So what is the consensus on Jiren as a character?

[Polyphase Avatron]

Calling Jiren a "character" at this point is kinda generous, he's more like an obstacle.

Pretty much.

[pacz360]

Not much flavour in terms personality, but more than makes up for it with how much of a presence and threat he is in battle.

Same in terms of personality it's the same as Hit but more basic
I feel like he'll show more of it in his rematch with goku
His fight with Hit was a start

I think the anime are going for the slowburn reveal of Jiren's true character so they can play it off as a huge twist. (I hope.)

Same

[perucho1990]

Manga: Probably the best character Toyotaro has done. I dont mind if he is like Superman, at least she shows a personality.

Anime: One of the worst antagonists of 2017, even Barry Khan showed more personality.

[Jigurashi]

Any consensus seems to be that he's popular, mainly just because of how powerful he is and that he's a bad ass. What criticism I have seen is that he's not that interesting.

That about sums it up really, he's far more liked than he is disliked though.

Maybe when the finale comes around, Jiren will have more to work with and he won't be as bland. The manga version is basically Superman but that could compare good or bad compared to the anime version.

Curious how do you know this. He seems to have people that like him, but he seems to be just as much disliked. He doesn't get overwhelming hate though.

[Bullza]

Curious how do you know this. He seems to have people that like him, but he seems to be just as much disliked. He doesn't get overwhelming hate though.

I don't know it for a fact or anything, it's just what I've seen based on comments on YouTube, Kanzenshuu, IGN, Ganefaqs and Reddit.

I haven't seen any strong passionate dislike for the character, just the odd people here and there who find him a bit uninteresting and bland. I see a lot more positive comments for just how bad ass he is and that's only because he's so powerful.

Most of his popularity seems to come from his status as this unstoppable power house as opposed to Goku Black who was popular because he was just a genuinely good character.

[BWri]

I despise anime Jiren. He lacks personality, he lacks any real piece of backstory whatsoever, he doesn't have any particular motive for the Tournament. He is just a plot device for Goku to unlock Ultra Instinct.

Manga Jiren, on the other hand, is far better, as we can see his personality, his reasons to fight, his benevolence too! Because he doesn't want to destroy other Universes, and we know what he's going to do if he wins the Super Dragon Balls.

It would've been much better if they had devoted 1 episode or 2 prior to the beginning of the Tournament to flesh-out Jiren. Show us some traits of his personality (like the manga did), his relationship with the other Pride Troopers, his backstory, his species, his homeplanet, etc...

My biggest gripe with Jiren is that we don't know why he has that power. And the anime isn't even trying to explain that! To put this in perspective, the villain of the previous arc, Zamasu, was fleshed-out much more; we explored his origins as an apprentice Supreme Kai, we saw him develop a hatred for mortals that would ultimately lead him to his demise. His power is explained in a very elaborate and in-depth way: the search for the Super Dragon Balls to switch body with Goku, the origins of Super Saiyan Rosè (the Super Saiyan Blue transformation mixed with 'pure' God ki - which Fused Zamasu also had), the immortality, the ascension to become the very fabric of the Multiverse. -EVERY- single technique Zamasu has is extensively explained and there is a reason behind his massive power.

Jiren is a major character in this arc, he has been featured extensively on every teaser for the arc and even appears in the new intro, yet Toei isn't trying to write a compelling character with a personality, goals, and flaws. They're just writing an 'OP' character who has the power that rivals a God of Destruction because... reasons.

I wouldn't hate Jiren so much if we knew how he got that power, if we knew what his species is, how he became a Pride Troopers, etc... basically, if he had a backstory. And yes, the vast majority of characters in the ToP don't have a backstory, but they are not nearly as important to the plot as Jiren.

Still, i can understand why Jiren is not nearly as hated as Ribrianne or Universe 4. Because he is actually interesting to watch for most viewers. He adds some degree of tension to the Tournament. He is not a waste of screentime.

