It's Hard to Admit, But Dragon Ball's Future Has Never Been More Uncertain: Here's Why

Dragon Ball is a franchise that needs no introduction, being one of the biggest names of all time. This beloved series, created by the late Akira Toriyama, has remained one of the most influential and popular across the globe for more than 40 years. Its relevance has never dwindled too much, with the latest entry in the franchise, DAIMA, proving that fans are still loyal to their favorite show.

Yet, this iconic series could be in serious trouble, as fights over the rights could prevent future shows or manga from being released. According to an interview given back in July 2024, Toriyama’s tragic death in March of the same year caused many legal problems that are still to be resolved by the two parties involved.

Shueisha Fears Losing the Rights to Dragon Ball

Toriyama’s Spokesperson Threatens Their Future

In July 2024, Japanese publication Weekly Tokyo Keizai magazine released an issue in which the legal problems the Dragon Ball franchise was facing were made known. This interview, conducted by Soichiro Morita and translated by @Supachronicles on X, explained that Shueisha’s control of the series could be threatened. Akio Iyoku, who acted as the head of Dragon Ball’s room in Shueshia for many years, left the company with several of his subordinates to begin his own business, Capsule Corp.

He took this drastic decision after the executives at his former job demoted him to a business-related department after many arguments about the future of the franchise. Iyoku was one of Toriyama’s oldest friends and was considered the only one who the author could trust to oversee the development of his creation. Goku’s creator allegedly was also displeased with the treatment his colleague went through while in Shueisha. Iyoku planned to become the new official spokesperson for Toriyama, with Capsule Corp. becoming the company in charge of producing video games and anime, as well as handling the creative rights.

When Toriyama died in March 2024, the franchise was left in limbo, as Iyoku was still fighting to become the handler of the series. Shueisha, knowing that Dragon Ball is one of their most profitable franchises, refused to surrender control. The interview infers that the lack of Dragon Ball content that fans have noticed recently, like the still pending epic return of Dragon Ball Super, is due to Shueisha preventing it from being approved. As of December 2024, no official resolution to this conflict has been reached.

Dragon Ball Is Too Profitable For Shueisha To Let It Go

One of the main reasons why Shueisha fears losing the rights to Dragon Ball is the amount of revenue the series brings them. The interview published in Weekly Tokyo Keizai revealed that the mobile games alone, among which Dokkan Battle stands as one of the most popular, have brought more than 5 billion USD as of February 2024. The Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero movie, one of the best films in the franchise, had a profit of 13 billion Yen. DAIMA, the latest entry in the series, has reignited the popularity of Toriyama’s creation, with many fans praising it.

It is with absolute certainty one of the most important franchises for the company. Their refusal to share or outright concede the rights makes sense after looking at the numbers. The fact that the series is still considered one of the best anime of all time even today suggests that this dispute is not likely to be resolved soon. Moreover, even if Capsule Corp. obtains the creative rights to the anime and side contents, Shueisha would still retain ownership of the manga, complicating this battle even more.

Why Did Iyoku Decide To Start His Own Company?

He Allegedly Wants To Produce Much More Content

According to Morita’s interview, Iyoku was demoted from his position as Dragon Ball’s room head for his ideas about the future of the series. Toriyama’s spokesperson allegedly wanted to do much more than what exists today with the franchise. He wished to expand the anime, create new video games, and bring to life the ideas his late friend had conceived for the franchise. His determination to accomplish his goals led him to ignore his superiors before proceeding with projects, such as the movie adaptation of Toriyama's opus, Sand Land.

Without consulting his superiors, Mr. Iyoku unilaterally decided to make a film adaptation of Toriyama-sensei's 'SAND LAND

- Morita's informant

The informant who gave the interview to Morita acknowledged that before Iyoku decided to abandon the company, he had already been facing several problems. Among the most relevant are his decisions to push back on collaborations with Metaverse and AI-related companies. Despite both his and Toriyama’s disapproval of Shueisha’s decision to demote him, it seems like the company only did it as a last resource. Nevertheless, these continuous battles, as well as the fear of losing the rights to Dragon Ball will continue hurting the franchise.

Ultimately, Fans Will Pay the Price for the Dragon Ball dispute

The Franchise Will Struggle to Release Content in the Future

Even though the current legal battle between Shueisha and Iyoku will be vital for the future of the Dragon Ball franchise, it will bring a lot of harm to the community. Seeing as the interview inferred that these issues are what keep new entries in the series from being released, it is appropriate to assume that new content will not be arriving anytime soon. Fans had already noticed an odd absence of material since chapter #103 of the Dragon Ball Super manga, released in March 2024.

With Toriyama’s passing, it was clear that the series would need to take a step back and figure out what would happen next. Yet, the legal battle between Iyoku and Shueisha made this process several times harder. None of the parties are likely to concede or come to an agreement until their demands are met. Until this occurs, followers of Goku’s adventure will have to brace themselves for a drought in content. DAIMA coming to an end soon might make this problem much more noticeable for fans.

Dragon Ball is and will forever remain one of the most popular and beloved franchises in history, even outside of anime. Fans of this iconic series can only hope that the fight over its rights will end soon.

Source: Weekly Tokyo Keizai