With DB targeting a more international audience nowadays, do you see a minority someday becoming part of the main cast?

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Re: With DB targeting a more international audience nowadays, do you see a minority someday becoming part of the main ca

Post by Polyphase Avatron » Fri Sep 24, 2021 7:43 pm

MasenkoHA wrote: Fri Sep 24, 2021 7:26 pm
Polyphase Avatron wrote: Fri Sep 24, 2021 7:02 pm I think OP just wants a main character with dark skin. Which would probably happen if we ever got beyond EoZ...
Oob doesn’t have a personality though
Only because he hasn't appeared enough to be given a chance to have one yet. GT could have done so much more with him.
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Re: With DB targeting a more international audience nowadays, do you see a minority someday becoming part of the main ca

Post by goku the krump dancer » Fri Sep 24, 2021 8:13 pm

Didn't Goku get a tan in GT? I feel so represented! :D

Nah in all seriousness, the fact that we're all here hailing from different backgrounds, the fact that Dragon Ball is a global phenomenon with fans of all ethnicities, creeds, colors and personal identities means that having an engaging, interesting and fun character to read/watch/play as is much more important than their phenotype. Representation has its place but that place varies depending on the narrative of the story being told. There's lazy tokenization like a lot of what modern DC and Marvel is pushing out (Not all tokenization is bad btw) then there are characters who just so happen to BE xyz.
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Re: With DB targeting a more international audience nowadays, do you see a minority someday becoming part of the main ca

Post by Polyphase Avatron » Fri Sep 24, 2021 8:44 pm

Sort of unrelated, but do you think that Nam and Uub are both from the same region/have the same nationality?
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Re: With DB targeting a more international audience nowadays, do you see a minority someday becoming part of the main ca

Post by Kid Buu » Fri Sep 24, 2021 8:57 pm

Polyphase Avatron wrote: Fri Sep 24, 2021 8:44 pm Sort of unrelated, but do you think that Nam and Uub are both from the same region/have the same nationality?
Seems like it.

Uub seems like Nam, Gohan and Piccolo thrown into a blender.
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Re: With DB targeting a more international audience nowadays, do you see a minority someday becoming part of the main ca

Post by MyVisionity » Fri Sep 24, 2021 9:09 pm

Polyphase Avatron wrote: Fri Sep 24, 2021 8:44 pm Sort of unrelated, but do you think that Nam and Uub are both from the same region/have the same nationality?
Oob and Namu are both likely supposed to be of South Asian descent, but who knows whether they are from the same place in the story.

I think it was Toyotaro who once stated that he imagined Oob and King Chapa as having come from the same village.

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Re: With DB targeting a more international audience nowadays, do you see a minority someday becoming part of the main ca

Post by Kunzait_83 » Fri Sep 24, 2021 9:09 pm

MasenkoHA wrote: Fri Sep 24, 2021 7:26 pm
Polyphase Avatron wrote: Fri Sep 24, 2021 7:02 pm I think OP just wants a main character with dark skin. Which would probably happen if we ever got beyond EoZ...
Oob doesn’t have a personality though
You say that like this is permanently set in stone and that there's no such thing as something called "character development".
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Re: With DB targeting a more international audience nowadays, do you see a minority someday becoming part of the main ca

Post by JulieYBM » Fri Sep 24, 2021 9:16 pm

Make Oob trans. That'll give them a personality.

Okay, okay, serious post: Mx. Oob goes to Washington to advocate for a UBi and social safety in general.
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Re: With DB targeting a more international audience nowadays, do you see a minority someday becoming part of the main ca

Post by Polyphase Avatron » Fri Sep 24, 2021 9:18 pm

JulieYBM wrote: Fri Sep 24, 2021 9:16 pm Make Oob trans. That'll give them a personality.

Okay, okay, serious post: Mx. Oob goes to Washington to advocate for a UBi and social safety in general.
There's no Washington lol. You probably mean Central City, where the king lives.
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Re: With DB targeting a more international audience nowadays, do you see a minority someday becoming part of the main ca

Post by JulieYBM » Fri Sep 24, 2021 9:21 pm

Polyphase Avatron wrote: Fri Sep 24, 2021 9:18 pm
JulieYBM wrote: Fri Sep 24, 2021 9:16 pm Make Oob trans. That'll give them a personality.

