'Dragon Ball Super' Confirms Its 'Dragon Ball Minus' Connection

Details of Dragon Ball Super's first movie, Dragon Ball Super: Broly, have been coming to light with every new promo that gets released, and one fan theory that has grown with that evidence is that Akira Toriyama and Dragon Ball Super: Broly director Tatsuya Nagamine are making some crucial ties between Dragon Ball canon and one of the series' more controversial standalone stories: Dragon Ball Minus: The Departure of the Fated Child.

If you don't know, Dragon Ball Minus: The Departure of the Fated Child is a Dragon Ball bonus story featured in Shonen Jump in 2014. The story provides a major retcon to Goku's origin - specifically how his father Bardock and mother Gine sent Goku/Kakarot from Planet Vegeta to Earth, in order to escape the Saiyan homeworld's destruction at the hands of Freeza. That origin story was different different from the one told in Dragon Ball Z: Bardock - The Father of Goku, altering details like what age Goku was when he was sent to Earth (as a child in the Minus, as opposed to a baby in the anime); the introduction of Gine, Goku's mother; the reasoning behind Goku coming to Earth (for his salvation vs. as a conqueror); and Minus's implication that the Super Saiyan God legend was behind Freeza's destruction of Planet Vegeta. There was also a character that appeared in Dragon Ball Minus who hasn't been seen in the official Dragon Ball canon - until now!

The Official DB Site takes a tour of Shintani's workspace and give a run-down of his character designs. They confirm that Kikono is indeed the same character from DB Minus, even noting that he looks older in this new movie. //t.co/vip7FGzh0l pic.twitter.com/GdGrlkkL2Q

— Todd Blankenship (@Herms98) August 26, 2018

Kikono, who is pictured above, will be a side character that appears in Dragon Ball Super: Broly, but it's not his first appearance in the series. Kikono actually made his debut in Dragon Ball Minus, and it was actually a pretty pivotal role. Kikono has been a member of the Freeza Force going back to the reign of King Cold, and was responsible for inventing iconic objects like the power level scouters, spaceships and armor the Freeza Force uses - which was another major retcon to previous Dragon Ball lore. In Minus, it is Kikono who knows knows about the legend of the Super Saiyan God and power of Saiyan pride, and sways Freeza to make the final decision to destroy Planet Vegeta.

That's where the rub comes in: Dragon Ball Minus is considered to be one of the more controversial and criticized standalone stories / retcons of Dragon Ball lore. With Dragon Ball Super: Broly including Kikono and teasing other hints that Minus is about to become an official pat of Dragon Ball canon, fans may have to wrestle with the idea that not all official changes are going to be ones they like. Hopefully, the other new canonized elements of Dragon Ball Super: Broly will be more openly embraced.

Dragon Ball Super: Broly will hit Japanese theaters in December, and is expected to arrive in the U.S. around mid-January 2019. Dragon Ball Super is currently airing its English dub on Adult Swim during the Toonami programming block Saturday evenings at 9:30 p.m. ET. It is also available to stream on Funimation and Amazon Video. The Japanese language release of the series is complete and available to stream on Funimation, VRV and Crunchyroll.