Are Caulifa and Kale popular characters? What is the general consensus?

[Totamo]

They are polarizing, arguably the most polarizing thing about super in a long time.


They had an uphill battle though from the start. People were really excited for female saiyans so expectations were high. Personally, I never asked fro this, I never cared about this, so I had very low expectations when it was announced but I decided to give them a shot.


I can safely say I understand the people who hate them more than I can understand the people who like them. They are literally Goten and Trunks on steroids. Plus with tingle back which is probably what most remember from that episode, no matter how much anyone tries to rationalize it, is really dumb and angered many.


Personally, I don't care about these 2. They don't offend me to the level they do other people, because I knew that they would get all this stuff for free but I also have no interest in them because I have been shown nothing that makes me want to know more about them.


I bet tumblr likes them though, which may make me care about them even less.

[Verse]

Tumblr (a community of individuals with diverse views) likes most strong females. Not a great way to measure your like or dislike of something.

[Asura]

I don't really like Kale because I never really feel her motivations and personality make complete sense. If she's timid and has a lack of self-esteem, why is she in a gang? If she's scared of fighting, why does she choose to fight in a tournament? If she can control her berserk form in 101, why doesn't she use it all the time? What even is her berserk form in the first place? Is she actually gay for Caulifla, or is it just subtext?

She's most likely in a gang because Caulifla is in a gang. Caulifla is like an older sister to her, and I'm guessing Caulifla probably found her alone somewhere and picked her up, thus she follows Caulifla wherever she goes. She didn't really choose to fight in the tournament, it was more or less Caulifla's going so she'll go too. In regards to the berserk form, we haven't even seen her since 101 so when would she be using it? As for what the form is, I couldn't tell you, and I'm willing to bet TOEI or Toriyama can't either. I don't think she's gay for Caulifla, she just has intense admiration for her. I'm willing to bet Kale had a very troubled past and Caulifla saved her from it and made her her prodigy, hence she looks up to and admires Caulifla ever since.

A question to people who hated Caulifla and Kale first but now like them, what changed for you that made you start liking them? I liked them from the beginning so I'm curious to know when most people changed their minds about them.

[AnimeNation101]

I like them. They are cool. Caulifla is a girl gangster Goku while Cabba is Gohan with a hint of Vegeta and Kale is cool but i want her to get more development on her own. Put her in a situation where it’s just herself or just her and Cabba. That would be interesting

[MKCSTEALTH]

Honestly, a lot of people really seem to dislike namely Caulifla, or as I've seen her called "Asspull" but I don't have a problem with her. She was stated before the tournament to have crazy potential, so seeing her growing on the fly isn't surprising. As for her getting new Super Saiyan forms, I welcome it. She was the first cannon female Super Saiyan (yes technically Kale was spoiled first, but on screen she got to it before her) and I want to keep seeing more from her.

[KingKaash]

I like both Caulifla and Kale. Seeing female Saiyans from a different Universe kick some ass and learn from Goku has been nice to see for me.

[JulieYBM]

The merchandising push for Dragon Ball Super has been so terrible so hard it's hard to tell who is popular right now. I imagine Caulifla and Kale are receiving the number of focus episodes they are because the Dragon Ball Room has calculated that they will be easy to merchandise. Bandai's just being terrible at getting that various merchandise.

[Kataphrut]

I will declare myself as a fan of both, especially Caulifla who has become my favourite Super character. I stuck up for episode 100 against numerous detractors on the strength of her role in it, and I'm glad to see 113 has vindicated me. Kale still has issues, even if she has improved in small steps with each appearance. The show really needs to flesh out her backstory. How did she end up in Caulifla's gang? Did she ever show signs of her berserk power prior to meeting Cabba?

On the whole, the response to them appears to be polarising, with different criticisms to be made for both, some more substantial than others.

However, it's impossible to get a full judge of a characters popularity because as is always the case, the ones with strong opinions speak up, while the ones who are indifferent or okay with it don't want to waste the effort arguing. The problem is, as has always been the way with Dragon Ball is most of the arguments revolve around their power-ups, strength and transformations with people arguing that they got them too easily, or that the scaling doesn't work. And I just don't care about that side of things as much as I care about writing and characterization, so I just get dejected seeing the same cyclical arguments repeating the same points. "Back tingles." "Goten and Trunks." "Over-marketed." "Mary Sue." On and on.

[BrolyKale]

Tumblr (a community of individuals with diverse views) likes most strong females. Not a great way to measure your like or dislike of something.

True. They like pretty much everything because its cute or because its strong.

I do understand people who like them or "dislike" them but I just don't understand people who like Kale but dislike Broly, now that's stupid.

[BWri]

Indeed BWri, you have been one of the Best Fans out their of the Fireballs I know, it is nice talking to you about them and various other subjects we end up talking about, good conversations and good fandom!

Likewise!

