Commentary: ‘Dragon Ball’ Has Evolved To A Next Level Franchise
by Frank Martin
There comes a point in the life of a franchise when it evolves beyond a singular story. Great examples of this are Star Wars and Star Trek. Both have an enormous amount of content, so much so that it no longer benefits them to continue with a straightforward narrative. Instead, these two franchises have a long and strong canon that allows them to tell stories anywhere within that canon, whether it be in the past, somewhere in the middle, or even far in the future. After building a fan base for decades and accumulating more content, it appears the Dragon Ball series is experiencing the same.
For a long time, Dragon Ball canon only existed as the original Dragon Ball series and the follow-up, Dragon Ball Z. It wasn’t until recently that it continued with Dragon Ball Super. However, rather than adding to the story and age up its characters, the franchise decided to tell a story that takes place in between the end of Dragon Ball Z and the start of Dragon Ball Super. This series, called Dragon Ball Daima, sees Goku (Sean Schemmel) and his friends become younger versions of themselves. They then have to travel to the demon realm in order to find their abducted friend, Dende (Justin Cook), and return themselves to normal.
Franchises only exist because of popularity. It’s impossible for Star Wars and Star Trek to continue as long as they have without a strong fan bases. Dragon Ball is no different. This is why the series was brought back after a long hiatus. As demand continues, it makes sense for those who own the IP to create more to cash in on it. But a franchise cannot continue on chronologically forever. Goku will eventually become an old man as will his supporting cast. The same happens for characters like Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart). Having Dragon Ball Daima take place in the middle of existing canon, it shows that the Dragon Ball franchise has evolved to the point where it will start telling stories to fill in the gaps rather than extend its timeline.
Dragon Ball Daima is now streaming on Crunchyroll.
