New Dragon Ball Heroes Episode Doubles Down on Janemba’s Canon Status

Dragon Ball Heroes promo anime is bringing back Janemba, the demonic fighter who was the primary antagonist of the 1995 Dragon Ball Z: Fusion Reborn movie. However, Dragon Ball fans have been somewhat critical of how Dragon Ball Heroes is using Janemba, and what it says about the character’s status (or lack thereof) in official Dragon Ball canon. Well, Dragon Ball Heroes season 2 episode 5, is definitely going to have fans buzzing, as one moment basically establishes that Dragon Ball Super Goku and Vegeta have never seen Janemba before – despite the fact that they first merged into Gogeta to fight Janemba, in Fusion Reborn.

Just so it’s clear: both Dragon Ball Z: Fusion Reborn and the Dragon Ball Heroes promo anime are considered to be non-canon storylines. So in that sense, there doesn’t really have to be any continuity between Janemba, Goku, and Vegeta. That said, Dragon Ball Heroes pretty much exists to cherry-pick elements of the franchise that fans love or are nostalgia for – continuity be damned.

So, it’s somewhat strange for the promo anime to adhere to the official canon in this way. By having Goku and Vegeta not recognize Janemba, Dragon Ball Heroes is basically choosing to recognize Gogeta’s rebooted origin in Dragon Ball Super: Broly over the fused warrior’s original debut against Janemba in Dragon Ball Z: Fusions. Given that Heroes uses the Dragon Ball Super versions of Goku and Vegeta that makes sense, but it could be just as fun (if not more so) if they just recognized him from that first fight – because again, who cares about continuity in this show?

While Gogeta has made a roaring comeback thanks to Dragon Ball Super: Broly, there is a portion of long-time fans who feel somewhat off-put by the fact that Dragon Ball Z: Fusion Reborn has effectively been made irrelevant by the events of Dragon Ball Super: Broly. Of course, since Fusion Reborn was never considered official canon, a reboot of its characters within the canon is the only way to go.

Looking past the question of what’s “official” or not: Dragon Ball Heroes has set the stage for an exciting battle with Janemba. The demonic villain has been upgraded with battle data stolen from Dragon Ball Super Goku and Vegeta – but the Time Patrol has Xeno Goku and Xeno Vegeta about to break new limits of Super Saiyan 4 power!

Dragon Ball Heroes drops new webisodes monthly.