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Is Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero canon to the anime series? Check out our guide to find out.
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After three years, Dragon Ball Super is back with another feature-length adventure. This time the focus has been taken off series protagonist Goku and placed squarely on his son Gohan, along with his mentor Piccolo, as they face off against the returning Red Ribbon Army. Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods set a precedent for Dragon Ball movies being canon to the overall plot, but does DBS: Super Hero continue that trend? Here’s everything we know about whether Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero is canon.
Is Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero Canon?
Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero is considered canon. How do we know? Much like Dragon Ball Super: Broly and the previous two DBZ movies Battle of Gods and Resurrection: F, Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero has the seal of approval from series creator, Akira Toriyama.
This is the fourth time Toriyama has had direct involvement with the development of a Dragon Ball movie and features an original screenplay and character designs. Toriyama was the one who made the decision to shift the focus to Piccolo and Gohan for this film and personally designed the new antagonists in the Red Ribbon Army as well as their vehicles and base.
Goku and Vegeta’s conflicted rival Broly can also be seen in trailers which confirms that the movie is a sequel to 2019’s Dragon Ball Super: Broly, also written by Toriyama. DBS: Super Hero seemingly moves forward in time with regards to the overall continuity in Dragon Ball. Pan, last seen as a baby in the Dragon Ball Super anime, is now training with Piccolo. Posters for the movie have also shown that Goten and Trunks –the sons of Goku and Vegeta– have entered their teenage years.
When Does Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero Take Place?
Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero takes place after the most recent events of the Dragon Ball Super manga. While the Dragon Ball Super anime wrapped up in 2018 the manga has continued over the years with The Galactic Patrol Prisoner Saga which showed the Z warriors in a desperate struggle against the deadly sorcerer, Moro.
The manga is currently wrapping up its latest arc, the Granolah the Survivor Saga. Neither of these two arcs have been adapted in anime form which has led many fans to ponder when exactly Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero takes place in the timeline.
Prominent Dragon Ball reporter DBS Chronicles responded to a fan on Twitter and confirmed that DBS: Super Hero takes place after the Granolah the Survivor saga.
This would line up with the aged-up versions of Pan, Goten, and Trunks seen in trailers. Dragon Ball: Super takes place in the ten years between the defeat of Majin Buu in Dragon Ball Z and the world martial arts tournament at the end of the series. The time jump in DBS: Super Hero suggests that the series is set to close the ten-year gap. That’s everything we know about whether Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero is canon.
Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero is currently out now in theatres, be sure to check out the rest of our Dragon Ball coverage below.
