Finally someone I can actually have a conversation.
I mean, yeah. But do you honestly think we should extend these very particular instances to every single thing the anime has added to the story? I mean, we've established they're both different worlds as per Akira's own words, as for your own examples, these are the exception not the rule.
That’s not what is currently utilized or proposed, though. For example, when asked about using Toei Planet Vegeta/Plant/Tsufaru to get its size via comparing it to Earth in GT, it was pretty objectively decided by even some the people supporting this thread that this simply isn’t how it works. We can conclude broad strokes, but nitty gritty details like that are beyond us, and this Revision still treats them that way. And, obviously, I’m against any revisions that try to say they are totally identical.
A good example of how this would (and has worked) for some time is that we accept that Hell is a body in the afterlife that acts as a prison to those who died. However, while the broad strokes of it are identical back in Z compared to now with Super (with identical maps, no less), the EXACT SPECIFICS are different. (Instead of an infinite void for evildoers, it’s a multifaceted and contains Hell’s for “each planet.”)
We can confirm Akira has reused some original elements he made for the anime work, but then what? What can we conclude from that? He liked some of the anime adaptation and brought it's concepts to the canon story, but it would be an exaggeration to say that this extends to other elements that he may not have appreciated as much.
But this is the exact opposite of what happened, short Bardock. It’s not like someone made something else up and he copied it (again, except Bardock). What EXPLICITLY happened is he was asked about his
Manga’s Universe (ie, his CANON) and he
Answered Questions and
Drew Diagrams which were then ADAPTED into the Z-Anime. As in, he was asked
canon information so they can use that for their filler stories.
And we pretty clearly see this was the case for many other elements (“I got scripts/ideas from Sensei,”).
Now, I won’t pretend we can figure out which is which beyond exact records given to us by Producers, Toriyama, Artists, etc. But the common statement is
most came from him. So I think it’s pretty fair to use the Anime to inform things like we do Kakarot, unless it’s an outright contradiction (like the Origin of the Dragon Balls in OGDB), is too specific in certain ways we can’t utilize (The Toei Size of Planet Vegeta), or explicitly made by someone else, (Z Bardock, History of Trunks.)
I stand by my initial point, I think the fact Akira has worked on elements of the anime alone isn't enough proof that every single one of them should be canon. I think the examples you used are, in a more scientific way, outliers, where Toriyama really liked the adaptation's version and arbitrarily decided to add that to his original work (before reconning it).
I don’t think all of them should be “canon.” As in, literally what objectively happened. I think the Anime should be supplementary to the Manga.
I still think staff and writers had all the liberty in the world to add onto Toriyama's model, and only the things originally present in the model itself are going to stay similar. So I don't find validity in this argument.
It’s uncertain. While we know certain things were penned by him and affect the modern era, like the Cosmology, or the Kai’s, it’s impossible to say how much was Toriyama and how much was others. And that’s not getting into the fact Toriyama is forgetful, and has even said he won’t remember making a given thing in later interviews, but we have record of him having done so from himself or others in older ones (ironically making older, not newer, information for reliable testimonies).
I mean, the best example of this is that he literally
made something as minor as an airport apart of his Heavenly Cosmology. This is direct,
canon info given
by him. But it’s NOWHERE to be seen in the Manga, or in Super. Which means it not appearing isn’t a slight against its canonicity—It’s at best a slight against Toriyama not ever delving into that side of his world on paper. Or not remembering.
Gregory is a bad example, since he is a contradictory element that's objectively not present in the manga. But I digress.
I mention Gregory because he appeared in the DBS Anime, which is one of the two canon continuations of the Original Series. Meaning a Toriyama idea not present in the original, added by him retroactively, has been faithfully added into his Sequel Series. But it is true it’s not as ironclad as Heaven.
True, some elements were meant to be for both versions. But not all of them. I'd mention Grand Kai, but as you said, Hell is a better example.
Sure, but that’s not disproving that we can use the Anime as supplementary materials. Just that it’s a case by case basis. Which already has been
allowed for other things that directly has Toriyama’s influence and stories directly penned by him, but is not “totally,” him. That said, the real question is trying to judge what is Toriyama and what is Hogwash.