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Dragon Ball Superhad some good news this year, but they are still expecting a proper date for the manga to resume serialization. Now thatDragon Ball Daimais over, the fans are once again turning toSuper,the official sequel to the story (or, at least, one of them).
Daimacaused an uproar in the franchise because it contradicts (or retcons, depending on your point of view) some of the events shown inSuper.Dragon Ballfans are now discussing which stories are canon to the manga chronology. So, from this perspective, how “canon” are things written by Toyotaro?
Toyotaro Was Chosen By Toriyama
Toyotaro is a longtime fan ofDragon Ballwho has written DBdoujinshi(fanzines) under the name Toyble. One of his most famous fanzines is theDragon Ball AFmanga (he was not the one who started the rumor, though).
His first official work in the Dragon Ball franchise was the mangaDragon Ball Heroes: Victory Mission(and he has writtenotherDragon Ball Heroesmanga since then). He was later offered to drawDragon Ball Super, in which, until March 2024, Toriyama wrote plot outlines, and Toyotaro drew the story. Although Toyotaro was free to change things as he saw fit, Toriyama checked his storyboards and fixed anything he thought that was wrong.
In an interview withthe French Journal de Mickey,Toyotaro explicitly said that Toriyama saw him as his successor:
My manga was popular and, then, in 2015, Shueisha offered me to draw Dragon Ball Super. I was impressed when I met Akira Toriyama-sensei. He cheered me up, saying that my work was delicate, and that I was full of ideas. He has chosen me as his successor. It is a great honor.
Possible Issues Emerging After Toriyama’s Death
While it seems that Toriyama was preparing Toyotaro to eventually succeed him, his death may have complicated things a bit. Reportedly, Shueisha and Capsule Corporation Tokyo are in alegal battle over the rights to the franchise.
According to rumors, most of this litigation is aboutDragon Ball Super, which is said to be (at least partially) owned by Shueisha. For this reason, Capsule Corporation may decide to stay away from Toyotaro, at least until things are settled, to avoid further problems with Shueisha (and Toyotaro might also want some distance from CC Tokyo for the same reason).
Toyotaro was apparently not involved inDragon Ball Daima, but Akio Iyuko has stated that Toriyama wrote almost all of it when he was still alive, so there might have been no need to involve Toyotaro in this series.
Even if Toriyama saw him as his successor, fans who eventually dislike the way he handles the story in the future will probably use the “not canon anymore” card to validate their opinions.
Does Super Being Canon Mean Daima Is Not?
Akira Toriyama was involved in bothDragon Ball SuperandDragon Ball Daima, and they areboth sequels to the original story. While there may be minor contradictions, they could fit into the same timeline.
If ‘canon’ is determined by which stories the author considers “official” to their own story, then both stories should be considered canon. However, it may be time to abandon the idea of a “canonDragon Balltimeline”.
When Will Dragon Ball Super Return?
After Toriyama’s death,Dragon Ball Superwent into a long hiatus. A new chapter, which, despite being announced as a special one-shot, was later confirmed to be the continuation of the story (at least it islabeled as Chapter 104, and not as a bonus chapter), and fans expected that the following chapter would be scheduled for anytime soon, but that didn’t happen. This means thatDBSis once again on an indefinite hiatus.
Even though, fans still hope to get some good news in April,when Volume 24 ships in Japan. If Toyotaro eventually nods toDaimain upcoming chapters, it may be a final hint that he will indeed continue the story as Toriyama’s successor. Mostfans already consider him as such, anyway.
Dragon Ball Superis streaming on Crunchyroll, subbed in many languages. The manga is licensed in the US by VIZ Media.
