I’ll be the first to admit I wasn’t particularly excited about Dragon Ball Super: Beerus. When the remake of Dragon Ball Super was first announced, I struggled to see the point of revisiting a story that had already been told once in Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods and then again in the original 2015 television run. Sure, the promise of refreshed animation was exciting, but it didn’t feel like that was enough to justify starting from scratch for a third time, especially when major manga milestones like the Galactic Patrol Prisoner arc and Moro have yet to receive their due on-screen.
After seeing the world premiere of Beerus at New York Comic Con 2026, however, I’m happy to admit I was dead wrong. From the anime’s jaw-dropping opening sequence — one that feels more like a loving victory lap through franchise history than a standard OP — to the enhanced colors and smoother pacing, this series is already proving itself to be one of the most confident Dragon Ball TV adaptations we’ve seen in years. More than anything, this rendition feels like the closest we’ve come to seeing Akira Toriyama’s vision seamlessly extricated from page to screen.
The premiere expertly weaves in manga-exclusive beats, such as Goku’s mental shadow-sparring against his most infamous foes, signaling that this adaptation is finally using the Super manga (written and illustrated by Toyotarou) as its primary blueprint. The most immediate difference in Beerus is how it introduces its titular character. Where Battle of Gods leaned heavily into situational comedy and the original Super anime stretched the setup across padded filler, Beerus presents the God of Destruction as an absolute terror from the frame he wakes.
He remains a gluttonous and temperamental deity laced with Toriyama’s signature dry humor, but the threat he poses feels as darkly formidable here as it did in the opening chapters of the manga. Rather than simply reanimating a familiar narrative, the team is rethinking how that narrative should breathe. That intent is best witnessed in the pacing.
Dragon Ball Super: Beerus takes its time establishing the status quo, juxtaposing Goku’s peaceful routine as a radish farmer against Beerus awakening from his slumber in the far-off reaches of space. The quiet beats feel deliberate, giving the characters room to leave an impression before the cosmic stakes kick in. No more rushing to the action; Beerus is letting those quiet moments sit, and it’s a welcome surprise for a franchise that has long thrived on action.
While a fresh coat of paint might sound purely cosmetic on paper, it fundamentally transforms how this material lands. Character models carry genuine vitality against rich background textures, and the combat possesses actual weight. The premiere episode doesn’t feature grand transformations, but specific shots of Beerus, particularly his confrontation on Planet Mogina, carry a newfound presence.
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