29 Years Later, Dragon Ball GT is Worse Than You Realized

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Each Dragon Ball series has its own feel, but Dragon Ball GT made some surprising changes that many fans didn’t like. GT starts five years after the end of DBZ, but it shifted towards more playful stories aimed at a younger audience, trying to recreate the fun, adventurous spirit of the very first Dragon Ball series.

While Dragon Ball GT eventually developed interesting concepts like the Super Saiyan 4 transformation and the Shadow Dragons, it didn’t reach the popularity of earlier Dragon Ball series and left many fans feeling disappointed. Looking back almost thirty years later, it’s become clear that Dragon Ball GT fell short in several significant ways.

Dragon Ball GT’s Ideas Have Irrevocably Muddled The Franchise’s Canon

Keeping track of what’s ‘official’ in a long-running anime can be complicated, and it matters more for some series than others. Before Dragon Ball GT, fans of Dragon Ball didn’t have to worry much about canon. While there were some filler episodes and movies in Dragon Ball Z, there was generally a shared understanding of what happened in the ‘official’ story.

Dragon Ball GT had a difficult start because it was the first Dragon Ball anime not directly based on Akira Toriyama’s original story or manga. Since the series was created by new writers instead of the original creator, many fans dismissed it as non-canon, using this as an excuse to ignore parts of the story they didn’t enjoy.

I’ve noticed it’s rarely helpful when discussions about what’s ‘official’ or ‘canon’ distract from simply enjoying a series. Even Goku’s English voice actor, Sean Schemmel, openly talked about Dragon Ball GT not being part of the main storyline, though he wasn’t the one who decides what’s canon. It’s actually pretty interesting to see this conscious effort to separate GT and control how the story is perceived, especially considering there’s been a recent shift towards accepting it as part of the whole Dragon Ball universe.

The creators of the current Dragon Ball series, including Toyotarou, have stated that everything created for the franchise is now considered official. This decision aims to allow for more creative freedom with storylines and explore new ideas through alternate timelines, rather than dismissing parts of the story as non-canon.

Many Dragon Ball fans enjoy watching the show without getting involved in detailed discussions about its production, official storyline, or what-if scenarios. This can make Dragon Ball GT hard to follow, as later series like Dragon Ball Super and Dragon Ball DAIMA explain a lot of what happens in it.

Dragon Ball GT takes some interesting risks with new Super Saiyan levels, the Potara earrings, established Dragon Ball history, and ideas about the afterlife, but these choices don’t quite fit with what Dragon Ball is today. Anyone watching Dragon Ball GT for the first time in 2026—either right after Dragon Ball Z or in its proper timeline order—is likely to find it jarring and confusing.

Dragon Ball GT’s Lackluster Manga Produced An Inferior Adaptation

One reason Dragon Ball has remained popular for so long is that fans have different ways to experience the story, through both the original manga and the anime series. While Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, and Dragon Ball Super all have manga versions that closely follow the anime, Dragon Ball GT didn’t receive a similar manga adaptation, ending a long-standing tradition. Interestingly, a manga version of Dragon Ball GT was eventually made over 15 years after the anime finished, but it wasn’t a complete or traditional adaptation.

Starting in December 2013, Saikyo Jump began publishing a Dragon Ball GT comic that was unique in how it was made. Instead of being traditionally drawn, it used screenshots directly from the anime, adding dialogue bubbles to create what’s called an “animanga.” This Dragon Ball GT comic ran for ten years, totaling 73 chapters. However, many fans found it a disappointing way to follow the story, as it felt low-effort and cheap. Issues with the image quality, coloring, and framing further detracted from the experience, ultimately making Dragon Ball GT feel even less enjoyable.

The Dragon Ball GT anime comic takes a peculiar approach to the story. It starts with the final arc, the Shadow Dragons Saga, and then goes back to cover the Black Star Dragon Ball and Baby Sagas. Surprisingly, the Super 17 Saga is left out entirely, meaning this comic adaptation isn’t a full retelling of Dragon Ball GT. These changes don’t improve the anime’s image and actually detract from the original story.

Dragon Ball GT Solidifies The Franchise’s Egregious Obsession With Goku-Led Victories

The Dragon Ball series is known for its powerful fighters, and Dragon Ball GT features a particularly large and well-supported group of them. However, it’s disappointing that the series sidelines or doesn’t treat many established and important characters with the respect they deserve.

As Dragon Ball Z went on, the story increasingly focused on Goku, which became a problem. Dragon Ball GT had a great opportunity to fix this – especially since Goku was in his younger body with limited power. However, GT actually made things worse, solidifying Goku’s role as the constant center of attention.

Watching Dragon Ball GT, I always felt like the story revolved too much around Goku. He was in every big fight, and even when it made more sense for someone else to win, it was always him delivering the final blow. It seemed like a missed opportunity to continue the character development we saw in Dragon Ball Z, especially with characters like Gohan, Goten, and Trunks who deserved more focus. While Uub’s potential was briefly explored, that storyline was also dropped to give Goku even more power. Honestly, sidelining Vegeta for almost two dozen episodes felt like a strange choice that wouldn’t fly with fans today.

Fans often joke that Dragon Ball GT stands for “Goku Time” because the series heavily focuses on Goku getting stronger. This narrow focus makes the fights less diverse and, unfortunately, this pattern has continued in the newer series, Dragon Ball Super.

While Dragon Ball Super takes place in its own timeline, it often handles supporting characters in a similar way to Dragon Ball GT. Goku remains the central focus of the story, and even when others assist him, they rarely achieve the final victory. It’s only recently that the Dragon Ball series has started to move away from this pattern, which first became established in Dragon Ball GT.

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2026-04-20 04:18