Dragon Ball Zended nearly thirty years ago, with a decade-long timeskip furthering the story along to its conclusion. There, the main cast of Z-Fighters and friends reunited after supposed years apart, and became set to fight in another World Martial Arts Tournament. BeforeDragon Ball Supercame along and placed itself within those ten years following the fight with Majin Buu, the series' original ending was a neatly tied up, heartfelt send-off to Goku and friends, calling back toDragon Ball’s earliest days.
Unfortunately, at the timeDBZended, plans forSuperwere still far off in the future, and sothe finale written by Akira Toriyama felt like a final goodbye to the series. Placing the events ofDragon Ball Superduring the time skip allowed for more creativity when developing a new series, seeing as the main cast was still young, with minimal design changes fromDragon Ball Z.
However, now that the events ofDragon Ball Superhave spanned the majority of the ten years, the series is creeping ever closer to the time period ofDragon Ball Z’s ending. And withDragon Ball Super: Super Herotaking place around a year before the World Martial Arts Tournament, it’s likely thattoo much has changed forZ’s ending to fit within the continuity ofDragon Ball.The best solution to that problem, though it may make longtime fans angry,is to just ignore that ending altogether.
Too Much Has Changed For DBZ’s Ending To Make Sense
Inconsistencies in Dragon Ball’s Timeline Invalidate Z’s Ending
For continuity’s sake, excuses can be made for how the main characters appear inDragon Ball Z’s ending. In particular, humans like Bulma, Chi Chi, and Krillin all appear to have aged significantly by the series' final mini-arc. It wouldn’t be the first time characters have suddenly and noticeably aged, as seen when Goku arrived as a fully-grown adult for the 23rd World Tournament at the end ofDragon Ball. What cannot be excused away, however, arethe inconsistencies in the timeline caused byDragon Ball Super.
The most egregious of which,Bulma’s claim to have not seen Goku in five years, is outright impossible to explain. The events ofDragon Ball Super: Broly, though not officially confirmed, are speculated to have taken place three or so years prior toDBZ’s ending. In that film, Bulma is present and in Goku’s company for the entirety of the runtime. Further confirmation comes with Pan, who is said to be four years old during the World Martial Arts Tournament and was very much alive during the events ofBroly, when Goku and Bulma interacted.
Another major discrepancy comes in the fact that Gohan has resumed training inSuper, and is currentlyjust as strong if not stronger than Goku and Vegeta.Dragon Ball Super: Super Herotakes place roughly a year beforeDBZ’s ending, which included a notably out-of-shape Gohan. It doesn’t make very much sense at all for the character who had only just recently ascended to such heights to so quickly lose his form.
The Uub Plotline Is No Longer Realistic
Goku No Longer Has Much of a Reason to Train With Uub
The most significant aspect ofDragon Ball Z’s ending is Goku’s decision to leave and train with Uub, the main protagonist believing that the reincarnated Buu might one day surpass even him. While this conclusion works for the series, seeing as Kid Buu was the most recent threat to Earth,it falls apart onceSuperis brought into the mix. Currently, Buu is several leagues below Goku and Vegeta, as well as the enemies they’ve fought. It makes little sense at this point for Goku to so desperately want to train with someone on that level.
Even if Uub’s potential far surpasses that of Kid Buu’s strength, it’s improbable that a human could ever reach the heights of Vegeta, Gohan, Beerus, or Whis. And if that’s the case, there’s not much reason for Goku to abandon training with them for Uub. Even Piccolo, with his new Orange form that rivals the Saiyans' strength, is sitting on the sidelines duringDragon Ball Z’s ending, rather than fighting in the tournament.
All the drastic changes to the main characters duringDragon BallSupermakeZ’s timeskip ending difficult to place coherently in the timeline of events. And at this point, the best option for the sake of moving forward with the series isto forget it even happened. Especially now, withDragon Ball Daimaon the horizon, it’s uncertain just how muddied this timeline will become.
Dragon Ball
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.
