Akira Toriyama drew us the ending of Dragon Ball in May 1995, and it’s no secret: without warning, Son Goku said goodbye to his friends and loved ones during the Great Martial Arts Tournament. He doesn’t go alone, as he flies away – literally – alongside an earthling who appears out of nowhere. A very young disciple, but with unlimited potential. Just as he was when it all started. And after that?
Toei Animation had tons of chapters left to produce and several tricks up its sleeve: after reaching the last chapter came the new Dragon Ball GT television series, new movies, more animated specials and even video games with untold stories. Some, like Dragon Ball Online, written by Toriyama. But the end of the work was always established. At least until 2013.
With the premiere of Dragonballz the battle of the godsToriyama himself explored a huge part of the untold story between Buu’s battle and the end of the work that, over time, led to the Dragon Ball Super series and finally the film and manga of The Superhero Saga .
The other reality is that in the film and the paper version of Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero a very revealing fact is given: Pan, Goku’s granddaughter, was three years old and in the last published chapter, the end of the work, he had turned four. In other words: in theory there is only one year of margin to tell and create new stories without leaving the established ending. In practice, and as we will see, that is not a problem.
What a single year in Dragon Ball gives
Let’s put ourselves in the worst case scenario: until Pan blows out the candles on the Cake and a certain tailless saiyan rigs the draw for the Great Martial Arts Tournament to meet Ub, there is a whole year left. And that’s an eternity in Dragon Ball.
All the arcs since Goku became an adult take place in a very short period of time, with the exception of those periods before Vegeta’s arrival on Earth, the appearance of Dr. Gero’s Androids or before Gohan entered the Institute. What’s more, for reference, between the beginning of Dragon Ball Super (The Battle of the Gods) and the Broly movie only two years pass.
And what is better, between one arc and another Akira Toriyama has left wide spaces that lend themselves to telling new stories. Something that Toei Animation did on its own decades ago, pulling it out of the hat both through the movies (which are not canon) and on television through the adventures of Gohan while training with Piccolo, the return of Garlik Jr. or a Tournament of Martial Arts of the Beyond after the Cell Game.
Needless to say, there are more interesting and fun “filler” arcs and others that have been much less inspired. However, and this is interesting, it is worth keeping in mind that there are two great stories that only exist on paper:
- After the Tournament of Power and surviving Broly, Akira Toriyama and his successor at the Toyotaro brushes published in the V-Jump the Space Prisoner Sagain which Goku and Vegeta help the Intergalactic Patrollers and learn totally original techniques.
- And not only that: the same authors published, before the Superheroes Saga, the saga of Granola the Survivorwhere Goku discovers his father’s legacy and Vegeta awakens the power of Ultraego.
The funny thing about it is that, even in these, there are really interesting middle stories that have only been shown in television specials. And we also keep in mind that there are many years during the stage of little Son Goku in which he dedicated himself to living adventures around the world.
So, even if you want to dedicate this last remaining year to a great story arc (and there are plenty of loose pieces to make great things), there is also the possibility of telling untold stories and, why not? Pulling characters out of the hat capable of expanding the universe of Dragon Ball towards new directions: in 2013 Toriyama drew Jaco, the Intergalactic Patrol Ship and in the process he gave us a full-fledged prequel to his work.
And yet, it is also possible to go much further than the last episode of Dragon Ball. Among other things, because Akira Toriyama imagined what it would be like.
The distant future of Dragon Ball beyond Son Goku and his friends
In February 2010 the video game was created Dragon Ball Onlinean MMORPG based on the world of Akira Toriyama’s work, but with a very interesting premise: instead of returning to the stage known to fans, it would be temporarily located in the year 1,000 of the Dragon Ball chronology. That is, 216 years after the last chapter of the manga. And best of all, Toriyama himself participated in the creation of that story.
What happens until then? A lot and everything: according to the official game guide chronology, Mr. Satan continued to win the Grand Martial Arts Tournament for years, that was clear. But the best thing is that as the years go by, the well-known characters will continue their lives:
- To begin with, Krillin and Ten Shin Han revive the Turtle and Crane schools respectively. Meanwhile, Pan will continue the legacy of his grandparents Goku and Mr. Satan by inheriting the latter’s martial arts school. Which spread the passion for fighting at a planetary level.
- But the most curious thing is that the children of the Saiyans also create their own school: thanks to Gohan’s research, it is possible to decrypt and explain it to the general public. the secrets of spiritual energy and its possibilities. Something that will make it easier for Goten and Trunks to create their own combat style.
- On the other hand, many of theThe Namekians have settled on Earth and they have even adapted a part of it to the conditions of their home planet, contributing enormously to prosperity thanks to their knowledge, their arts, their unique powers and their science.
Due to these events, and Gohan’s studies, the entire world experiences a curious phenomenon during the following decades: in addition to incredible scientific advances, there is a golden age for fighters and martial arts practitioners. Above all, when not everyone uses them for justice.
What’s more, the Red Ribbon army has recently been reborn and, as if the Terricolas’ troubles were not enough, some evil Namekians have also appeared with the same ambitions as the cruel King Piccolo Daimaoh. As a result, the entire planet experiences a new era full of adventure, technology and passion for martial arts. And what happened to Son Goku? The Dragon Ball story is intentionally ambiguous about this, but it is implied that he and Vegeta left Earth when they felt that their long life as a Saiyan warrior was about to be consummated for the final fight.
Perhaps the adventures of Goku and his friends have their days numbered, but it is clear that there are very interesting directions to explore until that definitive battle takes place. And not only that: both in Dragon Ball Online and in Dragon Ball Heroes and Dragon Ball Xenoverse, the concept of time jumps and parallel realities has been explored for years long before the Marvel movies burned that idea.
Combining the transformations of Super Saiyan 4 and Ultra Instinct in the same stories and, for that matter, intermixing classic events with characters created for the occasion.
There are plans for an entire decade of Dragon Ball in the works.
We can speculate about how and in what directions Son Goku’s adventures will go beyond Dragon Ball Daima, but what we do know is that we will not see the decline of the franchise in the short or medium term. What’s more, there are currently ten years of content planned and Toriyama himself has already appointed his successors: Toyotaro will be in charge of the manga and Sasuke Toriyamahis own son, will take care of the legacy of his work.
Is a decade too much or too little? Well, games like Dragon Ball Heroes They passed that time several years ago. Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 It came out in a not-so-close 2016 and continues to receive content, and in 2024 we have Dragon Ball Super Card Game FUSION WORLD, a new physical and digital collectible card game that plans to compete with Magic The Gathering and Pokémon TCG. Seen in perspective, and without knowing the plans for the role and animation, it is a viable amount of time for fans and one that, by the way, lends itself to indefinite extensions.
So back to the original question, Dragon Ball has its days numbered from the point where the story of its characters currently stands until its inevitable end, set in the Weekly Shonen Jump of May 1995, but we are clear about two things: in a period of at least a year they can happen many, many things within the Dragon World, and outside of it, in the real world, there are plans to continue taking the adventures of the saiyans even further.
Toriyama himself left the fate of his characters open in the last vignette he drew, Son Goku and his friends will always have their own dragon balls, the wish spheres, in the event of any problem. What he himself did not suspect is that it will really be the passion and devotion of his fans that will keep his work alive indefinitely. Turning it into a timeless phenomenon capable of passing generations. In a myth that does not cease.
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