Dragon Ball Team Confirms Again Where the Series Should Have Ended

One of the most common playground rumors is that Dragon Ball was meant to end earlier than it did. The speculation stems from the series’ multiple story beats that fans perceived as good endings for the franchise. There have also been reports that original Dragon Ball author, Akira Toriyama, had been looking for ways to finish the series for many years before he did it. The most common belief among fans was that the series was meant to end at the end of the Cell Games arc. The arc had one of the more conclusive endings in the franchise, with Goku sacrificing himself and Gohan stepping up to save the Earth from Cell.

With Goku permanently dead, the Cell Games ending felt like a good place to leave the franchise. In comparison, the Buu Saga felt more messy, with Toriyama bringing up random plot details and abandoning them as quickly as he introduced them. While Toriyama’s feelings on the later parts of Dragon Ball have been well documented, there wasn’t much in the way of strong confirmation that the Cell Games were supposed to be the end of the series. That is, until Toriyama’s editors recently interviewed with a Japanese radio podcast to confirm that the author did intend to finish Dragon Ball with the defeat of Cell.

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❗️| We finally have confirmation that Toriyama wanted to end Dragon Ball with the Cell saga!

🧵2/n pic.twitter.com/5uIhBtwVcM

— Enomis (@Venixys) February 23, 2025

Akira Toriyama Wanted to End Dragon Ball with the Cell Saga

Venixys on X (formerly Twitter) has been translating snippets of a podcast interview with editors Kazuhiko Torishima, Yu Kondo, and Fuyuto Takeda on the Kosokoso J-Wave Radio. All three editors worked directly with Toriyama during the original run of the Dragon Ball manga on Shonen Jump. The team finally confirmed that Toriyama expressed his intention to finish the manga with the Cell Saga. Most of the team were confused by Toriyama’s decision as they felt the series could still run after the defeat of Cell. The editors eventually convinced Toriyama to continue the series, leading into the Majin Buu Saga.

Takeda was the editor who typically sided with Toriyama the most and tried his best to make the workload less burdensome for the author. The team tries devising ways to make the Buu Saga more fun for Toriyama, giving the mangaka more creative leeway with character designs and using more gags. The team was impressed with Toriyama’s creativity, specifically with Gotenks’ Ghost Kamikaze Attack, a humorous move that only Toriyama could think of when he was at his creative peak. Takeda would later side with Toriyama to definitively conclude the Dragon Ball manga with the end of the Majin Buu Saga, leading to the ending fans know.

Why the Cell Games Was the Perfect Ending for Dragon Ball

The rumor spread that the series was meant to end with the Cell Games spread because of how narratively satisfying the arc finished. It should be noted, that the exact rumored endpoint for the series varied from fan to fan. Some fans believed the series was meant to be over with the Namek Saga, ending with Goku unlocking Super Saiyan and defeating the strongest being in the universe. Others even believed the ending of the original Dragon Ball was the initial cut-off point for the manga as Goku was now an adult, surpassed the Earth’s protector (aka God), and defeated the Demon King. Fans’ inconsistencies when the series was supposed to end made the rumor feel fickle until this most recent confirmation.

Nonetheless, the Cell Games were always the most popular theorized ending for the series because of how narratively satisfying it is. Gohan’s rage, which had been a prominent plot point in the character’s arc, was finally unleashed to his full potential. Goku symbolically passed the torch of being Earth’s protector to his son with the iconic Father-Son Kamehameha Wave that annihilated Cell for good. Even several side characters got satisfying conclusions, with Piccolo merging with Kami and Vegeta bonding with his son Trunks. Vegeta even aided with a divisive blow that gave Gohan the necessary footing to surpass and defeat Cell. It firmly established Vegeta as a permanent ally.

In comparison, the Majin Buu Saga was more chaotic and less focused. While Vegeta’s heel turn and ultimate redemption play on top of the character’s ongoing character development, the pivot back to Goku as the main protagonist undermines the original message of passing the responsibilities to the next generation. The Majin Buu Saga also didn’t pay off the same build-up that the Cell Saga did with Gohan’s strength that was foreshadowed since the start of Dragon Ball Z. Either way, the story continues past the Buu Saga thanks to media like Dragon Ball Super and Daima. It ultimately doesn’t matter when the series was meant to end because the franchise will always continue.

H/T: J-Wave via Venixys on X (formerly Twitter)