Dragon Ball Super‘s latest arc has been one of the most popular in the series to date not only because it has brought the manga beyond where the original anime series ended, but it has deep roots connecting with the the Namek saga of the Dragon Ball Z. One of the more concrete connections is Cranberry, a former Freeza Force soldier who ends up helping Planet Eater Moro get his wishes granted, but there’s been a mystery as to how he’s survived long after the Namek saga.
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In a new bonus manga for the series (translated by @Herms98 on Twitter), Cranberry’s journey to the new Namek arc and it highlights a surprising struggle for the villain before his reveal in Dragon Ball Super.
Oh yeah, there’s this short bonus manga too. I haven’t really followed this arc, so it’s hard to tell what’s new. pic.twitter.com/dRfl0TQAvP
— Todd Blankenship (@Herms98) August 1, 2019
As seen in this bonus manga, Cranberry is part of the initial wave of the Freeza force who head to Namek in search of the Dragon Balls following the end of the Saiyan saga, it’s here that Cranberry first learns of their wish granting abilities (which he uses later with Moro). But when he’s defeated by the Namekians, he’s ultimately killed by Zarbon for being so weak.
When Mr. Popo asked Shenron to bring back all those who were killed by Freeza’s men, this also includes Cranberry. He manages to escape Namek before it explodes using Vegeta’s space pod, and survived throughout the years by hiding from the Freeza force. Unfortunately, he’s soon captured by the Galactic Patrol and this is when fans are introduced to the character.
Cranberry was introduced as a connection to the original Namek saga, and used his knowledge of the Dragon Balls to help the new villain Planet Eater Moro find the Dragon Balls hiding out on New Namek. This bonus manga highlights a previously unknown struggle for the soldier, and this unfortunately makes his eventual fate in the series all the more tragic.
Dragon Ball Super currently airs its English dub on Adult Swim during the Toonami programming block on Saturday evenings, and is also available to stream on Funimation and Amazon Video. The Japanese-language release of the series is complete, and available to stream on FunimationNOW and Crunchyroll. The manga has chapters that can currently be read for free thanks to Viz Media, and Dragon Ball Super’s big movie, Dragon Ball Super: Broly, is now available on Blu-ray and DVD.
