So will "my boy Gohan" finally be redeemed in this arc?

[The gr]

I was going to say "they could have basically made an entire arc just dedicated to the idea of Gohan being 'redeemed'". But then I remembered that already happened. It was called Majin Buu.

Still, at this point, it's been so long since they've really explored his character it's almost new and could actually be kind of refreshing if they give him things to do that aren't just people saying "you haven't been training, Gohan!" or "it's fine you haven't been training, Gohan!"

Obviously the fanbase overreacts a bit about it - I doubt Gohan's ever going to be important enough to satisfy every one of his fans - but I still think the idea of a 'redemption', if they play it that way, could honestly be a nice story. It would it make it seem like the reason he didn't have much screentime before now was because they were purposely waiting for this arc. Even if that wasn't the case at all.

Why you think the Majin Buu arc redeemed Gohan because I'm pretty sure Gohan got pushed in the sideline in the final battle

[MozillaVulpix]

Why you think the Majin Buu arc redeemed Gohan because I'm pretty sure Gohan got pushed in the sideline in the final battle

Yeah. He did. But up until that point, Gohan being 'redeemed' was very much the kind of narrative the arc seemed to be going towards. He starts off too weak, sees the consequences of that, goes off-screen to train through some new method we'd never seen before, gets stronger through something related to his 'potential'...you know. Everything up until he gets absorbed by Buu very much felt like an intentional comeback arc. Obviously, that didn't end up following through, but that doesn't mean it won't get repetitive if they tried the exact same idea again in Super.

[Cipher]

For what it's worth, I thought Gohan's ending in the Boo arc was fine. Yes, it feels like plans changed somewhere along the line, but that's par for Dragon Ball's course. He still ends the series as a responsible warrior, and one of the strongest guys around. (The strongest, actually ... all his potential has been brought out should the world need it, but the series doesn't try to reposition him into the kind of fighter role Goku occupies, because that isn't his shtick.) Goku and Vegeta have ground left to cover, so I don't mind his being shuffled off for them to take the spotlight in the final chapters and receive similarly satisfactory endings.

He's one of many characters who doesn't particularly benefit from having his storyline extended past that arc.

Along with ... you know, almost everyone except former guest plot-device Future Trunks.

[MozillaVulpix]

For what it's worth, I thought Gohan's ending in the Boo arc was fine. Yes, it feels like plans changed somewhere along the line, but that's par for Dragon Ball's course. He still ends the series as a responsible warrior, and one of the strongest guys around. (The strongest, actually ... all his potential has been brought out should the world need it, but the series doesn't try to reposition him into the kind of fighter role Goku occupies, because that isn't his shtick.) Goku and Vegeta have ground left to cover, so I don't mind his being shuffled off for them to take the spotlight in the final chapters and receive similarly satisfactory endings.

He's one of many characters who doesn't particularly benefit from having his storyline extended past that arc.

I would completely agree with you if not for RF. Heck, not even RF. Super's version of RF. It seemed like Toei at least really wanted to do something with Gohan and used him getting weaker and being beat in RF as a springboard for that.

Even if I don't think it was completely necessary, they still put that in there. And it made so much sense it seemed like that was the intention even of the movie. Why else would they bother making him look weaker than he did in Battle of Gods, where he was still outclassed? It didn't add anything to the story other than highlight just how different he was from the times where he did fight.

I don't really care if Gohan becomes an important member of the supporting cast from this point onwards in terms of fighting. I just want at least Toei to give a proper resolution to those character moments they spent several episodes on and a few months of continual teasing.

[precita]

For that matter, why even re-do the whole, "Gohan loses his power because he doesn't train" thing from the Buu arc? It feels like a repetitive storyline to begin with, because we already went through this in the last saga. I can understand if he gets a little weaker again, but there's no reason he should go down that far especially after Old Kai unlocked his potential.

