Dragon Ball should be understood as multiple valid continuities rather than a single "canon"

[Peach]

I’ve noticed that the Dragon Ball fanbase has become fixated on the idea of Dragon Ball having a “canon”, or a linear sequence of events that Toriyama had direct involvement with. Anything that does not have Toriyama’s direct involvement is treated as “non-canon.”

The idea of Dragon Ball having a “canon” has been the source of controversy lately because Toriyama was involved multiple projects (Dragon Ball Super and Dragon Ball Daima) with conflicting events. For instance, Kabito Kai is defused in Daima yet remain fused in Super, Goku and Vegeta have Super Saiyan 4 and Super Saiyan 3 in Daima but don’t use these abilities in Dragon Ball Super, and Glorio and Panzy are absent in Dragon Ball Super despite joining the heroes at the end of the story. The reception to Daima has been controversial, with many feeling like it doesn’t matter because it doesn’t continue from the events of Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero.

Instead of fixating on what is or isn’t canon, why aren’t we embracing the idea of different but equally valid continuities? Many franchises have different continuities or timelines rather than a single specific canon timeline – just look at Pokemon, The Legend of Zelda, Gundam, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Godzilla, Lupin the Third, Marvel, and DC.

Below, I’ve tried to map out the Dragon Ball Franchise continuities. I would love feedback on the continuities themselves (so I can make edits).

I also want to leave you all with a question: As Dragon Ball continues, should it establish a linear continuity (like Star Wars) or operate like Lupin The Third, be character focused, and free to weave in different elements?


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Continuity List:

1. The Manga Continuity – This includes the events of Dragon Ball (manga version), chapters 1-519.


2. The Toei Continuity – this includes Dragon Ball (anime version), Dragon Ball Z (anime version), Dragon Ball GT, Bardock – The Father of Goku, The History of Trunks, Dragon Ball GT: A Hero’s Legacy, and Episode of Bardock. It is not clear if Dragon Ball Z: Dead Zone, Doctor Slump, Dragon Ball Z: Cooler’s Revenge and Dragon Ball Z: The Return of Cooler are included, but they are implied to be or a version of similar events happened as Cooler makes a cameo in Dragon Ball GT, Garlic Jr appears in Dragon Ball Z, and Arale makes a cameo in Dragon Ball.

Notes:
• This includes original stories such as the Other World Tournament saga, the Garlic Jr. saga, and more.
• Toriyama assisted with several designs in Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball GT original stories even when he wasn't involved in the scripts.


3. Toriyama's Film Saga Continuity – This includes Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods and Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection ‘F’ (film version). It is not clear if Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return and Jaco: The Galactic Patrol Man are included, but they are implied to be. This serves as a continuation of chapter 517 of the manga prior to the ten-year timeskip or an alternate continuation of Dragon Ball Z (episode 287) / Dragon Ball Z Kai (episode 164).

Notes:
• Bulma’s birthday party occurs on what looks like Capsule Corp property.
• Vegeta’s brother is referenced before the Super Saiyan God ritual.
• It is said that Beerus used 70% of his energy against Goku.
• Beerus consciously decides to spare the Earth.
• Frieza first re-appears as Mecha Frieza and has been suspended in a cocoon in Hell.
• Tagoma is killed at the beginning of Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection ‘F’
• Gregory appears in Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return (OVA version).
• Reportedly, Toriyama wrote the scripts for Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods and Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection ‘F’ and a first draft for Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return


4. The Super Anime Continuity – This includes Dragon Ball Super (anime), Dragon Ball Super: Broly, and Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero. It is not clear if Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return, Doctor Slump, Jaco: The Galactic Patrol Man, and Dragon Ball Minus are included, but they are implied to be. This is a continuation of chapter 517 of the manga prior to the ten-year timeskip or an alternate continuation of Dragon Ball Z (episode 287) / Dragon Ball Z Kai (episode 164).

