The Dragon Ball franchise is making a milestone move with the first Dragon Ball Super movie, by bringing fan-favorite character Broly into the series’ official canon. Now that early details of Dragon Ball Super: Broly have been revealed, there has a massive wave of fan speculation about how Broly’s debut in official canon will reshape Dragon Ball as a whole.
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So why is Broly being brought into Dragon Ball canon so important? Read below for the full breakdown of why this milestone development is such a crucial part of the series’ future.
Who Is Broly?
The first thing to discuss is the issue of who Brolyย is. The character first debuted in the 1993ย Dragon Ball Zย movie,ย Dragon Ball Z: Brolyย – The Legendary Super Saiyan, and was so popular that two more films (Brolyย – Second Comingย andย Bio-Broly) were released, to form entire Brolyย Trilogy. However, none of these films was considered official canon because Brolyย never appeared inย Dragon Ballย creator Akiraย Toriyama’sย mangaย series. Like so many other non-canonย Dragon Ballย characters, Brolyย has been stranded in a sort of limbo: he’s included in so manyย Dragon Ballย projects, is an iconic part of the series, but has still been lacking that full “official” stamp. However, with Akiraย Toriyamaย handling the story and characters of Dragon Ball Super: Broly, that’s all about to change.ย ย
Canon’s Glass Ceiling
With Brolyย making the jump from a quarter-century of non-canon limbo to the official storyline of theย Dragon Ball Superย continuity, the glass ceiling that has kept him and so many other popular non-canon characters just like him from transitioning into canon has now been shattered. Already you can observe the fandomย beginning to absorb the idea, with expressions that from here on out, there is no possibility too outlandish for characters showing up in official storylines. The floodgate seems to be opening, and it’s not just because of this latestย Dragon Ball Super: Brolyย reveal…
Vanishing Dividing Line
As we’ve been stating for months now: big shifts are happening in theย Dragon Ballย franchise. When theย Dragon Ball Heroesย promo animeย was announced months ago, we went on a deep-dive discussion on what the Dragon Ball Heroesย anime’sย existence meant for the franchise, noting that its arrival would begingย eroding the line between what “canon” and “non-canon” means, and what impact it would have on the future. The long-short is that if series likeย Dragon Ball Heroesย can exist, with its fantastical crossovers between various pieces of the franchise (video games, canonized series, non-canonized series); and fans enjoy and respond to it with overwhelming enthusiasm; then the “official” nature of canonized series and storylines are no longer as esteemed and important. Betweenย Dragon Ball Heroesย andย Dragon Ball Super: Broly, it’s clear there may be a bright new horizon in the franchise’s sights:ย
Fan-Service Content
Dragon Ballย currently seems to be entering a phase where fan-service content is taking the lead over creator-driven storytelling. Afterย Dragon Ball Super, thisย Dragon Ball Heroesย animeย is an adaptation of an arcade game that’s basically built on indulging fan-service scenarios (like what SSJ4 Goku vs. SSBย Gokuย would look like), while Dragon Ball Super: Brolyย was clearly created to service a longtimeย hope and debate within the fandomย (it could’veย easily been a different story). With fan-service content clearly a priority at the moment, the response toย Dragon Ball Super: Brolyย will likely be an important barometer on how that strategy is working.ย
New Saiyan History
In terms of the actual storyline forย Dragon Ball Super: Broly, the film is poised to be a major game-changer, due to the fact that it will be filling in some really big and pivotal points in the official history of the Saiyan race, andย the destruction of theirย homeworlds,ย Sadala and Planet Vegeta. In explaining mysteries of the past,ย DBS:Bย could likely be opening up a lot of new doors, which will allow for more Saiyanย characters in the series, as well as more official canonย adaptations of non-canon fan theoriesย andย plotlinesย about the Saiyanย race.ย
‘Super’ Sequel Setup
Someย specific rumors point toย Dragon Ball Super: Brolyย addressing series mysteries like what happened to allย all those Saiyanย babies that were sent out into the universe to conquer planets, or Gokuย and Vegetaย finally uncovering the secret history of Beerusย and Freezaย conspiring to destroy Planet Vegeta. Those kinds of explosive reveals won’t just be important forย Dragon Ball Super: Broly, they’re also potential big catalysts for the new storylines and developments that will lead us into the next canonizedย animeย seriesย that will followย Dragon Ball Super. It’s been said sinceย Dragon Ball Super‘s first movie was announced that the film is bridge betweenย Superย and what comes next, and Broly’sย official origin and first fight with Gokuย and Vegetaย will be at the center of ushering in that new era.ย
Who Has The Power?
Finally, with Brolyย making his way into the official canon ofย Dragon Ball Super, we will, as always, have to rekindle the debateย ranking theย variousย Saiyanย characters, depending on howย Dragon Ball Super: Brolyย chooses to explain and quantify the Legendary Super Saiyan’sย power. With Gokuย and Vegetaย on a much different level than theย Dragon Ball Zย Brolyย movies, and Super‘s mangaย and anime having already introduced powerful new Saiyansย (including female Legendary Super Saiyan,ย Kale), it’s going to be a long discussion to determine who is the most powerful Saiyanย in the new canonized lineup.ย
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Are you excited forย Dragon Ball Super: Broly‘s game-changing developments? Or are you not behind the idea of bringing Brolyย into canon? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!ย
Dragon Ball Super: Brolyย will be released in December in Japan, and January 2019 in the US.ย Dragon Ball Superย airs its English Dubs Saturday nights on Cartoon Network’s Toonami.ย Dragon Ball Heroesย is the new promotional anime series now streaming online in Japan.
