Why Dragon Ball Super Connected Story Arcs Are a Good Change

Dragon Ball Super‘s next arc as been announced, now that the current Moro Arc is wrapping up. The title “Granola the Survivor” isn’t exactly thrilling fans, but the premise is definitely intriguing to them. “Granola the Survivor” will pick up from the events of the Moro Arc, as Goku and Co. have to do with the fact that there are still a whole bunch of escaped convicts roaming the universe, thanks to Moro’s jailbreak. That premise makes “Granola the Survivor” a first in Dragon Ball Super’s approach to the story: building a new arc off of the events of the previous one.

Here’s why Dragon Ball Super telling more connected story arcs is actually a good thing:

Let’s put things on the table: Dragon Ball Super‘s storytelling has been scattershot, at best. The series has cobbled together a combination of fan-service upgrades to Dragon Ball Z concepts (Golden Freeza, Super Saiyan God and SSB, Future Trunks, and Broly), as well as gimmicky new ideas meant to serve as “events” (Goku Black, The Tournament of Power, Ultra Instinct). Each of those tricks has worked to keep the series momentum going, but few fans would argue that Dragon Ball Super‘s story is worth the sum of its parts.

That all said, Dragon Ball Super has managed to tell an ever-progressing story, even if it hasn’t done the best job conveying it.

Fans have been keeping up with Dragon Ball Super largely for the main intrigue of the series: watching Goku and/or Vegeta evolve beyond the level of Super Saiyans. It started with Super Saiyan God, but the end destination has been discussed in fan chat threats since DBS began: Goku is headed for god-like status. Super Saiyan God opened the door, but Ultra Instinct became the Great White Whale that fans really latched onto. Dragon Ball Super has eaten up a span of years dragging out the reveal of Goku’s full Ultra Instinct powers, but now the time is here, and that threshold has been crossed.

Dragon Ball Super will hopefully recognize at this point that Goku’s ascendancy into godly power IS the story here. Therefore, picking things up with how Goku adjusts to that new power level – and whether or not he’s free to use it – is pretty much the only progression the story needs to make, right now. One of those Dragon Ball Z-style time jumps just would feel right.

There’s also the small matter of time constraints. Dragon Ball Super is operating within some tight time constraints on its story. Dragon Ball Super starts some time after Dragon Ball Z’s Majin BuuArc, but presumably ends before DBZ’sfinal flash-forward epilogue. So, Akira Toriyama and Toyotaro might not have much room to work with on the timeline.

Dragon Ball Super offers new Manga chapters FREE ONLINE. The anime and movies are still on hiatus.