With you saying this with Zamasu as your avatar, I can't help but think that maybe Jiren is the antithesis to Zamasu. Zamasu was basically everything Jiren hasn't and it took him a while to become a threat and in the end he was the ultimate threat that neither Goku, Vegeta, nor Vegetto could beat. In the end, EVEN GOKU had to cheat and call Zeno because he was too overwhelmed. This arc is looking to be the opposite. An opponent who starts off monstrously strong who piece by piece Goku is trying to overcome on his own.

[JazzMazz]

No he dosent. Hes predictable and lame in the manga. Hes bad ass in the anime for the reason that he bearly talks. More talking = less interesting

His the main antagonist of this arc, how is giving him a personality, motives, principles, and establishing a genuine mystery around him make him lame in comparison to a character that literally know nothing about, and don't care to learn anything about?

you dont need to know anything about him.

Thats true, but how is knowing more about him as a character a bad thing, much less make him worse than a character we know nothing about and have nothing really to invest in?

[SupremeKai25]

I despise anime Jiren. He lacks personality, he lacks any real piece of backstory whatsoever, he doesn't have any particular motive for the Tournament. He is just a plot device for Goku to unlock Ultra Instinct.

Manga Jiren, on the other hand, is far better, as we can see his personality, his reasons to fight, his benevolence too! Because he doesn't want to destroy other Universes, and we know what he's going to do if he wins the Super Dragon Balls.

It would've been much better if they had devoted 1 episode or 2 prior to the beginning of the Tournament to flesh-out Jiren. Show us some traits of his personality (like the manga did), his relationship with the other Pride Troopers, his backstory, his species, his homeplanet, etc...

My biggest gripe with Jiren is that we don't know why he has that power. And the anime isn't even trying to explain that! To put this in perspective, the villain of the previous arc, Zamasu, was fleshed-out much more; we explored his origins as an apprentice Supreme Kai, we saw him develop a hatred for mortals that would ultimately lead him to his demise. His power is explained in a very elaborate and in-depth way: the search for the Super Dragon Balls to switch body with Goku, the origins of Super Saiyan Rosè (the Super Saiyan Blue transformation mixed with 'pure' God ki - which Fused Zamasu also had), the immortality, the ascension to become the very fabric of the Multiverse. -EVERY- single technique Zamasu has is extensively explained and there is a reason behind his massive power.

Jiren is a major character in this arc, he has been featured extensively on every teaser for the arc and even appears in the new intro, yet Toei isn't trying to write a compelling character with a personality, goals, and flaws. They're just writing an 'OP' character who has the power that rivals a God of Destruction because... reasons.

I wouldn't hate Jiren so much if we knew how he got that power, if we knew what his species is, how he became a Pride Troopers, etc... basically, if he had a backstory. And yes, the vast majority of characters in the ToP don't have a backstory, but they are not nearly as important to the plot as Jiren.

Still, i can understand why Jiren is not nearly as hated as Ribrianne or Universe 4. Because he is actually interesting to watch for most viewers. He adds some degree of tension to the Tournament. He is not a waste of screentime.

With you saying this with Zamasu as your avatar, I can't help but think that maybe Jiren is the antithesis to Zamasu. Zamasu was basically everything Jiren hasn't and it took him a while to become a threat and in the end he was the ultimate threat that neither Goku, Vegeta, nor Vegetto could beat. In the end, EVEN GOKU had to cheat and call Zeno because he was too overwhelmed. This arc is looking to be the opposite. An opponent who starts off monstrously strong who piece by piece Goku is trying to overcome on his own.

Yep, and even the mighty Zen-Oh couldn't just erase Zamasu alone, he had to erase the entire Multiverse, since Zamasu had become the very fabric of the Multiverse (in the anime, in the manga he became an endless army of immortal Fused Zamases). But let's not digress.

Regardless, i at the very least expect Jiren to be fleshed-out more throughout the arc, because right now he's a sad excuse for an antagonist. Or just call him for what he truly is. Not a character. Just a force-of-nature devoid of any unique personality trait and basic piece of backstory. In fact, i think the analogy with Broly holds quite well, because both Jiren and Broly are popular not because of their ideology, complex personality and elaborate backstory, but because they look cool and are -extremely- powerful. Which is fine.

[BlueBasilisk]

Manga Jiren is pretty much a by-the-numbers flying brick white cape. A straightforward super hero archetype that's a bit unusual in DB as it seems he's being played completely straight.