Notes:
• Dragon Ball Super starts 6 months after the defeat of Kid Buu rather than in Age 778
• Bulma’s birthday party takes place on a cruise ship.
• Beerus falls asleep instead of consciously sparing the Earth.
• Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan is renamed to Super Saiyan Blue.
• Zamasu’s face appears distorted and in the sky after he is defeated.
• This includes the Copy-Vegeta Saga, a rematch between Goku and Hit, a baseball special, and other original stories.
• Gottenks and Captain Ginyu are present in the Golden Frieza saga.
• Tagoma appears as Frieza's training partner and has his body taken over by Captain Ginyu.
• The God of Destruction Beerus saga and Golden Frieza saga are written differently from Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods and Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection ‘F’ despite sharing similar story beats.
• The Universe 6 saga, Zamasu saga, and Universe Survival saga are structured differently from the equivalent stories in the manga despite sharing similar story beats.
• Bulma's line in Chapter 518 of the manga - where she said she hasn't seen Goku in five years - is quietly retconned as she saw Goku four years prior in age 780-781 during the Universe Survival arc and the Moro arc.
• Gregory appears.
• Reportedly, Toriyama was involved in the overall story/designs of Dragon Ball Super (anime), wrote the script for Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero and Dragon Ball Super: Broly, and directly created Jaco: The Galactic Patrol Man and Dragon Ball Minus.


5. The Super Manga Continuity – This includes Dragon Ball Super (manga version). It is not clear if Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection ‘F’ (manga version), Dragon Ball Super: Broly, Jaco: The Galactic Patrol Man, and Dragon Ball Minus are included, but they are implied to be. This is a continuation of chapter 517 of the manga prior to the ten-year timeskip.

Notes:
• Includes several original stories including the Galactic Patrol Prisoner Saga, Granolah the Survivor Saga, High School saga, and more.
• Bulma's line in Chapter 518 of the manga - where she said she hasn't seen Goku in five years - is quietly retconned as she saw Goku four years prior in age 780-781.
• Includes the Toei design of Yardrats and a design based off the Dragon Ball Online design of Yardrats.
• Olibu is included in a cameo despite aspects of The Other World saga (Frieza breaking out of Hell) not being possible in this continuity.
• Reportedly, Toriyama was involved in story and designs for the manga.


6. Dragon Ball Daima Continuity – This includes the Dragon Ball Daima. This is a continuation of chapter 517 of the manga prior to the ten-year timeskip or an alternate continuation of Dragon Ball Z (episode 287) / Dragon Ball Z Kai (episode 164).

Notes:
• Goku obtains Super Saiyan 4.
• Vegeta obtains Super Saiyan 3.
• Glorio and Panzy join the Dragon Team by the end of the series.
• Reportedly, Toriyama was involved in the story and designs.


7. Dragon Ball Z Film Continuities – This includes most Dragon Ball Z films (Dragon Ball Z: Dead Zone, Dragon Ball Z: The World’s Strongest, Dragon Ball Z: The Tree of Might, Dragon Ball Z: Lord Slug, Dragon Ball Z: Cooler’s Revenge, Dragon Ball Z: The Return of Color, Dragon Ball Z: Super Android 13!, Dragon Ball Z: Broly – The Legendary Super Saiyan, Dragon Ball Z: Bojack Unbound, Dragon Ball Z: Bio-Broly, Dragon Ball Z: Fusion Reborn, Dragon Ball Z: Wrath of the Dragon) and Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans.

Notes:
• Story beats from the franchise such as Frieza's defeat and Goku meeting Pikkon may have happened off screen, but in less immediate way where characters had more time to deal with movie threats.
• Reportedly, Toriyama was involved with designs of several film characters.


8. Manga Side Projects Continuities – These include the events of Neko Majin, [/i]Neko Majin Z, Jaco: The Galactic Patrol Man, and Dragon Ball Minus. These are spinoffs, light continuations, or retroactively inserted material that doesn’t contradict the Dragon Ball (manga) series.

Notes:
• Reportedly, Toriyama created these projects.


9. The Original Film Continuity: This includes Dragon Ball: Curse of the Blood Rubies, Dragon Ball: Sleeping Princess in Devil's Castle, and Dragon Ball: Mystical Adventure. It is implied that Doctor Slump is canon to this continuity.


10. Path to Power Continuity: This includes Dragon Ball: Path to Power.


11. The Dragon Ball Online Continuity: This includes the events in Dragon Ball Online. This is an alternate continuation to Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z.

Notes:
• Reportedly, Toriyama was involved in some aspects of Dragon Ball Online.


12. The Cross Epoch Continuity: This includes Cross Epoch.


13. The Crossover Continuity: This includes the events of Dream 9 Toriko & One Piece & Dragon Ball Z Super Collaboration Special!!


