Dragon Ball Celebrates 40 Years With New Anime Series, Remastered ‘Dragon Ball Super’ Revival

Toei Animation marked the 40th anniversary of the Dragon Ball franchise over the weekend, unveiling a slate of anime and game projects that look to both the franchise’s legendary past and its hopeful future.

Announced during Japan’s Dragon Ball Genkidamatsuri event and on the franchise’s official website, updates included a brand-new anime series as well as a visually enhanced revival of Dragon Ball Super, together signaling a major new phase for the long-running property.

Among the weekend’s biggest announcements was Dragon Ball Super: The Galactic Patrol, a new anime series that will adapt the Galactic Patrol Prisoner Arc from the Dragon Ball Super manga. This marks the first time the anime series will move beyond the franchise’s Universe Survival Saga, which concluded its original television run in 2018.

The new series will follow Goku and Vegeta as they join forces with the interstellar Galactic Patrol to confront a powerful new enemy, expanding the scope of the franchise with more science-fiction-driven world-building. Teaser visuals revealed at the anniversary event depict familiar characters in Galactic Patrol uniforms, hinting at a shift toward unexplored corners of the Dragon Ball cosmos as the franchise closes out its first half-century.

Also announced over the weekend, Dragon Ball Super: Beerus is a newly “enhanced” edition of Dragon Ball Super scheduled to premiere in Japan this fall. The project revisits the anime’s early God of Destruction arc with a comprehensive visual overhaul designed to more faithfully reproduce Akira Toriyama’s original concepts, story, and character designs.

A trailer was released alongside the announcement, offering an early look at the upgraded aesthetic and renewed focus on Beerus, the character whose arrival reshaped the Dragon Ball universe.

Over the weekend, Bandai Namco also announced a new Dragon Ball video game for 2027 under the working title/codename  “Age 1000,” and a new expansion for its popular fighting game, Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero.

And while it’s not exactly news, Toei also released a 40th anniversary video featuring animated versions of original sketches from Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama set to music by Hans Zimmer, embedded below.