Dragon Ball Super, the next installment in Akira Toriyama’s acclaimed manga/anime series, is set to debut later this year in Japan. What do we know?
The events of Dragon Ball Super are said to take place after Majin Buu’s defeat. The earth is in a time of peace (for how long?) and the Z Fighters are trying to cope with this. But of course all things come to an end, including peaceful tranquility.
2013’s Battle of Gods brings about new characters, Beerus the God of Destruction and his mentor/handler Whis, in addition to the revelation that there are powers and beings able to transform beyond the Super Saiyan form of legend.
Goku is able to transform into a Super Saiyan God gathering the energies of five nearby Saiyans (Gohan, Goten, Trunks, Vegeta, and the unborn granddaughter Pan), though this form is only temporary and wears off after a short period.
2015’s Resurrection ‘F’ shows off a more powerful more stable form in what is referred to as “What happens when you transform into a Super Saiyan while in the form of a Super Saiyan God”. This new form features blue hair and a whole new energy never before seen in the Dragon Ball history. And both Goku and Vegeta seem to have mastered it.
Now let’s be clear about something, if we ignore the events of Dragon Ball GT (which you should, since it isn’t canon, and because Dragon Ball Super is likely to overwrite and ignore these events upon its release), Vegeta is only able to go beyond a Super Saiyan 2, but not a Super Saiyan 3, something only Goku and Gotenks can do (though Trunks and Goten do not seem to be able to do this individually).
Though details of Dragon Ball S are scarce, it would be a safe assumption that Vegeta should, in theory, be able to power up into a Super Saiyan 3 and the red-haired Super Saiyan God prior to the blue-haired form, right?
If the events of Dragon Ball S take place after Majin Buu has been defeated, then likely DBS will follow after the events of Battle of Gods and Resurrection ‘F’. We know this because Buu is present in Battle of Gods and challenges Beerus on screen, before getting his pink butt stomped into the pavement. Though Buu is not present in Resurrection ‘F’ for some reason (likely because Buu’s power would have been too much and would have solved the issue of Frieza’s arrival a little too easily).
But there are a couple things that should be noted. First and foremost, is that if Dragon Ball Super follows this timeline, then it may perhaps overwrite some of the events of Dragon Ball Z as well. How? Well, in the final episodes of Dragon Ball Z, Goku makes a wish that Shenron reincarnate Kid Buu into a human, in the hopes that he can face this opponent again some day. We see this someone in the form of the young Indian boy, Uub who attends the 28th World Martial Arts Championship, an event that takes place nearly 10 years after the defeat of Evil Kid Buu.
At this time, Trunks has grown to look identical to his Future counterpart, Goten has become a young adult (and a weak fighter/couch potato), and we are introduced to a young adolescent Pan for the first time who already demonstrates an enormous power for being only one quarter of a Saiyan. We also see Bulla (Bra), the youngest child and daughter of Vegeta and Bulma (Bulla does not appear in Battle of Gods or Resurrection ‘F’ despite being older than Pan by a few years).
While it would be interesting to see Uub’s return, and have a new Z Fighter on the team, at this point we may only get to see his growth in GT, but our fingers are crossed for Uub’s return. Additionally, we do get a new Z Fighter in the form of Jaco the Galactic Patrolman, who aids our heroes and makes his first anime appearance in Resurrection ‘F’, though with his Galactic Patrol duties, he may be too busy to stay on earth and hangout each episode.
We do know that there are many gods in the universe, considering that Beerus mentions there are at least a dozen or so all with different areas of focus (Beerus is the Destroyer), though it should be noted that with both Goku and Vegeta as Super Saiyan Gods, does this mean that it is possible there could be more than one God of each type? For instance, TWO Gods of Destruction? And since Vegeta and Goku can only power up to the form, but have not taken on the role and responsibility of a deity, are they now the official Saiyan Gods of the universe? Or are there others?
With the Dragon Balls playing heavily into the plot of Resurrection ‘F’ and Frieza’s revival, this could be a massive plot point to consider in that maybe we can see the revival of previously fallen enemies like Raditz, who could just as well have been training in the Other World and is now a Super Saiyan. THAT could be an interesting family reunion.
Series creator Akira Toriyama has provided a bit more backstory and Goku’s mother Gine, so it would be interesting to see if this is a plot that can be further explored. With the short OVA Episode of Bardock telling a story that depicts Bardock as the Legendary Super Saiyan and not Broly as previously thought, this too could be an open door for further explanation.
Bardock is sent back in time after Planet Vegeta explodes. He encounters one of Frieza’s ancestors, whom he beats in battle after transforming into a Super Saiyan, thus sparking the legend.
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Jaco the Galactic Patrolman takes place in the same universe as Dragon Ball, and as does his manga, where we are introduced to Bulma’s sister “Tights”, though we still do not know for sure if Bra/Bulla will be a mainstream character like we saw in Dragon Ball GT, though this is far more likely since she appeared in Dragon Ball Z.
There really are not a whole lot of strong female leads on the Z Fighters team aside from Android 18, but it would be interesting to see a female Super Saiyan make the canon for the first time in Pan and or Bulla. Keep in mind that their young ages should not be a deterrent from the transformation as Goten and Trunks both could transform when they were six years of age, or earlier as the manga/anime is not entirely specific on when Trunks first transformed.
The name of the series is interesting in and of itself, “Dragon Ball Super“. Think about it, this is the first time the franchise will have a television series with three full words and not a letter abbreviation. Some will likely refer to the series as “Dragon Ball S” to save time, but considering the Saiyan’s transformation is a “SUPER” Saiyan, maybe the title has something to do with that? Or maybe I am just reading to much into it.
Regardless, we do know that if the Dragon Ball series has taught us anything, its that there will be surprises, loads of action, and all-new, more powerful enemies than anything our heroes have ever faced before. Only this time, they will be fighting Gods.
We could not be more excited for the July 2015 release of Dragon Ball, even though us English-only speaking/reading North Americans may have to wait for the translation. Keep in mind, it took just under a year for a dub of Battle of Gods and it will have been just under six months for a FUNimation English dub of Resurrection ‘F’ to hit NA theaters this summer.
