When does the story take place?

Dragon Ball Z is one of the most anticipated anime of 2024, and for good reason. DAIMA It's a huge milestone in the franchise, as it's the last Dragon Ball project that Akira Toriyama worked on before his death. For this reason, fans are eager to find out how this new adventure unfolds and see what the future holds for Goku and his friends. However, a discussion often arises when fans discuss the show. Where Dragon Ball Z fall into Dragon Ball chronology?

First announced at a New York Comic-Con panel on October 12, 2023, Dragon Ball Z will see a mysterious spell transform Goku and his friends into children, forcing them to embark on an epic quest to find out what is happening. During the show's announcement, Toriyama described DAIMA saying:

“Due to a conspiracy, Goku and his friends are shrunk in size. To fix things, they will set off to a new world! It's a big adventure with intense action in an unknown and mysterious world. As Goku has to compensate for his small size, he uses his Nyoibo (Power Pole) to fight, something that hasn't been seen in a long time.”

Since this announcement, more plot details have been revealed. The main one is that, during their quest to return to their original bodies, Goku and his friends will travel to the Demon Realm and meet a host of new friends and enemies, including Gomah, Degesu, and Dr. Arinsu.

Dragon Ball's Strange Chronology

While most of Dragon Ball is simple to follow, there are some confusing parts.

One of the main reasons for the debate among fans is the confusing nature of the Dragon Ball timeline. At first, the story was pretty simple, with the series taking place chronologically, following Goku as he grew from a child to an adult to a father, battling increasingly powerful enemies. However, things get confusing towards the end Dragon Ball ZAfter the conclusion of the Kid Buu Saga, the story takes a ten-year leap to the final Pacific Rim Saga.

Shortly after the Dragon Ball Z anime finished, a new show called Dragon Ball GT launched. Dragon Ball GT begins five years after the conclusion of the The Z's The Peaceful World saga sends Goku into a new series of adventures. Unlike the previous ones Dragon Ball series, GT is not based on a manga, nor was it written by Toriyama. Because of this, the series has an embarrassing reputation within Dragon Ball fandom, with many debating whether it can be considered canon.

In 2015, Toriyama would return with a new manga, Dragon Ball Super. This series is set between the Kid Buu and Peaceful World arcs. This decision has confused many fans because of how much happened in this relatively short time jump and because none of Super the events are mentioned in the Peaceful World Saga (because it was written before the idea of Super was conceived.)

Dragon Ball Arcs in Order

In addition to this, Dragon Ball Super Heroes launched in 2018. Made without direct input from Akira Toriyama, this ONA and manga series was created to promote the Dragon Ball Heroes AND Dragon Ball Super Heroes collectible card arcade games. Although this series has never claimed to be canon to the full extent Dragon Ball franchising, the large amount of Dragon Ball Super Heroes The media can often confuse fans who encounter them without context.

However, the current Dragon Ball The timeline provides three potential gaps where a spin-off could fit:

• During the four-year time jump between the end of Dragon Ball Z Kid Buu Saga and the beginning of Dragon Ball Super.
• In the five year time jump between Dragon Ball Z The Peaceful World Saga and the Beginning of Dragon Ball GT.
• After Dragon Ball GT it ends.

When is Dragon Ball Super set?

Trailers hint at Daima's placement in the timeline

The prevailing theory is that Dragon Ball Super takes place after the Kid Buu saga but before the beginning of Dragon Ball Super. The main reason this theory is so prominent is that several unconfirmed leaks from the production have claimed that the series begins with Trunks' ninth birthday party, which would place this storyline right after Buu's defeat. The release of the trailer has led to the alleged leaks becoming widely accepted by fans, as the trailer appears to show the gang coming to terms with their new bodies in a party-like setting, with mountains of presents and balloons visible in the background, strongly suggesting that this is a party thrown for a child.

Fans cite many details in the trailers as evidence of this timing. First, Goku does not have the Whis symbol on his Giand Vegeta doesn't have one on his battle suit. Goku gets the Whis-marked Gi in Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection F film and the 19th episode of Dragon Ball Super “Despair Redux! The Return of the Evil Emperor, Freezer!”, suggesting that this story takes place before Goku begins training with Whis. Additionally, neither Whis nor Beerus are present in the trailer, implying that this takes place before THE Battle of the Gods film, as once the pair arrive, they become a ubiquitous sight within the franchise. However, it should be noted that Goku stops wearing the Whis Gi around Super The Future Trunks arc and the Gi seen in the trailer are slightly different from all the previous ones, which means this is not a complete confirmation.

Secondly, in the teaser trailer, Gomah and Degesu are standing in a huge dome whose walls are covered with various clips from Dragon Ball Z. The vast majority of these clips are from the Babidi Saga or the Buu Sagawith many of them showing Dabura, Babidi or Buu. A similar thing happens in the official trailer. Near the center, a rotating vortex of old Dragon Ball clips, and again, most of them are from either the Babidi Saga or the Buu Saga, and many of the clips feature Buu or Babidi in the center of the frame. While this could be dismissed as a coincidence or simply a hint that the new villains are connected to one of these two villains, the fact that it happened in two different trailers can be taken as a hint as to where the show fits in the timeline, as it would make sense for the new villains to be studying Goku's most recent battles before enacting their plan.

Setting the story before the super is good business sense

This would also make sense from a production perspective. Originally, Dragon Ball Z It was planned as an anime-exclusive story made with little involvement from Toriyama. However, when interviewed for the 2024 Tokyo Anime Award Festival, Toriyama noted:

“Dragon Ball DAIMA, which will be released in 2024, was originally planned as an original anime series without me, but as I gave advice here and there, I ended up getting deeply involved in the project without realizing it. I was not only involved in the overall plot, but also in the worldview, character design, mecha, and other aspects.”

While the series was initially planned as a standalone story with minimal input from Toriyama, setting the plot many years before Dragon Ball Super it would have made sense, since that series was still running when Daima was in production. Nothing would ruin the series' momentum and merchandise sales more than a new Dragon Ball Super chapter that comes out and contradicts something that happened in the series, meaning setting it in the past makes good commercial sense.

However, some details seen in the trailer go against this timing. The biggest problem is that Supreme Kai Shin and his servant Kibito are seen as separate beings in the trailer. This detail confuses things since the pair merged to form Kibito Kai during Dragon Ball Z Fusion Saga. They would remain fused until Dragon Ball Super, where they used the Namekian Dragon Balls to split themselves back into two beings. While this might suggest that Daima It happens after Dragon Ball SuperIt could also be a side effect of the spell that turns the other characters into children, as Kibito Kai's form was never a child.

Dragon Ball Z It will probably be a huge moment in anime history. Only time will tell how the show will fit into the Dragon Ball continuity, but based on what has been revealed so far, it seems likely that the show will be take place between the end of Dragon Ball Z Kid Buu Saga and before the start of Dragon Ball SuperIf this is true, fans can expect a unique adventure that pushes Goku and his friends to their limits as they try to find a way to overcome the limitations of their new, smaller bodies.

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  Dragon Ball

  Dragon Ball tells the story of a young warrior named Son Goku, a somewhat strange boy with a tail who goes on a quest to become stronger and learns about the Dragon Balls, which, once all seven are collected, can grant any wish.