Honestly that is what I take forums as, conversations between Very Dedicated fans of a select group of fans willing to put in the time and effort into talking about DB and other topics here DB Related. It is the same with me on my other Forum, Comic Book Resources, Very Highly dedicated and worldly intelligent Fans of Comics and Pop Culture discussion the Various goings-ons in Comic Books, Stories and other topics. It is something we all need us personally to help meet each other and grow in our fandoms and set the ideals for Fandoms and views of topics.

Very well said. I do agree.

But indeed sometimes we get to sunken into our Forums and we must realize they are not all of the fandom, just a select few and what is liked and disliked in fandoms is bigger then we know, but more like IMO then we give credit too.

It is this realization plus recent word of mouth about how Characters like Caulifa, Kale, Ribrianne are getting more positive response elsewhere. Need more scientific word on the matter, but it does make you get out of our world and remember how small this all is compared to the greater world of the Fandom at large. It is why I don't have as much worry about Caulifa, Kale, Ribrianne's futures as much cause I remember again how the net is just one area of fandom, a good place to meet friends and discuss yes, but not all their is by a large margin.

I admit, I haven't stepped very far outside of the fandom bubble other than talking to my friends about it. Most of them don't watch Super week to week like I do, but they hate all the characters in mention, such as Ribrianne, Kale, and Caulifla and they don't have a very high opinion of Super either, which is understandable to me. The hate for Kale and Caulifla (Cabba too) usually comes down to their designs and how they feel like they're from another show entirely, but there's also the criticisms I've already mentioned. Those are just my friends though, who were big fans of Dragon Ball until Super.

With that said while I have still enjoyed and gotten allot out of the Writing, mainly for Ribrianne, that I have liked, I have to say indeed it has slipped up at times too that cause fans to have inpatients when how Caulifa, Kale, Ribrianne and others are written. Many want to know the time they spent waiting all week was worth it, we are really not use to this as fans since we got so much Dragon Ball So fast we could mass watch it if we had the money at time for most of our lives not waiting. So now with the wait we don't want any lost screen-time indeed. But indeed as we agreed upon it takes time to get all the pieces together to get a full picture of a character and the meaning of an arc.

I think when this is all said and done allot will be pieced together that we will say "YEA, Now I get it and why all those episodes before went the way they did!" We will look then back on these episodes more as a series that is better in binge watching then waiting for. I think that is the flaw in the writing more of all, but a flaw in us fans as well.

Very true. This is what happened with the Goku Black arc actually, which is currently my favorite arc of Super even with its flaws. Initially nothing in that arc made sense, but by the end, I liked how the puzzle pieces fit together even if it was a little rough and silly at times.

I do have Hopes for all the Girls, Caulifa, Kale, Ribrianne and Rozie some-more too, she had a grand showing in 111! Writing and patients can turn allot of things around when time is given to the story, all thought what we need is to have hope it goes that route. But with recent events from 111-113 for Caulifa, Kale, Ribrianne and Rozie, things are starting to look more up then just going around in a stalemate in writing.

Yeah definitely! Let's hope that we continue to get good writers for these episodes so that these characters can shine.

Again, always good to talk to you BWri!

Same here. You're pleasant, thoughtful, and always have something interesting to say. I look forward to seeing more posts from you here in the future.

[Timetraveller]

They're mostly disliked from my experience. Most of the people who like them are the the hardcore anime nerds (for different reasons) and the female audience who just want a strong female character in the show regardless of how they get their strength. Then there's everyone else who can't look past the non-stop asspulls, the poor writing and characterization and the fact that they serve as nothing more than advertisements for merchandise.

Really disappointed tbh. I had high hopes for them when they were announced but Toei managed to fail yet again

[BWri]

A question to people who hated Caulifla and Kale first but now like them, what changed for you that made you start liking them? I liked them from the beginning so I'm curious to know when most people changed their minds about them.

Better writing. With Caulifla, they're taking their time now to organically show us her growth and while she's got loads of potential, she's moving at a slightly more realistic rate than before. She was moving 1,000,000 mph before but they've slowed it down to where I can accept her growth. Before she broke my immersion into the show and all I could see was the blatant executive cash grab exploitation of her and Kale.

With Kale, its mostly now that she's less of a pile of Broly references and is becoming her own character. It also helps that she isn't relying on shy girl tropes any more, or jealousy and is showing more personality and fighting ability.

[Lord Beerus]

Caulifla and Kale are like Marmite: People either love them or hate them. There seems to be a distinct lack of a middle ground.

I personally love Caulfia's character. She's one of my favourite new characters in the show. She just carries this aura about her that is so special and entertaining. She's like a hybrid of Kid Goku and Post Majin Boo arc Vegeta with with how enthusiastic, energetic and zealous she is towards scenarios as well as how how self-assured, cocky and bold she is. As well as how she's adaptive she is in battle at fighting but is also very laid back. It also helps that she's not so overbearing with her Saiyan traits that she feel like such a stock character. Her personality is really well balanced.

