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Warning: Contains spoilers for Yaiba: Samurai Legend episode #1.Ever sinceDragon Ballended 30 years ago, fans and creators alike have been looking for something to be its successor. Shows likeOne PieceandDemon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaibahave tried to be theDragon Ballof their generations, and Toei Animation has even brought it back for sequels numerous times, but for one reason or another, there’s just never been another show quite like it.
There will probably never be a true successor toDragon Ball, but a new Netflix anime is coming close. Netflix has come out with a new line of anime for thespring 2025 anime season, and one anime especially stands out, asa new Netflix anime has the perfect visual and narrative presentation to give fans the same stellar experience as aDragon Ballanime. How, exactly, things will play out has yet to be seen, but if the first episode is anything to go on, there’s plenty of fun to be had, even without theDragon Ballconnection.
Why Netflix’s Yaiba Is The Perfect Dragon Successor We Didn’t Know We Needed
Yaiba’s Dragon Ball Connection Explained
Spring 2025 sees the premiere of Netflix’sYaiba, and it perfectly capturesDragon Ball’s aesthetic. Series protagonist Yaiba Kurogane, for example, is a goofy child who grew up in the woods, loves fighting with his inhuman strength, and has no social skills due to his poor understanding of modern society, something that best shows itself through his lack of boundaries with women. All in all,Yaibais capturingDragon Ball’s appeal by having a protagonist who’s just like Goku, and he’s already plenty of fun to watch.
Yaiba’s story is also notablyDragon Ball-coded. In addition to Yaiba constantly going around and starting fights with people and forming rivalries at every turn, the theme song and promotional material suggest that things will escalate into supernatural battles of massive scale, all of which will center around Yaiba as he’s forced to constantly save the world from danger.Yaibaalready has plans to escalate its action and narrative scope in the same wayDragon Balldid, and hopefully, it will more than stick the landing.
Tying it all together, of course, are the visuals.Yaibais produced by the consistently incredible Wit Studio and directed by Takahiro Hasui, famous for his work onMob Psycho 100andNetflix’sCarole & Tuesday, and thanks to that combination,Yaibahas some of the most gorgeous visuals and action-oriented animation of any modern anime, all of which are at least on par with some of the bestDragon Ballhas ever had to offer.YaibamatchesDragon Ball’s appeal both visually and narratively, and because of that, it has the best chance of beingDragon Ball’s true successor.
Yaiba’s History Makes It Succeeding Dragon Ball Even Better
What Makes Yaiba’s Dragon Ball Connection Even Better
Yaibais adapted from one of the earliest manga by Gosho Aoyama, author ofthe legendaryDetective Conanmanga, and as most people know,Detective Conanis one of the best-selling manga of all time and one of the few manga with sales on the same level asDragon Ball.Detective Conanis one of the few manga that can rivalDragon Ballin popularity, and because of that,Yaibaserving asDragon Ball’s successor is somewhat poetic because series creator Gosho Aoyama is one of the few mangaka to have ever reached a similar status as Akira Toriyama.
Will Dragon Ball Ever Have A True Successor?
Can Any Anime Ever Truly Match Dragon Ball?
As fun as it is to positionYaibaasDragon Ball’s successor, that idea might not have much weight to it. Saying that after a single episode is obviously premature, but beyond that,Dragon Ballhas spent over 40 years becoming a cultural phenomenon that transcends the boundaries of anime and manga, and it won’t stop being that level of iconic anytime soon. Because of that, as fun as it is to compareYaibatoDragon Ball,Yaibaprobably won’t be seen as a true successor toDragon Ballanytime soon because of just how bigDragon Ballis.
That doesn’t meanYaibais without merit, of course. Even without theDragon Ballcomparisons,Yaibais already proving to be a great anime thanks to its fun writing and gorgeous visuals, and because of that,Yaibais an anime everyone should watch thanks to its stunning presentation, regardless of how it compares toDragon Ball. Even ifYaibaends up far removed fromDragon Ball’s appeal, that won’t make it any less fun to watch, and it will be great to see how it ultimately plays out on Netflix over the upcoming weeks.
