The biggest debate among the Dragon Ball fans regarding the franchise has always been whether Dragon Ball GT is canon or not. The anime Dragon Ball GT debuted in 1996, a year following the conclusion of the Dragon Ball manga.
Using the same characters, the anime’s plot begins five years after the manga’s conclusion, sparking a decades-long argument between fans who believe GT to be canon and those who do not. Of the entire Dragon Ball saga, the anime is the least appreciated since it introduced new characters that were hardly noticed and drastically altered well-known characters.
Since Dragon Ball GT did not originate from the preset manga by Toriyama, it is regarded by many in the fandom as a non-canonical title; however, Shueisha appears to disagree. There was a stir among fans when Shueisha’s timeline for the entire franchise, which was displayed at an event in 2017, included events from Dragon Ball GT, making it canonical.
Dragon Ball GT is the Most Hated Series From The Franchise
The 1996–1997 Japanese anime television series Dragon Ball GT was adapted from the Dragon Ball manga by Akira Toriyama. The Toei Animation-produced series had its debut on Fuji TV in Japan and ran for 64 episodes between February 1996 and November 1997.
The anime Dragon Ball GT is an anime-only continuation of Dragon Ball Z, utilizing the same characters and universe but telling a new story about Son Goku, his granddaughter Pan, and their various allies. It does not adapt to the manga by Toriyama. Many people consider Dragon Ball GT to be the worst anime project ever, without any comparison.
When the anime first came out, both the plot and the animation received harsh criticism. Very few anime fans even bother to discuss the show, much less watch it, and as the events didn’t conspire with the story, the series was declared noncanonical, until much later when Shueisha cleared the doubt.
Shueisha’s Timeline Confirms Dragon Ball GT is Canon
An exhibit about the history of Dragon Ball was part of the 2017 iteration of Dragon Ball Tenkaichi Budosai, a Japanese festival commemorating the franchise. Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball Super, and Dragon Ball GT were all included on the Official Dragon Ball Timeline Board, which was supplied by the manga’s publisher Shueisha, and featured images of the key anime characters.
The Dragon Ball timeline states that Dragon Ball GT occurs in the years 789–889 of the calendar. A timeline confirming the events of GT as canonical was also added to the 2013 edition of Chouzenshuu 4: Dragon Ball Super Encyclopaedia, an illustrated book guide to the series.
All of these instances thus confirm that Dragon Ball GT is canonical, finally ending the long debate among Dragon Ball fans. Fans of Dragon Ball should regard the story of Dragon Ball GT as canon until Toriyama or Shueisha officially state otherwise, as the official timeline demonstrates.