Okay, okay, serious post: Mx. Oob goes to Washington to advocate for a UBi and social safety in general.
There's no Washington lol. You probably mean Central City, where the king lives.
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Re: With DB targeting a more international audience nowadays, do you see a minority someday becoming part of the main ca

Post by Polyphase Avatron » Fri Sep 24, 2021 9:57 pm

JulieYBM wrote: Fri Sep 24, 2021 9:21 pm
Polyphase Avatron wrote: Fri Sep 24, 2021 9:18 pm
JulieYBM wrote: Fri Sep 24, 2021 9:16 pm Make Oob trans. That'll give them a personality.

Okay, okay, serious post: Mx. Oob goes to Washington to advocate for a UBi and social safety in general.
There's no Washington lol. You probably mean Central City, where the king lives.
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I know, you just have to modify it a bit for the DBU.
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Re: With DB targeting a more international audience nowadays, do you see a minority someday becoming part of the main ca

Post by Grimlock » Fri Sep 24, 2021 10:22 pm

PurestEvil wrote: Fri Sep 24, 2021 2:56 pmShould we refer to the DB characters based on Asian people as "yellow", then?
We shouldn't refer to them as anything other than... "characters".
MasenkoHA wrote: Fri Sep 24, 2021 7:26 pm
Polyphase Avatron wrote: Fri Sep 24, 2021 7:02 pm I think OP just wants a main character with dark skin. Which would probably happen if we ever got beyond EoZ...
Oob doesn’t have a personality though
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm sure Goku didn't have a personality prior to the beginning of Dragon Ball too. I think every fictional character gets a personality with proper (screen) time, through something called "character development". If I'm wrong, please do correct me.
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Re: With DB targeting a more international audience nowadays, do you see a minority someday becoming part of the main ca

Post by Yuli Ban » Fri Sep 24, 2021 10:38 pm

Polyphase Avatron wrote: Fri Sep 24, 2021 7:02 pm I think OP just wants a main character with dark skin. Which would probably happen if we ever got beyond EoZ...
That was my thought exactly.
There's literally no other way to take the thread title other than swapping "minority" with "Black/Aboriginal/dark skinned" for reasons that have been beautifully explained before now: this is a gratuitously East Asian show, and if you can't see that, blame FUNimation.
Though to be literal-minded, the title still wouldn't be wrong.
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Re: With DB targeting a more international audience nowadays, do you see a minority someday becoming part of the main ca

Post by Demon Prince Piccolo » Sat Sep 25, 2021 12:57 am

goku the krump dancer wrote: Fri Sep 24, 2021 8:13 pm Didn't Goku get a tan in GT? I feel so represented! :D

Nah in all seriousness, the fact that we're all here hailing from different backgrounds, the fact that Dragon Ball is a global phenomenon with fans of all ethnicities, creeds, colors and personal identities means that having an engaging, interesting and fun character to read/watch/play as is much more important than their phenotype. Representation has its place but that place varies depending on the narrative of the story being told. There's lazy tokenization like a lot of what modern DC and Marvel is pushing out (Not all tokenization is bad btw) then there are characters who just so happen to BE xyz.
I feel what you're saying man, but at the same time the two aren't mutually exclusive. As for the argument that representation should always be based on the narrative being told, idk. As another black person, I don't necessarily agree that black roles should always be specifically black because the role calls for it. That starts to read like tokenization to me. Why not just be black because...well, they're black? Why does there always have to be a reason for a character to black within a story (or anything else besides white)? Why does it always have to be justified? (Although with Dragon Ball having Eastern roots, again, I get where you're coming from. Not trying to take your point out of context lol). On that same note, I'm not a fan of when characters who were already established are race-swapped out of the blue.

Anyway, I'm going off on a tangent lol. My main point is, while it may not be necessary for us as Dragon Ball fans, we also wouldn't be any less of Dragon Ball fans if a minority was a part of the cast. If it's "forced" any time a minority is added, then when is it truly not forced? Even when roles are black specific within the story, certain people tend to go off on anti-woke crusades because it's "SJW" or something.
The story of DRAGON BALL starts from the moment Goku met Bulma. I don't really mind the Z, so long as it's understood that it's not the true beginning of the story.

