Super Saiyan Blue Goku as seen in Dragon Ball Super
By
Zach Zamora
Published 23 minutes ago
Zach joined the ScreenRant Anime team as a contributor in June 2024, before taking on a Senior Writer role in November. Since then, he has covered breaking news and produced features and lists about the most popular anime titles.
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Dragon Ball is at a sort of crossroads. For the first time in its celebrated four-decade history, the series is facing a future without its legendary creator, Akira Toriyama, who passed away in 2024. Though Toriyama left Goku largely in the hands of others after the completion of the Dragon Ball manga, he remained involved in the series' modern productions.
Since Dragon Ball Daima's finale, the franchise has entered a period of relative silence, with no confirmed upcoming projects heading into the new year. However, that doesn't mean the series has no direction moving forward.
Before his passing, Akira Toriyama, along with artist Toyotaro, continued their work on the Dragon Ball Super manga, extending the story far beyond the 2015 anime's completion. While both versions of the story are separate from one another, Dragon Ball can kick off its new era by making its fans happy and reviving the Dragon Ball Super anime.
Dragon Ball Super's Revival Is the Series' Best Way to Go
The Remaining Manga Arcs Still Need to Be Adapted
Perfected Ultra Instinct Goku as seen in Dragon Ball Super anime
When Dragon Ball Daima was announced in late 2023, there was a surprisingly mixed reaction from the series' massive global fan base. While many were excited to see Goku and company embark on an all-new adventure, a large and rather loud number of fans expressed frustration that Dragon Ball Super would not be returning.
Fortunately, Daima proved itself a worthy continuation of the original Dragon Ball manga, offering fans a Dragon Ball GT-inspired dive into a new world designed entirely by Akira Toriyama. It was the artist's final vision for his iconic franchise, and he pulled out all his usual tricks in the anime's final major battle.
Without Toriyama, facing an unknown future, Dragon Ball's safest and arguably the smartest move would be to use the material he left behind in Dragon Ball Super. Following the anime's Tournament of Power finale, the manga by Toriyama and Toyotaro moved into its next section, the Moro Arc.
There's more than enough material in the manga for another full anime series, or if the franchise would rather move on with movies after the theatrical success of 2022's Super Hero, Akira Toriyama left enough story behind for at least two full-length films.
Dragon Ball's Next Arc Can Help Revitalize the Series
The Moro Arc Is a Fresh and Fun New Direction for the Franchise
Super Saiyan Goku smiling in Dragon Ball Super: Broly.
The ending of the Dragon Ball Super anime, while effective at bringing the series to a satisfying and action-packed finale, left more than enough room for Goku's adventures to continue. In the manga, the next arc begins by diving into some established, but hardly fleshed-out lore to set the characters in a new direction.
Millions of years before the events of Dragon Ball, a mysterious and wildly powerful wizard attacked the Kais, and was sealed away by a desperate last-minute attack from the Grand Supreme Kai. However, in the story's modern day, Goku and Vegeta are alerted that Moro has regained his magic, making him a threat once again.
Moro is a unique villain in Dragon Ball. Rather than arriving on the scene as yet another overly strong villain, it's his magic that makes him such a threat. Dating back as far as the introduction of Demon King Piccolo, the series followed a rather straightforward structure.
A new foe would appear stronger than the last, Goku and the rest of Earth's heroes would achieve new power-ups, and that foe would be defeated. Moro stands out with his magic, despite the rest of the arc somewhat falling back into the structure later on. Rather than using brute force, he would drain the energy of planets to grow stronger.
His magical abilities also allowed him to negate the effects of Saiyan transformations, something Dragon Ball's main characters have relied on since their introduction in the Namek Saga. The Moro arc is both fresh and familiar enough for fans both old and new to become engrossed in the series once more, ensuring a potential anime adaptation's success in the future.
Dragon Ball's Future Is Unknown, But There's Cause For Optimism
The Iconic Franchise Has Been Left in Good Hands
While it's easy for fans to point at the Dragon Ball Super manga and simply say that adapting the left-over sections would be best, the reality of the situation isn't quite that simple. A rift between Shueisha and Akira Toriyama formed just before the artist's death, when producer Akio Iyoku was fired from his position as the head of the franchise.
Toriyama and Iyoku went on to form their own company, Capsule Corporation Tokyo, which now oversees Dragon Ball's multimedia projects, including anime and video games. Unfortunately, both sides are reportedly still not on good terms, and cooperation between them for a Dragon Ball Super adaptation might not be likely.
Nevertheless, the franchise has been left in good hands following Toriyama's passing, as the artist trusted Akio Iyoku to lead his iconic series enough to side with him in the dispute with Shueisha.
Wherever Dragon Ball goes in the future, fans can rest knowing the right people are in charge. If the disputes between the manga and anime teams settle in the future, the series has more than enough material from Akira Toriyama for Dragon Ball Super to continue, and there's no better starting point than the Moro Arc.
Dragon Ball
Created by
Akira Toriyama
First Film
Dragon Ball: Curse of the Blood Rubies
Latest Film
Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero
First TV Show
Dragon Ball
First Episode Air Date
April 26, 1989
Current Series
Dragon Ball Super
From the creative mind of Akira Toriyama, Dragon Ball is a mega multimedia franchise that spans back to the 1980s. Dragon Ball expanded quickly, starting as a serialized manga for Weekly Shonen Jump in Japan. It made its way overseas via manga and an anime adaptation that is enjoyed worldwide. Dragon Ball was the initial starting animated series that followed the adventures of the young Son Goku as he sought after the Dragon Balls. These mystical orbs would grant the wish of any who gathered them together. Then, the series would branch off into the immensely popular Dragon Ball Z, which followed Goku as an adult and featured high-intensity battles and Goku's never-ending search to be the strongest. The series has also enjoyed several popular video game adaptations and continues to release several new animated series and theatrical films up to the recent popular Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero.
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