Is Dragon Ball Super woke?
TV Show · Released July 5, 2015 · Original title: Doragon Bôru Sûpâ
Dragon Ball Super has a wokeness score of 2/10, which we rate as Not Woke. No political or woke messaging whatsoever. Focuses entirely on story, characters, fun, or escapism.
Key points
- Pure focus on action, power-ups, and tournaments with zero political messaging.
- Diverse characters and females arise naturally from multiverse lore, not ideology.
- Minor later social nods absent in 2015 anime; story remains escapism-driven.
Wokeness analysis
Dragon Ball Super (2015) is a traditional shonen anime continuation of the Dragon Ball franchise, centered on high-stakes martial arts battles, power scaling, and epic confrontations between Goku, Vegeta, and cosmic threats like Beerus the God of Destruction and Frieza. The core narrative prioritizes action, humor, friendship, and personal growth through training and tournaments, with no overarching political or ideological agenda. While later manga arcs (post-2018 anime) introduce minor environmental and corporate critique elements in the Super Hero saga, these are absent from the 2015-2018 TV series. Representation of characters like strong female fighters (Android 18, Caulifla) or diverse alien species stems from the established lore of a multiverse filled with varied beings, not modern diversity quotas. Any light inclusion feels organic to the story's fantastical world-building rather than forced messaging. The series faced unrelated censorship controversies in some regions over old-school humor, but these reflect cultural clashes rather than intentional woke content. Overall, entertainment and escapism dominate completely.
Plot
Dragon Ball Super follows Son Goku and his allies in the years after the defeat of Majin Buu. Peace on Earth is disrupted when Beerus, the God of Destruction, awakens seeking the legendary Super Saiyan God. Goku trains to unlock god-like power to protect the planet. The series retells events from the Battle of Gods and Resurrection 'F' films before introducing original arcs involving Universe 6 tournaments, the resurrection of Frieza, and the massive Tournament of Power pitting universes against each other for survival. It emphasizes intense fights, new transformations, and character rivalries while expanding the Dragon Ball universe across multiple worlds and deities.
Analyzed by AI on October 16, 2026