LogFAQs > #975956927

21. Aku no Tenshi to Seigi no Akuma - Dragon Ball Super ED7
https://animethemes.moe/anime/dragon_ball_super/ED7-NCBD1080

Love the animation of this - showing everyone in comic panels, and then having some of them move and react to one another. DB is such a long-running franchise and cultural totem pole that it has a gigantic cast of characters (that it mostly refuses to kill off), and this is a great summation of them, honoring their history while not making most of them truly frozen. It's a short piece but I also love the song. I actually watched the series dubbed, and I liked the dub version of it too. Favorite part is the second half of course. What a pure sound of longing.

20. Genkai Toppa x Survivor - Dragon Ball Super OP2
https://animethemes.moe/anime/dragon_ball_super/OP2-NCBD1080

This is the only "battle arc OP" on my list, and man, it is strong. Musically the intro is pretty typical, but it's just way more action-packed visually than your typical battle shounen OP. The animations of Goku fighting Jiren are amazing. The rest of the first minute of the OP is pretty typical both musically and visually, but then we hit the last part, where (like so many OPs) it hits that third gear and we get more Goku vs Jiren. Over the course of over fifty episodes, it really makes an impression!

As for the arcs that have these themes... the Big Tournament is kinda cool, and easily the best arc in DB Super (and arguably the only real worthwhile part of the anime at all). Problem is that DB Super actually kind of sucks. It's the sequel to one of my favorite series of all time (which has its own problems), but the power-scaling and retcons and new powerups largely undermine what came before (which I guess is actually kind of a DB tradition). I mentioned in a different thread that Goku getting wrecked by a regular-ass laser-gun would never have happened in Z, and in fact I believe he literally gets shot in the head or something in the original DB and shrugs it off? The whole thing feels anime and not manga, and while that's not an issue for many other series, it is for Dragon Ball. It doesn't do anything interesting character-wise at all; I guess they try to de-wussify Gohan but somehow he actually seems even more pathetic because of it.

While it's pure anime and mostly dumb, Ultra Instinct Goku is pretty sweet, and the quick glimpse of it we get in the opening is great. Only there if you know to look for it too, which is neat!