Today, catching up with Dragon Ball Super is not an easy task. You have to go through so many low-quality episodes that a lot of people have given up long ago. I myself though about doing it a few times after watching some particularly horrible episodes… but my love for DB and DBZ always kept me going.

But the last 20 or so episodes have been so amazing it’s quite sad there isn’t more people watching it!! A lot of people would absolutely love it and be really really hyped about it if only they gave the series another chance…

So I’ve written this guide about 8 steps to catching up with everything that’s happened in Dragon Ball Super (the important stuff, that is), adding a lot of personal preferences to the mix (since actually there are two versions of the same overall story) in hopes that it will make people interested once again on keeping up with the canon continuation to Dragon Ball Z.

I’m doing this because currently I can count using the fingers in a single hand how many friends I can talk to about DBS stuff (and yeah, I got a bit inspired by these “best Star Wars watching order” kinds of guides).

I definitely love Toyotaro’s version of the story which is being told in the Dragon Ball Super manga, so my guide will have you switch back and forth between reading manga chapters and watching anime episodes.

Without further ado, let’s get started with the aforementioned 8 steps to catching up with Dragon Ball Super (assuming you know all that’s happened in Dragon Ball Z, of course).

First of all, start reading Dragon Ball Super manga from the beginning until you’ve finished chapter 4 of the manga. This is where first arc (Beerus’ Saga: Awakening of U7’s Haikashin) ends. Then watch Ajay’s “Dragon Ball Z — Resurrection ‘F’ Super Cut”. This special version edited by a fan of the series hugely enhances the second arc (Freeza’s Saga: Return of U7’s Tyrant)’s overall quality by merging what’s best in both the last Dragon Ball Z movie and snippets from Dragon Ball Super episodes corresponding to this arc. Now it’s time to go back to reading the Dragon Ball Super manga from chapter 5 all the way to chapter 13. Right afterwards, go watch episode 42 of the Dragon Ball Super anime. After doing this you will have finished catching up with the series’ third arc (Champa’s Saga: Tournament Between Twin Universes). Now’s when things get real interesting in my humble opinion. Get back to reading the Dragon Ball Super manga from chapter 14 onwards until you’ve finished chapter 23 which is the last released chapter, by the way. Then you’ll have finished up the fourth series’ arc (Zamasu’s Saga: Another S.O.S. from the Future). [Actually, a chapter or two for this arc are still to be released by Toyotaro, before we can specify the best glue between this and the next arc of the series.] Now it’s time to start watching the Dragon Ball Super anime for real! Start from episode 70 and keep watching the following episodes in order until you’ve finished episode 76 so that you have a smooth transition to the next story arc. These episodes still aren’t the top notch ones in terms of quality. But they’re worth binge watching since the stories they tell are really great, at the very least, and set up things nicely for the next arc. The new story arc (Universal Survival In The Tournament Of Power) starts in the very next episode 77. A cool new opening marking the beginning of it’s golden age is presented in this episode. You will quickly notice the rise in terms of animation, pacing and story quality… every episode being followed by an even better episode. Watch every Dragon Ball Super’s episode (from episode 77 onward). Now, all you’ve got to do is keep watching the series regularly. And I strongly recommend you keep reading the manga as well, knowing in advance that both have a few divergences in a key points, which may sound bad but is actually great, since you’ll be able to follow up with the story from two very different perspectives — it will be like getting two meals instead of one, an extra as courtesy from the house. You’ll be able to pick which is your favorite and debate with your friends on your particular whys!

Hopefully this is of help to someone!