Dragon Ball: Episode of Bardock

Dragon Ball: Episode of Bardock is a three-chapter manga written and illustrated by Naho Ōishi. It was created as a what-if spin-off tied to the video game Dragon Ball Heroes and is based on Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball. The story follows Bardock after the events of the 1990 television special Dragon Ball Z: Bardock - The Father of Goku, presenting a scenario in which he survives his encounter with Frieza and eventually becomes a Super Saiyan.

The manga was serialized in V Jump across three chapters from June 21 to August 21, 2011, and was collected in a single volume. Its release sits alongside the broader Dragon Ball franchise, but it remains a distinct short work separate from the main series and from the earlier TV special that inspired it.

Toei Animation adapted the manga into a short anime film that premiered on December 17, 2011, at Jump Festa 2012. In October 2012, the film was made available internationally as a subtitled extra with the Xbox 360 game Dragon Ball Z: For Kinect. These releases gave the manga a second life beyond its initial V Jump serialization.

Dragon Ball: Episode of Bardock is a three-chapter manga written and illustrated by Naho Oishi, serialized in V Jump across mid-2011. Within the wider Dragon Ball franchise it functions as a what-if spin-off rather than a core installment: it picks up from the 1990 animated television special Dragon Ball Z: Bardock - The Father of Goku, imagining that Bardock somehow survived the destruction of his home planet. That premise places the book outside the mainline continuity established by Akira Toriyama, so it stands alongside the primary series rather than continuing it directly.

The work also traces back to the video game Dragon Ball Heroes, which served as its source material, making it a game-derived side story rather than an adaptation of the original manga. Its connection to the franchise runs in two directions at once: it expands on a character first popularized by an earlier animated special, and it was itself adapted into a short anime film by Toei Animation that premiered at Jump Festa 2012 and later traveled internationally as a bonus feature with a Dragon Ball video game release.

For readers navigating the franchise, Episode of Bardock sits as a self-contained alternate scenario, one of several takes on Bardock's fate rather than an entry required for following the main Dragon Ball storyline. Its three chapters and single collected volume keep it compact, and its placement relative to the Bardock special and the Dragon Ball Heroes material is what gives it meaning inside the larger franchise.