Dragon Ball Super: Comedy/Gags Discussion

[LightBing]

I think it deserves it's own thread, it's the roots of Dragon Ball and we've had a fare amount so far in the series. Personally the retelling has been weaker in this aspect compared with the movie; specially the misuse of Pilaf and his gang.

Could a mod please move this thread to the Super forum? Thank you.

[Doctor.]

It depends. I think the two biggest examples we can use to debate are the Pilaf gang and the chef Vegeta scene. I agree that the Pilaf gang was completely misused in Super so far, and they're probably in the series because they were in Battle of Gods. They just were used for padding and haven't been funny once (and this coming from someone who likes Pilaf's antics). Compared to the Battle of Gods scenes where they react to the grown-up versions of the Dragon Team, Mai and Trunks, and all of that, there's definitely a lot missing. But Super also stuffed the party stuff into one episode, whereas in the movie it took up a large chunk of it.

I think Super's equivalent of the Bingo scene was definitely better however. Not only was it as funny, if not more, it was a believable scene. It's kinda far-fetched to think Vegeta would immediately resort to dancing like in the film, making takoyaki was an idea he had because it was based on Beerus' reaction to food. So, I think it's a mixed bag. I don't think Dragon Ball has ever been hilarious or even very funny except a few joke here and there so I personally don't really think Super's gags are all that different from the rest of the series.

Edit: Now that Chuquita mentions it, I laughed a whole lot at episode 2, too. So I think they can produce good comedy when they want to.

[Chuquita]

I agree Pilaf Gang was super misused in Super compared to BOG. With BOG they were intertwined with the plot, where in Super they were just kind of, there.

Chef Vegeta was awesome though. I also thought it made a great (unintentional?) nod to his old character song from Z ("Vegeta-sama's Cooking Hell" - where he narrates/sings as he makes okonomiyaki). It's neat getting additional confirmation that Vegeta knows how to cook and can cook well. (I hope he gets to do more in the future.)

I really liked the scene in episode 2 where Bulma and Trunks carry Vegeta off-screen like a prop after the octopus incident. Vegeta in everyday situations/out of his element is funny. Also the "no mercy" way Gokû casually tossed the tree stump aside in episode 1 after saying how it reminded him of Vegeta. X3 Gokû ruining his own heroic entrance a couple weeks back by silly-walking down the side of the beam was a funny bit I enjoyed too.

[LightBing]

It depends. I think the two biggest examples we can use to debate are the Pilaf gang and the chef Vegeta scene. I agree that the Pilaf gang was completely misused in Super so far, and they're probably in the series because they were in Battle of Gods. They just were used for padding and haven't been funny once (and this coming from someone who likes Pilaf's antics). Compared to the Battle of Gods scenes where they react to the grown-up versions of the Dragon Team, Mai and Trunks, and all of that, there's definitely a lot missing. But Super also stuffed the party stuff into one episode, whereas in the movie it took up a large chunk of it.

I think Super's equivalent of the Bingo scene was definitely better however. Not only was it as funny, if not more, it was a believable scene. It's kinda far-fetched to think Vegeta would immediately resort to dancing like in the film, making takoyaki was an idea he had because it was based on Beerus' reaction to food. So, I think it's a mixed bag. I don't think Dragon Ball has ever been hilarious or even very funny except a few joke here and there so I personally don't really think Super's gags are all that different from the rest of the series.

Vegeta's cooking was a highlight, although the dancing wouldn't be far-fetched since he had already swallowed his pride by serving Beerus, at least that's how I see it. I agree Dragon Ball isn't hilarious - I did laughed until crying when Kuririn and Jackie Chun explained their fight -, but it's funny in many instances. It's mostly gags, but there's some exaggerate long jokes; Man-Wolf, Jackie Chun hair, Goku inability to distinguish boys and girls (which resulted in his marriage in part), and many more. I would say it's underrated.

I agree Pilaf Gang was super misused in Super compared to BOG. With BOG they were intertwined with the plot, where in Super they were just kind of, there.

Chef Vegeta was awesome though. I also thought it made a great (unintentional?) nod to his old character song from Z ("Vegeta-sama's Cooking Hell" - where he narrates/sings as he makes okonomiyaki). It's neat getting additional confirmation that Vegeta knows how to cook and can cook well. (I hope he gets to do more in the future.)

