Dragon Ball Super fans got some bad news a few weeks ago when they found out Toei Animation would be replacing their time slot with a new series, and later officially confirmed Dragon Ball Super would be ending in March.
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But how long will it be before the series returns? If Toei and Fuji TV wanted to put the next Dragon Ball series into the same timeslot, it could be much longer than fans expected.
Reddit user alpha_beta3 posits that GeGeGe no Kitaro, the series taking over Dragon Ball‘s timeslot, will likely run for 100 episodes as other version of the series have done in the past. Citing the fact that the franchise has aired in this very timeslot on Sundays with most versions of the series airing for 100 episodes, and the fact Toei highly values the property, then Dragon Ball may not be back for at least two or three years.
Stating that since Dragon Ball Z Kai in 2009, the Dragon Ball series has aired in the same timeslot and if the franchise were to received a new series it would be quite a while before it could feasibly return.
Though there is another option on the table as well. The series could always return in a different timeslot if Toei Animation chose to, but as plans for a potential new entry are still undecided there is no telling what will happen as of yet.
While it may be while for Dragon Ball to return, at least there is a new Dragon Ball film in the works for 2018. The film will focus on the Saiyans, the “origins of Goku‘s power,” and potentially the story of the very first Super Saiyan God. Not only does it aim to be the best film in the series, original creator Akira Toriyama will be contributing to the film’s script and new character designs.
For those unfamiliar with GeGeGe no Kitaro, the series was originally created by Shigeru Mizuki. The story follows Kitaro, the sole survivor of the Ghost tribe, who wants to unite the world of humans with Yokai, monsters of Japanese folklore. Not only does he fend off monsters from Japanese folklore, but other countries as well. The series originally started as a darker tale, Kitaro of the Graveyard, but was changed to make it more appealing to children when the series was published as a manga in 1960. The series’ new direction began in 1960, and ran for nine volumes. It has since been adapted into many long running anime series, live-action films, and video games.
Dragon Ball Super‘s “Universal Survival” arc is part of the recent simulcast agreement that sites like Crunchyroll and Funimation have scored. DragonBall Super airs on Crunchyroll Saturday evenings at 7:15 p.m. CST. Adult Swim airs the English dub during its Toonami block Saturday evenings at 9:30 p.m, and is now available to stream on FunimationNOW and Amazon Video.
