‘Dragon Ball’s Creator Just Added Some ‘Star Wars’ to the Series

One of the biggest mysteries Dragon Ball fans have been trying to solve is how exactly Saiyans reach the Super Saiyan transformation.

Is it anger? Is it training? According to the series creator, the actual answer’s a lot closer to Star Wars than you’d think.

In a Q&A published in the latest volume of the Dragon Ball Super manga, series creator Akira Toriyama explained how exactly a Saiyan is able to go Super Saiyan. According to him, in order to become a Super Saiyan, some one would need to have enough “S-Cells.”

Toriyama states that “It’s not like anyone can become a Super Saiyan through training an anger. In order to become a Super Saiyan, one’s body must contain something called ‘S-cells.’ Once these S-Cells reach a certain amount, a trigger such as anger will explosively increase the S-Cells and cause a change in the body: that’s Super Saiyan.”

Fans should note that the introduction of “S-Cells” to the Dragon Ball franchise is reminiscent of when Star Wars added midichlorians – cells that allow someone to use the powers of the Force – to the franchise’s lore back in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. These two ideas add the caveat that only the characters predisposed to power in their bloodstream will receive it, and thus making the idea of these powers more unique to each character.

But in that same breath, this news will admittedly take the wind out of the sails of fans who’ve wanted to become a Super Saiyan themselves as now the idea of “Super Saiyan” is more attached to only a particular subset of characters.

This notion extends even further as Toriyama clarifies that “kind” warriors can increase their S-Cells, much as how Jedis can be stronger in Star Wars by clearing their mind. Toriyama states that “having a gentle spirit is the best way to increase one’s S-Cells, but most Saiyans have trouble with this, which I think is why no Super Saiyans appeared for such a long time and they became the stuff of legend.”

Much like Star Wars, strong warriors who used different force abilities seemed like the stuff of legend when the lore was first introduced, and the addition of midichlorians to their blood stream could make the sudden rise of them make more sense. It’s the same thing with Dragon Ball as well, as Toriyama implies that the idea of the S-Cells has always been there, but not fully utilized until Goku sparks it.

It also could possibly explain why Saiyans seemed to gain Super Saiyan powers much easier after Goku had in the battle with Freeza.

Dragon Ball Super‘s “Universal Survival” arc is part of the recent simulcast agreement that sites like Crunchyroll and Funimation have scored. Dragon Ball Super airs on Crunchyroll Saturday evenings at 7:15 p.m. CST. Adult Swim airs the English dub during its Toonami block Saturday evenings at 9:30 p.m, and it will soon be available to stream on FunimationNOW.

What do you think of S-Cells and their similarity to the midichlorians in Star Wars? Talk to me @Valdezology.