Highlights
- Dragon Ball's legacy continues as the official manga is on a short hiatus until May 2024, with a bittersweet final chapter honoring Akira Toriyama.
- 'A Legacy Toward The Future' explores themes of passing the torch to a new generation, showing Earth is in safe hands with Gohan and Toyotarou.
- The anime's indefinite hiatus may be coming to an end due to high demand, with the Granolah and Moro Arcs offering exceptional material to adapt.
Dragon Ball is one of the most recognizable and beloved franchises of all time as it has been ongoing for 40 years and has touched the lives of millions of people across the globe. The influence that the IP holds is second to none in the entire anime/manga industry, as the creators of some of the biggest stories have cited Dragon Ball as their direct source of inspiration on multiple occasions.
However, longtime series creator, Akira Toriyama, passed away in March 2024. The news shook the world to its core, as such an immortal name in the anime and manga space was no longer there to tell the stories that fans had been reading and watching since they were kids. The official Dragon Ball Super manga went on a short hiatus after the release of Chapter 103 and its return date has been stated to be in May 2024.
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What This Means For The Manga
Date Released | Chapter 1, 'God of Destruction's Premonition' - June 24, 2016 |
|---|---|
Number of Chapters | 103 |
The latest chapter of the official manga was a bittersweet one. Dubbed 'A Legacy Toward The Future', the title of this chapter has a double meaning, with the first being the literal one with Goku leaving Earth to Gohan and the other's capable hands, as they have definitely proven their strength. This chapter explored themes of passing on the torch, as Gohan's Beast form was more than a match for Goku's Ultra Instinct, showing that no matter how powerful the threat is, Earth is in safe hands without Goku and Vegeta needing to be there.
The other meaning of this chapter title is a more subtle one, but also one that is extremely poignant. Akira Toriyama's work as the creator of the Dragon Ball franchise is legendary, and the continuation of the franchise with Super was done with the help of another amazing artist named Toyotarou. Toyotarou is very talented and a worthy successor to Toriyama, so the name implies that although the series may never be the same again, it is in the capable hands of an artist that Akira Toriyama himself trusted to handle the story.
If you want to depict something exactly the way it is, it takes a tremendous amount of time. If you don't get the details right, the inaccuracies will accumulate somewhere.
Why the manga will return
The final page of Chapter 103 ended with a sweet note stating how important Akira Toriyama was. It also stated that the series will be going on a short hiatus out of respect for him, and is to resume in May 2024. Though the majority of the chapter focused on fighting, the last few pages showed Goku, Gohan, and Piccolo picking Pan up from school, with the Namekian waving goodbye to the fans in a sublime ending to the Super Hero arc. Though it is a short wait, it hits quite hard as it symbolizes Toriyama himself waving a final goodbye to his adoring fans.
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What Could It Mean For The Anime?
Date Released | Episode 1, 'A Peacetime Reward: Who Gets The 100,000,000 Zeni?!' - July 5, 2015 |
|---|---|
Number of Episodes | 131 |
The Dragon Ball Super anime has been on an indefinite hiatus for many years at this point. Capping off in the incredible Tournament of Power arc that saw the heroes of Universe 7 go up against the strongest warriors from all across the multiverse, it was a beautiful ending as it had brought everything full circle from the very first episode of Dragon Ball.
However, the ending of the anime's last season confirmed the hiatus and said that the series would eventually return, something that it hasn't done for 7 years at this point. The release of Dragon Ball: Daima sees many fans worried that the original anime for Super has been forgotten or has been on the back burner for far too long and that it just may never be released.
Why the anime may return
The biggest reason why the anime will most likely return is due to the fact that the demand for it is simply too high. The world is far too rich and the fans of the series are far too dedicated, so the series will do exceptionally well whenever it finds its way back to the screens. Dragon Ball Daima is a series that has many fans quite excited about dipping their toes back into the franchise, but the manga has already laid down exceptional material to be adapted with the Granolah and Moro Arcs, content that will definitely break the internet once they have been animated.
Dragon Ball can be streamed on Crunchyroll.
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Dragon Ball
Dragon Ball is a franchise by Akira Toriyama which follows the adventures of Goku, a powerful warrior who protects the earth with his group of friends. A recent title from the series is Dragon Ball: The Breakers, an action style game where 7 players have to survive being hunted by the Raider.
- Created by
- Akira Toriyama
- First TV Show
- Dragon Ball (1986)
- Latest TV Show
- Dragon Ball Super
- Upcoming TV Shows
- Dragon Ball DAIMA
