Dragon Ball Super Officially Confirms Toyotarou’s Manga is Non-Canon

Canon has always been a sensitive subject for Dragon Ball fans, but the discussion became considerably more complicated once Dragon Ball Super introduced two different continuities. Toyotarou and Toei infamously ran their own versions of Dragon Ball Super at the exact same time. Both series were based on outlines and notes from Akira Toriyama, following the same general story arcs, but adapting even major details differently.

The idea behind Dragon Ball Super: Beerus is not only to improve the original anime’s art direction and animation, but bring the story in-line with Toriyama’s actual vision for the franchise. While most fans assumed Toyotarou’s manga was canon, trailers for Dragon Ball Super: Beerus have actually revealed the anime was canon all along. This is a huge change to the franchise’s status quote, and might suggest some unfortunate things for the manga’s future.

Dragon Ball Super: Beerus is Following the Anime

In a plot twist nobody could have expected, it turns out Toei was actually closer to Akira Toriyama’s original outline than Toyotarou was. Based on trailers for Dragon Ball Super: Beerus, the remake will mostly be following the anime’s version of events. The big tell are scenes from the Universe 6 Tournament, which feature Piccolo’s battle with Frost and Goku turning Super Saiyan Blue Kaioken against Hi. The latter does not happen in the manga, while the former fight plays out slightly differently.

Not only that, the Dragon Ball Super manga skipped Vegeta’s rage boost in Battle of Gods as well as all of Resurrection F, so Dragon Ball Super: Beerus will need to follow the anime continuity by default. This is not to say the original anime was 100% faithful, however, as Dragon Ball Super: Beerus is removing several scenes by the looks of it. The end result will be arcs that flow and look much better, but will ultimately play out mostly like a director’s cut of the anime.

Dragon Ball Super: The Galactic Patrol Will Be the Definitive Moro Saga

Interestingly, the marketing for Dragon Ball Super: The Galactic Patrol has completely ignored Toyotarou’s role in writing the saga in favor of mostly focusing on Akira Toriyama’s role supervising and editing the arc as it was being written. While the Moro Saga was mostly Toyotarou’s brain child, there’s no doubt that Toriyama gave him plenty of notes and had his own vision for the arc. Toei will also more than likely change certain details to better suit their interpretation of the series.

So long as Toei can do the animation and art direction justice, the anime’s Moro Saga will go down as a huge improvement over the original manga version. This isn’t to say Toyotarou’s arc is bad – far from it – but the addition of voice action, motion, and music is going to elevate the manga’s best moments considerably. Dragon Ball Super: The Galactic Patrol also has the benefit of knowing that Granolah and Black Frieza are coming, allowing the anime to sew a tighter connective tissue between Dragon Ball Super 2‘s upcoming sagas.

TV Show(s)

Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT, Dragon Ball Super, Dragon Ball DAIMA

First TV Show

Dragon Ball

Created by

Akira Toriyama

Latest TV Show

Dragon Ball DAIMA

Upcoming TV Shows

Dragon Ball DAIMA

First Episode Air Date

February 26, 1986