14. The Super Dragon Ball Heroes Continuity: This includes Super Dragon Ball Heroes.


15. The FighterZ Continuity: This includes Dragon Ball FighterZ.

Notes:
• Reportedly, Toriyama created Android 21's designs.


16. The Xenoverse Continuity: This includes Dragon Ball Xenoverse and Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2.


17. The Kakarot Continuity: This includes Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot.

Notes:
• Reportedly, Toriyama created Bonyu's design.


18. The Isekai Continuity: This includes Dragon Ball: That Time I Got Reincarnated as Yamcha.


19. Evolution Continuity: This includes Dragon Ball Evolution.


Beyond: The Dragon Ball Budokai 1-3, Budokai Tenkaichi 1-3, Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit, Dragon Ball Sparking Zero, Dragon Ball SD, and many other projects.


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Overall notes:
- Dragon Ball (manga) chapter 517 and Dragon Ball Z (episode 287) / Dragon Ball Z Kai (episode 164) are the most common inflection points where the story spins off into continuations in new continuities.

- Toriyama himself participated in contradictory continuities.

- Multiple projects including Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return, Doctor Slump, Jaco: The Galactic Patrol Man, Dragon Ball Minus, Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, and the Neko Majin series fit seamlessly into multiple continuities - like a puzzle piece that helps complete different puzzles.

- The knowledge of one continuity can assist with jumping over to another continuity. If a fan wanted to start the Super manga at the Universe 6 saga, but had only seen Dragon Ball Z, Battle of Gods, and Resurrection ‘F’, they could jump in with no confusion despite inconsistencies because they're familiar with Goku's journey in adjacent stories.

- The series generally leaves room for people to invent "head canons" for continuities. Just because Goku and Bulma saw each other 3-4 years ago in the Manga Super Continuity doesn't mean Goku didn't meet Uub. It just means it might have happened without Bulma scolding Goku for being absent for five years first.

- The franchise prioritizes emotional knowledge of these characters over continuity consistency.

- The franchise has no clear canon like Star Wars and already operates as an informal multiverse.

- Maybe the fanbase has been applying Western pop culture sensibilities onto this franchise.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

It is not clear if Dragon Ball Z: Dead Zone, Doctor Slump, Dragon Ball Z: Cooler’s Revenge and Dragon Ball Z: The Return of Cooler are included, but they are implied to be as Cooler makes a cameo in Dragon Ball GT, Garlic Jr appears in Dragon Ball Z, and Arale makes a cameo in Dragon Ball.

For Dead Zone to work you have to assume Raditz never shows up. The first Cooler movie can't fit because Goku is not able to transform into a Super Saiyan at will, even though the Z series established that by the point he returned to Earth he was able to do so. People say the second Cooler movie could work if we assume it's set before #19 and Dr Gero show up but there's still a lot of problems with that, like Piccolo being so weak despite having merged with Kami, Goku knowing where New Namek is despite not being aware until he visited Kaio-sama/King Kai later in the Cell arc, the fact Goku and friends would have had to leave the Earth despite the artificial humans wrecking havoc, Dende already being the God of Earth, etc.

But yes, Dragon Ball has multiple continuities. It's been that way for a long time now. None of the old movies other than the Bojack one can conceivably take place in the same timeline as the TV series because of all the different directions the story goes in.

[TheGreatness25]

Yes, they all have their own continuity, but canon is important. Not everything can be canon at the same time. For example, if you're watching Super, then GT and DAIMA aren't canon. If you're watching DAIMA, then Super and GT aren't canon. If you're watching GT, then Super and DAIMA aren't canon. So on and so forth. It just means you can't use those established works as anchor points for understanding the story.

Nobody's saying they don't exist or they're not official, just means they're not important to the story you're focused on. The simplest way is to follow Akira Toriyama's thread since his original works are the unmistakable anchors of the Dragon Ball (and "Z") story. And then from there, it gets all wobbly and unfocused, where the most logical sense would be to just keep following his story (effectively dirching the movies and GT as canon). The reason? Because the Z manga/anime can't exist in the same world as the movies and if you're picking which story to focus on and consider as the "real" story, you're likely to determine that it's the manga or anime.

I don't know why the idea of non-canon has such a negative connotation. Yes, non-canon material isn't as important as canon material, but so what? Why would anyone argue otherwise? Would someone claim that those one-off cashgrab movies should be held in the same regard as the manga or anime? Or that GT should be held in the same regard as them? Yes, they're less important entries into the series, but it's true. If someone read and watched the manga and anime but hasn't seen GT, I'd say they have a great understanding of Dragon Ball. But if someone only watched GT and never watched/read the rest, I'd say they don't know the story at all. Yeah, that's a fair assessment, no?

