Were 17 and 18 more popular than Cell in Japan?

[DestructoDisc]

I noticed that Cell doesn't really appear much in anything. If you ignore the illusion of him in that Krillin episode, he's the only big bad from Z to not be seen in Super at all. 17 and 18 on the other hand appear in pretty much everything. 18 was one of the main characters in FighterZ while 17 was a big player in Super's tournament of power and got a lot of screentime. The 2 also had a mini arc in GT. Were they more popular than Cell in Japan?

[Toxin45]

Well Cell's figures sold less compared to Frieza who appeared in more arcs than cell and has action figures sold more he returned in Resurrection F and Tournament of Power.Future Trunks also returns in super and 17 and 18 became pretty popular more so than cell. Plus Cell is a pain to draw so yeah Cell is less popular in Japan.

[sintzu]

I noticed that Cell doesn't really appear much in anything. If you ignore the illusion of him in that Krillin episode, he's the only big bad from Z to not be seen in Super at all. 17 and 18 on the other hand appear in pretty much everything. 18 was one of the main characters in FighterZ while 17 was a big player in Super's tournament of power and got a lot of screentime. The 2 also had a mini arc in GT. Were they more popular than Cell in Japan?

I think it has more to do with them being alive and on the heroes side rather than being more popular.

[Kunzait_83]

I can't speak for today, but back during the Cell arc's original run? No way. Cell was massively more visible and marketed than #17 and #18 were. The twins were certainly put out there for sure, and they by all means had a fan following (especially 18; she got a whole lot of love and attention in many fan circles): but Cell was definitely overall the more aggressively, outwardly visible on all promotion and in video games and other assorted DBZ media at the time (early through mid 90s).

Honestly I was originally at the time (during GT's original Japanese airing) somewhat taken aback - albeit pleasantly so - that #17 was brought back to the degree that he was in GT. 18 was more of a darling in fanfic/fan art types of circles, and Cell was massively hyped up by the series' promotion overall: 17, by contrast, often seemed like he fell by the wayside in comparison, despite having his own smaller following and having that one stunning, show-stopping fight with Piccolo during the mid-Cell arc. Typically whenever 17 was brought up in discussion, it was usually almost ALWAYS in relation to 18: 18 would come up in fan discourse much more often as her own individual entity than 17 would be on his own.

Whatever their status has been over in Japan in recent years, I honestly cannot say. But back in the early/mid 90s, the relative pecking order for them (in terms of general fan popularity and overall visibility) went something like: Cell > 18 > 17.

[Toxin45]

I can't speak for today, but back during the Cell arc's original run? No way. Cell was massively more visible and marketed than #17 and #18 were. The twins were certainly put out there for sure, and they by all means had a fan following (especially 18; she got a whole lot of love and attention in many fan circles): but Cell was definitely overall the more aggressively, outwardly visible on all promotion and in video games and other assorted DBZ media at the time (early through mid 90s).

Honestly I was originally at the time (during GT's original Japanese airing) somewhat taken aback - albeit pleasantly so - that #17 was brought back to the degree that he was in GT. 18 was more of a darling in fanfic/fan art types of circles, and Cell was massively hyped up by the series' promotion overall: 17, by contrast, often seemed like he fell by the wayside in comparison, despite having his own smaller following and having that one stunning, show-stopping fight with Piccolo during the mid-Cell arc. Typically whenever 17 was brought up in discussion, it was usually almost ALWAYS in relation to 18: 18 would come up in fan discourse much more often as her own individual entity than 17 would be on his own.

Whatever their status has been over in Japan in recent years, I honestly cannot say. But back in the early/mid 90s, the relative pecking order for them (in terms of general fan popularity and overall visibility) went something like: Cell > 18 > 17.

Yeah but modern dragon ball made 17 and 18 a little more popular than Cell now. Super made 17 popular more than he was in the past alongside future trunks and frieza than cell was back in the days

[Polyphase Avatron]

I thought Cell didn't appear as much because his color scheme made him hard to animate.