"Dragon Ball Super (Manga)" Official Discussion Thread

[FortuneSSJ]

Volume 19 Cover:

Spoiler:

Cute!

The idea is cool, but I'm not fan of the art.

[nineko]

Very nice cover indeed!

[Draconic]

I could nitpick the hell out of that cover, but credit where credit is due. That's incredible!

[Mr Baggins]

Well, that cover certainly reflects the volume's content in its glorification of Saiyan collectivism and Cool Guy Bardock. And let's totally not forget to include that little shit named Raditz. There are (and have been) more nuanced ways to portray Goku's heritage, but I digress. I've ranted about that far too often at this point.

At least the art looks nice.

[Grimlock]

Waking up to Bardock trending, goes to check why, and see a lot of negativity towards one of (if not) the greatest piece of modern art related to Dragon Ball. To the point of people nitpicking Raditz being there "when he wasn't there in the story" in a cover art, which we know (or we should know, though I think I expect too much from people) they don't reflect the story. I, for one, never saw Goku driving Formula 1 cars in the story. *sigh*

But you know what? Nah, the man himself said it best:




Complaints and nitpicks about cover arts... Things are a lot worse and more concerning than I thought it was...

[Mr Baggins]

To the point of people nitpicking Raditz being there "when he wasn't there in the story" in a cover art, which we know

Raditz shouldn't be there even symbolically. He has no connection to his family, and doesn't give two shits about them. His role in the Saiyan arc goes out of its way to show how little he cares for the concept. There's a reason that Broly never shows him interacting with his parents, or has him literally saying he didn't care whether his brother survived his planet's destruction.

It is a minor issue, to be clear. There have been worse covers within the Super manga.

[Grimlock]

There's a reason that Broly never shows him interacting with his parents

Yes, and the reason is either cut content from the movie or Toriyama not knowing how to depict family bond. One would be excused for using "Saiyans don't have much of a concept of family" he said, but this is seen everywhere, even humans. Characters strangely don't care about their relatives in this franchise, no matter the race.

[Shorty GZ2]

To the point of people nitpicking Raditz being there "when he wasn't there in the story" in a cover art, which we know

Raditz shouldn't be there even symbolically. He has no connection to his family, and doesn't give two shits about them. His role in the Saiyan arc goes out of its way to show how little he cares for the concept. There's a reason that Broly never shows him interacting with his parents, or has him literally saying he didn't care whether his brother survived his planet's destruction.

It is a minor issue, to be clear. There have been worse covers within the Super manga.

Raditz is just there in the ripples of water with the rest of the Bardock family doing the Minus thing for the "eldest son of the family" parallel with Gohan as part of the "wow this is the family in the past that could've been akin to the family in the present" (noting that none of em are happy there compared to the smiling Son Family on the bulk of the cover) 2deep4me parallel/symbolism or whatever, not much more or deeper than that; also partly amusing that by this point in the whole family picture, he's the only one as an individual without any even-nominal redemptive acts or aspects lmao

As for your point earlier, his scene in Broly does add him directly noting his mom did tell him that Kakarot was sent away as a follow up to Gine saying she'd do so, and Bardock in original Minus does pay enough mind to Raditz to ask how he's doing. Plus, in Raditz's 1st appearance, that his and Goku's parents died is something he does make a clear point to mention (granted, as part of his sales pitch to recruit Goku/get him up to speed), which one could read some amount of attachment there.

[Dragmobot12]

Imagine if this were true, the manga would be so much better if these two collaborated. Personally, it would also be a little interesting to see how far their imagination can go.

[Mr Baggins]

Yes, and the reason is either cut content from the movie or Toriyama not knowing how to depict family bond.

No, the reason is his contrast to Goku when it comes to their treatment of family; he's a conniving, nephew-stealing bastard whose only relation or similarity to the guy who'd just been portrayed as a loving new father is that they share the same blood. That's preserved in the movie when he and Vegeta didn't flinch after learning their homeland and relatives were annihilated.

Like, that's the entire subtext of Raditz's character. How is this even a debate? Toriyama was depicting family bonds in his introductory arc.

"wow this is the family in the past that could've been akin to the family in the present"

As far as authorial intent goes, I agree. Bardock's family is clearly distraught compared to Goku's, and it's because of Bardock's actions in the first place that Goku is even allowed his own circumstances. I've always appreciated that aspect of his backstory.

