‘Dragon Ball Super’ Makes Surprising Retcon To Jiren’s Origins

Dragon Ball Super has done few retcons in its time, and it seems the series isn’t ready to let the technique go. After all, the franchise is going on strong with its manga, and a recent chapter made an interesting change to Jiren.

For those unaware, Dragon Ball Super went live with a brand-new chapter recently, and Viz Media has it up to read. Chapter 41 follows the continued battle between Son Goku and Jiren, but its last pages see the Pride Trooper flesh out the shallow origin the anime gave him awhile back.

As it turns out, Dragon Ball Super shifted a few things around with Jiren’s master. The fighter tells Goku he will become the perfect force for justice in order to honor his former master, and further details about the sensei flesh out who the guy was.

The manga reveals Jiren’s teacher was named Gicchin, and he took in the young boy after his parents were both killed. Jiren trained under the man alone for years, gaining an impossible power level. Fearing Jiren would never learn to work with others, Gicchin encouraged Jiren to join the Pride Troopers. The boy did just that, but Jiren would regret the decision as Gicchin was killed shortly after by a demon.

The manga pulls out brand-new details for Jiren, and it does so to heighten his emotional ties to Gicchin. The anime set up the sensei as an almost mythical person, and his care of Jiren went down a little differently. As the anime explained, Jiren trained with his master as a child and joined other students under Gicchin. However, he struggled with teamwork and ultimately came to despise the practice after a demon slayed his master and his fellow students. The bloody ordeal pushed Jiren to become a Pride Trooper, but no explanation was ever given for his enlistment.

So, are you okay with this tweaked backstory? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics and anime!

Dragon Ball Super: Broly will hit Japanese theaters in December, and is expected to arrive in the U.S. on January 16, 2019. Dragon Ball Super is currently airing its English dub on Adult Swim during the Toonami programming block Saturday evenings at 9:30 p.m. ET. It is also available to stream on Funimation and Amazon Video. The Japanese language release of the series is complete and available to stream on Funimation, VRV and Crunchyroll.