Kale... I wasn't a fan of her initially. How she attained SSJ Berserker form was greatly mishandled. I really didn't like how her lines and actions were identical to that of Broly in his movie debut with the form. Super can get especially annoying with the callbacks and homages, but I was really hoping that the show would differentiate themselves from the Toei movies incarnation of Broly's characterization once he attains the form. I know her bulked up SSJ form makes her look like Broly but she didn't have to act like him, too. Thankfully since Episode 100, they've toned down her being Broly 2.0., and she is starting grow on me with becuase she is acting less of mythology gag and more as her own character. I think a backstory could definitely help add a few more layers to Kale's character, but I'm not holding my breath of that as Dragon Ball rarely provides backstories for characters. And when they do, they're usually very undercooked.

[Li'l Lemmy]

I have never loathed a character in DragonBall the way I do Caulifla. I'm mostly indifferent on Kale, who is at least a different spin on the typical saiyan personality, but I find Caulifla annoying and aggravating in every respect- an arrogant asshole with asspull powerups who exemplifies everything I dislike about the saiyan mentality and cheat code biology, to an absolutely excessive extreme.

I suppose it doesn't help me that my ties to DragonBall have weakened significantly in recent years. I used to measure my ongoing involvement with DragonBall by how and when Goten and Trunks might get used, but as any meaningful development for them in DBS is looking increasingly unlikely some 100+ episodes in, my new barometer is fast becoming just how much Caulifla and her bullshit are going to be involved and/or shoved down our throats in the future the way she's been this arc. I just find her to be that unpleasant and unlikable. If she's going to follow Goku and company back to U7 to be the hot new focus, or if we're just going to have stories in U6 for another year or so, then I'm really not interested. I'm barely interested as it is because I find DBS to be such a lackluster successor, but I keep up with it in the hope it will become something I like. But I'm not going to torture myself to it if Caulifla somehow becomes "important". I'll find other things to get involved in.

And really, that's okay. Plenty of people enjoy her character and/or Super in general, and I'm not here to shit on any of them for it. I've become increasingly bitter toward DragonBall over time; Caulifla is just a sort of grand, epic catalyst for souring me further. The next step is to determine if I can keep from becoming salty on a perpetual basis. If I can't, then it's time to go; there's nothing worse for anyone involved in any fandom than to have to listen as salty fans complain, bitch and whine over every little thing, and I don't want to become that.

Regarding the two characters' general popularity, though, I can't say that I have any idea. I don't think we've ever had a character that polarized the fanbase quite like Caulifla, and here I thought it was going to be Kale's Broli act that divided the fanbase.

[Dbzfan94]

Tumblr (a community of individuals with diverse views) likes most strong females. Not a great way to measure your like or dislike of something.

a lot of people on tumblr also seem to like them because they're "gay and in love."

[PsionicWarrior]

They're mostly marketing lol
Caulifla has a little something going on but in the end of the line who really cares about them? One is like in love with her sister and the other just wants to fight and get stronger. No history, no background to connect. That's a main problem in Super's new chars, they aren't much interesting for most part.

[Li'l Lemmy]

They're mostly marketing lol
Caulifla has a little something going on but in the end of the line who really cares about them? One is like in love with her sister and the other just wants to fight and get stronger. No history, no background to connect. That's a main problem in Super's new chars, they aren't much interesting for most part.

They're almost /entirely/ marketing, at least from what I can see. That bit in the last episode where Caulifla shouted out an attack name for her generic ki blast kinda solidified that for me; it reeked of the marketing department shouting in her ear to make sure to name her shit out loud for video games. I'm sure the fusion will do a lot of that too in whatever short time she will have, to fill out a move list for Xenoverse 3 or whatever.

And that's saying a lot for a show which seems to be mainly about marketing. Not that most shows aren't. Everything is a gimmick these days. But with DBS it's incredibly blatant.

[Chuquita]

Tumblr (a community of individuals with diverse views) likes most strong females. Not a great way to measure your like or dislike of something.

a lot of people on tumblr also seem to like them because they're "gay and in love."

I think that's mostly the reason. I haven't jumped aboard their ship because I spent a good chunk of earlier this year watching my own ship slowly sink and even though now things are slighty better I'm semi-burned-out on ships altogether as a result. I'm kind of just watching Super's arc that never ends for the character moments now.

Additionally it's a major turn off that Kale calls Caulifla "big sis". I know they're not related, but I can't get on board a ship when the one's using family member terms to refer to the other.

Maybe that "oneesan" stuff wouldn't repel me if I were an only child, but I'm not, so.

[precita]

Tumblr (a community of individuals with diverse views) likes most strong females. Not a great way to measure your like or dislike of something.

a lot of people on tumblr also seem to like them because they're "gay and in love."

Kale's crush is rather obvious, but Caulifa's views of her are a bit more ambiguous. Caulifa might just view her as a little sister.

Either way it's obvious they would be shipped, yuri lesbian Saiyans in a Japanese anime was of course going to gain a tremendous fanbase.

[snpaa]

I personally don't believe they are , I've never been given any empirical data that proves they are in fact popular. I think some people may be misinterpreting the marketing push for them as popularity .