If Super ends with ToP: Super = 1 single story arc?

[Nejishiki]

That's an interesting thought. Under that interpretation, Toriyama is indeed writing the concept for Dragon Ball Super by the "chapter", aligning itself as a modern version of week-by-week planning. If I'm not mistaken, there's always a significant break after the conclusion of arcs for every period he designs the drafts. You could say he's applying himself as series director through his own merit just as he's an unique storytelling artist under magazine publications.

[omaro34]

There's absolutely no way that Super will end after this arc. This thing could be on life support on its last breath and TOEI would keep the machine plugged in so they can pump out whatever money is still left in it. This is their cash cow. They won't let it end unless they need to. Like Disney with Star Wars, Dragon Ball will continue to be milked for many, many years to come. Whether that's a good thing or a bad thing is up to you to decide.

All great series should come to an end at some point. If you keep a series going you risk the majority of the fanbase disliking a particular major plot, and this will somewhat taint the legacy of the series as a whole. Remember, reputation is hard to build, and very easy to destroy. I hope Dragonball doesn't overstay it's welcome.

[MisteryOne]

Really interesting idea. I suppose thay even while I still think Frieza coming back AGAIN is one of the worst ideas used in the franchise, I suppose it makes ROF serve a purpose (more or less). FT arc is kinda random trough. It expands on god's lore and stuff, but still...

The sad part about this is that with a little of planning ahead it could have been an awesome serie of sagas/a giant arc:

-BOG introduces Beerus
-ROF brings back Frieza, show SSB (Frieza should still survive trough)
-U6 tournament expands on the concepts of the universes and introuduces U6 saiyans and Hit (I would remove Frost trough since Frieza is still alive)
- Some different arc that expands either about U6 or other universes that participate in the TOP later. Personally I would remove the nameless planet being the last Super Dragon Ball (it was lame asf) and make an afc about exploring U6 searching for it, including Sadla and other planets.
- US arc. We know more about the characters that are going to risk their lives in the TOP (at least about the U6 ones) so we are more interested about them. Zamasu, Gowasu's pupil, sees the whole tournament and starts hating Goku with an actually good reason
- FT arc. Including Gohan, and some type of Future A16 (come on, it would be the perfect ally against Black). Some gods should be more involved too (like Shin in the manga version)
-EOZ/an arc about the four unexplored universes

I know this is not how Toriyama works, but unlike in Z, Super's arc could have been a lot more fluid this way IMHO.

About Super's ending...I'm taking a rest for the anime since its too much for me (so many nonsensical situations, and Toriyama's ideas are not helping either) but I still enjoy the manga. And after all, its Dragon Ball. I'm just a huge fan of the series, excluding certain parts, so I can somehow have a love-hate relationship with it as long as its not too much fucked up. I want Super to continue, even if at the end of the day its mostly a great amount of wasted ideas and concepts (Z was to, but to a hell lesser extend)

[Zephyr]

FT arc is kinda random trough. It expands on god's lore and stuff, but still...

It serves some purposes. It introduces us to the Grand Priest. It provides some consequences for Beerus and Champa's abuse of their position (only happens because of the tournament they weren't supposed to hold). It introduces us to Gowasu and allows us to get to know him, serving to give us empathy for another character who may potentially be erased in the Tournament of Power (our heroes have no chance of being erased, after all). It puts the Zeno button into Goku's hands, which is one of the causes of the tournament happening as soon as it did. Lastly, it gives us the second Zeno. We don't know the full consequences of that last one yet, as we don't know if the Zen Exhibition match was Toriyama's idea or Toei's.

And in the manga, Toyotaro could reveal Gohan to have healing powers, like Trunks was revealed to have in the FT arc. No telling if he'll do that, but if he does, that's one more thing that the arc brings to the table.

[buutenks]

Goku has a day dedicated to himself in Japan, why would they start with new protagonists when they got this immensely popular character as a main character.

[Saturnine]

Best thing to do after this arc would probably just to skip right to EoZ. Keep in mind that in the manga Bulma said she hasn't seen Kakarot for years. If they insist on cramming more and more stories into the timeskip they risk contradicting that.

