Dragon Ball Z ended nearly thirty years ago, with a decade-long time-skip taking the story further towards its conclusion. There, the main cast of Z-Fighters and their friends reunite after years apart, and prepare to fight in another World Martial Arts Tournament. Before Dragon Ball Super Set ten years after the war with Majin Buu, the series' original ending is a neatly wrapped, heartfelt farewell to Goku and friends, harkening back to the earliest days of Dragon Ball.
Unfortunately, by the time DBZ ended, plans for Super were still far in the future, and so The epilogue written by Akira Toriyama serves as a final farewell to the series.. Setting the events of Dragon Ball Super in the interim allows for more creativity when developing a new series, as the main cast is still young, with minimal design changes compared to Dragon Ball Z.
However, now that the events of Dragon Ball Super have spanned the better part of ten years, the series is slowly getting closer to the end of Dragon Ball Z. And with Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero taking place about a year before the World Martial Arts Tournament, it's possible that too much has changed for Z's ending to fit into Dragon Ball's continuity. The best solution to that problem, though it may upset longtime fans, is to is to just skip that ending altogether.
So many things have changed that DBZ's ending makes no sense.
Dragon Ball Timeline Inconsistencies Invalidate Z's Ending
For continuity purposes, it is possible to make excuses for the way the main characters appear at the end of Dragon Ball Z. In particular, humans like Bulma, Chi Chi, and Krillin all appear to have aged significantly by the end of the series. This is not the first time that characters have suddenly aged noticeably, as seen when Goku appeared as a fully grown adult for the 23rd World Tournament at the end of Dragon Ball. However, what is inexcusable is that Timeline Inconsistencies Caused by Dragon Ball Super.
The worst of which is, Bulma claims she hasn't seen Goku in five years.It's completely inexplicable. The events of Dragon Ball Super: Broly, while not officially confirmed, are speculated to have taken place about three years before the end of DBZ. In that movie, Bulma is present and by Goku's side for the entirety of the movie. Further confirmation is that Pan, who was said to be four years old during the World Martial Arts Tournament and still alive during the events of Broly, is when Goku and Bulma interact.
Another big difference is that Gohan has continued his training in Super, and is now as strong, if not stronger, than Goku and Vegeta. Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero takes place about a year before the end of DBZ, and features a Gohan who is clearly out of shape. It makes no sense for a character who has just risen to such great heights to lose his form so quickly.
Uub's plot is no longer realistic
Goku has no reason to train with Uub anymore.
The most important aspect of Dragon Ball Z's ending is Goku's decision to leave and train with Uub, with the protagonist believing that a reincarnated Buu could one day surpass him. While this conclusion works for the series, as Kid Buu is the most recent threat to Earth, It disintegrates when Super is added to the mix.. Currently, Buu is several levels below Goku and Vegeta, as are the enemies they have fought. At this point, it would be pointless for Goku to want to train with someone of that level.
Even if Uub's potential far exceeded Kid Buu's, it's unlikely that a human could reach the heights of Vegeta, Gohan, Beerus, or Whis. And if that were the case, there's little reason for Goku to give up training with them for Uub. Even Piccolo, whose new Orange form could rival the power of a Saiyan, sat out the entirety of Dragon Ball Z instead of fighting in the tournament.
All the drastic changes to the main characters in Dragon Ball Super making it difficult for the end of the Z timeskip to fit neatly into the timeline of events. And at this point, the best option to continue with the series is to forget it even happened. Especially now, with Dragon Ball Daima approaching, it's uncertain how complicated this timeline will become.
