This thread has got SPOILERS splashed throughout. I don't think that ABED is looking for specific in-universe reasons for why he should, or should not, get around to watching this series. I know that it's Super and all, but still...
If I'd known that Freeza was going to survive the events on Namek, or that Cell was going to come back (even stronger!) after Goku had made the decision to trade in his life, those moments wouldn't have even been shocking or impactful going into it.
If you treasure Kikuchi's original soundtrack,Tokunaga's GT score, or even Yamamoto's Kai soundtrack, it's going to be a slog for you to try getting along with Sumitomo's score and placement for Super. It's not something that can be pushed to the back of your viewing experience, because it's so ever-present and overbearing, imo. It tries too hard to dictate how you should feel about a scene, everytime. The general presentation with OP/ED songs are also below the standards previously set. I could keep harping on the negatives of this area, but I'll stop there.
As Kunzait said, the broader concepts are actually really great here -- but as is so often mentioned -- the execution has been a big miss. I can't help but think that had these concepts been given life in anime form to the in-full-swing 90's production of the brand (by a non-burned out Toriyama), these stories would've been very memorable and enduring, and the differences in quality of presentation compared with the current era of the franchise would be highly noticeable. I will go as far to say that as fact (even though it's still technically hyperbole).
I didn't even make it to episode #10 a couple years back before I had dialed down to 'very occasional viewer' status. I then got caught up to around episode #45 or so, and went on a long hiatus (about 30 episodes) because the series quality was bottom-of-the-barrel as a DB series, imo. I found that when I finally went back and marathoned through the episodes that I'd missed, it was much easier to get along with. So, marathoning should be more beneficial in your experience of this series. It's fun, stupid-fun, or cute mostly, so don't expect much -- if anything -- in the way of tension or buildup.
I'd also been one to wave the Toriyama flag when this series was announced, but after just a few episodes in, the luster of a new DB series quickly faded. As the series has gone on, it's been made more clear that Toriyama is not as much involved than by little more than name alone, as his name simply being attached to this seems to be more like a strategic selling point by Shueisha/TOEI. Corporate hands are all over this thing, like Disney and "politically correct" are all over everything. I applaud Toriyama for speaking up publicly about his dissatisfaction of the quality of the series from a while back.
Anyway, precita summed up nicely why I'm at the Super party:
And with some of that negativity aside, I'd still recommend that you at least try Super out, as contadictory as that may read. I hope to see your thoughts down the road.precita wrote:I also think Super will be remembered more fondly when it ends, as this is likely going to be both Toriyama and Mosaka Nozawa's last Dragonball related series. So if you want to watch the last series where you'll hear Goku's original VA, and likely the last one with Toriyama's involvement...this is pretty much the "last hurrah" for the original staff.
