Gohan dies so Trunks can live, and the show never wastes a second proving that sacrifice means nothing in a world already ending. This isn't the Dragon Ball Z you know, it's the one where power doesn't save you, where mentorship ends in a grave, where a kid with a sword is all humanity has left. Forty-five minutes. That's all it takes to break the entire formula and make you believe the Z-fighters can actually lose.

Thirteen years after the Androids began their killing spree, the world lives in constant fear. Months after Goku died of a virus, two androids started destroying city after city and slaughtering countless people. Son Gohan, Goku's eldest son and now a grown man, is the only one still fighting back. He takes on Bulma's young half-Saiyan son Trunks as his student, and the two swear to battle the androids to the very end. When Gohan gives up his own life to save Trunks, the boy is left to find a way to change this ruined future. The special is an action drama set in a bleak, apocalyptic timeline.