Dragon Ball Super’s Anime Can’t Return Without Solving Its Biggest Cliffhanger

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If Dragon Ball Super returns as an anime, it needs to resolve a major unresolved plot point to avoid frustrating fans again. The Dragon Ball franchise is currently celebrating 40 years since the original manga debuted in Weekly Shonen Jump, and a big event is planned with announcements about its future. Many fans are hoping this event will include news about a potential anime continuation of Dragon Ball Super.

The Dragon Ball Super manga has moved past the story covered in the anime and the Broly movie, and it has plenty of content that could be adapted into a new anime season. However, the manga is currently stuck on a major cliffhanger involving Frieza. If the anime is going to continue, the manga needs to finish the Frieza arc soon to avoid another long wait for fans.

Dragon Ball Super’s Anime Can’t Comeback With Addressing Black Frieza

The anime adaptation of Dragon Ball Super is at a strange point, and Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero officially concludes the story within the current timeline. This film’s events happen after the ‘Galactic Patrol Prisoner’ and ‘Granolah the Survivor’ arcs from the manga, which then continues the story further. The manga version of the film includes extra chapters – a prologue to expand on the superhero elements and an epilogue to wrap up the film’s story.

Viewers who have only watched the Dragon Ball Super anime might be surprised to learn that Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero jumps over two important battles. This also means they’ll miss a major plot point established beforehand. The anime doesn’t cover what happened in the ‘Granolah the Survivor’ arc, where it’s revealed Frieza spent ten years training in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. This training gave him a powerful new form – Black Frieza – making him the strongest character in Universe 7.

When Black Frieza first appears, he easily defeats Goku and Vegeta with a single blow before continuing his villainous plans. This event is the reason Goku, Vegeta, and Broly are training together on Beerus’ planet in the movie Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, and why they’re all striving to become stronger. This threat looms over the future of Dragon Ball Super, and any new anime season will have to deal with it.

Dragon Ball Super’s Anime Needs Time and Room to Continue

The anime version of Dragon Ball Super is expected to return, but probably not in the same way as before. Toei Animation is changing how it releases new One Piece episodes, moving to a seasonal schedule. This same approach could be used for Dragon Ball Super, meaning instead of one long series of episodes, it will likely come back with several shorter seasons. This format would be ideal for adapting the two story arcs that were left out of the original manga.

Before a new Dragon Ball Super anime can continue the story, the manga needs to come back and resolve the cliffhanger with Black Frieza. Adapting the Galactic Patrol Prisoner and Granolah the Survivor arcs in the manga would give the story time to finish properly. If the anime returns first, fans will be stuck waiting for the Black Frieza storyline to be resolved for another couple of years, essentially creating another frustrating wait. It would just delay the conclusion and leave fans hanging once again.

To prevent a frustrating wait for fans, the Dragon Ball Super manga should finish its Black Frieza arc before the anime does. While the anime could potentially tell the Black Frieza story first, it needs to be resolved in some form before planning future anime episodes. Frieza is such a popular character that the series can’t leave his storyline hanging for too long.

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2026-01-21 00:14