Anime Jiren is a frustrating exercise in "Tell, Don't Show." We are told things about his character by other characters but a lot of it does not come through in his own words or actions. Toppo tells us Jiren is his friend but we don't see any kind of camaraderie between them. In multiple scenes Jiren seems entirely dismissive of Toppo. We find out about his wish through other characters. When Goku fights him in 109 it's Krillin, Khai and Belmod who tell us what Jiren is all about. Toppo is the one who tells us about his desire to get the Super Dragon Balls which Jiren has never expressed himself. The most we've seen out of him is his attitude toward Hit and something of a sense of fair play since he was willing to wait while Goku powered up the Spirit Bomb.

[supersaiyanZero]

Curious how do you know this. He seems to have people that like him, but he seems to be just as much disliked. He doesn't get overwhelming hate though.

I don't know it for a fact or anything, it's just what I've seen based on comments on YouTube, Kanzenshuu, IGN, Ganefaqs and Reddit.

I haven't seen any strong passionate dislike for the character, just the odd people here and there who find him a bit uninteresting and bland. I see a lot more positive comments for just how bad ass he is and that's only because he's so powerful.

Most of his popularity seems to come from his status as this unstoppable power house as opposed to Goku Black who was popular because he was just a genuinely good character.

Are you Super's PR guy or something? I've seen exactly the opposite. Hit was criticized for being bland, but still had a very loyal following. Jiren on the other hand barely even comes up unless its about power scaling.

[Jigurashi]

Curious how do you know this. He seems to have people that like him, but he seems to be just as much disliked. He doesn't get overwhelming hate though.

I don't know it for a fact or anything, it's just what I've seen based on comments on YouTube, Kanzenshuu, IGN, Ganefaqs and Reddit.

I haven't seen any strong passionate dislike for the character, just the odd people here and there who find him a bit uninteresting and bland. I see a lot more positive comments for just how bad ass he is and that's only because he's so powerful.

Most of his popularity seems to come from his status as this unstoppable power house as opposed to Goku Black who was popular because he was just a genuinely good character.

I mean I wouldn't necessarily say that makes him overall popular. I like Jiren because he's a pretty big contrast from usual DB characters. He's a stoic and detached individual to the point where he feels alien to everyone else. It contrasts DB's very colorful personal in characters. With that said, it's all basic as fuck and he's quite the shallow character atm. But that's why I like the character. I agree that he isn't massively hated, but going around the internet, the opinion on him seems to vary.

[puar]

you guys dont understand jiren charecter. jiren is a grey alien. if you were into conspiracy theories and what is known about grey aliens you will know that they are basiclly like robots. they dont have any emotions and they are psychopaths. just like jiren is. thats why making jiren a flat charecter is a genius move. because its realistic. you do realize that jiren is basiclly the only dragon ball charecter that actually exist in real life. grey aliens. learn about them. if you did you would know exectly why jiren the way he is. and why the manga is the one who dident got him right. the manga just made him a toppo clone. the anime actually made him uniqe. the fact that he isnt talking much giving him even more charecter. loud mouth charecters are boring.

[superfan2024]

you guys dont understand jiren charecter. jiren is a grey alien. if you were into conspiracy theories and what is known about grey aliens you will know that they are basiclly like robots. they dont have any emotions and they are psychopaths. just like jiren is. thats why making jiren a flat charecter is a genius move. because its realistic. you do realize that jiren is basiclly the only dragon ball charecter that actually exist in real life. grey aliens. learn about them. if you did you would know exectly why jiren the way he is. and why the manga is the one who dident got him right. the manga just made him a toppo clone. the anime actually made him uniqe. the fact that he isnt talking much giving him even more charecter. loud mouth charecters are boring.

You sure you're not a troll?

[Bullza]

Are you Super's PR guy or something? I've seen exactly the opposite. Hit was criticized for being bland, but still had a very loyal following. Jiren on the other hand barely even comes up unless its about power scaling.

Well that's what I was pretty much saying. He's popular from a power level point of view. Powerful characters are very popular in this series as Broly proves.

