Buu makes no sense to me

[Kokonoe]

A really well designed villain with creative design, but the facts involving said character(s) confuse me to no end. Perhaps you guys might be able to make sense of this.

Topic 1
Buu can absorb someone regardless of their power level and immediately shrink them into miniature size and entrap them into small pods inside his body. When they leave his body, they return to normal size some how. I legit do not understand this at all. To add to this, Fat Buu is inside Buuhan, so does that mean that some how there is a pod of Grand Supreme Kai inside Fat Buu while Fat Buu is in a pod inside Buuhan?

Topic 2
Evil Buu separates from Fat Buu, but this makes no sense. How can there be two Buus when Fat Buu only exists because he absorbed the Grand Supreme Kai and it ended up effecting Buu's personality and appearance. If he spat out the dark side, that' be literally just spitting out Buu and thus there'd only be Grand Supreme Kai.

Topic 3
When Buu absorbs Grand Supreme Kai, his personality dramatically changes. Why isn't the same done when he absorbs the Z Fighters?

[Zephyr]

Topic 1
Buu can absorb someone regardless of their power level and immediately shrink them into miniature size and entrap them into small pods inside his body. When they leave his body, they return to normal size some how. I legit do not understand this at all.

The magical Buu essence that surrounds them and makes them small is no longer surrounding them and keeping them small, and so they return to normal.

Fat Buu is inside Buuhan, so does that mean that some how there is a pod of Grand Supreme Kai inside Fat Buu while Fat Buu is in a pod inside Buuhan?

Nothing necessarily rules this out, though I prefer to believe that eventually those inside of the pods dissolve and become permanently part of Buu.

If he spat out the dark side, that' be literally just spitting out Buu and thus there'd only be Grand Supreme Kai.

This is part of the reason I prefer to believe that the Kaioshin are now permanently a part of Fat Buu.

Topic 3
When Buu absorbs Grand Supreme Kai, his personality dramatically changes. Why isn't the same done when he absorbs the Z Fighters?

Could have something to do with Kaioshin magic and Buu's magic being extra wonky when combined. Could involve the Kaioshin being gods, while Gotenks and co. aren't.

[precita]

Buu is magic. He's not an alien.

He's basically a magical creature, same reason Babidi is like a wizard. He's not supposed to make sense in traditional terms, hence why he can turn people into candy.

[Zephyr]

I mean, he is an alien. But he's also magic. It's Dragon Ball.

[TheMikado]

Buu is magic and some of it Toriyama was winging it.

[TheZFighter]

Buu doesn't actually appear in our world so there is no need to try and apply "our world's" logic.

[Lord Beerus]

Majin Boo does't need to make sense. He's magic and an alien. The deadly duo of plot tropes that allow you to make more excuses with plot inconsistency than usual. And Dragon Ball in the past is already quite guilt with breaking it own rules. But that in an ironic twist, is part of Dragon Ball and Toriyama's charm. Because it really emphasizes the authentic nature of how Toriyama constructs the plot with how he writes by the seat of his pants. Some people may not appreciate it, but I do. It just makes Dragon Ball feel the more authentic and natural with the narrative flows. It's more apparent that the man behind Dragon Ball is thinking of the most instinctively creative way of moving forward the plot.

[8000 Saiyan]

It's an anime, and things that happen in anime don't happen in real life.

[Arugela]

I'm kind of confused now as to why we don't see grand supreme kais from other universes.... If that existed in universe 7 should that not mean each uni should have one?! Where are they now?

[precita]

I'm kind of confused now as to why we don't see grand supreme kais from other universes.... If that existed in universe 7 should that not mean each uni should have one?! Where are they now?

People like to think the Kai's we see at the TOP *are* the Grand Supreme Kai's of the other universes. Meaning the 4 Supreme Kai's, etc. aren't there for all the other universes.

[Zephyr]

Yeah, I think the implication is that Shin and his cardinal brethren were in the same position before Buu's slaughter as Zamasu was before he went off the deep end.

[Kokonoe]

It's an anime, and things that happen in anime don't happen in real life.

This is the worst argument I've ever seen. No offense, but stating such an obvious sentence and glossing over the fact that there are many variables in anime that do make actual sense within the world or has parallels with real world logic.

Does Goku need to eat? Yes.
Do the fighters get stronger when they train? Yes.
Are men and women capable of having children together in the series? Yes.

Just because Goku can send out huge energy blasts from his hands doesn't mean there isn't a general logic applied to the world. Even merely stating something is "magic" isn't enough because magic would in turn have to make sense for its intended purpose. For example: Majin Buu can turn people into chocolate with a laser beam from his antenna. Ok, we know why that works cause it's magic. But stuff like, for example, their bodies being shrunken and placed somewhere in a gooey like body that has been beaten and blasted by enemies, despite who's still inside the him and them being perfectly intact makes no actual sense, even if you include fictional magic.

[ABED]

It's called magic. It doesn't have to be logical in the real world, just logical based on the story's internal logic.

despite who's still inside the him and them being perfectly intact makes no actual sense

That makes sense. He's magic. Everything in his body is fine because his body is fine due to magic.

include fictional magic.

As opposed to real magic?

[Zephyr]

their bodies being shrunken and placed somewhere in a gooey like body that has been beaten and blasted by enemies, despite who's still inside the him and them being perfectly intact makes no actual sense, even if you include fictional magic.

When Buu is blasted to bits, his bits are generally still around, hence his ability to regenerate. These bits are small, sometimes even so small that they're like smoke. There's nothing inconsistent about the pods inside of him being able to shrink even further, so as to be able to be contained inside of these molecular Buu bits. They were able to be shrunk to begin with, why can't they shrink further?

