Dragon Ball should be understood as multiple valid continuities rather than a single "canon"
Re: Dragon Ball should be understood as multiple valid continuities rather than a single "canon"
Strictly Canon must be everything made by Akira Toriyama if Super or Daima continues without him without his planned story then it is not Canon technically but i also like to see that Dragon Ball is a Multiverse i enjoy all of Dragon Ball and for me everything is Canon and with the Rumors that there will be a Daima sequel with Daima being part of its own Universe different from Super the idea of a Multiverse sounds more credible
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LoganForkHands73
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Re: Dragon Ball should be understood as multiple valid continuities rather than a single "canon"
I like how you’ve categorised all these continuities and I find myself referring back to your post often for this personal DB themed project I’m working on — in the immortal words of Kaio-sama, very very nice.
I think there’s an argument to be made that the Super era movies should also be included in Toriyama’s film saga continuity, as well as that of the Super anime. The reason Super: Super Hero is titled the way it is is because Toriyama didn’t care for the Z/Super branding. To him, the movies were all just Dragon Ball. Aside from the several pointed references to the Tournament of Power arc, the films generally only seem concerned with maintaining continuity with each other so that audiences can follow them easily, without having seen the anime or manga.
Points in favour of this:
- Again, Toriyama didn’t care about the branding and there’s really nothing in the Super movies that outright discredits the movie tellings of Battle of Gods and Resurrection ‘F’. Toriyama still seemed to operate on the logical assumption that those were the purest versions of the stories most audiences would be familiar with, while the events of the ToP are vaguely referred to in exposition to fill the gaps and explain Freeza’s presence.
- No Super Saiyan Blue Kaioken in the movies.
- Freeza clearly has no idea about Fusion, despite having met Gotenks in the anime. Granted, a minor continuity error stemming from a filler scene that Toriyama undoubtedly had no say over.
- Both Battle of Gods and Broly clearly reference or allude to Tarble, whereas the anime entirely ignores his existence and by implication the events of the 2007 special.
- This is a small presentational detail, but it’s consistently implied that the gap between Beerus and the Saiyans’ power levels is not vast as, say, Toyotaro’s manga would later establish. It’s frequently stated that Beerus could be threatened by Goku, Vegeta and Broly at their current levels; similarly, Jiren is established to not be so far above Goku and Vegeta in strength.
One point against:
- The Super Saiyan God debacle. The two Z movies and behind-the-scenes statements insinuated that since Goku absorbed its power into himself during his battle with Beerus, then gained the so-called “Beyond God” powered-up base form, he would no longer need to go Super Saiyan God. That idea is obviously thrown out by the time of the Broly movie. For the best, if you ask me, because the red-haired form is still one of the GOATs in my eyes.
Anyway, food for thought.
I think there’s an argument to be made that the Super era movies should also be included in Toriyama’s film saga continuity, as well as that of the Super anime. The reason Super: Super Hero is titled the way it is is because Toriyama didn’t care for the Z/Super branding. To him, the movies were all just Dragon Ball. Aside from the several pointed references to the Tournament of Power arc, the films generally only seem concerned with maintaining continuity with each other so that audiences can follow them easily, without having seen the anime or manga.
Points in favour of this:
- Again, Toriyama didn’t care about the branding and there’s really nothing in the Super movies that outright discredits the movie tellings of Battle of Gods and Resurrection ‘F’. Toriyama still seemed to operate on the logical assumption that those were the purest versions of the stories most audiences would be familiar with, while the events of the ToP are vaguely referred to in exposition to fill the gaps and explain Freeza’s presence.
- No Super Saiyan Blue Kaioken in the movies.
- Freeza clearly has no idea about Fusion, despite having met Gotenks in the anime. Granted, a minor continuity error stemming from a filler scene that Toriyama undoubtedly had no say over.
- Both Battle of Gods and Broly clearly reference or allude to Tarble, whereas the anime entirely ignores his existence and by implication the events of the 2007 special.
- This is a small presentational detail, but it’s consistently implied that the gap between Beerus and the Saiyans’ power levels is not vast as, say, Toyotaro’s manga would later establish. It’s frequently stated that Beerus could be threatened by Goku, Vegeta and Broly at their current levels; similarly, Jiren is established to not be so far above Goku and Vegeta in strength.
One point against:
- The Super Saiyan God debacle. The two Z movies and behind-the-scenes statements insinuated that since Goku absorbed its power into himself during his battle with Beerus, then gained the so-called “Beyond God” powered-up base form, he would no longer need to go Super Saiyan God. That idea is obviously thrown out by the time of the Broly movie. For the best, if you ask me, because the red-haired form is still one of the GOATs in my eyes.
Anyway, food for thought.
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The Dark Knight
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Re: Dragon Ball should be understood as multiple valid continuities rather than a single "canon"
I think Dragon Ball can be divided into 6 continuities:
1- The original manga written and drawn by Akira Toriyama.
2- The original anime run, which includes DB, Z, & GT, the 17 original movies, the 3 TV specials, and the Hatchyach OVA.
3- The modern movies, which include the 2008 Tarbel special, BOG, RF, Broly, and Superhero.
4- The first modern anime run, which includes Kai, Super 1.0, and the Heroes anime.
5- Toyotaro's manga, which can include Jaco and Minus (I know Toriyama drew those).
6- The second anime run, which includes Daima and Super 2.0.
1- The original manga written and drawn by Akira Toriyama.
2- The original anime run, which includes DB, Z, & GT, the 17 original movies, the 3 TV specials, and the Hatchyach OVA.
3- The modern movies, which include the 2008 Tarbel special, BOG, RF, Broly, and Superhero.
4- The first modern anime run, which includes Kai, Super 1.0, and the Heroes anime.
5- Toyotaro's manga, which can include Jaco and Minus (I know Toriyama drew those).
6- The second anime run, which includes Daima and Super 2.0.