Strongest fighters in the universe set to appear everywhere on earth on the same day.

They say that God never closes a door without opening a window, and you could also say that anime producers never end a sure-hit TV series without announcing a movie, at least in fairly short order. Back in January, we learned that Dragon Ball Super, the currently airing arc of the perennially popular Dragon Ball anime franchise, will be coming to a close on March 25.

The news came as a surprise, since Dragon Ball Super has been going strong since its start in July of 2015, and we had our suspicions that Super’s conclusion was only going to be a temporary good-bye. Sure enough, earlier this month Toei Animation announced that a brand-new Dragon Ball Super theatrical feature is in the works, and now the company has released the first teaser for the movie, showing off protagonist Goku.

▼ Not seen: Goku’s highly practical blond hair

Set to a burst of dramatic music, the preview has Goku warming up for a fight with the film’s mysterious antagonist, who’s covered in flames of green energy and enough muscles to be mistaken for France’s bodybuilding Sailor Neptune crossplayer. As is so often the case, Goku starts off with a relaxed smile on his face, before a switch flips inside of him and he sets his jaw and leaps into action.


As if the visuals and series creator Akira Toriyama’s providing the script and character designs weren’t enough for fans to get excited about, the film’s producer, Norihiro Hayashida, has revealed that the plan is to release the film worldwide on December 14, the same day of its Japanese premier. That should keep fans happy, and hopefully also prevent any massive, unauthorized public screenings like the ones that rustled Toei’s feathers in Latin America for last week’s Dragon Ball Super episode.

Sources: Twitter/@ToeiAnimation via Hachima Kiko, Anime News Network/Karen Ressler
Images: Twitter/@ToeiAnimation

Follow Casey on Twitter, where he still remembers when the lag time for anime movie releases outside Japan was measured in years.