Do you think Broly represents what dragon ball is

[Totamo]

You know what I mean. This has been said before on countless videos.

[ABED]

God, no. The fights in the movies aren't all that great and his character isn't particularly funny. The action and the humor are what DB is known for and he's lacking in both.

[sintzu]

Not even close as DB has interesting characters and development while Broly is just a mindless powerhouse.

[precita]

To casuals, Dragonball is just mindless screaming and fighting with guys with spikey hair and huge muscles.

So....yes?

[ABED]

To casuals, Dragonball is just mindless screaming and fighting with guys with spikey hair and huge muscles.

So....yes?

But that's not a fair assessment, at all. I don't even think that's the perception amongst casual fans. I think that's the perception among DB's detractors, and it's very reductive.

[Jackalope89]

To casuals, Dragonball is just mindless screaming and fighting with guys with spikey hair and huge muscles.

So....yes?

But that's not a fair assessment, at all. I don't even think that's the perception amongst casual fans. I think that's the perception among DB's detractors, and it's very reductive.

Among those barely familiar with the series beyond seeing muscular guys punch each other or scream for fight minutes? You'd be surprised.

[ABED]

That was my point - amongst people that haven't watched it and don't like it, that's how they see it.

[DragonBallFoodie]

There is only one character who represents what Dragon Ball is.

[Zephyr]

Broly's got nothing on this particular 30 second video. Or, well, the film it's from in general, but if you were to distill the film down to something bite sized for the sake of brevity, this would be a top contender.

Musically, we hear a mixture of Piccolo's sinister theme and the whimsical Makafushigi Adventure, perfectly encapsulating the grand synthesis of tones that the series excels at, all with the martial arts/wuxia genre stylings of Kikuchi's soundtrack.

Visually, we have Minoru Maeda's talent on full display, giving us a well-animated representation of what I'd comfortably call Dragon Ball's most appealing art style, complete with high speed asskicking, and a large ki blast explosion at the end.

Narratively, I think Goku's rivalry with Piccolo is among the most iconic stretches of the story, elucidating the backstory and origins of the titular objects at one end, and the protagonist himself on the other. This film exists at the center of that specific stretch, where they're still enemies, but they're also at the point where they're willing to work together when the situation requires it.

Another thing the film as a whole does well, I feel, is representing the series holistically. The film's plot exists during the timeskip between the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai arc and the Saiyan arc, the last arc of Dragon Ball and the first arc of Dragon Ball Z, respectively; the film in general (along with the two aforementioned arcs) really represents the wholeness and oneness of a singular series that is all too commonly treated as two distinct ones, showing how arbitrary the distinction between them really is.

[Basaku]

No but he's closer to representing it with Super and Goku's dumbified fighting nutso persona than it used to be the case during DBZ.

[ABED]

No but he's closer to representing it with Super and Goku's dumbified fighting nutso persona than it used to be the case during DBZ.

Goku wanting nothing more than to fight isn't remotely new.

[Kakarot]

No but he's closer to representing it with Super and Goku's dumbified fighting nutso persona than it used to be the case during DBZ.

Goku wanting nothing more than to fight isn't remotely new.

The difference between Akira Toriyama's interpretation of Goku and Toei's was obvious the most during the Zamasu saga. His intelligence and personality felt much too different from how Toriyama wrote him. In my opinion.

[nickzambuto]

I was going to say he represents Dragon Ball to the casual fanbase, but I don't think even that is quite right. I agree with what was said above; the mindless muscles and action and screaming are what detractors of Dragon Ball boil it down to.

[Cetra]

No but he's closer to representing it with Super and Goku's dumbified fighting nutso persona than it used to be the case during DBZ.

Goku wanting nothing more than to fight isn't remotely new.

The difference between Akira Toriyama's interpretation of Goku and Toei's was obvious the most during the Zamasu saga. His intelligence and personality felt much too different from how Toriyama wrote him. In my opinion.

Goku does not really have two interpretations. Toriyama-san is just very focused on pointing out the self-centred part while Toei was very focused pointing out the kind-hearted part, making it seem like there are two characters instead of one who actually has all of these traits. Both are over-highlighting things then. And in case of Super so much actually that it pretty much feels like the message of "btw he's self-centered you knew that, right? right? right?" is constantly given which is also not really the most recommendable way of telling such a thing.

And while Broly does not really represent Dragon Ball overall he does indeed portray a good job of what is liked by many fans. Some do not need more than that.

[wolflonnie]

Not at all.
For one, he doesn't represent the wacky comedy that Tory loves.

[TheShadowEmperor8055]

I like Broly, but Dragon Ball is more than just him. Agreed with the assessment that detractors think Broly is the personification of what Dragon Ball is.

[GamerSkull]

I think there is a good portion of the fanbase that cares more about power levels and who can beat who instead of having a good story with tasteful action in it.

I guess in a way, Broly represents how the fandom cares more about power than actual characters (not saying that's the case on this forum though).

I don't understand Broly's popularity... because apart from his absurd power, he doesn't really come off as a character with any real depth to him (compared to other DB characters anyway).

[MrWalnut4]

There is a reason the "WHEN BROLY" meme persisted with TFS. Broly represents the sort of teen angst version of Dragon Ball that many casual viewers have: Dragon Ball as purely ultra buff dudes beating each other up with punches and energy blasts until the heroes inevitably win. Despite that, Dragon Ball is much more. I doubt I have to explain the depth of the series to anyone on this forum who has taken the time to discover it. Even modern Dragon Ball is more than just fighting. Humor and themes of family, friendship, and self-improvement have persisted despite the generational gap in the series. So no, Broly is not Dragon Ball. But he is to a certain surface-level portion of the fandom that is rarely found in these parts.

[ABED]

I think there is a good portion of the fanbase that cares more about power levels and who can beat who instead of having a good story with tasteful action in it.

I guess in a way, Broly represents how the fandom cares more about power than actual characters (not saying that's the case on this forum though).

I don't understand Broly's popularity... because apart from his absurd power, he doesn't really come off as a character with any real depth to him (compared to other DB characters anyway).

I dunno. Not to come off as condescending, but I think a good amount of people aren't good at introspection. I think they do like DB for reasons they don't fully understand and thus can't articulate, so the surface level stuff, like power levels and such, is the best answers they have.

I don't understand Broly's popularity

Cool design and he's a wrecking machine.

[dbs fanboy]

Hell no, db is not about simply fighting and screaming, i mean, fighting and screaming is a part of it but not everything. This series is more about comedy, awesome characters and fighting in between. Broly is not actually the definition of a "funny" character and he's not even an interesting villain outside of being really strong (and his backstory).

No but he's closer to representing it with Super and Goku's dumbified fighting nutso persona than it used to be the case during DBZ.

Not even in super, not now that the "his form" is gone (hopefully forever).