Dragon Ball Heroes you always know that some brand new super forms will be on the way and this is another really fun adventure. It may only be 20 chapters long but it covers a lot of content and we finally get the Goku vs Goku fight that we had been waiting for. It really lives up to the hype and is something that every true Dragon Ball fan should read.

The story starts with the old Supreme Kai of Time deciding that there are simply too many timelines at this point. Each action creates a new divergence point and eventually it will destroy the cosmos. So she has decided to end it all. She hosts a massive tournament across time and space with the winner being the only timeline allowed to live. The true timeline if you will. Goku and friends have to win this tournament now with the stakes being so high but can they also find a way to save all timelines? Defeating Aeos will have to happen but can even Goku and friends defeat a godlike creature?

This tournament is a great excuse to see a bunch of alternate universe characters like a dark Bardock, one armed Gohan, etc. There are a bunch of great Saiyans running around but of course you also have some previous villains who showed up from a while back like Hearts making his big return and good ole Cumber. You can bet that Broly is around too and of course the demons like Demigra are always waiting in the wings. There are a ton of ultra powerful fighters here but there can only be one winner!

Pretty much the whole series is a bunch of nonstop back to back fights which is a huge win if you ask me. That’s basically what I like to see from this. Dragon Ball Z became famous for the fights although of course the story and characters are amazing too. This is just the iconic part though and so focusing on that is a really smart move. The art is pretty solid here. Now it’s naturally not as good as Dragon Ball Z or Dragon Ball Super but there’s still a whole lot to enjoy so the fights really pop out at you.

These are also some fights you feel won’t happen in the main series for a long time. For example seeing Goku go up against Aeos was such a great fight. It’s a reminder of why time control on its own is not enough to take own someone like Goku. Goku is in a completely different league after all. The fight is cool though because sure we know that Goku has surpassed all of the Kais and the gods of destruction, but it’s still cool to actually see him fighting there.

Additionally Aeos is a really fun addition to the character ranks. She’s a kai but can actually fight really well and has ambitions of her own. She is a villain to be sure but at least she is one with a clear goal, motives for why she is doing this, and the logic makes sense. You wouldn’t be opposed to sympathizing with her cause as a result. In comparison Chronoa isn’t nearly as likable or charismatic. She spent too long having Trunks and friends fight her battles for her and as a result in a power levels sense she just can’t keep up with Aeos. Their battle was still fun though even if it basically ended immediately.

The demons make for a fun third party in the climax as they show up and everyone has to team up. This is the kind of series that would make for a perfect movie since it really has a true beginning, middle, and end structure. Perhaps you could make the case that the stakes feel a bit lower here but technically all of reality is in the balance. You’re just not worried since we have two Goku and two Vegeta fighters running around and all the other big heroes.

When the tournament is interrupted it is a bit of a mixed bag. On one hand it’s naturally a lot of fun to see the demons force the heroes to team up with the other enemies but on the other hand there were a bunch of other matchups that I wanted to see finish. A good example of a fight that actually finished was Turles vs Raditz which was actually an excellent fight. In general Turles looks amazing in this series with a bunch of extra development the whole time that I was not expecting. I’m guessing that the author really liked him as a character because he gets a ton of shine.

The fight’s also one that you wouldn’t expect but makes a lot of sense thematically. So throwing in a bunch of other fights like that would be perfect wouldn’t you say? There are a lot of fights that start to be sure but a bunch don’t end. Now for fights that do end, naturally the big 3 generations fight was a blast with Goku, one armed Gohan, and Bardock. Seeing them team up for a big energy wave was awesome and the kind of moment that would be immediately iconic if it was in the main series. I’m really hoping these Dragon Ball Heroes titles will get bigger in America at some point. It’s basically like official fanfiction with all of the super forms. I mean just look at the cover at the top right? You probably would not have guessed that this was something official even from the screenshots. In a way that sounds like a shot but it’s more just about how crazy everything has gotten.

If I had any request for the next Dragon Ball Heroes story it would be for it to be more of a long ongoing instead of a mini series. Right now it’s basically a fight compilation which as I said in the beginning is awesome but imagine grabbing all of these characters out of time and having a big ongoing story with them? I think the possibilities would really be endless even if it means having two Heroes series on at once. One for the plot and one for the fights. With how popular the franchise is I think they should really be expanding it more and really churning out products. There is enough lore to absolutely sustain this for a very long time after all.

Overall, Dragon Ball Heroes continues to be a really fun part of the Dragon Ball franchise and I can’t wait to see what shows up next. It ends up being a bit of a quick review due to there not being a ton of story outside of the fights but I still guarantee the 20 chapters feel like a good amount of content once you’re reading it. Heroes has slowly generated quite a few different series and the next one should be coming up fast. It’s basically impossible to guess what the plot will be before it starts of course but you can bet it will involve a ton of action. I’m not sure if they can top the Goku vs Goku fight to end things off here though. Fans have always wanted a GT vs Super Battle and the first two times weren’t super satisfying. This time it was a full fight and it worked out really well. I guess the next logical step would be for Goku to fuse with himself and become GoGoku or something.

Overall 9/10