Why is Goten still a kid in Modern Dragon Ball?

[JohnnyCashKami]

TOEI showed what Goten would be as a teenager in Dragon Ball GT but in Dragon Ball Super they regressed back to making him a kid again. I mean, why? Yes, he looks really cute and adorable but they shouldn't limit him to always being a child character.

[spoiler][/spoiler]
Gohan eventually grew to being an adult.

[spoiler][/spoiler]

[TrunksTrevelyan0064]

The only in-universe explanation I can think of is that maybe Goten and Trunks are like Goku, in that they remain child-sized until at least 15 and then suddenly get a growth spurt somewhere within the subsequent three years. Future Trunks contradicts that, but you could say that's just more timeline shenanigans randomly changing things for no reason.

[coola]

Until they finally get out of Majin Buu - End Of Z period, i dont see it happen

[sintzu]

Because the people running it are too afraid to move away from DB's classic image. They didn't even let Goku and Vegeta keep their new RF outfits.

[Grimlock]

TOEI showed what Goten would be as a teenager in Dragon Ball GT

Goten is 22 in Dragon Ball GT.

but in Dragon Ball Super they regressed back to making him a kid again. I mean, why?

Because people responsible for this thing is afraid of leaving the safe zone. Also, since Dragon Ball (mainly the main series) is all about money/merchandising, let's keep it in a way that is most common for everyone, making easier to sell.

[JohnnyCashKami]

Goten is 22 in Dragon Ball GT.

Huh, color me surprised. I didn't know or think he'd be a 22 year old character because he looks similarly sized to Pre-Adolescent Gohan (aka "Teen Gohan").

Thanks for that.

[Big Boss]

Because Toei are terrified that if they age up Goten and Trunks, the series will fail. They're convinced that the success of the franchise hinges on them still looking like kids and expect the majority of fans to sit back and take it and that we're too stupid to notice.

It get's worse though, because Marron is an even more ridiculous case. She is supposed to be what, 9? Yet she still looks and acts like a 3 year old. There is no in-universe explanation for that, unless you want to do some serious mental gymnastics about #18 being a cyborg so her DNA is messed up from the Gero alterations, causing Marron to age slower.

[GT_Goten10]

His character&personality has to change drastically in the next Timeskip(should we even get one)

[JulieYBM]

Toriyama or executives don't see the need to. They associate adult Goten and Trunks with the others turning into older people.

[MyVisionity]

Goten is 22 in Dragon Ball GT.

Huh, color me surprised. I didn't know or think he'd be a 22 year old character because he looks similarly sized to Pre-Adolescent Gohan (aka "Teen Gohan").

Thanks for that.

Goten may very well have supposed to been a teenager in GT. The studio may have just ignored the official timeline/ages. Remember that Bra, who was likely supposed to have been a teenager in GT, was officially around nine or ten.

[RandomGuy96]

The same reasons that 14-year-old Trunks looks like he's 6 in the new movie. Laziness and merchandising.

[sunsetshimmer]

Because DBS = Dragon Ball Safe

Goten's kid look is well known, popular and safe
The same goes for Trunks.

DBS never tried to change anything. They were too afraid.
They knew DBZ is the most popular and decided to stick with it instead of coming with something new and original and risking DBS ratings.
Entire DBS feels like another episode of Buu saga because of that.
I'm still surprised Videl is actually so different in both design and personality.

[PFM18]

They are characters that are so inconsequential that it probably doesn't matter too much to the staff.(nor should it) Their niche is that they are silly little kids and until Bra and Pan grow up that will be their niche.

[SSJgogeto]

They knew DBZ is the most popular and decided to stick with it instead of coming with something new and original and risking DBS ratings.

I'm trying to understand how they would risk the ratings making Goten and Trunks look older.

[Tai Lung]

bulma is the age of 38, when they should have 42 or 43
for me it is obvious that there was a "retcon" with the 4 years for the battle of the gods
if only 2 years have passed, goten is only 9 years old
also has to see the animation style the current movie, seems that most looks younger

I like teen goten, but if we are sincere in the epilogue technically dedicated to having a life out of the fights and dragon ball gt did not give them a different focus, goten is just as lazy ..

[JohnnyCashKami]

I'm trying to understand how they would risk the ratings making Goten and Trunks look older.

DB Super already had its issues so evolving characters wouldn't be much of a problem and that'd likely make some or even a lot happy.

I miss Teen Goten (or Adult Goten, officially) but he only appeared in one DB series.

[Alruneia]

No need to bring up GT Goten when EoZ Goten exists.
But I think it comes down to three main reasons:
1. Modern Dragon Ball attempts to have as little time pass as possible so that they can cram the current timeframe full of stories.
2. People (on average) don't really care much about Goten and Trunks, so no one (Toei officials etc.) asks Toriyama write something big for them (which would lead to redesigns before too long), so Goten and Trunks don't get to do anything, which causes people to care less about them. Vicious cycle.
3. Goten and Trunks are an attempt to let kids self-insert. They might be afraid to lose that.

It gets worse though, because Marron is an even more ridiculous case. She is supposed to be what, 9? Yet she still looks and acts like a 3 year old. There is no in-universe explanation for that, unless you want to do some serious mental gymnastics about #18 being a cyborg so her DNA is messed up from the Gero alterations, causing Marron to age slower.

There's no good in-universe excuse on this one, no. Is Marron just going to suddenly get a mental "growth spurt"? That's kinda hard to believe. (In regards to her looks, you can hide behind her going through puberty and say that she switches from looking like Krillin to looking like 18. EoZ Marron is 13 years old, after all. It's not a very satisfying explanation, though.)

[PsionicWarrior]

I don't mind Goten being a kid but I do mind him never growing up, plus it looks like he shrank in Super lol
In the logic he should be a teenager in Super and Pan should be the new awesome kid for the younger audience lol

[Attitudefan]

Well, when Toei tried to do new things, changing the look of all the characters with a large time skip, it didn't do too well. That was GT. I know it is a bit of a cop out, but I am sure that since GT didn't do well by going in a very different direction compared to the original series--from character designs to music and colour palette being vastly different--the Super creative and executive team probably didn't want to chance a repeat of GT. That's my guess at least and if it is true, going safe worked better for them. Super is vastly more popular than GT ever was.

[Lord Beerus]

Because the almighty Yen has a significant bearing on the direction of Dragon Ball these days and Gotenks moves merch more than Teen Goten would.