Dragon Ball Super’s The Galactic Patrol Prisoner Saga Should Have Been An Anime

Dragon Ball Super is in a strange place right now. When the manga first launched in 2015, an anime adaptation launched the following month, meaning that both versions of the story would run concurrently — but, the Dragon Ball Super anime concluded in 2018 after 131 episodes, ending after it finished the Universe Survival Saga. Fans would need to wait a while for another adaptation of Dragon Ball Super as the movie Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero wouldn’t arrive on screens until 2022. In 2023, the Dragon Ball Super manga would begin to tell an expanded version of the movie’s plot, making the film’s position in the timeline clear. However, the three arcs between the Universe Survival Saga and Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero have been left un-adapted. Alas, it seems very unlikely that these skipped arcs will ever be turned into an anime. The Dragon Ball Super anime has been dormant for years, and Dragon Ball DAIMA, a new anime, has been announced for Fall 2024, making it seem like the ship has sailed for the rest of Dragon Ball Super. And this is a shame, as the Galactic Patrol Prisoner Saga deserved an anime adaptation.

Starting in 2018 and concluding in 2020, The Galactic Patrol Prisoner Saga began in the manga’s 42nd chapter and ended in the 67th. Picking up right where the Tournament of Power Saga ended, the story starts with Goku and Vegeta having a sparring session. However, this session is cut short when Bulma calls the pair, telling them that Mr. Satan needs help as a strange group of people are trying to kidnap Good Buu.

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The Characters Of The Galactic Patrol Prisoner Saga

Alas, while fighting the kidnappers, Goku and Vegeta are knocked out with a stun gun. Even worse, the kidnappers decide to load Goku and Vegeta onto their spaceship and take them along with Buu. When Goku and Vegeta eventually wake up, they spot Jaco and realize they’re on a Galactic Patrol ship. Jaco and Galactic Patrolman Merus quickly apologize for the situation and explain why they wanted Buu. Ten million years previously, the Grand Supreme Kai and the South Supreme Kai battled an evil creature called Moro. Despite the numbers advantage, the battle looked bleak, so the Grand Supreme Kai used his Godly power to seal Moro’s magic away. This action allowed the Galactic Patrol to capture Moro and incarcerate him. Moro was sentenced to death, but no one was powerful enough to end his life, forcing him to languish in prison.

Jaco and Merus then inform Goku and Vegeta that Moro has escaped and is now at large. Unable to recapture Moro, the Galactic Patrol has opted to kidnap Buu, hoping to extract the Grand Supreme Kai from him so that the Kai can bring Moro to justice again. Goku and Vegeta offer to help arrest Moro, and the Galactic Patrol makes them temporary members. However, Goku and Vegeta are quickly sucked into a race against time to stop Moro before he can do something terrible, forcing them to push themselves to the limit.

One of the best things about the Galactic Patrol Prisoner Saga is Moro, the new villain who makes an instant impact because of his unique design. His emaciated body with overly long limbs and goat-like head make him stand out against the franchise’s other villains. Plus, his demonic design means he has a creepy, intimidating aura, often feeling more like a horror movie antagonist than a regular Dragon Ball foe. This aura is only enhanced by his personality. The idea of a character who cares only about themselves, only seeing other people as tools, isn’t new to Dragon Ball, but Moro takes it to the next level; he frequently does horrible things for his own amusement, making him feel like an absolute monster with zero chance of repentance and further enhancing his horror monster vibe.

On top of this, the saga also introduces a fun group of side villains called the Galactic Bandit Brigade. A group of criminals led by the violent Saganbo, this group helps flesh the arc out and give the Z Fighters some interesting new foes to fight on the way to taking down Moro. This includes the excellent ability-thief Seven-Three, who has memorable fights with Gohan and Piccolo. There is also the bear-like Yunba, who engages in a fantastic and unique battle with Krillin. This means that, despite their small amount of screen time, this gang will leave an impact on readers and could become popular recurring characters if given the chance.

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However, it isn’t just the new villains who get good character moments during this saga, as both Goku and Vegeta are handled excellently. While Goku starts the saga as his usual light-hearted self, as he battles with Moro, he is forced to knuckle down and get serious, especially after nearly losing to the tyrant. This is a breath of fresh air after the previous arcs, as while Goku has been on the back foot several times during Super, he rarely feels like a true underdog. But, during his fights with Moro, not only are readers shown him in some genuine peril, but they’re also shown a more serious side to Goku’s character, leading to many scenes that recapture the feel of early Dragon Ball Z, where Goku is faced with seemingly impossible odds.

Like Goku, Vegeta has to work hard to keep up with Moro, learning many new techniques during the saga. This arc also beautifully shows Vegeta’s growth as a character, showcasing how he has become more compassionate over the years and how his moral compass has shifted due to his friendship with Goku. During the saga, Vegeta willingly puts himself in danger to protect others several times. Most notably, Vegeta opts to fight Moro on New Namek to make up for the harm he previously did to the Namekians, perfectly showing Vegeta’s increased emotional intelligence. Later, in a fantastic showcase of his modern character, Vegeta goes out of his way to learn a move that allows him to split Moro from the energy he absorbed from others. As he does this, Vegeta explains that he hates the idea of absorption, believing it to be a cheat and that people should fight with their power rather than stealing that of others. Contrasting these moments with the Vegeta from early Dragon Ball Z shows how the character has grown. While he is still the character fans know and love, he’s now much more aware of how his actions affect other people and is keen to avoid causing undue harm.