Moreover, it's Dragon Ball, not everything's supposed to completely make sense, and you'll never see everything actually do so. I think one's suspension of disbelief needs to line up with what things can be reasonably be expected from the artist's specific brand and flavor and style. Toriyama's a gag artist at heart, and that nature really shines through in the Buu arc.

[Kokonoe]

It's called magic. It doesn't have to be logical in the real world, just logical based on the story's internal logic.

despite who's still inside the him and them being perfectly intact makes no actual sense

That makes sense. He's magic. Everything in his body is fine because his body is fine due to magic.

That's pretty much what I just said. It doesn't have to make sense to our logic, but to the logic of the world.

their bodies being shrunken and placed somewhere in a gooey like body that has been beaten and blasted by enemies, despite who's still inside the him and them being perfectly intact makes no actual sense, even if you include fictional magic.

When Buu is blasted to bits, his bits are generally still around, hence his ability to regenerate. These bits are small, sometimes even so small that they're like smoke. There's nothing inconsistent about the pods inside of him being able to shrink even further, so as to be able to be contained inside of these molecular Buu bits. They were able to be shrunk to begin with, why can't they shrink further?

Moreover, it's Dragon Ball, not everything's supposed to completely make sense, and you'll never see everything actually do so. I think one's suspension of disbelief needs to line up with what things can be reasonably be expected from the artist's specific brand and flavor and style. Toriyama's a gag artist at heart, and that nature really shines through in the Buu arc.

Well here's where I have an issue with it. There are times where fights occur and he gets blasted, or split into pieces yet the pods are still there inside him at a default size the entire time. There's nothing to ascertain that they shrink even further, I mean if they could shrink further, Buu could've merely shrunk Goku and Vegeta until they were irrelevant. Not just that, but as I was stating previously, Buu gets damaged throughout the fights and potentially could lose said pods if they don't go back to his body.

The character is really cool, but a lot of the writing for him I feel there wasn't enough effort into all these variables and it deserves criticism regardless of how successful the series is or how many people like Buu (myself included).

[ABED]

You wrote "that's pretty much what I said" and then go on to say what you said before about the pods not being destroyed or shrank or whatever after his body has been blasted and the pods are still okay and how that doesn't make sense. It's magic. That's how it makes sense.

[Zephyr]

There are times where fights occur and he gets blasted, or split into pieces yet the pods are still there inside him at a default size the entire time.

Was there ever a time where it showed Buu blasted to bits and then it immediately showed us the pods inside of him with full confirmation of how large they are? I just checked the manga, and there are none. Hell, there's not a single moment after absorption happens (or showing that the pods are a thing) where Buu gets blown to bits at all! Unless this happened in the anime, you're citing sequences that didn't happen.

Of course, there's Mr. Buu, who was later revealed to have been placed into a pod after being eaten, and Buu was indeed blown to bits after eating him. Unfortunately for the validity of this particular gripe, they in fact never show us the pod that Mr. Buu is in during the period where the evil Buu is in pieces. So.....there's never an instance where Buu is in pieces and they simultaneously show us the pods at their default size. So any assertion of anything having been going on "the entire time" is being made based on incomplete evidence. And, given the breadth of circumstances being commented on, having complete information is sort of important.

There's nothing to ascertain that they shrink even further

I mean, other than the fact that they're still there inside of him, rather than outside of him, after all of those times he's been blown to bits. I mean, honestly, what makes less sense here: that they leave his body when it is divided and just poof back into it at some point, or that they shrink in order to stay inside when his body is divided? The former would seem to necessitate that Buu loses his absorptions temporarily. The subsequent drop in ki would surely have been commented on in the RoSaT by Piccolo and Gotenks, if they had actually undone Buu's recent powerup (which had just recently scared them shitless) just by blasting him.

I just think that opens up more sticky cans of worms than just assuming "oh they just shrink more to stay inside the body".

if they could shrink further, Buu could've merely shrunk Goku and Vegeta until they were irrelevant

That Buu's body shrinks them doesn't necessitate that Buu is the one consciously shrinking them. That Buu literally has a restroom emergency suggests (at least in the anime) that he doesn't control 100% of his bodily functions.

a lot of the writing for him I feel there wasn't enough effort into all these variables and it deserves criticism

Gonna have to super disagree here. That Toriyama continued drawing this shit for this long after he'd already hit the series' logical apex with Freeza, and continued to make it as well done and entertaining as it was, is nothing short of admirable. He's more than entitled to throw caution to the wind and make an absolutely bonkers finale. In-universe consistency and making complete sense isn't what makes Dragon Ball appealing, and it's not something Dragon Ball is particular great at in the first place. That this shit was made up as it went along and makes as much sense as it already does is miraculous and indicative of a great deal of effort. Or, at least as much effort as could be reasonably expected of someone who'd been long since burnt out on drawing this stuff for 10 years.

It's one thing to criticize something for not making 100% complete sense (and again, when it comes to a series that is at least in part a gag manga, that criticism seems ultimately ill-placed), but it's another entirely to suggest that it not making complete sense is indicative of "not enough effort". Sometimes it takes a herculean effort just to keep something this long as fresh as it is, something this unplanned as well-written as it is.

[ABED]

Magic is by definition illogical. It's non-causal. If it was causal, it would be science. It can work however a writer wants.

[ekrolo2]

Boo's form mechanics kind of irk me despite the "he's magic!" thing. Grey Boo eats Fat Boo and that makes Super Boo... but taking Fat Boo out makes Kid Boo... Why?

[ABED]

Boo's form mechanics kind of irk me despite the "he's magic!" thing. Grey Boo eats Fat Boo and that makes Super Boo... but taking Fat Boo out makes Kid Boo... Why?

That however is something that doesn't make sense even in universe.