[kinisking]

Why you think the Majin Buu arc redeemed Gohan because I'm pretty sure Gohan got pushed in the sideline in the final battle

Yeah. He did. But up until that point, Gohan being 'redeemed' was very much the kind of narrative the arc seemed to be going towards. He starts off too weak, sees the consequences of that, goes off-screen to train through some new method we'd never seen before, gets stronger through something related to his 'potential'...you know. Everything up until he gets absorbed by Buu very much felt like an intentional comeback arc. Obviously, that didn't end up following through, but that doesn't mean it won't get repetitive if they tried the exact same idea again in Super.

The problem with Gohan is that they always build him up then get cold feet about it.

[MozillaVulpix]

Why you think the Majin Buu arc redeemed Gohan because I'm pretty sure Gohan got pushed in the sideline in the final battle

Yeah. He did. But up until that point, Gohan being 'redeemed' was very much the kind of narrative the arc seemed to be going towards. He starts off too weak, sees the consequences of that, goes off-screen to train through some new method we'd never seen before, gets stronger through something related to his 'potential'...you know. Everything up until he gets absorbed by Buu very much felt like an intentional comeback arc. Obviously, that didn't end up following through, but that doesn't mean it won't get repetitive if they tried the exact same idea again in Super.

The problem with Gohan is that they always build him up then get cold feet about it.

Except with Cell.

Actually, before that, everything was pretty simple. Toriyama constantly let Gohan do stuff without having to make him the strongest character in the story or the hero of the next arc. His power was still built up, but it mostly just lead to small things like buying time or distracting the opponent. Although giving him that role now would feel very unusual, given he's not the child character anymore.

[kinisking]

Yeah. He did. But up until that point, Gohan being 'redeemed' was very much the kind of narrative the arc seemed to be going towards. He starts off too weak, sees the consequences of that, goes off-screen to train through some new method we'd never seen before, gets stronger through something related to his 'potential'...you know. Everything up until he gets absorbed by Buu very much felt like an intentional comeback arc. Obviously, that didn't end up following through, but that doesn't mean it won't get repetitive if they tried the exact same idea again in Super.

The problem with Gohan is that they always build him up then get cold feet about it.

Except with Cell.

Actually, before that, everything was pretty simple. Toriyama constantly let Gohan do stuff without having to make him the strongest character in the story or the hero of the next arc. His power was still built up, but it mostly just lead to small things like buying time or distracting the opponent. Although giving him that role now would feel very unusual, given he's not the child character anymore.

You're right, with Cell it was Gohan who randomly got cold feet

Ironically, the arc where Toriyama followed through is the arc where Gohan got almost no buildup ( although you could argue he was built up the whole series for it).

What kind of role do you want out of Gohan?

[MozillaVulpix]

What kind of role do you want out of Gohan?

Hard to say, given my ideal scenario for him wasn't in a tournament setting. I guess I'm just fine with him getting character moments that make sense and actually being strong enough to help save the day and protect the people he cares about this time. That doesn't even mean he has to get god powers. In something like the Saiyan fight, even if Gohan wasn't the strongest character there, they wouldn't have been able to beat Vegeta without him. He saved everyone in that fight multiple times, sometimes even indirectly.

Dunno what they'd do after this arc, though. If he does something at least a little bit significant this arc, I'm fine with him going back to the sidelines.

[kinisking]

Hard to say, given my ideal scenario for him wasn't in a tournament setting. I guess I'm just fine with him getting character moments that make sense and actually being strong enough to help save the day and protect the people he cares about this time. That doesn't even mean he has to get god powers. In something like the Saiyan fight, even if Gohan wasn't the strongest character there, they wouldn't have been able to beat Vegeta without him. He saved everyone in that fight multiple times, sometimes even indirectly.

Dunno what they'd do after this arc, though. If he does something at least a little bit significant this arc, I'm fine with him going back to the sidelines.

I can agree with this. I totally am fine with him not being the strongest or the one saving the day. I just want him to carry his own.