People aren't discussing him for his personality because he's not that interesting and there isn't much to him.

[puar]

you guys dont understand jiren charecter. jiren is a grey alien. if you were into conspiracy theories and what is known about grey aliens you will know that they are basiclly like robots. they dont have any emotions and they are psychopaths. just like jiren is. thats why making jiren a flat charecter is a genius move. because its realistic. you do realize that jiren is basiclly the only dragon ball charecter that actually exist in real life. grey aliens. learn about them. if you did you would know exectly why jiren the way he is. and why the manga is the one who dident got him right. the manga just made him a toppo clone. the anime actually made him uniqe. the fact that he isnt talking much giving him even more charecter. loud mouth charecters are boring.

You sure you're not a troll?

Where did you see trolling in my post? No I'm not a troll

[JazzMazz]

you guys dont understand jiren charecter. jiren is a grey alien. if you were into conspiracy theories and what is known about grey aliens you will know that they are basiclly like robots. they dont have any emotions and they are psychopaths. just like jiren is. thats why making jiren a flat charecter is a genius move. because its realistic. you do realize that jiren is basiclly the only dragon ball charecter that actually exist in real life. grey aliens. learn about them. if you did you would know exectly why jiren the way he is. and why the manga is the one who dident got him right. the manga just made him a toppo clone. the anime actually made him uniqe. the fact that he isnt talking much giving him even more charecter. loud mouth charecters are boring.

You sure you're not a troll?

Where did you see trolling in my post? No I'm not a troll

Woah.

Just woah.

This post is some next level stupid. I think this is quite possibly the dumbest and most out there post I've ever seen on Kanzenshuu. I think that is probably the reason Superfan 2024 thought you were trolling, as no one in their right would ever take your post seriously. I'm sure me, and many others that read your post, were completely gobsmacked, and were left at a total loss for words to describe or express their feelings towards your post for several hours and for those peopleI think this video expresses there feelings towards your post. I guess some congratulations are in order, your the first person on Kanzenshuu I've ever had to respond to with that link.

I apoligize if this comes off as rude or offensive, but I wouldn't be this mean if I didn't sincerely mean it.

Now that I've let out how stupid I feel that post is, I'll now get into a geniune counter-argument. It doesn't matter what crazy conspiracy theory bullshit Jiren is or isn't based off, making your main antagonist completely flat is never a genius move unless you bother to try and add some substance to him, like they attempted to do with Hit. Having a character be true to whatever crazy conspiracy bullshit, even though it makes them boring, doesn't make them an interesting character because they're "realistic". DragonBall is as unrealistic as they come, where a monkey boy based off Eastern Mythology could extend a giant pole to the moon to drop off a rabbit mobster that could turn people into carrots by touching them and where one of the main antagonists was literally a pink piece of bubble gum thats the incarnation of pure evil, however adding a "realistic" character doesn't make them an interesting or a good character if they are boring and lacking in substance charisma like many people found the anime version of Jiren to. Loud mouths can be pretty generic and boring, but they sure as hell beat Jiren as a character because they actually have some form of functioning personality and charisma to them if they are handled properly. Also, giving characters actual depth, such as principles which they follow and act upon, and a geniunely mysterious motivation, makes them a far more interesting and engaging than a character that is "realistic" but has no substance or anything else to them for that matter.

What I'm saying, is just because a character is realistic in the sense it follows a reference to a T, doesn't replace other aspects necessary to make them an engaging character, and its for that reason people largely prefer the manga version of Jiren to his anime counter part, because if though he isn't a whole lot of character to speak , he is still far better established and has far more substance and intrigue to him than his anime counter-part due to them bothering to flesh out aspects of his personalities, his principles and establishing a mystery behind his character motivations.

[puar]

You sure you're not a troll?

Where did you see trolling in my post? No I'm not a troll

Woah.

Just woah.

This post is some next level stupid. I think this is quite possibly the dumbest and most out there post I've ever seen on Kanzenshuu. I think that is probably the reason Superfan 2024 thought you were trolling, as no one in their right would ever take your post seriously. I'm sure me, and many others that read your post, were completely gobsmacked, and were left at a total loss for words to describe or express their feelings towards your post for several hours and for those peopleI think this video expresses there feelings towards your post. I guess some congratulations are in order, your the first person on Kanzenshuu I've ever had to respond to with that link.

