Dragon Ball Super and Dragon Ball GT are both sequel series to Dragon Ball Z, but Super proved why it’s Z’s true successor with its best fight.
Since its inception, Dragon Ball Super has caused some level of discord in the fandom, especially because it came decades after what many still consider the original sequel to the original series: Dragon Ball GT. It’s true that, despite being criticized when it came out, GT still has its value and fans, but Dragon Ball Super settled the debate over which is the true successor to Dragon Ball Z with the final fight of the anime.
The fight in question is the one that takes place during the final moments of the Tournament of Power: Goku, Frieza, and Android 17 vs Jiren. Jiren is from Universe 11, and the sole survivor among all the other teams at this point, but while the battle seemed weighed in Universe 7’s team favor, nothing could be further from the truth.
Throughout the Tournament of Power, Jiren proved to be leagues ahead of every other fighter. Even Goku, upon tapping into Ultra Instinct, couldn’t defeat him, as his stamina still couldn’t match that of Jiren, despite momentarily surpassing his power and fighting technique. In the end, Universe 7 did come out on top, but only after Goku, Frieza, and 17 all worked together to defeat just one ultra-powerful opponent. And that is why Dragon Ball Super is Z’s true successor over GT.
Dragon Ball Super Allowed The Series To Evolve, While GT Is More Of The Same
Dragon Ball GT pushed the boundaries of the Dragon Ball mythos in a number of ways while also staying true to its foundation. It brought back the significance of the Dragon Balls themselves that Z seemed to lose as the series progressed, while still introducing increasingly powerful bad guys for Goku and the Z-Fighters to face at the end of each arc. GT truly picked up where Z left off, both in terms of style and storytelling, though ironically, that’s why it’s a worse successor than Super. Dragon Ball GT stayed true to Z’s storytelling formula to a fault, making it a bit repetitive and predictable, which is something Dragon Ball Super was able to veer away from – and the Z-Fighters’ battle with Jiren highlighted that perfectly.
Dragon Ball cemented the tried-and-true formula that most shonen have complied to: a sequence of enemies that keep getting stronger, forcing the protagonist to evolve through training or some other means, resulting in progressive power-ups. Dragon Ball GT, while drastically changing the tone of the story in its first part, then reverted to more familiar grounds. There was, however, one moment when Dragon Ball Z changed its formula a bit: the fight against Raditz. In that occasion, Goku could only beat his evil brother by teaming up with Piccolo, a former villain. The fight brought them closer and helped develop both characters, and it has some striking parallels with Dragon Ball Super‘s epic final battle with Jiren.
Dragon Ball Super’s Jiren Battle Breaks Z’s Formula While Still Honoring Its Legacy
Not only did Dragon Ball Super break Z’s formula when it comes to boss battles (one which GT followed a bit too closely), forcing its heroes to team up with a major villain, but it also showed genuine character growth. The fight is dynamic, develops Goku’s relationship with two former villains, and establishes a villain that Goku just couldn’t beat with a new form or a simple powerup. This also made Goku’s original conflicts with Frieza and (indirectly) 17 much more significant to the wider canon.
The parallel with the battle with Raditz actually makes the fight against Jiren in Dragon Ball Super even more significant, as it not only broke the mold that would take hold of the series from that point forward, but it also honored Dragon Ball Z’s legacy by emulating its very first fight. Overall, while fans of Dragon Ball GT still like to point out how that show should be considered the true successor to Dragon Ball Z, the incredible fight against Jiren during the Tournament of Power has settled that debate in Dragon Ball Super‘s favor.
