Dragon Ball Super's Next Arc Will Be Its Last, According to Creator

Summary Dragon Ball Super could be reaching its conclusion soon, as recent developments and comments from Akira Toriyama suggest.

The series is now approaching the original ending of Dragon Ball Z, indicating that the next arc could be its last.

Akira Toriyama's past lack of planning raises doubts about the actual ending timeline, but the story is still expected to reach the ending of Z soon.

A comment from Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama suggests that the next arc of Dragon Ball Super could be its last, and lead into the famous and anticipated ending of Dragon Ball Z. Super was established from the very start to take place between the Buu arc's ending the original ending of Dragon Ball Z, and with said ending never being retconned, that means that Super has always been on a fixed timeline and could never reasonably go on forever.

Dragon Ball Super’s longevity has always been a big question, and there’s evidence both for and against it reaching its conclusion soon. On the one hand, recent developments in Dragon Ball Super, combined with past comments from Akira Toriyama suggest that the series could be coming to a close soon.

Though that might sound definitive, there are more than a few reasons to believe that the series could continue well past Z's original ending.

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Dragon Ball Is Now On The Verge Of Returning To Its Original Conclusion

The biggest support behind the idea of Dragon Ball Super ending soon is that the story is now incredibly close to the original ending of Dragon Ball. In 2022, in a message to celebrate the release of the Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero movie, Akira Toriyama confirmed that Super Hero takes place not long before the original ending to Dragon Ball Z, something that could be assumed by Goten and Trunks no longer looking like children and Pan only being about a year younger than she was in her debut in Z.

Considering that the Dragon Ball Super manga has just finished its adaptation of Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, it’s likely that Super's next arc could be its last. The next arc of Dragon Ball Super has technically already begun, as chapter 101 served as an effective epilogue to Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero. Subsequent chapters have focussed on Goku and Vegeta's reaction to the events of Super Hero and specifically Gohan's massive powerup with Beast.

As for the final arc and what comes next for the series, there’s already been plenty to hint at its story. Based on how the Super Hero and the Granolah the Survivor sagas both ended, the next arc of the Dragon Ball Super manga will likely move into a final arc of Goku and Vegeta having to fight Black Frieza. With how vital a part of the franchise Frieza has been, Goku and Vegeta fighting him one last time would be a fitting end to Super. Given Gohan and Piccolo's new forms, it's also possible they could play significant roles.

Dragon Ball’s Creator Has Never Been Able To Keep To A Plan

While Dragon Ball Super might appear to be coming to a close, Akira Toriyama’s lack of planning casts some serious doubt on that. During the original run of Dragon Ball, for example, Akira Toriyama said that he only ever thought of what would happen one week at a time with no long-term planning. Elements like the Ginyu Force were created at the spur-of-the-moment, and the villains of the Android saga very infamously kept changing because Toriyama’s editors kept criticizing them.

Based on all of that, even if Akira Toriyama said that Dragon Ball Super is reaching the end of Dragon Ball Z, that doesn’t mean it will be ending anytime soon. Given Toriyama's lack of planning, it's possible that Super's future is now mostly in the hands of series artist Toyotaro in the wake of the acclaimed creator's passing. In addition to just general grieving, it's possible this could explain Super's extended hiatus. With Dragon Ball Super's return now confirmed, it's likely a more concrete plan for the future has been laid out.

Dragon Ball Super is still about a year away from the original ending to Dragon Ball Z, so even if the next arc of the manga isn’t the final one, the finale is bound to happen sometime within the next few years. This, however, does not mean that Dragon Ball Super will actually end once it connects to the ending of Z, and the manga could simply continue past that point. There are easy enough assumptions to make about Dragon Ball Super’s ending, but it’s far too early to say when that can be expected to happen.

Dragon Ball Super Has Already Contradicted Z's Ending

So there's no reason Super couldn't continue past the original ending

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On element complicating Dragon Ball Super's relationship to the ending of Dragon Ball is that the newer series has already contradicted Toriyama's original. Dragon Ball Super can't be canon to DBZ as Z's ending firmly stated that Goku hadn't gone to see Vegeta or Bulma in at least five years. The implication is clearly that Goku hadn't kept in touch with Bulma and Vegeta, and that their meeting at the World Martial Arts Tournament is something of a reunion. It's difficult to rectify this fact with Goku and Vegeta fighting together in several huge battles throughout Dragon Ball Super.

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Given this and the fact that the Super era has already introduced numerous characters and transformations not present in the original Dragon Ball ending, there's no plot reason that Super couldn't introduce its own reinterpretation of Dragon Ball's Peaceful World Saga. With this method, Super could easily continue long after the original manga's ending and possibly even approach the GT era of Dragon Ball.

If there's one to doubt that this is the approach the series might take though, it's Toriyama's passing. Unless Toriyama himself had explicitly planned for the series to rewrite the Peaceful World Saga or to continue past it, there's the possibility that Toyotaro and Dragon Ball publisher Shueisha would view any sort of rewrite of original Dragon Ball canon as blasphemous.

Regardless of what happens though, fans can be rest assured that Dragon Ball Super will continue for at least a little while longer. Super has set up many dangling plot threads such as Frieza's return, Broly's power, and an eventual rematch between Goku and Beerus. Those three alone should be enough to sustain the manga for some time. It's unclear if Dragon Ball Super is in its final arc or not, but at the very least the series should be around for some time if only to payoff what it's already setup.

Sources: Toriyama's interview translated (Kanzenshuu), Toriyama and editor's comments on the Android Saga (Kanzenshuu).