I apoligize if this comes off as rude or offensive, but I wouldn't be this mean if I didn't sincerely mean it.

Now that I've let out how stupid I feel that post is, I'll now get into a geniune counter-argument. It doesn't matter what crazy conspiracy theory bullshit Jiren is or isn't based off, making your main antagonist completely flat is never a genius move unless you bother to try and add some substance to him, like they attempted to do with Hit. Having a character be true to whatever crazy conspiracy bullshit, even though it makes them boring, doesn't make them an interesting character because they're "realistic". DragonBall is as unrealistic as they come, where a monkey boy based off Eastern Mythology could extend a giant pole to the moon to drop off a rabbit mobster that could turn people into carrots by touching them and where one of the main antagonists was literally a pink piece of bubble gum thats the incarnation of pure evil, however adding a "realistic" character doesn't make them an interesting or a good character if they are boring and lacking in substance charisma like many people found the anime version of Jiren to. Loud mouths can be pretty generic and boring, but they sure as hell beat Jiren as a character because they actually have some form of functioning personality and charisma to them if they are handled properly. Also, giving characters actual depth, such as principles which they follow and act upon, and a geniunely mysterious motivation, makes them a far more interesting and engaging than a character that is "realistic" but has no substance or anything else to them for that matter.

What I'm saying, is just because a character is realistic in the sense it follows a reference to a T, doesn't replace other aspects necessary to make them an engaging character, and its for that reason people largely prefer the manga version of Jiren to his anime counter part, because if though he isn't a whole lot of character to speak , he is still far better established and has far more substance and intrigue to him than his anime counter-part due to them bothering to flesh out aspects of his personalities, his principles and establishing a mystery behind his character motivations.

grey aliens dont have a personality. in that case jiren anime version is the right one. grey aliens are bio robots and psychopaths. they are unable to feel emotions and thus they have no emotions whatsoever. jiren is a grey alien. toei took the inspiration from abductees reports of grey aliens. this was the intention. this is not crazy at all. manga version of jiren is too much like toppo. hes a toppo clone. anime version is way better. arrogent. emotionless and psychotic. this is jiren and this is how he supposed to be. thats what makes him interesting. and you are smug as hell. call me stupid i dont care. i know I'm smarter then you. i know a lot more about life then you. instead of calling me stupid go do your reasarch about grey aliens and then you will understand that its actually you who said the stupidiest thing ever not me. jiren is on point. he is way more interesting in the anime because hes diffrent then all the others.

[mute_proxy]

There can't be a consensus because the arc and Jiren's involvement aren't over yet.

[TheZFighter]

It might be nice if anime-Jiren was a deeper or more fleshed out character, but I still like him at the moment. I like his clean, simple design a lot, and I like that how strong he is.

Years ago, in the Pokemon anime there was a character named Tobias who literally came out of nowhere during the Pokemon League tournament finals and his character was "special" because he had a legendary Pokemon on his team which was unheard of.

This character had no background, no story, no motivation. He was literally just a super tough guy in the final rounds of the tournament for Ash to fight. When Ash beat his legendary Pokemon, it turns out he had another one in tow. Again, for literally no reason. Just because he was that strong.

This is because Tobias wasn't a character per se, but more so a vehicle that the writers can use to demonstrate that Ash has a long way to go before becoming a Pokemon Master.

Jiren is literally the same medium. His character isn't what's important. It's what he represents for Son Goku. I wouldn't be surprised if the ToP is the last we ever hear of him. In fact, Jiren might be considered a Diablos Ex Machina.

Good comparison.

[BlueVegerot]

i still don't understand what toei is waiting for with jiren. not only did he get 0 pre tournament screentime but in the 3 episodes focused on him we got diddly squat out him. I'm no expert on storytelling but i don't think giving us info and fleshing him out when there is 2 minutes left in the tournament is a good idea. Not to mention that the way he is in the manga would somewhat explain why he does basically does the minimum during the tournament.