[Grimlock]

Instead of fixating on what is or isn’t canon, why aren’t we embracing the idea of different but equally valid continuities? Many franchises have different continuities or timelines rather than a single specific canon timeline – just look at Pokemon, The Legend of Zelda, Gundam, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Godzilla, Lupin the Third, Marvel, and DC.

That's already the case, regardless of how many people prefer to see Dragon Ball with just one "valid" continuity composed with only stuff made by Toriyama.

Toriyama already acknowledged the movies and both Dragon Ball Heroes and Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 very evidently support his view. It may be an assumption, but I think Shueisha see it the same way, it might even have been them that suggested those games to acknowledge the movies as taking place in another dimension. So as far as this franchise is officially concerned, Dragon Ball is pretty much Japan's Marvel and DC. It does feature multiple valid realities, not just the manga or just stuff made by Toriyama. That's a fact that people should have accepted by now, but no matter, it's irrelevant what people think, what matters is what's officially stated or done.

And as always: Toriyama died without uttering a single word about canon, and it's very unlikely that Shueisha ever will, so there is no canon in this franchise. You can consider canonical whatever you want. Opinions and preferences are not facts. Please let us move on from this, it's 2025 and it's ending already. How long must we endure this embarassing and pathetic topic? With the very same things having to be said repeatedly over and over? Don't you people ever get tired of this nonsense?

[M16U3L2015]

Honestly, I believe that the only real “canon” that the franchise has, and on which practically everything is based, is the original manga published from 1984 to 1995, and it is the only one where continuity really matters.

Everything else, whether it's GT, Super, Daima, Toyotaro's manga, or the Toei movies, I consider to be in their own world and continuity. It's pointless to force consistency between them, and I think we should drop this debate about what is canon and what isn't, since whether or not Toriyama was involved shouldn't dictate the validity of a work and whether it's good or not.

[jjgp1112]

Honestly, I believe that the only real “canon” that the franchise has, and on which practically everything is based, is the original manga published from 1984 to 1995, and it is the only one where continuity really matters.

Everything else, whether it's GT, Super, Daima, Toyotaro's manga, or the Toei movies, I consider to be in their own world and continuity. It's pointless to force consistency between them, and I think we should drop this debate about what is canon and what isn't, since whether or not Toriyama was involved shouldn't dictate the validity of a work and whether it's good or not.

Yup, and guidebooks, Toriyama interviews have to be taken with a grain of salt too since some of the news stuff has contradicted a lot of those, too - ie Buu's origin being changed from what it was in the manga where Bibidi created him; to nobody created him and he's been around since the big bang in one of the interviews; then in Daima it's back to he was created, except Bibidi was the guy in the group project that does none of the work but takes all of the credit.

[funrush]

Honestly, I believe that the only real “canon” that the franchise has, and on which practically everything is based, is the original manga published from 1984 to 1995, and it is the only one where continuity really matters.

Everything else, whether it's GT, Super, Daima, Toyotaro's manga, or the Toei movies, I consider to be in their own world and continuity. It's pointless to force consistency between them, and I think we should drop this debate about what is canon and what isn't, since whether or not Toriyama was involved shouldn't dictate the validity of a work and whether it's good or not.

The Toei movies are kind of their own demon entirely. GT, Super, Daima, the Super manga all exist as sequels to the original manga and don't significantly contradict it. The old movies don't even work in harmony with the manga, if my memory serves me right the only one that actually works is Bojack. Maybe the Tapion one too, I forget. All the other ones have at least one glaring continuity problem that make them firmly an elseworlds type story.

I also think that the way DB fans talk about canon probably needs to change. It's no longer about which timeline is the "true" timeline, it's now about what is canon to what.

Before Daima, the idea of Super being the canon sequel was kind of based on the idea that further DB content will be based in the world of Super and with the involvement of the original author. GT was treated as "non-canon" cause I mean it's not like they're gonna make more stories in the universe of GT, Toriyama's working on Super so that's the "true" timeline. It looked like GT is an alternate timeline and Super is the main one. And as you bring up, maybe we shouldn't have had that mindset to begin with. Now with Daima, unless they try to mash that story into Super's timeline we've got two separate Toriyama timelines going, and who knows if we'll get much more added to either of them. So if even Toriyama himself is doing the multiverse thing then we have no choice but to accept all 3 sequels to Z as alternate and valid timelines. And that's not even touching on stuff like Dragon Ball Online.

