The Dragon Ball References in My Hero Academia: Vigilantes

gamerant.com:

One of the best things about Shonen media is the way in which it is in constant communication with itself. Tropes, character archetypes and even the skeletons of stories are used and reinterpreted by each emerging title, and those that are considered legendary continue to have an interesting impact on their successors. My Hero Academia: Vigilantes is the prequel spin-off series of the manga by Kohei Horikoshi, written by Hideyuki Furuhashi with art by Betten Court, and it is important for its incredible depiction of pro hero Shota Aizawa's past.

The spin-off series contains several Easter Eggs throughout its 127 chapter run, but one thing it does in particular is make several great Dragon Ball references, culminating in one of the most interesting Son Goku references seen in recent anime, Oboro Shirakumo. Here's how My Hero Academia: Vigilantes makes extensive references to Akira Toriyama's legendary franchise.

How Vigilantes Fit Into My Hero Academia's Hero Society

My Hero Academia: Vigilantes takes place a slightly confusing amount of time before the events of the main story. The sequence of events and how they link up to main events in the original story point to there being not more than a few years separating the events of either story, with Vigilantes also occurring over the span of three years in-universe. The presence of various contemporary heroes is a major clue in terms of piecing together the timelines; however, the fact that the series shows the origins of the person who eventually becomes the Hero Killer, Stain; as well as Iida's older brother prior to his career-ending encounter with the aforementioned, mean that the events of Vigilantes are at the very least, two years prior to those of the main storyline,