Yes, The ‘Dragon Ball Super’ Movie Picks Up Where The Show Left Off

As you might expect, things get lost in translations more often than not in the Dragon Ball fandom. Over the years, Japan has shared dozens of updates about the shonen franchise, and fans have dutiful translated the tidbits into hundreds of languages. Still, it’s easy to miss an announcement, and those gaps still happen today.

You see, that is why plenty of fans are asking how the upcoming Dragon Ball Super movie will tie into Toei Animation’s weekly anime series. So, ComicBook is here to break down the answer.

As far as fans know, the first Dragon Ball Super film will be canonical and take place directly after the TV anime ended. When the show aired its finale, fans watched the Tournament of Power come to a close, leaving Universe 7 a big winner thanks to Android 17. The Super Dragon Balls were used to wish everyone who was annihilated back to life, and the finale ended with Goku and Vegeta doing their usual training.

According to creator Akira Toriyama, the arc presented in the Dragon Ball Super film is meant to follow the ‘Universal Survival’ arc that the show housed. In an official statement, the artist explained the new story will dive into the history of the Saiyans and the race’s ties with Freeza.

“The Dragon Ball Super movie this time will be the next story in the series currently airing on TV,” Toriyama wrote, confirming the movie’s placement (via Kanzenshuu).

“It will be an episode after catching our breath from the climax of the Tournament of Power with the universe’s existence on the line; with content that will give a little better understanding about Freeza and the Saiyans, which I hadn’t properly depicted up till now; and leading to a mighty foe saved for the occasion, which I think has it shaping up to be a really enjoyable story.”

So, there you have it from Toriyama himself. With the creator working on the Dragon Ball Super feature, the movie promises to continue the story that the franchise’s latest TV show set up, and it will continue from a very familiar starting point.

Are you excited to see the series’ next arc? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics, k-pop, and anime!

Dragon Ball Super is currently airing its English dub on Adult Swim during the Toonami programming block Saturday evenings at 9:30 p.m. 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.