Super needs a story arc with a timeskip

[Shinomori]

I was recently thinking about Dragon Ball Super and if the series is a good sequel to DBZ so far. While I am enjoying the series when it comes to Dragon Ball content, I have to say so far its been pretty "meh" for me. Even with this Black arc, I feel they could have done much more and leaving much to be desired. For instance, they still have Trunks acting like a shy teen when the guy is 31 years old. It would have been much more interesting to see a mature Trunks interact with his father. Instead we get the same interaction we've seen in Z, only this time Vegeta is more accepting of his role as a father to him.

So with that kind of thinking, it struck me what the biggest problem with Super and why it's not a sequel I would be most interested in. There is no true timeskip! We are seeing the same characters, at the same age, acting the same way as we left them at the end of the Buu saga. In fact, the ending of Z is still the most true sequel to the series itself. Super is nothing but an extended movie or movies of DBZ. I want to see a teenage Goten and Trunks. I want to see an older Pan and so on. (Of course this is one thing Super got very right. They made Pan great again.) So, I'm enjoying the Black arc so far, even with the plotholes, but I won't truly begin to embrace Super unless they have a timeskip with an arc around it.

[Grimlock]

The lack of timeskip is a major flaw of Dragon Ball Super series so far (consequently its consequences, such as Goten, Marron, and Trunks' height for example). We do need such information to be delivered with specifications, not that "sometime later" bullshit.

Neither Bra nor Shenlong appeared, so that means one can even say this arc takes place at AGE 779 and they won't be wrong. I hope there will be at least a piece of information about timeskip once Future Trunks arc ends.

[Shinomori]

The lack of timeskip is a major flaw of Dragon Ball Super series so far (consequently its consequences, such as Goten, Marron, and Trunks' height for example). We do need such information to be delivered with specifications, not that "sometime later" bullshit.

Neither Bra nor Shenlong appeared, so that means one can even say this arc takes place at AGE 779 and they won't be wrong. I hope there will be at least a piece of information about timeskip once Future Trunks arc ends.

I wonder why they didn't do this from the jump? Perhaps they wanted to be slightly original from GT, but I'm sure most don't consider GT as a true sequel. In fact, we know it's not canon anyway. I sincerely hope they do this.

[precita]

If they want to keep the Trunks/Mai pairing alive there probably will be a time skip.

Future Trunks is likely to stay in his own time after this arc ends, so we'll be back down to kid Trunks and Mai. I imagine a time skip to the end of DBZ will make them both older again.

[SSJ Human]

I would love one. Probably by about three years so that we could see an older Pan and how she would act. It's been decades since that's happened.

[Lord Beerus]

I think as this stage the only timeskip that Super can afford to have that wouldn't disrupt the flow of the narrative is one that takes the story beyond EOZ.

[Cipher]

I strongly agree. The original run's use of time is one of the things that makes the story as enjoyable as it is. Few series with its genre and target demographic would dare have aged the characters in the way it did, and apparently Toriyama fought tooth and nail to introduce adult Goku.

This is one of the major differences between the old and new material, and one of the most apparent artifacts of it being written after the original conclusion. Depending on how neatly it's bookended, these arcs could wind up feeling like one complete "era" of the series, focusing on interactions with high gods, but it's still jarring to have gone through what amounts to four separate arcs without moving substantially forward in time. Even the first half of the manga, with its comparatively shorter story lines, tended to put a few years between each one.

At the same time, I agree that if they're keeping the broad strokes of the original ending in place, there isn't much room to jump forward without moving beyond it. That approach has introduced some undesirable limitations from the start.

[precita]

Given they probably want to market Pan I'm surprised there isn't a time skip. I really want to see how a new version of Pan is written, or at least what Toriyama would have done with her.

[Cipher]

Given they probably want to market Pan I'm surprised there isn't a time skip. I really want to see how a new version of Pan is written, or at least what Toriyama would have done with her.

Pan's one of the most problematic elements for keeping the original ending in place, though.

If they want to be really careful about adhering to it, she's essentially a toddler at the 28th Tenkaichi Budokai (definitely young enough to make writing stories with her as a major character difficult if they're set more than a year or so beforehand), and the epilogue implies a number of peaceful, boring years have taken place prior to the characters' reunion.

Even if they're more loose about the details, there isn't much of a window to work with.

[fadeddreams5]

Haven't there been multiple time skips? The series takes place like 4 years after the Buu arc, according to the anime, no? And we've seen Pan go from unborn fetus, to newborn infant, to flying baby.

It just so happens they refuse to let certain characters grow, and the modern art makes them all look younger than they are.

[precita]

Without another retcon taking place, I do hope the show moves on after DBZ. Pan, Uub, etc. all have potential. Also maybe teenage Goten can do something? Maybe?

It just so happens they refuse to let certain characters grow, and the modern art makes them all look younger than they are.