It isn’t only Goku and Vegeta who are handled well, as several other cast members get some great moments that help develop their characters in interesting new ways. Good Buu is one of the best examples of this, as the Galactic Patrol Prisoner Saga builds on an often overlooked part of his backstory — that is, the fact that Majin Buu absorbed the Grand Supreme Kai before the events of Dragon Ball Z. While this event was previously used to explain Good Buu’s personality, the Galactic Patrol Prisoner Saga dives deeper into the idea before bringing it full circle, concluding this plot point in a way that respects the journey of both Good Buu and the Kai.

The Galactic Patrol Prisoner Saga Has Amazing World-Building

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Another fun element of the Galactic Patrol Prisoner Saga is how it fleshes out the world of Dragon Ball in a way that enhances the stories that came before and after it. This is most notable with the Galactic Patrol, as despite being introduced in 2013’s Jaco the Galactic Patrolman and appearing several times in Dragon Ball Super, the group felt like a footnote, not having much personality or purpose. However, the Galactic Patrol Prisoner Saga fleshes the organization out dramatically, making it feel like an actual entity rather than just a name that gets mentioned sometimes. Tying the Patrol into Moro’s backstory also helps retroactively make the group feel like a big deal by making it seem like they’ve always been present while handwaving why they’ve not been seen during other major Dragon Ball events.

Readers are also shown how interconnected the Dragon Ball universe is during this arc. For instance, at one point, Goku wonders how someone can know the location of New Namek, only for Pasta Macareni to point out that someone who used to work for Frieza told them about Namek and the Dragon Balls while they were in prison. Even more interestingly, the saga later features a scene where Frieza is shown on his ship, opting to ignore his scouts and not get involved in Moro’s rampage. These elements help make the world of Dragon Ball feel more extensive and alive, showing that, even if Goku isn’t around, things are constantly happening, and people are living their own stories.

The Galactic Patrol Prisoner Saga is also worthy of an anime adaption because of its plot, as it is one of the best-written Dragon Ball Super sagas. The story is superbly constructed, featuring many twists and turns that keep readers guessing until the last page. It is also wonderfully paced, giving everything time to breathe without feeling slow or padded at any point, a rarity for modern Dragon Ball. The saga also features many scenes that will stick with readers long after they finish reading, with the harrowing casualties of the battle on New Namek and Vegeta’s first battle against Moro being prime examples. These two moments are also part of another intriguing thing about the saga, its tone. At many points, the Galactic Patrol Prisoner Saga feels closer to a horror story than a shōnen, as it goes out of its way to convey how terrifyingly powerful Moro is and gives readers many chances to witness the destruction he leaves in his wake. This saga feels much more impactful than the ones that came before it, and captures the feel that made Dragon Ball Z’s Cell saga so iconic.

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Another reason the saga deserves an anime adaptation is because it is full of pulse-pounding fights that are just begging to be put into motion. This includes Vegeta’s first fight with Moro, which sees him run through most of his forms up to that point, including Super Saiyan, Super Saiyan God, Super Saiyan Blue, and Super Saiyan God SS Evolved. One of the later fights pits Goku, Gohan, Piccolo, Android 17, Android 18, and Jaco against Moro in a battle where Moro uses many of the Z Fighter’s moves against them in creative ways, making the combat feel different from all the ones that have come before it. This arc also features tonnes of Ultra Instinct action, with Goku using both Ultra Instinct Sign and full Ultra Instinct to fight Moro and Saganbo. As the battles against Jiren showed, the animators working on Dragon Ball Super knew how to make Ultra Instinct look amazing in motion, so it is a shame they didn’t get to animate the battles found in this saga, as they show Goku further master the power. He also uses several unique attacks, including one where Goku makes a kaiju-sized energy clone of himself and attacks his foe with it.

Also, the Galactic Patrol Prisoner Saga needed an anime adaptation because of how it concludes. When the battle against Moro looks unwinnable, the Grand Supreme Kai manifests in Buu again. The Kai heads to a small village where he meets up with Uub, a small child. The Kai helps Uub channel his Godly Ki and transmit his energy to Vegeta, who in turn passes that energy to Goku, allowing him to finally take Moro down. While Uub is teased several times during Dragon Ball Super, this moment is a beautiful introduction to the character. It also helps set up Dragon Ball Z’s epilogue, giving the character’s introduction some much-needed depth and context. So, animating this saga would have been a great way to enhance the ending of Dragon Ball Z and help make the franchise feel more cohesive overall.

With every passing week, it becomes less and less likely that Dragon Ball Super will return to screens. Because of this, the chances of seeing an adaptation of the Galactic Patrol Prisoner Saga are low. This is a shame as it is one of the best sagas in Dragon Ball Super, featuring a gripping plot packed with epic fights and memorable character moments. Plus, Moro is a terrifyingly memorable villain with a unique identity. It’s easy to imagine he could become as popular as Frieza or Cell if given space to shine. Unfortunately, he is confined to a single manga saga for the foreseeable future. While the lack of an animated adaption is a shame, Dragon Ball fans willing to jump into the manga are promised a fun and memorable ride when they pick up the Galactic Patrol Prisoner Saga, even if it is on the page rather than the screen.

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  Dragon Ball

  Dragon Ball tells the tale of a young warrior by the name of Son Goku, a young peculiar boy with a tail who embarks on a quest to become stronger and learns of the Dragon Balls, when, once all 7 are gathered, grant any wish of choice.

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  Dragon Ball Super

  With Majin Buu defeated half-a-year prior, peace returns to Earth, where Son Goku (now a radish farmer) and his friends now live peaceful lives.

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  Dragon Ball DAIMA

  Due to a conspiracy, Goku and friends are transformed into children. They intend to travel to a mysterious new world to undo this change