Dec 4, 2024
Super Dragon Ball Hereos: Meteor Mission! is the 5th installment and FINAL ARC of the Super Dragon Ball Heroes manga story line and is the definitive adaptation of the story from the arcade game it is based on. (There is an anime version too like most the previous arcs).
This time I won't compare the anime and manga version simply because the anime version is not very appealing because of the main antagonist of the arc keep reintroducing himself and the CGI made it hard to watch or remember and the last reason being that there isn't much to compare as the highlights, the fanservice of
...
Heroes, is the most underwhelming his arc.
The story starts of with Kaioshin of Time and the CC warriors noticing very unusual things in Universe 7 to the point they even go to King Kai's planet. There they find the person responsible for what happened: Majin Ozotto, an antagonist introduced in the 2nd manga of Super Dragon Ball Heroes, Super Dragon Ball Heroes: Universe Mission!
He is an antagonist who to no ones surprise can absorb others to get stronger and use their abilities, like Boo. But it is a bit better since Ozotto can transform into those he absorbed and change his ki signature of those he is copying the looks off. Apparently he absorbed people from multiple timelines, the afterlife, dimensions and universes. Oh, and he can make clones of himself. Those the appeal of the Meteor Mission arc is getting all sorts of what if battles with the characters being clones of Ozotto that take the forms of the likes of Movie 7 Androids, Janemba, Baby etc.
A lot of the early fights are just references to either fights we have seen or fights we have seen but with a small twist. Goku Xeno fighting Freeza and Cell has a lot of nods to Goku vs Frieza and Cell in Dragon Ball GT. We see stuff like everyone fighting various androids and beating them in a similar fashion.
The fights in the second arc focus on what the game created may thing people want to see like Vegito vs Gohan but then ends with a final battle to put down the final antagonist.
Some positives first: The artstyle and pacing is good. The fights are generally pleasing to look at and entertaining enough. The references while annoying because you have seen them before and at some point it could get annoying, some of the references are changed enough and have some flavor to make them unique experiences as they play out differently and you see them from different perspectives.
Negatives: I will be honest, the highlights and enjoyable moments didn't really help me enjoy it. Don't get me wrong, the story isn't awful or terrible. The problem is nothing really stands out because most stuff we have either seen before or generally not that interesting. While Ozotto appears smart with appearing like someone who wants to test his powers, there are times he needs to look stupid just so we can have a what if fight. I mean, he let one of the people he absorbed free just so he can let them unlock their hidden powers through battle and then absorb them again. I personally felt confused whether he has now access to the unlocked power even if it was a temporary boost, otherwise he should have always have access to it.
Finally a being that consumes all of realize just doesn't hit as hard as the previous arc who had all timelines at stake through an erasure tournament which got hijacked by an evil wizard god. Even the name of the arc feels underwhelming. The previous arc was called Ultra God Mission. Meteor Mission just doesn't sound as good.
The previous arc ended with Goku vs Xeno Goku with their final power up. This arc has nothing really as hype as Universe Tree Goku, Super Saiyan 4 Vegito, Limit Breaker Super Saiyan 4 etc.
They don't even give Pan any power ups ending the series with Raditz having Super Saiyan 3 and Turtles having Evil Saiyan forms, but Pan not even with a basic Super Saiyan despite being in almost every arc up till this point.
Generally, this is very weak of a conclusion to this video game promotional manga. If you are really desperate for Dragon Ball fights, I guess you can read this manga. Generally, I would not recommend it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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