DRAGON BALL SUPER

DRAGON BALL SUPER

Someone might want to summon Shenron for this one.

Dragon Ball Super, the recent installment of the popular anime franchise, is taking an infinite hiatus. Per Japanese news site Sanspo, Fuji TV announced plans to replace the program with GeGeGe no Kitaro in March.

However, the abrupt announcement doesn’t warrant cancelation. Fuji couldn’t give a specific return date but assured fans that the series isn’t ending any time soon.

Super, which debuted in July 2015, marked the widely anticipated return of original creator Akira Toriyama who left the franchise after Dragon Ball’s initial run in the early 90’s. Despite leaving the series, Toei Animation continued with the release of Dragon Ball GT, a sequel series taking place ten years in the future. Despite its 64-episode-run, GT is widely not viewed as canonical in the show’s timeline.

Set nine months after the original series, Super featured classic fan -favorites while also introducing a bevy of new players. Since its debut, the anime created a rift between loyal fans for its simplified animation style and non-fleshed out storylines.

However, many fans weren’t anticipating the show to go off the air.

Created by Toriyama, Dragon Ball followed the adventures of Goku, an alien originally sent to conquer Earth. After a bump on the noggin wipes his memory clean, a new mission takes its place: become the best martial fighter. Hitting shelves in 1984, the long-running manga ran until 1995, subsequently spawning an equally lengthy animated series and multiple films. With over 240 million sales, the anime stands as one of the best-selling titles of all time.

In 2009, 20th Century Fox released Dragon Ball Evolution, an American live-action film based loosely off the early manga series. The film, which starred James Marsters(Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Chow Yun-Fat (Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon), Justin Chatwin( War of the Worlds) and a pre Shameless Emmy Rossum, was panned by critics for its dramatic plot deviation and white-washed casting. Years after its release, Toriyama expressed his disdain stating, “What came out in the end was a movie I couldn’t call a Dragon Ball that lived to my expectations.”

Currently, Goku and friends are participating in the Tournament of Power, an all-out brawl between fighters across the show’s 12 universes. Throughout the intergalactic skirmish, disqualified teams are erased from existence, which seems strangely befitting for the series.

Super currently airs Saturdays during the Toonami block on Adult Swim and is available for streaming on Crunchy Roll, Amazon Video and Funimation.

While details on the show’s return are unknown, fans will always have special place in their heart, or sole. In mid-January, Adidas announced plans to release a limited collection of shoes inspired by the popular anime behemoth in the fall. The footwear will take inspiration from the show’s roster of protagonists and villains such as Goku,Vegeta, Cell and Majin Buu.

Last December, Yonkou Production announced a new feature film that will explore the origin of the Saiyans and their ability to transform. In addition to the announcement, the film company confirmed on social media that “Toriyama will be the script and character designs for the new Dragon Ball movie.”