I actually prefer the Goku vs Tenshinhan and Goku vs Piccolo Jr. rivalries to the Goku vs Vegeta rivalry.

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Re: With DB targeting a more international audience nowadays, do you see a minority someday becoming part of the main ca

Post by JulieYBM » Sat Sep 25, 2021 1:32 am

Demon Prince Piccolo wrote: Sat Sep 25, 2021 12:57 am
goku the krump dancer wrote: Fri Sep 24, 2021 8:13 pm Didn't Goku get a tan in GT? I feel so represented! :D

Nah in all seriousness, the fact that we're all here hailing from different backgrounds, the fact that Dragon Ball is a global phenomenon with fans of all ethnicities, creeds, colors and personal identities means that having an engaging, interesting and fun character to read/watch/play as is much more important than their phenotype. Representation has its place but that place varies depending on the narrative of the story being told. There's lazy tokenization like a lot of what modern DC and Marvel is pushing out (Not all tokenization is bad btw) then there are characters who just so happen to BE xyz.
I feel what you're saying man, but at the same time the two aren't mutually exclusive. As for the argument that representation should always be based on the narrative being told, idk. As another black person, I don't necessarily agree that black roles should always be specifically black because the role calls for it. That starts to read like tokenization to me. Why not just be black because...well, they're black? Why does there always have to be a reason for a character to black within a story (or anything else besides white)? Why does it always have to be justified? (Although with Dragon Ball having Eastern roots, again, I get where you're coming from. Not trying to take your point out of context lol). On that same note, I'm not a fan of when characters who were already established are race-swapped out of the blue.

Anyway, I'm going off on a tangent lol. My main point is, while it may not be necessary for us as Dragon Ball fans, we also wouldn't be any less of Dragon Ball fans if a minority was a part of the cast. If it's "forced" any time a minority is added, then when is it truly not forced? Even when roles are black specific within the story, certain people tend to go off on anti-woke crusades because it's "SJW" or something.
If it makes you feel any better, I feel the same way as a woman, a transgender person and a bisexual. Nobody asks these bullshit questions for cishet white nuerotypical and abled people. Just make a character a person of color, queer and disabled just because.
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Re: With DB targeting a more international audience nowadays, do you see a minority someday becoming part of the main ca

Post by Demon Prince Piccolo » Sat Sep 25, 2021 1:51 am

JulieYBM wrote: Sat Sep 25, 2021 1:32 am If it makes you feel any better, I feel the same way as a woman, a transgender person and a bisexual. Nobody asks these bullshit questions for cishet white nuerotypical and abled people. Just make a character a person of color, queer and disabled just because.
Exactly. At this point, seeing everything accused of being an agenda gets more annoying that the actual "forced agenda," at least to me. What it comes down to is something not fitting into someone's neat little bubble, and anytime it doesn't, it's always questioned as though there must be some justification for it.
The story of DRAGON BALL starts from the moment Goku met Bulma. I don't really mind the Z, so long as it's understood that it's not the true beginning of the story.

I actually prefer the Goku vs Tenshinhan and Goku vs Piccolo Jr. rivalries to the Goku vs Vegeta rivalry.

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Re: With DB targeting a more international audience nowadays, do you see a minority someday becoming part of the main ca

Post by JulieYBM » Sat Sep 25, 2021 2:20 am

Demon Prince Piccolo wrote: Sat Sep 25, 2021 1:51 am
JulieYBM wrote: Sat Sep 25, 2021 1:32 am If it makes you feel any better, I feel the same way as a woman, a transgender person and a bisexual. Nobody asks these bullshit questions for cishet white nuerotypical and abled people. Just make a character a person of color, queer and disabled just because.
Exactly. At this point, seeing everything accused of being an agenda gets more annoying that the actual "forced agenda," at least to me. What it comes down to is something not fitting into someone's neat little bubble, and anytime it doesn't, it's always questioned as though there must be some justification for it.
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Re: With DB targeting a more international audience nowadays, do you see a minority someday becoming part of the main ca

Post by goku the krump dancer » Sat Sep 25, 2021 2:51 am

@Demon Prince

Well yeah that's why I said it only matters depending on what type of story is being told or the premise I should say. The Boondocks wouldnt be what it is if you turn the Freeman family into any other ethnicity but black, critiquing the culture through the eyes of the people of said culture is the whole point.