So now really the only thing you actually have to consider canon for is when a new Dragon Ball work comes out, which timeline it takes place in. Which timeline the new thing is "canon" to. Like for example if Super's manga comes back, it'll be canon to the timeline of the Super manga which is itself a sequel to the original manga. And sometimes you'll have to decide if the new thing even IS canon to anything else, cause like I mentioned before with those old Z movies sometimes the work is just firmly outside of all the continuities entirely.

[ABED]

Instead of fixating on what is or isn’t canon, why aren’t we embracing the idea of different but equally valid continuities? Many franchises have different continuities or timelines rather than a single specific canon timeline – just look at Pokemon, The Legend of Zelda, Gundam, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Godzilla, Lupin the Third, Marvel, and DC.

That's already the case, regardless of how many people prefer to see Dragon Ball with just one "valid" continuity composed with only stuff made by Toriyama.

Toriyama already acknowledged the movies and both Dragon Ball Heroes and Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 very evidently support his view. It may be an assumption, but I think Shueisha see it the same way, it might even have been them that suggested those games to acknowledge the movies as taking place in another dimension. So as far as this franchise is officially concerned, Dragon Ball is pretty much Japan's Marvel and DC. It does feature multiple valid realities, not just the manga or just stuff made by Toriyama. That's a fact that people should have accepted by now, but no matter, it's irrelevant what people think, what matters is what's officially stated or done.

And as always: Toriyama died without uttering a single word about canon, and it's very unlikely that Shueisha ever will, so there is no canon in this franchise. You can consider canonical whatever you want. Opinions and preferences are not facts. Please let us move on from this, it's 2025 and it's ending already. How long must we endure this embarassing and pathetic topic? With the very same things having to be said repeatedly over and over? Don't you people ever get tired of this nonsense?

You can't just consider canon whatever you want. That's not how it works. And the word "canon" doesn't have to explicitly be invoke for anyone in charge to discuss it or even change it.

The audience doesn't determine what is or isn't in continuity and we've got to learn to accept that. Also, none of it really happened so fighting for something to be canon is silly.

[Grimlock]

ABED, do you have a favorite continuity? If so, what is it made up of? I'm assuming you must be a casual fan, so is it something like: Dragon Ball )---> Dragon Ball Z )---> Dragon Ball GT? I expect to be surprised by your response/preference, though. Hopefully it's something unique, somehow and somewhat.

I guess you can correctly assume what my continuity is composed of, since we are old horses here. I don't know what's yours because I never asked before, sorry.

[SupremeKai25]

Super and GT are in a different continuity. The events of Super or GT cannot happen in the same continuity, it is simply not possible if you know the lore to cram them into the same world.

But each continuity has its own "canon." For example, in the GT continuity, it appears that the old DBZ movies are canon, since Cooler and a bunch of other movie villains appeared in the Super 17 saga.

Whereas in the Super continuity the events of the old Broly movies are obviously not canon because Broly in the Super continuity is an entirely different character.

Lastly, since we know that Toriyama worked directly on the story of Super (unlike in the case of GT), creating or giving his input in a major way in the stories of Super, it would in fact be entirely correct to consider the events of Super a part of the "original continuity", as Toriyama himself wrote its stories to explain what happens in the 10 years gap between the end of the Buu saga and the ending of the original saga. And minor stuff like "But Bulma was wrong when she said they haven't seen Goku in 5 years" or whatever the argument is doesn't really change that, as Dragon Ball was always an inconsistent, messy series.

[ABED]

ABED, do you have a favorite continuity? If so, what is it made up of? I'm assuming you must be a casual fan, so is it something like: Dragon Ball )---> Dragon Ball Z )---> Dragon Ball GT? I expect to be surprised by your response/preference, though. Hopefully it's something unique, somehow and somewhat.

I guess you can correctly assume what my continuity is composed of, since we are old horses here. I don't know what's yours because I never asked before, sorry.

