I know I haven't posted in this book in a while, but I wanna make a quick post before posting my Dragon Ball Super: Broly review on Sunday! (Seeing the movie on Saturday!)

Canon. This one word has always created divides in the Dragon Ball fandom on what's canon and what isn't canon. We've got your elitist who believes anything from Toriyama is official Dragon Ball and nothing else. Then we have those who see all official work as Dragon Ball. I fall into the latter half. Why? Because of a few reasons. 

1. To say that Toriyama is the end all, be all of Dragon Ball is like saying anything not written by Stan Lee isn't canon to Marvel. Toriyama was the man who created a massive universe and Toei Animation has expanded on it. Heck, there's now Dragon Ball division at Shueisha (the father company that owns Shonen Jump) called the "Dragon Room" where we will be getting even more expanded universe material such as "That Time I Got Reincarnated as Yamcha." (Good read, btw!) Essentially, long after the legend, Akira Toriyama has passed, Dragon Ball will still be expanding.

2. Toriyama has given the keys to the series to Toyotaro. Toriyama has stated in the interview at the end of volume 2 (I think) of Super that he trusts Toyotaro with the series long after he's gone, so you best believe we'll be getting more stories until Toyotaro calls it quits. 

3. There's a good explanation as to why the timeline may seem inconsistent when you look at all of the movies, tv shows, manga, specials, etc. It's right there in chapter 163 of Dragon Ball Z, volume 14. Trunks explains that every action in the past creates a new future. Thus meaning there's most likely an infinite number of timelines out there which could lead to an infinite number of possible stories.  

Some may be arguing "What about the Time Rings"? Well, it's explained that the time rings only take you to timelines that are connected to the timeline you're in. This is because when people time travel, a connection between the timelines is created. That's why whenever Trunks comes back, he always comes back to the same timeline instead of creating a whole new one. The best way to see it is to think of the Dragon Ball world as a tree. The main story of Dragon Ball is the trunk. Every time someone time travels, a new branch is created. Every new decision that someone makes creates the leaves of our metaphorical tree. This creates room for an infinite number of stories. 

More evidence that suggests that anything official is canon is the fact that Toriyama has to give the OK to Toei Animation, Bandai Namco, etc., before they make a new product. Because of this, Bardock: The Father of Goku, Yo! Son Goku and Friends, Xenoverse, etc., are canon in their own way. Xenoverse is even proof of the infinite number of timelines as well. 

So, the next time someone tries to tell you that GT, Episode of Bardock, etc. are not canon, tell them the reasons I listed above. Comment your thoughts and have a great day!