Dragon Ball Super: Broly is without a doubt going to play a vital role in how the franchise proceeds moving forward. With a new aesthetic, a rejuvenated Akira Toriyama penning the story, and emphasis on making non-canon characters canon, modern Dragon Ball is undergoing a serious shift for better or for worse. In terms of presentation, it absolutely is for the better. The series has never looked so good in its animated form. We are finally at a point where Akira Toriyama’s art style is coming to life almost pitch perfectly. Mind you, it isn’t a 1:1 adaptation considering how much his style has changed over the year🍌s, but Goku and company have never looked so alive.
Unfortunately, everything else is a bit hit or miss, to say the least. Where Battle of Gods suffered from poor art, but thrived narratively, Broly has the opposite problem. It is a gorgeous movie on every aesthetic level, but stands out as one of the worst stories in the franchise’s long history. Incohesive, thematically devoid of content, and generally unfocused, Broly is not a good movie if you’re there for characters or plot. Worth keeping in mind, these are two elements the series has always excelled at. In many respects, Dragon Ball Super: Broly is what the average consumes believes Dra🐼gon Ball to🐭 be: nonsensical, devoid of character, and non-stop action.
30 Shenlong Shouldn’💦t Have Been Able To Teleport Broly 𒈔
At the end of the Namek arc, the gang wishes🅷 for Porguna, a stronger dragon than Shenlong, to whisk Goku back to Earth. Unfortunately, as Goku does not want to return and a wish cannot override the desire of another p🎀erson, Porguna cannot fulfill the request. At the end of Broly, Cheelai wishes to summon Broly away from Earth.
Using the same logic from the Namek arc, and taking into consideration that Shenlong is an inherently weaker version of Porunga, there is no realistic scenario where the wish ♎would have been able to go through. It could be argued that Broly was in a state of madness and lacked a will of his own, but that in itself raises other questions.
29 ꦉ Frieza’s Wish ꦏ
Characters change with time, but it is important to recognize that Frieza, the series’ only character who has been very clearly shown to be unredeemable, cannot change. He is a monster. Even when friendly, he cares only about himself. He may banter with Goku, but he i🅷s not a good pers🌺on. He genocided an entire race just to wish for immortality, after all.
It's a sad day when Frieza is reduced to old gags.
Flash forward to Broly and Frieza has finally done it: he’s gathered the seven 🐭Dragon Balls. With no one to stop him, Frieza is prepared to wish not for immortality, but to be a few inches taller. It’s a gag, but one highly derivative of Commander Red from the Red Ribbon Army arc and t🥃otally out of character for Frieza.
28 The Oracle Fish 𒉰Should Have Prophesied Broly, Not🅠 Goku
The whole context surrounding the Oracle Fish prophesying Goku becoming a Super Saiyan God revolved around the fact that Beerus wanted to wake up to a good fight after his decades-long sleep. While this made sense in Battle of Gods, Broly’s existence puts a serious damper on th🍬e whole sc𒁃enario.
If Beerus wanted a good fight, why wouldn’t the Oracle Fish use his oracleness to prophesy 🦂Broly instead? At the time, Broly was undeniably stronger than Goku, and by a lot. If Goku was catching up to Beerus during the Tournament of Powe🔯r, and Broly is stronger than Goku in the film, Broly would naturally be a bigger draw than a Super Saiyan God.
27 📖 Bardock’s Assault On Frieza Contr🌃adicts The Manga
Despite Minus firmly kn𝄹ocking the Bardock TV special out of canon, it never actually contradicts Bardock’s two appearances in the manga. From what we know, Bardock led a charge against Frieza before immediately getting vaporized with the rest of Planet Vegeta. That part is in the film, but…
Bardock isn’t wearing his headband. In the manga, Bardock is clearly shown wearing his signature headband, but not such accessory exists in th💞e movie. It’s a minor detail, but it’s one that directly contradicts the main source material: the manga. If anything, th൩e movie made Minus’ place in canon all the more exhausting.
26 G꧒oku’s Minus Ba𒊎ckstory
In the original series, the reveal that Goku 🃏was a vicious alien sent to Earth to destroy the planet was a big d🌱eal. It completely recontextualized Goku as a character and brought with it inherent themes relating to the concept of nature versus nurture. Goku’s nature is to be a barbarian, but he was nurtured into anything but.
There's just no winning when Dragon Ball Minus is involved.
Minus demolishes this twist, and by extension nuance relating to Goku’s character, by explaining away his gentle nature as a trait he simply inherited from Gine. Because of Minus, Goku is less interesting and has less depth. This is an unfortunate consequence that the film, in adapting the c🎶hapter, maintains.
25 Frᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚieza Fights Broly Fo🍸r Way Too Long
As is tradition, Goku and Vegeta mess up their fusion when it comes time for them to practice the fusion dance in preparation for Gogeta. All the while, Frieza is actively fighting Broly. Since Goku and Vegeta perfor🐻m the fusion dance three times before ultimately going to fight Broly, Frieza ends up fighting the Saiyan for 90 minutes.
Keep in mind, Broly is significantly stronger▨ than Frieza and this is a series where fights happen at a lightning fast pace. Goku’s entire fight with Jiren is, at most, one minute long. The fact Frieza could survive against Broly for an hour and a half is quite frankly absurd. That’s the price you pay for some com꧑edy, though.
24 Gogeta Has No Plaꦯce In The Movie
When it comes down to it, there is simply no log🦄ic behind Goku and Vegeta choosing to do the fusion dance. In the 90 minutes they spent preparing for the fight against Broly, they could have teleported to any Kaioshin, grabbed some Potara, and become Vegetto. On a thematic level, there’s no real justification either. This is a film about the three children or three very specific men yet it all boils down to two of them fusing to defeat the other. Where’s the commentary? Where’s the weight? It’s pure fanservice through and through. At least the fight is visually stunning.
23 🀅 The Prologue Has Little To Do With The Rest Of The Film
On that note, there really is no reason why the pro♒logue had to follow Bardock, Vegeta, and Paragus. Once the intro is over, nothing we learned ab🔯out them during that time- save for Broly’s backstory- ends up mattering in the grand scheme of things. Even Paragus’ demise comes and goes with little fanfare. It’s always nice to get a glimpse into Saiyan culture, but this isn’t a story that actually uses the opportunity to say or do anything meaningful. Which is ultimately the film’s biggest problem.
22 ♛ Goku And Vegeta Have 🐼No Character Development
To break that down further, Goku and Vegeta are left coming out of the film relatively dry in terms of development. This is a movie about Broly first and foremost, which is fine, but there was also a fantastic opportunity to examine Goku and Vegeta. With context from Bardock and King Vegeta, how have the two men grown or changed over the years? Can Broly inspire more groꦰwth? Apparently not. Both are just content to fight Broly without examining who they are or their nature as Saiyans. The series isn’t the deepest, but it never shied away from examining interesting character beats until recently.
21 🎃 Vegeta Can Suddenly Use Super Sa🐭iyan God
In the anime continuity, Vegeta not only never uses Super Saiyan God, but it’s even suggested by Goku that Vegeta skipped the form entirely, instead jumping to Super Saiyan Blue on his own. This is an idea the manga shares, but, this time around, the implication is that Vegeta trained himself to tri🅺gger God on his own.
Does continuity really matter when you have two valid canons running simultaneously?
Either way you cut it, the fact Vegeta can use Super Saiyan God in this movie is… questionable at best. If the film is indeed following the anime continuit💖y, which is the main canon when all is said and done, there’s still a narrative hole that should be filled. Regardless, it’s not as bad as Vegeta not using SSE.