Warning: SPOILERS for chapter #88 of Dragon Ball Super.
A small detail in the latest chapter of Dragon Ball Super confirms how long the series has left before reaching the ending of Dragon Ball Z. By confirming the age of Pan, Goku's niece and Gohan's daughter, in the current series, Dragon Ball Super also settled how long is left before the kid shows up as a 4-years old in the final chapter of Dragon Ball Z, and it's way less than fans think.
In the franchise's timeline, the events of Dragon Ball Super canonically take place in the ten-years gap that occurs between the defeat of Kid Buu, in Dragon Ball Z's chapter #517, and the conclusion of the original series, in chapters #518-519. This has understandably created a lot of confusion and inconsistencies between Dragon Ball Super and the ending of Z. Things got even more complicated when the movie Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, which is currently being adapted in the manga, showed a significant time skip that brought the story closer to the ending of the original series.
Chapter #88 of Dragon Ball Super marks the return of the manga after three months of hiatus, and the beginning of the Super Hero Arc, which adapts the events of the movie and also adds a prequel focused on Goten and Trunks. In the story, the two Saiyans are no longer kids. They go to high school and their appearance is consistent with how they look in Dragon Ball's final chapters. More importantly, Bulma's mother, Panchy, appears in chapter #88 and says she is buying flowers to celebrate Pan starting kindergarten, which tells readers exactly how long is left before Dragon Ball Super's story reaches the conclusion of Z.
Pan Is Officially Three Years Old In Dragon Ball Super - Meaning There Is Only One Year Left Before Z's Ending
In Japan, kids have the option to attend kindergarten between the ages of 3 and 5. In chapter #519 of Dragon Ball, the announcer of the Budokai tournament says that Pan is 4 years old. This means that, at the most, there is only one year remaining between current events in Dragon Ball Super and the ending of the original series, which sees Goku leave to train with Uub, the reincarnation of Kid Buu. Panchy's words also confirm what was already stated in the official characters bios for Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, where Pan's age was given as 3 years old. Finally, this clarifies series creator Akira Toriyama's recent comment that Super Hero takes place right before the end of Z, by giving it a more accurate time frame.
What all of this means for the future of the Dragon Ball Super franchise is yet to be determined. Clearly, such a vast series, encompassing manga, TV anime, and movies, cannot be tied up by two chapters written by Toriyama almost thirty years ago. It's possible that the major forward time skip seen in Dragon Ball Super is a way to catch up as soon as possible to the ending of Dragon Ball Z and then move forward, thus leaving all the continuity issues behind.
The latest chapter of Dragon Ball Super is available from Viz Media.