Dragon Ball Super: Beerus brings back the voices of two late seiyuus

Dragon Ball Super: Beerus premiered on October 11 in Japan and the first episode delivered a moment no one expected: we heard Mr. Satan and King Kai again with the voices of their original seiyuus, both deceased.

The emotion on Japanese social media was immediate. Many fans said they teared up when they recognized Unshō Ishizuka as Mr. Satan and Jōji Yanami as King Kai once more. Ishizuka died in 2018 and Yanami in 2021, but their performances remain intact in this enhanced version.

A remake with more than new visuals

This is not a simple rebroadcast of the 2015 Dragon Ball Super. Toei Animation presents this project as an ENHANCED version: reworked visuals, new scenes, reorganized narrative structure, and part of the voice acting, music, and sound effects rerecorded.

The main focus is on the battles, which get the biggest visual treatment. The idea is to retell the Beerus arc with current animation technology, and it shows from the first episode.

The debut episode aired on Saturday, October 11 at 11:15 PM in Japan, and then became available on streaming platforms.

The original voices, with no AI involved

One important thing to clarify: what we hear are not voices recreated with artificial intelligence. The production reused previous recordings of both actors, and the anime's official site still credits Ishizuka as Mr. Satan and Yanami as King Kai.

For franchise veterans, this carries enormous weight. Mr. Satan and King Kai are characters who have accompanied Goku for decades, and their Japanese voices are part of the series' identity. Hearing them again in a new premiere, so many years later, hits differently.

The reaction from the Japanese community confirms it: some wrote that they almost cried when they recognized Ishizuka's voice, and others celebrated being able to hear Yanami's King Kai once more in a freshly aired episode.

Dragon Ball's future keeps moving

This remake is not the only thing cooking in the franchise. Toei already announced it is preparing Dragon Ball Super: Galactic Patrol, a completely new anime that will expand the Super universe.

Until that arrives, Dragon Ball Super: Beerus serves a special purpose: it takes fans back to the start of the saga's modern era with superior technical polish and with the echo of those no longer here. For many, that makes this project more than a facelift.

For now, the premiere is limited to Japan and there is no official information about its arrival in Latin America or a possible Spanish dub.