Still, Raditz being there rubs me the wrong way. It's a nice looking cover, though, and I'll admit that any tonal misgivings I might have with it go no further than the ones I already have with the arc.

Imagine if this were true, the manga would be so much better if these two collaborated.

I can't say I care for the idea, but I'm always willing to give the execution a chance. I'm not a fan of Nagayama's stuff. I hope it's fake.

[Geraldo]

Next chapter (87) will most likely have Elec wishing to merge with 7-3 on a cellular level; he will manage to copy the fainted Gas' power level and will draw out Merus' copied strength - which kept the android alive after moro exploded and died - to add to Gas' power. Thus, forcing Granolah, Goku and Vegeta to fight him till November. To buy time for another saga to begin in the twilight of the next year to come (as was with moro and this arc).

If I was the one dictating the story, I would have Maki the sole Heeter to survive and have her run to her former boyfriend: Bojack, a notorious gangster who's the dictator of the Heeters' home planet. He works under Frieza but sets his eyes on getting rid of him and of the Earth's Saiyans and to assure his control of the universe.

[Hellspawn28]

Imagine if this were true, the manga would be so much better if these two collaborated. Personally, it would also be a little interesting to see how far their imagination can go.

I find this to be too believe to true seeing that anyone can make a leak on 4chan. A horror theme story would be cool since we haven't had one. I always wanted to see a vampire theme villain that is actually serious and evil unlike Lucifer in Sleeping Princess in Devil's Castle.

[Bardock God of Time]

Imagine if this were true, the manga would be so much better if these two collaborated. Personally, it would also be a little interesting to see how far their imagination can go.

I want to see a Necromancer, someone who brings back zombies versions of characters that have died before. Of course you'd have basic zombies that can barely do anything - unless they work like a hivemind and he gives the zombies knowledge of ki...

They could bring back a zombie version of Grandpa Gohan to psychologically abuse Goku

Maybe bring up the stakes and have the zombies contain the souls of the victims and if you destroy the zombies - you destroy their souls too. (I guess that's where Super Dragon Balls come into place at the end of the arc or something)

Can you imagine if characters could also get infected - maybe the villain kills Bulma and brings her back as a Zombie, I don't want to see Vegeta cry

[ChronoTwigger]

The target, guys, don't forget the target. The japanese "horror" meaning. And the need for hype (they cannot say "prepare for an usual default arc with nothing interesting!")
They will fight a yokai, and that's all. Or a demon.

And it's Toyotaro: 10% of premise, 90% of punches (mostly traced from previous punches). So they can fight aliens, cats, robots, demons, zombies... everything is about moving the clinged fist on the face of a target for an entire year.

I'm a bit worried of this. "Do whatever" is again an hint that Super had become a "monster of the week" brand that can run forever without any real long term narrative left. "Do whatever: it matter nothing", is how I read it.

[danyq94]

Imagine if this were true, the manga would be so much better if these two collaborated. Personally, it would also be a little interesting to see how far their imagination can go.

I searched that thread, so I can directly post the image here.
I don't know if it is real or fake (it is probably fake), however, it is still interesting.

[Trouser]

Oh, cool, a non-canon story!

[Dragmobot12]

Imagine if this were true, the manga would be so much better if these two collaborated. Personally, it would also be a little interesting to see how far their imagination can go.

I searched that thread, so I can directly post the image here.
I don't know if it is real or fake (it is probably fake), however, it is still interesting.

I'm sure it's fake because the Japanese in that pic is so broken that even I can spot it, but I brought it up because it's really interesting to me since, if you notice, Dragon Ball seems to be following a formula that can be pinpointed in these two previous arcs, so if Nagayama was the author of the new story, it would be a breath of fresh air, in my opinion.

[Bardock God of Time]

Whether it's fake or real, I'm still interested in whatever the next arc will be

[Hellspawn28]

Oh, cool, a non-canon story!

I feel like the word canon has no meaning to it anymore. The original manga, DBS, GT, Heroes, etc are their own thing that are set in their own continuity. The franchise is like how Godzilla, Halloween, etc are with them having their own timelines and stuff.

[Kaboom]

"Canon" basically hasn't mattered since... well really never, in the long run. But it especially hasn't mattered since Super started running two separate, concurrent, narratively-incompatible versions of itself while everyone tried to act like they were somehow both the "one true 'canon' continuation" at the same time. The concept has already been a joke for years.

If Toriyama really is breaking off and leaving the next Super manga arc for Toyotaro to pen without him, it honestly doesn't change anything.