[Zephyr]

Best thing to do after this arc would probably just to skip right to EoZ. Keep in mind that in the manga Bulma said she hasn't seen Kakarot for years. If they insist on cramming more and more stories into the timeskip they risk contradicting that.

They've already contradicted that. EoZ is between 3 and 4 years away at this point.

- Majin Buu's revival and defeat are in Age 774.
- The 28th Tenkaichi Budokai is held "10 years later", in Age 784, where Goku says that he and Bulma saw each other 5 years ago.
- 5 years prior would have been in Age 779, where Pan is born, Freeza is revived, and the Super Dragon Balls are used.
- We are now in Age 780, where Bra is born and the Super Dragon Balls have recharged.

I guess there's still a small bit of wiggle room in the manga. The Future Trunks arc could still conceivably be squeezed into Age 779 as well, as nothing yet necessitates its placement in either year (the other year being Age 780). If Toyotaro keeps Bulma and Goku from seeing each other after the Future Trunks arc, then it could still work out. I wouldn't hold your breath though. The gap being precisely 5 years isn't exactly an important detail anyway. It could be 3 or 4 years and still serve the same story purpose: Goku doesn't go out of his way to visit for the sake of visiting, and as a result his friends can go years without seeing or hearing from him. That asshole.

[Saturnine]

Best thing to do after this arc would probably just to skip right to EoZ. Keep in mind that in the manga Bulma said she hasn't seen Kakarot for years. If they insist on cramming more and more stories into the timeskip they risk contradicting that.

They've already contradicted that. EoZ is between 3 and 4 years away at this point.

- Majin Buu's revival and defeat are in Age 774.
- The 28th Tenkaichi Budokai is held "10 years later", in Age 784, where Goku says that he and Bulma saw each other 5 years ago.
- 5 years prior would have been in Age 779, where Pan is born, Freeza is revived, and the Super Dragon Balls are used.
- We are now in Age 780, where Bra is born and the Super Dragon Balls have recharged.

I guess there's still a small bit of wiggle room in the manga. The Future Trunks arc could still conceivably be squeezed into Age 779 as well, as nothing yet necessitates its placement in either year (the other year being Age 780). If Toyotaro keeps Bulma and Goku from seeing each other after the Future Trunks arc, then it could still work out. I wouldn't hold your breath though. The gap being precisely 5 years isn't exactly an important detail anyway. It could be 3 or 4 years and still serve the same story purpose: Goku doesn't go out of his way to visit for the sake of visiting, and as a result his friends can go years without seeing or hearing from him. That asshole.

Um... as far as I know, Bulma only said "years", not a specified number of years. So it could still work. Unless she said 5 years specifically, in which case they would need to move the tournament one year forward to keep this statement valid.

[Lord Beerus]

Best thing to do after this arc would probably just to skip right to EoZ. Keep in mind that in the manga Bulma said she hasn't seen Kakarot for years. If they insist on cramming more and more stories into the timeskip they risk contradicting that.

They've already contradicted that. EoZ is between 3 and 4 years away at this point.

- Majin Buu's revival and defeat are in Age 774.
- The 28th Tenkaichi Budokai is held "10 years later", in Age 784, where Goku says that he and Bulma saw each other 5 years ago.
- 5 years prior would have been in Age 779, where Pan is born, Freeza is revived, and the Super Dragon Balls are used.
- We are now in Age 780, where Bra is born and the Super Dragon Balls have recharged.

I guess there's still a small bit of wiggle room in the manga. The Future Trunks arc could still conceivably be squeezed into Age 779 as well, as nothing yet necessitates its placement in either year (the other year being Age 780). If Toyotaro keeps Bulma and Goku from seeing each other after the Future Trunks arc, then it could still work out. I wouldn't hold your breath though. The gap being precisely 5 years isn't exactly an important detail anyway. It could be 3 or 4 years and still serve the same story purpose: Goku doesn't go out of his way to visit for the sake of visiting, and as a result his friends can go years without seeing or hearing from him. That asshole.

Um... as far as I know, Bulma only said "years", not a specified number of years. So it could still work. Unless she said 5 years specifically, in which case they would need to move the tournament one year forward to keep this statement valid.

Nope. Bulma specifically says five years:
[spoiler][/spoiler]