If each iteration of Dragon Ball, the multimedia action franchise that’s been kamehameha-ing since 1984 (!), has taught fans anything, it’s patience. But the wait is almost over for the latest series, Dragon Ball Heroes, a promotional anime based on the card and video game(s) of the same name. The first trailer, above, is short, but promises loads of energy-fueled action and a definitive release date: July 1.
Dragon Ball Heroes adapts the video game’s Universal Survival and Prison Planet sagas. Characters expected to appear in the series include stalwarts like Son Goku and Vegeta, as well as Future Trunks and Future Mai (who we get a glimpse of in the trailer), Goku: Xeno and Cooler.
There’s also Fu, a new character drawn from the games who claims to be Trunks’ friend before imprisoning him and wrangling the Dragon Balls. It’s then up to Goku to save Trunks. At some point, Super Saiyan Blue Vegito fuses into existence to bust up opponents. Dragon Ball Heroes looks to pull out all the stops.
There’s also the matter of Evil Saiyan, one of the more mysterious characters in the lineup. Translated bios describe him as “a mysterious warrior interred by Fu on the Prison Planet. With his astonishing power, he rampages through the Prison Planet and overwhelms Goku and company.” His brief appearance in the trailer is appropriately Bane-like.
After some early teases, Evil Saiyan’s real name was recently uncovered by Dragon Ball sleuths, and shared in the tweet below:
Rather than save this for a video or something, I'm putting this out there now to help nip this in the bud.
— 부드크퍼 TDC (@DBReduxTDC) June 19, 2018
Evil Saiyan's name is confirmed to be カンバー/Kanbā, which is likely meant to be from the latter half cucumber. There's no real reason to be using "Kanba" over Cumber. pic.twitter.com/ecSa22a76q
The first episode of Dragon Ball Heroes premieres on July 1. Right now, it’s only expected to stream online at the series’ website. For more news on the promo anime, here’s everything we know about Dragon Ball Heroes.
