Dragon Ball GThas always been in a bit of a precarious position, as a sequel toDragon Ballthat wasn’t based on Akira Toriyama’s work, but that situation only became more controversial with the creation ofDragon Ball Super. WhileSuperis ostensibly set beforeGT, the two series simply don’t play nice together on the continuity front.
Dragon Ball Superexpanded the world ofDragon Balldramatically, adding powerful new godly characters like Beerus and Whis, revealing the existence of a multiverse, and allowing Goku and Vegeta to ascend to levels of power that nearly put them on par with these gods. From a chronological perspective, one would expect these characters and abilities to play a role inGT, but that simply isn’t the case. Since things like Super Saiyan God didn’t exist whenGTwas made, they weren’t considered. This makes it look like Goku and Vegeta took a big step backwards in power, if one watchesSuperbeforeGT.
Is Dragon Ball GT Canon to the Other Series?
GT’s Canonicity is Hotly Debated
According toToei Animation,Dragon Ball GTis indeed canonto the other series. However, Toei aren’t the only authority on the matter. Akira Toriyama himself considered GT to be a “side story” and not a canonical continuation to his manga, although he did give approval for it to be made. Even beforeSuper, many fans didn’t considerGTto be a valid continuation for this reason, as well as a general dislike for the content ofGT. AfterSuper, however, it seems a majority of fans consider the continuity issues between the two to be irreconcilable, meaning one series has got to go.
SinceSuperwas produced with Akira Toriyama’s involvement, most fans lean towards including it as canon while excludingGT, despite the fact thatGTcame first. There are, of course, adherents who considerGTbetter thanSuper, although they’re few and far between. Fans ofGTnaturally don’t want to see their series booted out of canon, and will sometimes take to attackingSuperfor creating the continuity issues. And Toei, as the producers of theDragon Ballanime, are reluctant to de-canonizeGT, fearing anger from those fans and also just generally not wanting to give the idea thatGTcan or should be ignored.
On the other hand,Superhas evolved in such a way thatGTfollowing it has become untenable.Characters like Pan have already started to developin a different direction than the oneGTtakes them in, and that’s without getting into Goku and Vegeta. And, asSupergets ever closer to the start ofGT, these differences become more and more important. At a certain point,Superis going to force the issue ofGT’s canonicity by catching up to it.
Dragon Ball Super Has Already Offered a Solution for GT
A Multiverse Explanation Can Justify GT’s Existence
There is an option for keepingGTcanon without interfering withSuper, however: have the two series set in different timelines.Dragon Ball Superalready established that there are multiple timelines, which can be reached using special Time Rings available to the Kai. Simply setGTin one timeline, andSuperin another, and the two can coexist without either one being reduced to non-canon status. In fact, this exact solution has already been used byDragon Ballgames andtheSuper Dragon Ball Heroesmangaand anime, where the Super Saiyan 4 versions of Goku and Vegeta are considered “Xeno” versions.
This automatically eliminates all continuity issues between the two series, as one no longer needs to lead into the other. MakingGTan alternate universe toSupereven means that concepts fromGT, like Super Saiyan 4, can still be used in theSupertimeline, as they must logically still exist, but doesn’t bring the continuity baggage ofGTand its character development with it. It wouldn’t necessarily makeGTinferior in any way; it’s just a different timeline, both equally valid futures forDragon Ball Z.
Dragon Ball GT’s Continuity Issues May Never Be Properly Addressed
The Issues with Dragon Ball GT May Go On for Quite Some Time
MakingSuperandGTmutually exclusive sequels by puttingGTin an alternate universe may solve the problem cleanly, but there are still reasons why Toei might hesitate to do this. PuttingGTin an alternate timeline makes it seem as if the events ofGTdon’t matter, much like de-canonizing it would. It’s hard to fight the idea that an alternate timeline is somehow secondary, and theGTtimeline would inherently become secondary due to new material being added toSuper’s timeline constantly.
Adding alternate timelines also risks bringing confusion into the fanbase. While the idea of the two series being set in different continuities is simple enough, that’s an unusual thing for a series to do, and many newer or less involved fans may not understand how this is supposed to work. Essentially, the only way to learnGTis a separate continuity fromSuperwould be to have someone tell them, as there wouldn’t be anything in the text to support this idea. This kind of confusion risks newer fans getting confused and tuning out, which is absolutely not something that Toei wants.
As such, it seems like the most advantageous situation for Toei is the one that we’re in now: pretendGTis still canon and don’t acknowledge the various ways in which it can’t possibly be. That’s unfortunate for fans, as ignoring the continuity issues won’t make them go away. For that reason, it’s unlikely that Toei will be clearing up theGTcontinuity situation any time soon, although as noted above, newSupermovies that creep ever closer toGT’s start may eventually force the issue.
Dragon Ball GTposes a real problem forDragon Ballfans, but this problem is unlikely to be resolved in an official capacity, despite the existence of solutions that could easily please all groups involved.
Dragon Ball GT
Cast
Dragon Ball GT is the third series in Akira Toriyama’s most famous anime franchise. However, it is the first one not to adapt a manga storyline. Set after the events of the Buu Saga, Dragon Ball GT sees Goku and the Z-Warriors battle powerful villains such as Baby, Super 17, and the Shadow Dragons. 18 years after the 64-episode show was met with a lukewarm reception, Dragon Ball Super replaced it in the anime’s official continuity.