Then you have Cyborg from DC whos is black, pretty much "just because" which is also great, he doesnt have to be but he is, as with Static, Storm, Spawn, Bishop, Blade and Luke Cage. All interesting characters who just so happen TO BE black, they arent black because the story requires them to throw their fist in air every time they're on screen/panel thank god. T'Challa is different though because, while he's no freedom fighter, the story still requires him to be black seeing as though his story takes place in Africa and it'd be hella jarring to say the least if he were anything other than black.

The tokenizing starts when you do race/gender/sexuality swaps for no real reason other than to try make more bank off people who dont really give a shit anyway, though like I said not all Tokens are created equally. Token Green Lantern John Stewart has his own distinct personality from Hal Jordan, Token Batman Barbra Gordon isn't just Bruce Wayne with a vag, she's her own unique person. Then you have less innovative characters like Miles Morales whos just AfroLatino Peter Parker (two birds with one stone right) or RiRi Williams whos just Black Girl Magic Ironman but with all the personality of a bucket of paint.
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Re: With DB targeting a more international audience nowadays, do you see a minority someday becoming part of the main ca

Post by Jord » Sat Sep 25, 2021 5:15 am

Polyphase Avatron wrote: Fri Sep 24, 2021 7:43 pm
MasenkoHA wrote: Fri Sep 24, 2021 7:26 pm
Polyphase Avatron wrote: Fri Sep 24, 2021 7:02 pm I think OP just wants a main character with dark skin. Which would probably happen if we ever got beyond EoZ...
Oob doesn’t have a personality though
Only because he hasn't appeared enough to be given a chance to have one yet. GT could have done so much more with him.
He did have a bit more personality in GT but indeed, they could and should have done more with him.

The fact that he doesn't have much of a personality though lends himself to more character development, a stark contrast to the main characters who are already pretty developed.

And yes Dragon Ball has a fictionalized world but we do have people of different cultures living in it, like Nam, Oob and King Chappa (as well as other various other budokai entrants) Therefore, it shouldn't be impossible to get a more diverse world but then again, how can you believably add a character that can measure up power-wise?
I think Uub is the most logical one but they'd have to move post-EoZ.

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Re: With DB targeting a more international audience nowadays, do you see a minority someday becoming part of the main ca

Post by jjgp1112 » Sat Sep 25, 2021 9:50 am

Race lifts are such an annoying bulkshit platitude most of the time, made even worse by people who act excited over them. Why settle for a character that will just amount to a measly dark needle in a white haystack when you can have original black characters with their own mythology?

And for Dragon Ball, an Asian show, I really could not care less if it ever had a black protagonist. That show is a whole other culture and mine isn't remotely essential or required just because I watch it. No show has any obligation to cater to a demographic because it exists. What I'd be more interested in is a distinctly black show with similarities with Dragon Ball. We need our OWN shit, not piggybacking off other shit. That's corny as fuck.
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Re: With DB targeting a more international audience nowadays, do you see a minority someday becoming part of the main ca

Post by MasenkoHA » Sat Sep 25, 2021 10:41 am

jjgp1112 wrote: Sat Sep 25, 2021 9:50 am Race lifts are such an annoying bulkshit platitude most of the time, made even worse by people who act excited over them.
Does anyone really get excited over race lifts? I see way more people excited for original characters of color than existing characters getting a race lift.

It’s like the Halle Bailey getting cast as The Little Mermaid. I don’t think anyone really cared until a bunch of racist starting whining and complaining about the casting. There didn’t seem to be excitement just whining and the subsequent defense. Did the character need to be black? No. Is the movie going to suck? It’s a Disney live action remake, it’s going to suck regardless who plays the title character.

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