This is the way in which what is canon and official is defined in the Japanese animation industry.
The terms canon and non-canon are widely used in the world of anime, but they can also cause a lot of confusion among fans. These are different concepts that refer to the checking events that are narrated in this type of audiovisual project and that it is important to know how it works to see if a project is officially followed.
These concepts have been around for a long time in the Japanese industry and help viewers and studios orient themselves well with the events of the stories that are presented in an anime. It is not always easy to distinguish well when it comes to canon or what is official and for that very reason, in this article We explain each of these terms in detail so you don’t have complications when watching an anime.
When is something canon in an anime and when is it not?
For some viewers it is difficult to understand these concepts because they relate it to the differences between official and unofficial. Therefore, if you want to understand it, you have to separate these concepts. In this case, we explain what Canon is and what is not.
The parts of the story that the official author writes are called “canon” in an anime. In this way, they are those events that respect the main manga continuity and reveal what really happens in the original plot of the play. Instead, what is not canon are the parts that are added to the anime without permission of the author or that go against the original story.
A much better way to understand it is using Dragon Ball as an example, one of the best anime of all time. Those franchise projects carried out with handwriting of the creator Akira Toriyama They are one hundred percent canon, like the following manga:
- Dragon Ball (1984).
- Dragon Ball Super (2015).
- Movie Dragon Ball Super: Broly (2018).
Considering this, all projects that have not been written by Akira Toriyama They are not canon and do not belong to the real story of what Dragon Ball would be, like Dragon Ball GT that is not canon.
What is official and unofficial in an anime
Now, since it is understood what is canon and what is not, we can go on to determine how the Official Japanese Animation Projects. An anime is official when it has the verification and license of the companies that have the project rights. In this way, installments such as movies, anime continuations, OVAs and video games can be created based on the original story, but which probably acquire certain changes that are mostly not so relevant.
Again taking Dragon Ball as an example, the titles like Dragon Ball Super HeroesDragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball SD, although they are not canon, they are official because they have the franchise licenses, which are approved by the company Toei Animation. This means that everything that is not official from an anime is any product made by fans or one that is not licensed, some of them are Dragon Ball AF and Dragon Ball Multiverse.
In conclusion, the world of anime has two categories: canon and non-canon, which are based on the demonstration of the facts of history, which must be consistent and valid with respect to the original work of the author to be Canon. Regarding the official, it should only be verified by the company that has the licensesso a project can be official and non-canon at the same time, since they are different definitions.