The question of Dragon Ball GT’s canonicity is as old as the hyperbolic time chamber itself. Even before Super was released and completely upended the continuity of GT, the fact the series wasn’t a part of Akira Toriyama’s original manga, and its story wasn’t directly created by him, led most fans to consider it as an entirely separate timeline. Even so, diehard GT fans have still sworn by the fact that the series is canon despite all evidence pointing to the contrary – until now.
Recently, Shuiesha’s Dragon Ball timeline, which includes GT at the end, resurfaced online, causing many fans online to insist that GT is now officially confirmed to be canon. There’s no denying this is the best argument yet for the series’ canonicity, but unfortunately, it’s far from a shocking revelation. There are still plenty of reasons to conclude that GT isn’t canon just yet, and Shueisha’s timeline hasn’t done anything to change what’s been definitively known about Dragon Ball’s actual timeline continuity for years.
How the Shueisha Timeline Seemed to “Officially” Confirm GT Was Canon
The biggest catalyst behind the recent insistence on the “official” canonical status of GT is due to the “new” Dragon Ball anime timeline revealed by Shueisha. This timeline is actually not technically new at all, though; it was posted all the way back in 2017 at an event in Japan called Dragon Ball Tenkaichi Budosai. The reason this became relevant again is because an image of the timeline taken at the event was posted and spread online sometime around 2022, and then again as recently as March 2024.
Importantly, Shueisha is the parent company of Shonen Jump, the magazine in which Dragon Ball was first published. This gives Shuiesha’s word on the matter a particular perception of weight to most fans. The 2017 Shueisha timeline depicts the entire events of the original Dragon Ball series through DBZ, and also includes Dragon Ball Super as occurring prior to the final Peaceful World Saga of DBZ. This is all to be expected, as it in no way conflicts with anything fans knew about the series’ canon before. However, the biggest shock of this new timeline was that it includes Dragon Ball GT at the very end.
The inclusion of GT in the timeline shouldn’t be ignored, but it doesn’t particularly change anything fans know about the series, as GT was always meant to take place after DBZ. The only thing that makes this version of the timeline important is that it’s presented by the original publishers of Dragon Ball. Placing GT in the same continuity as Dragon Ball Super might look like a bold move by Shueisha, but it should be by no means shocking to veteran fans of the series. After all, Shueisha still owns partial rights to the Dragon Ball IP, including GT, so the company has a vested interest in acknowledging it alongside the other entries in the franchise over the years. In that sense, it’s no surprise that Shueisha would want to acknowledge GT in its timeline, but this acknowledgment is certainly not the canon-changing revelation that many have suggested it may be.