In a recent press conference, Dragon Ball Super mangaka Toyotarou revealed that — at least as far as he is concerned — there’s no longer anything «non-canon» in the Dragon Ball universe.
The issue of what’s canon to the main Dragon Ball storyline has remained a constant subject of contention for Dragon Ball fans since at least the release of Dragon Ball Super in 2015, which completely contradicted the story told in 1996’s Dragon Ball GT. Insofar as the future of the Dragon Ball franchise is concerned, the problem of what is considered canon or non-canon may be a thing of the past. That’s because, according to the new sole author of the Dragon Ball Super manga, everything is canon now.
Dragon Ball Super's Toyotarou Considers Everything Canon, From GT to DAIMA
A press conference was recently held at Japan Expo Paris to discuss the careers of Dragon Ball Super’s Toyotarou, long-time Dragon Ball Editor Kazuhiko Torishima and character designer Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru. In it, the group spoke about various topics, including their feelings on how AI can affect the manga industry, Toyotarou’s disappointment with how he conveyed Goten in the Super Hero Saga and even Torishima’s feelings about the most recent Slam Dunk film (he didn’t like it). One particularly interesting subject Toyotarou touched upon was his opinion on the Dragon Ball series’ canon.
According to X user @vondbz2, who attended the conference, Toyotarou shared that he «loves all of DB, so all of it is canon to him.» This statement on its own has interesting implications, though it shouldn’t be too surprising for Dragon Ball Super fans who have been paying attention. After all, before even drawing Dragon Ball Super, Toyotarou worked on the manga for Dragon Ball Heroes — the one series almost universally viewed as non-canon to Dragon Ball fans. While the canon status of Dragon Ball GT is widely debated, virtually no one had a real argument for Heroes being canon until now.
It’s not just Toyotarou’s past work that showed early signs of his perspective on the series’ canon (or lack thereof). In Dragon Ball Super Chapter 104, Toyotarou’s first DBS manga chapter working on his own following Toriyama’s passing, a statue in the museum Trunks attends on a class field trip depicts Olibu, a character who only ever appeared in DBZ anime-only «filler» and was never in Toriyama’s original manga. Not only did Toyotarou reveal his new view of canon during the Japan Expo press conference, but he also specifically mentioned Dragon Ball Online as a piece of alternative Dragon Ball media that he personally appreciated.
Side stories and spinoffs like Dragon Ball Heroes, alternative timelines like Dragon Ball GT, and even video games like Dragon Ball Online or Xenoverse being canon to the series make for a new dynamic for Dragon Ball Super’s future going forward. It’s safe to say that in Toyotarou’s eyes, all official Dragon Ball releases by Toei and Shueisha are part of Dragon Ball‘s mainline multiverse at this point. The Dragon Ball Super manga remains on hiatus following the release of Dragon Ball Super Chapter 104 in February. However, given Toyotarou’s newly confirmed perspective on the series’ canon, newer anime like Dragon Ball DAIMA and games like Dragon Ball Sparking Zero present important new stories that Dragon Ball Super fans may want to pay special attention to in the interim.
Dragon Ball Super is available to read via Viz Media.
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