Although theDragon Ball Supermanga hasn’t officially returned,the recently released volume of the manga is already making connections toDragon Ball Daima. The new volume includes a reference to a key element fromDaimaregarding everyone’s favorite assistant guardian, Mr. Popo, solidifying that the anime is canon within theSupertimeline. During the premiere ofDragon Ball Daima’s final episodes,Dragon Ballproducer Akio Iyoku revealed the anime began development in 2019, around the same time as the filmDragon Ball Super: Super Hero. Though both projects overlapped,Daimafollowed a separate narrative path.
Iyoku saidDragon Ballcreator Akira Toriyama grew so invested in the concept that he took on most of the creative work himself. While Iyoku placedDaimabetweenDragon Ball Z’sBuu arc and its final one, he stopped short of confirming its connection toSuper,leavingDaima’scanon status ambiguousand fans left to speculateDaima’s validity. However,Volume 24of the manga hints that all the theories may finally come to a close.
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InDragon Ball Daima, it’s revealed thatMr. Popo is descended from Demon Realmbeings,marked by a pair of small horns shown when his turban is removedfor the first time. This detail resurfaces inDragon Ball Super Volume 24, where the table of contents featuresMr. Popo without his turban, horns visible, standing beside Dende and Korin. While subtle, the callback is a deliberate nod fromSuperillustrator Toyotaro, suggesting a shared canon thread while simultaneously adding fuel to theDaima-Supercanon debate.
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This subtle reference makes it clear thatDragon Ball Superartist Toyotaro acknowledgesDragon Ball Daimaas canon toSuper, despite ongoing fan criticism over continuity inconsistencies between the two. It makes sense—both series were heavily shaped by Akira Toriyama before his passing. While the continuity issues can be hard to ignore for longtime fans, there’s little reason to believeDaimaandSuperwon’t soon be acknowledged as being within the same canon.
What Does This Mean For The Future of Dragon Ball?
Perhaps The Timeline Will Be A Little Less Confusing…
Dragon Ballhas one of the most notoriously tangled timelines in anime. For a series so iconic, its chronology is anything but clear. None of theDragon Ball Zmovies are canon, yet bothDragon Ball Superfilms are. The video games aren’t canon, though some fan-favorite transformations from them have made their way into the mainline series. Add in alternate timelines, like Future Trunks, and design overhauls that confuse character continuity (Trunks again), and it becomes tough to tell up from down. Much of this uncertainty stems from the shortPeaceful World Sagaat the end ofDragon Ball Z.
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Dragon Ball Daima, while strong on its own, adds another wrinkle to that already messy timeline. The series was confirmed by its creators as a direct sequel to theMajin Buu Saga, even opening with its villains watching those events unfold. That placement makes sense untilBattle of Gods, where Goku uses Super Saiyan 3 against Beerus, despite supposedly reaching Super Saiyan 4 inDaima. Still,Dragon Ball SuperVolume 24 quietly acknowledgesDragon BallDaima, suggesting it won’t be ignored going forward. Hopefully, that means some continuity fixes are on the horizon to clear things up for fans.
