‘Dragon Ball Super: Broly’ Release Date, Spoilers: All-New Character Kikono Is Reportedly a Retconned Version of Gichamu

“Dragon Ball Super: Broly” is the latest, upcoming film for the franchise. The movie is stirring a lot of excitement among fans for several reasons, including the introduction of new characters. However, some fans observed signs that the new addition Kikono could actually be a retconned version of Gichamu.

The official Japanese website for “Dragon Ball Super: Broly” was recently updated and added blurbs for new characters, including the scientist Kikono. He is one of the announced new faces to debut in the film.

However, noted translator Herms98 on Twitter cited some major similarities between Kikono in “Dragon Ball Super: Broly” and Gichamu. The latter is a character that “Dragon Ball” creator Akira Toriyama first mentioned in 2014. This led to some speculations that Kikono could practically be Gichamu’s retcon version.

Retcon, or retroactive continuity, is a technique used in fiction writing. With it, creators may introduce “new” characters and plots that are actually derived from previously stated facts within the same franchise.

Herms98 translated the character description for Kikono from the official website of “Dragon Ball Super: Broly” which reads, “Kikono: a brilliant scientist who has served since King Cold's time. The scouters, armor, spaceship, etc are all his inventions.”

In a follow-up tweet, the translator shared an interview with Toriyama with Saikyō Jump that happened over four years before the scheduled release of “Dragon Ball Super: Broly.” The creator first mentioned Gichamu in the said interview and described him with huge similarities as Kikono.

“Incidentally, [inventors of scouters] were the Tsufruians, the original inhabitants of Planet Vegeta who were wiped out by the Saiyans,” Toriyama explained in the 2014 interview. “Originally, it was a device for the purpose of guarding against enemies and beasts, but Gichamu, a highly skilled engineer in Freeza’s army, laid eyes on it and made modifications for concrete battle power numbers and telecommunications abilities, and soldiers began making use of it to carry out offensives.”

This is one interesting discovery and will surely get fans to talk more about “Dragon Ball Super: Broly.” However, ComicBook pointed out that this is also not a cause for major concern since Gichamu did not have huge appearances in the franchise prior to the release of “Dragon Ball Super: Broly.”

“Dragon Ball Super: Broly” is slated to premiere on Dec. 14 in Japan. Meanwhile, Funimation is expected to distribute the film in North American theaters sometime in January 2019.