No need to be sorry. I guess I prefer DB -> DBZ -> DBS. Super is the continuation that feels the most Dragon Ball like. Though from a pure nostalgic perspective, I'm also partial to DB/Z/GT. Not sure how I can make this unique. There are only a few paths. i don't put much thought into issues like these. If you had asked me in my teens and 20s I would've had a different answer.

What made you assume I'm a casual fan? I'm a frequent poster here. Also, I've been a fan of Dragon Ball since 1992. My fandom goes back to the days of the Curtis Hoffmann manga summaries.

[kemuri07]

I think that sort of leads into an issue that I’ve noticed—some of us are old as dirt. I’ve been watching DB since the mid 90s, I’ve been active in some form on the Kanzeshuu website since the 2000s (back when I was trolling for music videos) and I’ve only been an active member of the forums since the 2010s.

Suffice to say, any discussion on canon makes me very, very, very tired. Largely, people who care about this care because they want to promote their “one true canon” for Dragon Ball. The reality is: it doesn’t exist. And if it does then the only correct answer is the original run of DB-DBZ that ends with EoZ. Everything else is supplemental material and nonsense.

And DB, probably more than an anime franchise, is loaded with nonsense.

Still love it though.

[Grimlock]

No need to be sorry. I guess I prefer DB -> DBZ -> DBS. Super is the continuation that feels the most Dragon Ball like. Though from a pure nostalgic perspective, I'm also partial to DB/Z/GT. Not sure how I can make this unique. There are only a few paths. i don't put much thought into issues like these. If you had asked me in my teens and 20s I would've had a different answer.

Ah, it's interesting that your preference changed over time. Mine is Dragon Ball )---> Dragon Ball Z )---> Dragon Ball Online. Have you ever thought you would find someone who considers a game!? I guess to most people this is or would be strange, but I've known franchises whose continuities are made up of all kinds of different media, so I'm quite used to this idea and I'm pretty sure Dragon Ball can have it as well.
And let's not forget I'm a Multiverse guy, so even though that's my continuity, I'm in no way stuck in it. All of this looks like a giant web or tree in my head, if you could see it. It's amazing!

I'm yet to find someone who prefers Dragon Ball )---> Dragon Ball Z )---> Dragon Ball Daima. Hopefully they exist and I find them, eventually. As well as someone who managed to find a way to include Neko Majin in their continuities.

Isn't simply wonderful that we can have this many different and equally valid opinions!? I love it! It makes everything more interesting and unique. Not bound by any imaginary rules and boring restrictions.

[FlpShimizu]

I find the canon debate to be absolutely pointless, boring and sometimes counterproductive.

[Sani007]

I'm yet to find someone who prefers Dragon Ball )---> Dragon Ball Z )---> Dragon Ball Daima. Hopefully they exist and I find them, eventually.

Yes, I exist.
More precisely: Dragon Ball (manga) → Dragon Ball Daima. For me, that’s the highest quality the Dragon World has to offer.

Daima: I definitely don’t think the manga would’ve looked like this if it had continued after the Boo arc in 1995. But if Toriyama had returned to the DB manga for one volume in 2024, it would’ve been something very, very similar to this.

[dragonballhero]

Honestly? I'm legit amazed that barely anyone has entertained the idea of (Modern) DB going the 'multiple continuities' route, ESPECIALLY after Daima.

If no one minds me bringing up the current legal battle going on with DB right now... Once it became clear to me that Daima was set to take place near the beginning of the 10-year timeskip + DB's legal issues of who gets to own the IP occurring around the same time, I wondered if Daima might be Iyoku's attempt at a new DB continuity that doesn't have to adhere to whatever Super's got going on at the moment.

I'm yet to find someone who prefers Dragon Ball )---> Dragon Ball Z )---> Dragon Ball Daima. Hopefully they exist and I find them, eventually. As well as someone who managed to find a way to include Neko Majin in their continuities.

Right here. To me, there's something about Daima that feels like a more 'natural fit' to Toriyama's OG Dragon Ball story than either GT or Super.


I mentioned this in another thread a couple of months back, but the following is sort of like my 'quintessential' DB continuity.

Admittedly, I could take-or-leave the movie version of Battle of Gods as part of it and Neko Majin (Well... the final chapter that features Uub and (most of) the Son family, at least) as THE final sighting of Goku and (most of) the gang.

