This guide covers where to start watching the TV canonically and some other potential entry points depending on how much you want to commit. After all, with over 150 episodes dating back to the 1980s, it’s a bit of a stretch to start from the beginning!
What Dragon Ball Series Comes After Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero? Timeline Explained
The timeline for Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero is notoriously confusing, as there are various plotlines and canonical debates that throw the franchise into a spin. Essentially, Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero is parallel canon, running alongside events in the anime but not exactly fitting in anywhere. The film’s producers first suggested that Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero actually takes place near the end of Dragon Ball Z, which is far before Super begins. However, the movie was also promoted as a sequel to Dragon Ball Super: Broly, the last feature film in the franchise. Broly takes place after the Universe Survival Saga, which is deep into Super. You can see the canonical problems already.
What is Dragon Ball Super, Exactly?
Instead of getting into cyclical questioning of the Dragon Ball timeline, for new fans, it’s easier to explain the basic idea behind the various forms of Dragon Ball anime. Dragon Ball Super is the sequel to the original Dragon Ball manga. Dragon Ball Z, meanwhile, is the name for the anime covering the end of Dragon Ball’s manga. When you’re watching Dragon Ball Super, you’re watching the anime adaptation of the original manga’s sequel. However, Dragon Ball Super isn’t a perfect sequel. The story takes place during a time skip at the very end of Dragon Ball, meaning the end of Dragon Ball Z actually takes place just after Dragon Ball Super.
Where to Start with Dragon Ball Super After the Super Hero Movie
If you want to start watching Dragon Ball after the Super Hero movie, you have a few options, but these two might be best: the long-haul, canonical route or the streamlined Super route. If you enjoyed following the characters and storylines in Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, you’ll be able to follow the next stage of their adventure from Dragon Ball Z’s Peaceful World Saga. The Peaceful World Saga takes place after a pretty major event in the series which is followed by another time skip, so the re-introduction is relatively light. There are a few canonical differences but most of what you’ll see is similar to the Super Hero movie, so you should be able to catch up quite quickly. The downside of this option is that the Peaceful World Saga starts on episode 288 and first aired in 1996, so the animation can feel a little dated compared to the recent blockbuster. There are also hundreds of episodes between this point and the latest Dragon Ball Super series. Alternatively, if you want to catch up quickly, you can try going the Dragon Ball Super route. Starting from the beginning of Dragon Ball Super will send you back in the timeline a bit and will make it more confusing to start with, but you’ll have much fewer episodes to get through before catching up. Plus, the first episode of Dragon Ball Super aired in 2015, so it looks and feels fresh. If you prefer the sound of that, we have the perfect Dragon Ball Super watch order for all the series and movies!