What bugs me the most is Marron, since at least with Trunks/Goten you can say they're Saiyans and look like kids for the same reason Goku did in Dragonball.

Marron should be what..almost 6 or 7 now? She looks like a baby still.

[Grimlock]

since at least with Trunks/Goten you can say they're Saiyans and look like kids for the same reason Goku did in Dragonball.

No you can't, at least not when it comes to Trunks. Goten is fine because we never saw him as 13/14 years old, but we do see how Trunks looks like at that age. Both Trunks and Marron issue is a problem at this point.

[Lord Frieza]

Time skips are ok if done properly, the problem is that more often then not they are used as a cheap way to say "the heros is stronger now thanks to training" which we never see.

While super hasnt shown us just how Goku and Vegeta got SSB we have seen them training with Whis to get strong, that Dragon Ball's strength. We see our heros work to get strong, we are not just told. At least in the anime.

[Cipher]

Haven't there been multiple time skips? The series takes place like 4 years after the Buu arc, according to the anime, no? And we've seen Pan go from unborn fetus, to newborn infant, to flying baby.

It just so happens they refuse to let certain characters grow, and the modern art makes them all look younger than they are.

Time has indeed passed, but I think the issue is that it isn't really felt in terms of new status-quos, being reintroduced to characters, etc.

Even the jump between the end of the Boo arc and Beerus' arrival -- apparently a number of years -- doesn't have much to show in terms of new dynamics save for Goku's day-to-day home life and Gohan and Videl being married. Meeting all the characters after X number of years was something the original run presented with relish.

[jplaya2023]

the only way to do a timeskip is retcon the end of z and add the super events and go from there

[Rubens]

Unless that timeskip takes place during "End of Z", I don't so. But yeah, I agree that Super's time skips have been rather unclear when during DB and DBZ they were pretty clear... which is too bad.

[ArchedThunder]

I'm really hoping this is the last pre-end of Z arc in Super, I really want to see Toriyama do something with Pan and Uub and just going past end of Z will add a whole new level of mystery to the show, I think.
Going past end of Z would also make it so they could more easily add new main cast members that fight.

[Alruneia]

A story arc with a timeskip, I'm not sure about. A timeskip between two arcs, however, is starting to become a must, if you ask me. We've been dancing in the 779/780 timeframe for too long now (the Golden Frieza, Champa and Black arcs). It's time to let Goten, Trunks and Marron (especially Marron) grow up, and it's time to introduce Bulla. Preferrably we'll jump all the way to EoZ after the Black arc and work from there with a completely blank slate. After EoZ there's no future event that forces the story to go in a certain direction; everything is open.
It's simple to do it, too. After Goku/Vegeta/Trunks/Gogeta/whoever beats Black and Zamasu, and Goku and Vegeta return to the present with the future timeline fixed, it's time to speed up the flow of time and have a second inter-arc. One episode where Goku and Vegeta are back with Beerus and Whis and doing something, then one episode with Vegeta, Trunks and Bulma dealing the adorable catastrophe that is Bulla's birth (see baby Pan's destructive behaviour and multiply that by ten or fifty, make her Super Saiyan at birth, go crazy), then a beach episode (I've seen many people want this) in 781/782 where people have visibly changed/grown up (Marron looks like her EoZ self, and while not fully grown yet, Goten and Trunks have shot up and changed their hairstyles to match their EoZ selves), then cover EoZ again, and then start Super's next big story arc.
This would take five or six episodes to do, much like the inter-arc between the Champa arc and the Black arc, and would neatly tie everything together.

That's what I think, at least.

[MaxZ]

I really think the non aging Goten Trunks and Marron is starting to get glaring, they need to fix this pretty soon. And introduce Bra.

I really do want to see a time skip and following it, for Pan to become a relevant character, filling the kind of role Gohan did back in the Saiyan / Namek arcs. also she should be a Super Saiyan.

[dragonballhero]

I really think the non aging Goten Trunks and Marron is starting to get glaring, they need to fix this pretty soon. And introduce Bra.

I really do want to see a time skip and following it, for Pan to become a relevant character, filling the kind of role Gohan did back in the Saiyan / Namek arcs. also she should be a Super Saiyan.

I wonder if the reason why they haven't aged them up yet is because of merchandise...

Also, I would LOVE to see Pan take up the kind of role her dad had during the Saiyan and Planet Namek/Freeza arcs I don't know, I just feel like her dad went through WAY more trials in those two arcs alone than she did for the majority of DBGT. Not to mention I really do want to see a Super Saiyan Pan already. Wasn't she supposed to be one, but Toriyama didn't know what a female SSJ would look like?

What worries me however, is that Pan will end up gaining the exact same personality that just totally ruined her for me in DBGT. That's honestly even part of the reason I DON'T necessarily want her to be aged up just yet.