Dragon Ball Needs a New Anime to Explore the Multiverse

The Dragon Ball Super anime has been on hiatus for over a year now, with no confirmed plans of [...]

By Kofi Outlaw

The Dragon Ball Super anime has been on hiatus for over a year now, with no confirmed plans of when it will continue. Of course there have been plenty of rumblings about what's happening behind the doors of Toei Animation; a special Dragon Ball division of the company was formed, and there's been rumor that the franchise is looking to expand itself in significant ways. A lot of Dragon Ball fans have been calling for one big change: spinoffs of the main Dragon Ball Super series, which would allow more of the ever-growing list of fan-favorite characters shine!

Fans Want More Dragon Ball Super Anime

There's no guarantee that the next Dragon Ball anime will be a continuation of Super - after all, the series has always reinvented itself by launching new installments (Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT, Dragon Ball Super...). However, Dragon Ball Super is unique in the fact that it has single-handedly catapulted more new characters to "iconic" and/or "fan-favorite" level than any of the preceding series. Lord Beerus, Whis, Jiren, Hit, Kale, Caulifla, Cabba, Zamasu, Goku Black, Grand Zeno, and the Gods of Destruction. They're all breakout hits, and that's not even counting new character transformations like Super Saiyan God, Super Saiyan Blue, SSGSSE, Ultra Instinct, Super Saiyan Rosé, and Golden Freeza. Dragon Ball Super has made such a big impact on so many fronts, fans can never seem to get their fill of the new characters they want to see more of.

The Dragon Ball Multiverse

Other than introducing a whole new slew of popular characters, Dragon Ball Super has achieved one other big thing: introducing a whole new Dragon Ball Multiverse. We learned that Goku and Vegeta's universe is just no. 7 in a long list of alternate universes - and one of the weaker ones, at that. We've also learned about the divine powers that govern this multiverse, beyond the kais, after being introduced to destroyer gods, angels, and even several versions of the God-King himself, Grand Zeno. Not only did Dragon Ball Super introduce all these new realms, it also baited the hook for fans to want to learn more about them. There's a universe where an entire Saiyan race became heroic warriors instead of mercenaries (Universe 6), and another that has its own Avengers-style peacekeeping force (Universe 11). Those two are already major entries on fans' wish-list, with so much more still unexplored in the new Dragon Ball mutiverse.

More Dragon Ball Spinoffs

Dragon Ball New Anime Series Multiverse Universes

As you can see, Dragon Ball Super has (if nothing else) been a monster when it comes to generating new content for the franchise. Fans have been spending more and more time discussing what to do with all that new content, and inevitably the subject of spinoffs has come up. Both Dragon Ball fans and the series' stars seem to agree that we've reached a point where the franchise really needs to branch out, in order to breathe. We've broken down why Goku needs his own Dragon Ball Gods series; and the Dragon Ball Z-Fighters need a series of their own in order to shine again, but the Dragon Ball Multiverse spinoffs are just as viable. There's room for everyone under this massive tent!

Where to Start?

So how should Dragon Ball begin utilizing its Multiverse spinoffs? The easy answers are with the Universe 6 Saiyans and Universe 11 Pride Trooper team. Kale, Caulifla, and Jiren were easily the biggest breakout stars of Dragon Ball Super's Tournament of Power arc, and they're the characters want to learn more about, ASAP. So why not give Universe 6 and 11 their own new storylines? The Universe 6 Saiyans have been set up for a great arc crossing over with Vegeta, who already pledged to visit their Universe. Universe 11 was probably the most fleshed out new realm we saw in Dragon Ball Super, with Jiren and his Pride Trooper team being the most fleshed-out new characters. Jiren has an entire backstory and mysterious nemesis which still needs to be resolved - a storyline which could easily segue into the main Dragon Ball Super continuity. That seems like the easiest "win" for the first attempts at Dragon Ball Super Multiverse spinoffs - so when coudl we see it happen.

When Will Dragon Ball Super Return?

Right now, we're still in the holding pattern of waiting for Toei Animation to announce the next stage of the Dragon Ball Super franchise - the next feature film release, or a new series that will follow DBS. Meanwhile, the Dragon Ball Super manga has opened a new chapter, which has introduced a fearsome new villain (Moro), and pushed Goku and Vegeta to new levels of transformative power. We're still waiting to see if that manga arc will inspire the big franchise expansion into spinoffs and such, so hopefully the upcoming climax of the story will deliver.

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