Dragon Ball Super Season 2 - Will It Ever Happen?
"Dragon Ball" has remained one of the most popular media franchises since it first debuted back in 1984 as a manga. Over the years, it's been adapted into different anime series, movies, and even video games, with seemingly endless storylines to come. "Dragon Ball" is centered on a boy named Goku who has a monkey tail, among many impressive powers. He meets a spunky girl named Bulma and the two go in search of seven powerful dragon balls that can grant any wish once they're brought together. Goku eventually trains under Master Roshi to learn martial arts, and this is where he also meets his best friend Krillin. Over the years. Goku and his buddies go on tons of adventures, meet new friends (and foes), and have plenty of fun.
One of the most successful series in the "Dragon Ball" franchise is "Dragon Ball Super," which debuted in 2015 and takes place after the defeat of Majin Buu. "Dragon Ball Super" ran for 131 episodes until it came to an abrupt end in 2018, and there haven't been many updates on the popular spin-off since. While fans have been treated to two big screen adventures (2019's "Dragon Ball Super: Broly" and 2022's "Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero" were both big hits at the box office), what they really want is for the anime series to come back. News has been scarce, but some interesting movements at the boardroom level have left fans wondering if a second season of the popular show is now in the pipeline. Will "Dragon Ball Super" Season 2 ever happen? Here's what we know.
Is there a release date for Dragon Ball Super Season 2?
There haven't been any official announcements regarding "Dragon Ball Super" Season 2, though many fans believe that it's just a matter of time. Hopes were raised when Toei animator Florence Jay Dominguito gave an interview about the future of "Dragon Ball Super" and appeared to confirm that a second season was on the way. Speaking to the Dragon Ball website, Dominguito discussed his hopes for the franchise's future, saying, "As a fan, I'm really looking forward to new movies and merchandise. I'm also excited about the new anime that will continue Dragon Ball Super."
Fans assumed this to mean that "Dragon Ball Super" Season 2 is definitely on its way, but there may have been an error in translation. As Japanese translator and anime influencer Ken Xyro pointed out on Twitter, what the Toei animator actually said was "I'm also excited to see if there will be a new continuation of 'Dragon Ball Super' TV anime." Whether it was an accidental slip or a rumor gone rogue, it's clear that fans want more "Dragon Ball Super," and are anxiously awaiting an announcement. More recently, some movement at the top of Shueisha (the company that publishes the "Dragon Ball" manga) caught the attention of the fans.
In 2023, news broke that Akio Iyoku had stepped down from his role in the Dragon Room, the name given to a group of high-ups at Shueisha who make all the big decisions regarding the future of the franchise. Iyoku left to start his own company, which he named Capsule Corporation Tokyo. According to Japanese outlet Bunshun Online, he wants Shueisha to transfer the "Dragon Ball" anime rights to his new company, but the publisher is reportedly reluctant to do so. If a deal can be struck then we might get "Dragon Ball Super" Season 2 sooner rather than later, but we'll have to wait and see what happens.
Who could feature in a second season of Dragon Ball Super?
If "Dragon Ball Super" Season 2 does come to fruition, we'll likely hear from many of the franchise's veteran voice actors. Fans can expect to see Goku (Masako Nozawa in the Japanese version, Sean Schemmel in English), Krillin (Mayumi Tanaka/Sonny Strait), Bulma (Aya Hisakawa/Monica Rial), Piccolo (Toshio Furukawa/Christopher Sabat), Master Roshi (Masaharu Satô/Mike McFarland), Trunks (Takeshi Kusao/Alexis Tipton), and Gohan (Masako Nozawa/Kyle Hebert) return to the screen, among many others.
Ryō Horikawa, who voices Vegeta in the Japanese version, will most likely be involved should "Dragon Ball Super" return for a second season. The actor got fans excited when he tweeted a cryptic message that many believed was referring to Season 2. "I just came out of a meeting at Toei Animation," he said. "But I won't tell you what it is!" The tweet fanned the rumor flames significantly, but this was before the release of the latest "Dragon Ball Super" movie, so there's a good chance that the voice actor was talking about this as opposed to a second season of the anime series. Regardless, Horikawa will no doubt be back in the recording booth for Season 2 if it happens.
What would Dragon Ball Super Season 2 be about?
Although there haven't been any episodes of "Dragon Ball Super" since 2018, the manga of the same name has still been going strong, with some additional arcs ready for possible TV adaptation. The series ended at the Tournament of Power arc, and if you've followed along with the manga, you know that the next storyline features the Galactic Patrol Prisoner arc, which introduces a new creepy goat-head villain named Moro. After that comes the Granolah the Survivor arc, featuring the only survivor of a race that the Saiyan army wiped out, and then there's the Super Hero arc.
Any of these sagas are sure to bring plenty of thrilling fights to the small screen — if they're adapted to television rather than as a movie. Of course, Toei could create an entirely new arc just for the show, though that's pretty unlikely given that the main reason the anime stopped in 2018 appears to be that the anime had caught up to the manga. It would be odd if the powers that be let the manga get ahead again and then decided to create an entirely new story, though filler episodes are part and parcel of shows like "Dragon Ball Super," so don't expect Season 2 to be a direct page-to-screen affair.
Where to watch Dragon Ball Super Season 1
If you're yet to watch the first season of "Dragon Ball Super," or you want to watch it again while you wait for news on Season 2, you can stream all 131 episodes on Crunchyroll. There's no dubbed version on the platform, but you can watch it with subtitles, which are available in English as well as Latin American Spanish and Portuguese. The first 25 episodes are totally free to view, though if you want to go beyond that point, then you'll need to be a premium user.
There are three different Crunchyroll premium packages to choose from. The first (and cheapest) membership costs $7.99 a month and is called the Fan tier. This grants access to the entire Crunchyroll library, including brand new shows on the same day they're released in Japan. Next up is the Mega Fan tier, which costs $9.99 a month and lets you stream on up to four devices at a time. It also allows you to watch content offline, which is always handy.
If you're a big anime consumer then you may want to shell out for the Ultimate Fan package, which comes in at $14.99 a month. This gives you access to all the aforementioned perks, but you can stream on as many as six devices at a time instead of just four. "You'll also receive an annual Ultimate Fan member swag bag, member-only access to the purchase of exclusive merch, and a special benefit for the Crunchyroll Store that provides $25 off a purchase of $100 every three months," the company revealed when it announced its new tier system in 2020.