So I guess my continuity is as follows:
Dragon Ball (1986) [Can be interchangeable with the OG manga (1984-1995)]
Dragon Ball Z (1989) [Can be interchangeable with the OG manga (1984-1995)]
Dragon Ball Daima (2024)
Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return!!! (2008)
Battle of Gods (2013) [Honestly, I can take-or-leave this actually happening]
Neko Majin (2005) [Chronologically, Goku's final on-panel adventure]

[Vegard Aune]

I think mostly it's just like... A lot of people just like the idea of this series they've been following for so long being one continuous narrative? And the constant backtracking and retconning and trying to tie new elements into old things in contradictory ways just makes it so that beyond the original manga, it really can't be, which can be frustrating? Like, I think it's fun when you have stuff like Toyotaro jumping on a technicality in the writing to say "THIS ONE SPECIFIC FREEZA SOLDIER WAS REVIVED AT THE END OF NAMEK AND HIS NAME IS CRANBERI AND NOW HE'S AN IMPORTANT CHARACTER!" or Daima going "ARINSU WAS THERE WHEN VEGETA DID HIS SUICIDE ATTACK AND PICKED UP SOME OF BOO'S BODY TO USE FOR HER OWN RESEARCH!" but... when different sequels also have contradictory lore, the fact that they still try to tie themselves back to the original series is also just kind of... confusing? Like the Granolah arc alluding to Daima with the "Nameks used to live in another dimension and migrated to this world, oh and also Namekians and Nameks are two different words for the same thing" (The latter of which was not reflected in the Viz TL but there is indeed a line from Maki in chapter 69 where she wonders if "namekku-seijin" is the same thing as "namekku-jin".)

Of course, yes, all of Dragon Ball is fiction. None of it ever happened. But the multiple continuities clashing with each other hurts the illusion of the story, you know? And at least for my part... that doesn't ruin modern DB but it does continually frustrate me just a little bit.

[kemuri07]

But the idea that Dragon Ball is one single story is itself an illusion, for a number of reasons. Namely Akira “fuck it, we ball” Toriyama is notorious for just going by vibes. And that’s what a lot of Dragon Ball is: vibes.

To try to make it into one long coherent story is a fools errand because the franchise has never really considered the maintenance of canon that important. And I’ve seen enough people on here let the pursuit of it get in the way of actually enjoying the show.

Don’t worry about it.

[MasenkoHA]

But the idea that Dragon Ball is one single story is itself an illusion, for a number of reasons. Namely Akira “fuck it, we ball” Toriyama is notorious for just going by vibes. And that’s what a lot of Dragon Ball is: vibes.

To try to make it into one long coherent story is a fools errand because the franchise has never really considered the maintenance of canon that important. And I’ve seen enough people on here let the pursuit of it get in the way of actually enjoying the show.

Don’t worry about it.

This feels like an exaggeration tbh.


Pre-revival there was no real issue understanding the 1984-1995 manga as one coherent story. Were there retcons and asspulls along the way? Sure. Not nearly as bad as some fans like to pretend but an inevitability when a serialized story is being produced on a weekly basis for over 10 years.

It’s really not until modern material like Super and DBO and Heroes came in that it got all unnecessarily convoluted.


We just wouldn’t be having any of these discussions and debate about “what is canon?” beyond debates on if the movies fit the anime’s timeline or not pre-2010

[super michael]

I don't mind if something is canon or non canon, since that has nothing to do with the quality of the anime, manga, movie, game and ova.
This is how I view Dragon Ball follows:
Dragon Ball > Dragon Ball Z > Dragon Ball GT

I never got to play Dragon Ball Online since it was for Korea only, I needed a KSSN which I don't have.

Dragon Ball Super had the potential to be greater than DB/DBZ with the new technology available and even new ideas, however the writing in DBS was really bad, it is like the writers didn't communicate with each other and never read or watched Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z.

- Goku felts like a annoying clown who was very bossy and whiny
- Chi Chi she was a spoiled brat and a control freak, who wanted to control everyone and have it her way
- Buu all he did was cause problems and sleep
- Goten was forbidden
- Trunks was forbidden
- Future Trunks didn't stay in the present time line for no good reason, even though he knew it would create a new alternate time line. Anyplace that he goes or stay, there would be 2 Future Trunks and 2 Future Mai
- Only Goku did the SSG Ritual, even though that ritual is easy and there are plenty of Saiyans
- Only Goku and Vegeta does hard training


DBS Manga should get animated, so we can finally play the story, characters and forms from the manga exclusive chapters.