Funny how I see a lot of Gohan fans seeing this. You'd pretty much never hear this from a Vegeta or Goku fan. It's crazy how low our standards have become due to Super. I honestly would never be 100 percent fine with Gohan being sidelined but it'd be much easier to accept if he ends it on a high note.

[precita]

Gohan was pretty much the secondary main character of DBZ, even before Vegeta was. He's not really a character you can cast aside like Yamcha, Tenshihan or even Krillin and expect fans to move on.

[Chillekasper]

Make Gohan great again!

[TheGreatSaiyaman]

Hopefully he is; he had a decent showing against SS Goku but then again, who knows? I love Gohan but a comeback this soon into the Universal Survival Arc doesn't feel right to me for some reason... if anything I want all 3 members to lose, what a shock turn! Even SSGSS Goku can't beat the.. [spoiler]U9 fighters, sorry! [/spoiler] Oh and a side note, maybe he'll reach completely new heights with his Ultimate / Mystic power (<--yes I know, it's not official but I don't mind it) as shown by the lightning aura in the episode opening...

[precita]

I hope Gohan's first fight goes well. It's a bit suspicious he's one of the first fighters in the tournament.

[Kagari]

I hope Gohan's first fight goes well. It's a bit suspicious he's one of the first fighters in the tournament.

How is it suspicious when we just had two months of in-between episodes with him as a regular character?

[Metrite]

*Gets on knees*
Please let My Boy Gohan be Ultimate again. Please let My Boy Gohan have an amazing fight or two against the wolf guys and such. And... most importantly of all... Please let My Boy Gohan get annihilated by Female Broly. The reactions will be priceless! XD

Gohan's portrayal in Super in terms of fighting has been the worst portrayal of him in the entire franchise.

Even worse than GT? Then again, he, like many, barely even got to fight much at all in GT. At least he gets some fights and such in Super. Would you prefer the GT treatment over that?

[TekTheNinja]

Gohan's portrayal in Super in terms of fighting has been the worst portrayal of him in the entire franchise.

Even worse than GT? Then again, he, like many, barely even got to fight much at all in GT. At least he gets some fights and such in Super. Would you prefer the GT treatment over that?

He was portrayed as MUCh more of a fighter in GT. Sure he didn't get many chances to fight, but he gets just as few chances in Super, yet in Super he's practically a joke now and that's fucked up.

[ekrolo2]

Along with ... you know, almost everyone except former guest plot-device Future Trunks.

You think Future Trunks getting more stuff to do after the Cell arc was warranted?

[IKevinX]

(yay first post.. ignore pls)

I see Gohan having the treatment of the Good dad, bad mom/wife ever since he debutted. Everyone (including us) wanted him to fight and kick ass. But his character was always written not to like that sort of thing. We can clearly see that Toei feels like us and they tried to push him to glory. Well... "glory" ever since Beerus Buusmacked him back in Ep7.
But they tried to do by him for what it's worth.

I've a theory on why Gohan had his power struggle ever since the Buu Saga ended. (You can check the video link in my sig)
but tl;dr his power drop was mainly due to him having a baby.

And now with the last filler where he fought Goku. I think that was Toei telling us that he is finally ready, as we could see in the Opening #2.
I see redemption for Gohan. There are more than enough enemies in this arc for him to beat. Even if we follow ROF standards, he should kick some foes.

[Cipher]

You think Future Trunks getting more stuff to do after the Cell arc was warranted?

I think it being necessary for the overall story and a positive addition to his character are two different things.

None of Super really needs to happen. The original story feels perfectly complete, and I think the extent to which characterization seems to have stalled in Super is a testament to that. Its real test will come in whether or not it makes the story seem more worth experiencing, or converesely more slipshod, by its end.

By the same token, Trunks didn't really need to come back after the Cell arc. But he also stopped being a focal character about halfway through that. He didn't need to make a return appearance, but since he did, to the extent that the storyline took someone who basically amounted to an exposition machine and catalyst for change in Vegeta, and rendered something affecting and character-based, I think he's one of the few to benefit from Super's addition.