Despite being a fan-favorite, Dragon Ball’s Piccolo has always taken a backseat to the franchise’s Saiyan characters. Though instrumental in Dragon Ball Z bouts versus invading Saiyans and against Frieza on Namek, he didn’t get a 1v1 fight after the Cell Saga, taking on more of a mentor role in the next arc. He ends up dying and going to Hell in Dragon Ball GT (which isn’t surprising — there’s a reason fans deride GT as standing for “Goku Time.”) And he goes out like a chump in Dragon Ball Super’s Tournament of Power.
I forgive all of that after Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, the 2022 3D CG film (a first for the franchise) that gave Piccolo his flowers. Unlike pretty much every Dragon Ball story ever, Super Hero mostly sidelines the series’ two main Saiyans, Goku and Vegeta, in favor of focusing on Piccolo as both a fighter and mentor.
Super Hero brings back the Red Ribbon Army from the early days of the franchise, the group that Goku decimated when he was just a kid. They’ve created new androids, Gamma 1 and Gamma 2, who are meant to defeat Capsule Corp. and the Z Warriors. In Red Ribbon’s eyes, Bulma and Capsule are being aided by aliens to eventually take over the world. (As far as conspiracy theories go, it’s actually not too far off.) Piccolo survives a scrap with Gamma 2 early in the film, and then infiltrates the Red Ribbon Army’s hidden headquarters to learn more about its schemes.
The silly hijinks that defined early Dragon Ball return here. Before the franchise was focused on colorful power-ups and world-destroying threats, it was a light-hearted adventure. That light-heartedness fuels the section of the film that finds Piccolo donning a Red Ribbon soldier disguise and waltzing right on through. It’s very silly as no one really cares too much that one of their fellow soldiers is literally green. (He blames it on stomach troubles.) Super Hero is full of other jokes and gags, like a character needing a dome on the roof of his car for his Johnny Bravo-like hair or Gohan researching ants that glow gold when in danger that he dubs “Super Saiy-Ants.”
Super Hero renews the focus on Piccolo’s relationship with Gohan. Just as he trained the half-Saiyan at the start of Dragon Ball Z, and his brother Goten in the Buu Saga, Piccolo starts the film training Gohan’s daughter Pan. He also chastises Gohan for not keeping up with his training (where have I heard that one before?) as the poor kid can just never win.
Piccolo helping Gohan find his fighting mojo again is the crux of the narrative, and he certainly needs it to take care of the endgame antagonist. Super Hero isn’t interested in hearing out Gohan for why his studies are important at all; Earth will always be under threat, and he’s gotta keep up his training to be there to protect it.
Once Gohan is dragged into the fray (by a silly fake kidnapping plot), the action is off to the races. Bouts between our heroes and the Gammas follow, and the choreography is as crisp as you’d expect from the 40-year-old franchise. The Gammas, as they’re trying to be super heroes, have fun comic-book-like word balloons pop up behind them when doing an impressive attack or striking a pose.
Your mileage may vary on Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero’s majority 3D CG animation. It drew ire when it was revealed, and not every critic was sold on it (Polygon’s review called it “an unfamiliar look reminiscent of a Nintendo Switch game”). Regardless of where you fall on the aesthetic, there’s no denying it makes the film’s fight choreography pop and its ki attacks look absolutely stunning. There are moments at the end, when the final antagonist powers up a gigantic ki blast and Gohan charges up a counterattack, that look like nothing the franchise has done before.
Piccolo himself looks mighty impressive in the new CG artstyle, with his purple gi a bit brighter and his pink… muscle… things… now yellow, like in his first appearance. He looks his best when he transforms into his new Power Awakened and then Orange Piccolo forms. (Which is on par with “Super Saiyan Blue” as a lazy name.) Are his new forms a bit of an ass pull gifted to him by the eternal dragon Shenron? Sure, but who cares — we got androids to fight!
Orange Piccolo puts the Namekian warrior on an even playing field with his Saiyan allies, making it almost feel like a meta acknowledgement from series creator Akira Toriyama that Piccolo was neglected for too long. Super Hero was the last film Toriyama worked on, and 2024’s Dragon Ball Daima his last contribution to a Dragon Ball anime. (At least, as far as the public knows.) So it’s a great thing that Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero is so wonderful in the way it elevates Piccolo, giving him a long-overdue starring role.
Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero is now streaming on Hulu. It’s also available to watch on Crunchyroll.
