Dragon Ball's Official Timeline Revives Debate Over 'GT'

By Megan Peters - September 13, 2022 11:37 am EDT

By now, it seems the world as a whole has heard of Dragon Ball. The franchise is one of the biggest in anime, and as the medium continues to grow globally, the same can be said for Goku. From his days as a kid to his adventures as a grandfather, the Saiyan has lived through a lot. Of course, that means even the most diehard fans are known to squabble over Dragon Ball canon, and a reminder from the past now has everyone eyeing a debate about Dragon Ball GT.

The whole thing came to prominence on social media as Dragon Ball fan pages dug up old photos from a 2017 Budosai Tenkaichi event. It was there fans were shown an extensive timeline for Dragon Ball from the original anime to Dragon Ball Z and even Dragon Ball Super. The sprawling timeline was made to break down all the canon events of the IP, so netizens were surprised when they saw Dragon Ball GT on the list.

As you can see here, the timeline does include Dragon Ball GT as it nods to anime in a few ways. Not only is the anime's logo shown next to Goku, but events from the anime are listed on the actual timeline. Kid Goku is shown alongside Super 17 and others. So if you want to know what went down between Year 789 – 889, you can watch Dragon Ball GT for the rundown.

Of course, the anime itself is known throughout the fandom, but it isn't for the best reasons. Dragon Ball GT is often lauded as the anime's worst project without comparison. The anime's story and animation were heavily critiqued upon its debut. And to this day, few fans even care to mention the anime let alone watch it. To many in the fandom, Dragon Ball GT is considered a non-canon title since it did not come from any preset manga, but Shueisha doesn't seem to agree with that line of thought.

After all, Dragon Ball GT is included on this timeline, and this official release was signed off as accurate. Whether you like it or not, Dragon Ball GT is canon to the franchise, and it now falls on Dragon Ball Super to help the outlandish sequel make sense.

What do you make of this latest Dragon Ball debate? Do you believe the anime's bad rap is deserved or...? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB.

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