I really liked the scene in episode 2 where Bulma and Trunks carry Vegeta off-screen like a prop after the octopus incident. Vegeta in everyday situations/out of his element is funny. Also the "no mercy" way Gokû casually tossed the tree stump aside in episode 1 after saying how it reminded him of Vegeta. X3 Gokû ruining his own heroic entrance a couple weeks back by silly-walking down the side of the beam was a funny bit I enjoyed too.

Episode 2 was the best one, humor wise. I guess Vegeta, because he's a serious character has the most potential. Goku being Goku is always enjoyable; clueless Goku is brilliant causing funny reactions in other characters.

[Lord Beerus]

I've enjoyed most of comedy and gags in Super. The Chef Vegeta scene was one of the funniest moment ever in the franchise and light comedy in the slice of life-esqu episode with Goku's, King Kai, Beerus and Vegeta's family outing. But I will admit that the Pilaf Gang were wasted.

[LightBing]

Goku's "revenge" in this episode was fun. It thought the Pilaf gang was finished for a while but they returned and will stick around for a while;I remembered they're the ones that help revive Freeza, I assume they will have a part in the possible arc between BoG and FnF.

Next episode with a great call-back! I also hope for some funny reactions from Whis.

[DBZAOTA482]

I feel they're overdoing it with the comedy and it's one of the reasons why Super moves so slowly. Plus it doesn't really feel like Toriyama-sensei's style of comedy.

Goku acts like a dickhead, Muten Roshi and Chi-Chi act more like their TOEI counterparts, Majin Boo is an asshole who treats Mr. Satan like shit, the slapstick is juvenile and forced (kinda like GT's), etc.

[Baggie_Saiyan]

I feel they're overdoing it with the comedy and it's one of the reasons why Super moves so slowly.Plus it doesn't really feel like Toriyama-sensei's style of comedy.

Goku acts like a dickhead, Muten Roshi and Chi-Chi act more like their TOEI counterparts, Majin Boo is an asshole who treats Mr. Satan like shit, the slapstick is juvenile and forced (kinda like GT's), etc.

Yeah this sums up my only real problem with Super so far. You can tell easily Toriyama is not doing this, the comedy feels forced in some cases and not natural and as you said the characters don't feel like themselves sometimes. I am slightly worried for "F" arc since the appeal of the movie was the character interactions, I can't trust Toei to emulate the way Toriyama writes everyone, infact I doubt most people could, fortunately it seems he is working on hard on Universe 6 arc so hopefully he could pen a few scripts for the key episodes.

[LightBing]

It's not that they're overdoing it, they are just stretching/modifying jokes that were in the movie. They are transforming a movie into 12 episodes, the first part of BoG was also mostly comedy.
The Oolong janken versus Beerus was awful because it took half an episode. Master Roshi asking for dirty magazines at the end of the 1st episode was also bad. Goku being himself isn't bad, he was worse, when he was a kid he used to kill his enemies and make a peace sign...
I think there's reasons to be positive regarding the humor for the future arcs, the retelling is just being weaker. Jaco should be popping up soon to get us going.

[Cipher]

I'm hoping once the series moves away from extending this batch of material, the humor will pick up as well.

As it stands, a lot of genuinely funny material from the movie (everything with Pilaf and the gang in in the film is gold, and the Oolong janken gag there is amazing) has been neutered. The replacement joke of Oolong's triple scissors is funny, but in no way worth the build up, and I honestly have no idea why the Pilaf gang is even around in Super, let alone why we still haven't gotten an explanation on their being kids.

I don't think Dragon Ball has ever been hilarious or even very funny except a few joke here and there so I personally don't really think Super's gags are all that different from the rest of the series.

I think Dragon Ball's been very funny before. The humor and action are nearly equal components for me.

[LightBing]

Last episode I laughed when Goku is absorbing the God power and has those sudden more powerful movements. The second time he does this, Beerus yells "again!" and gets punched! That was great, Beerus voice actor was nailing the bits were Beerus was upset and surprising. Mr Satan "saving" the Earth even if it was predictable, his reaction immediately after the light dispersed made it work.

The news about the connecting episodes between arcs has potential for comedy gold!