Is Dragon Ball as a franchise over?

[Ringworm128]

I dont think its "over". I think it just might be taking a break like it did from 1997 to 2002.

[Chibi Mystic Gohan]

Aren't you guys jumping the gun a little, talking about a "break"? If we don't see Raging Blast 3 or anything later this year, then you might be on to something.

[SHINOBI-03]

Aren't you guys jumping the gun a little, talking about a "break"? If we don't see Raging Blast 2 or anything later this year, then you might be on to something.

You mean Raging Blast 3, right?!

[Chibi Mystic Gohan]

No, I'm secretly a time traveler from March 2010. >_>

[Craddle]

Do you see anything left in the franchise at this point?

Yes, I see plenty. Whether I'd personally buy any of it is another matter completely. This list doesn't even include games, toys, ect.

Dragon Ball Dragon Boxes
Dragon Ball GT Dragon Boxes
All Dragon Ball Movies/Specials released in singles from the Dragon Box masters
Released again in a box
Blue Brick Blu-Ray
Orange Brick Blu-Ray
Green Brick Blu-Ray
Larger Kai sets on DVD and Blu-Ray

The franchise can be milked for years and years to come. Don't underestimated FUNimation when it comes to their cashcow.

[Hellspawn28]

If the series is going to take a four or five year break, do you think this forum will slowy die witout anything new DB stuff coming out?

[Craddle]

If the series is going to take a four or five year break, do you think this forum will slowly die without any new DB stuff coming out?

I'm confused. The series is taking a break? I was under the impression the series ended like 15 years ago.

[Hellspawn28]

I was talking about a similar break that the series had in 1997 after GT ended. I mean we got nothing really new of Dragon Ball until 2002 with the video games from Dimps and the Kanzenban.

[VegettoEX]

If the series is going to take a four or five year break, do you think this forum will slowy die witout anything new DB stuff coming out?

Uhh...

Again, this website is *13 years old*. This particular installation of even the forum was put into place in January 2004, and was adapted from versions we had prior to that.

You younger folks ain't got no perspective, yo.

[Innagadadavida]

Well, I think its more of a question of, will a lack of new material lead fans to lose interest? I think that the answer is a very obvious yes. Even though the franchise is over 20 years old, it's time in the United States and other English-speaking countries is much shorter. Since the website's beginning, there has always been new things to look forward to. New home video releases, new English dubs, new toys, new games, new music. Once that stream stops trickling, sure, maybe some time can be spent on catching up, but do you think it will really happen? I think we'll find the boards quiet down after a while.

[Craddle]

Well, I think its more of a question of, will a lack of new material lead fans to lose interest? I think that the answer is a very obvious yes. Even though the franchise is over 20 years old, it's time in the United States and other English-speaking countries is much shorter. Since the website's beginning, there has always been new things to look forward to. New home video releases, new English dubs, new toys, new games, new music. Once that stream stops trickling, sure, maybe some time can be spent on catching up, but do you think it will really happen? I think we'll find the boards quiet down after a while.

Simply put No.

FUNimation will never allow it.

[Piccolo Daimaoh]

True. FUNimation will find something else to (re)release after they're done with the DBoxes and Kai. Things may quieten down in Japan, but in the West I highly doubt it.

[Innagadadavida]

FUNimation will have no option. Realistically speaking, their well is running a little dry too, it would seem. The Season Sets really worked for them. And that's great. But Dragon Ball Z Kai is not catching on as big as they were planning, I think. That's the reason we're seeing such dramatic price cuts on the home video release. People are starting to wise up and they aren't going to buy the same show three times the way the FUNi knob slobbers like me will.

[Greenman]

Considering I wasn't all that interested in Kai anyway, I'm not worried. It won't be that different than the time between GT ending and Kai being announced. We could see a slow-down in video games (save for the already announced 3DS game) but based on the quality of Namco Bandai's recent ones I don't think that's a bad thing.

And perhaps this will give FUNimation some incentive to release more Dragon Boxes or the Jump special when they run out of Kai DVDs to release.

[Zionist]

Dragon Ball? Over? HA! I say Double HA HA As said before. Funi just simply will not allow such a thing to happen. As it currently stands, DBZ Kai is only just starting the Android Arc on Nicktoons. That right there leaves plenty of time for Funi to devise a sinister plan of how they're going to milk the series a little longer.

And as repetitive as they are, there's going to be more games to come just because of DBZ Kai. A younger audience will slowly develop interest in this interestingly violent, yet censored (but they won't know that) show with people flying all around and punching each other.

The series ended years and years ago but the fan base was still great in numbers.

Another 20 years of milking the Franchise for all it's worth? Quite possible.

But to think that the Franchise will shortly die out after DBZ Kai ended is just blasphemous. If you think this, than you don't know Funimation very well

[Innagadadavida]

I think we can't just take the past as a picture perfect example for the future. The home video market is shrinking. The anime industry is dying. Dragon Ball has been oversaturated to the max, and its starting to cave in a little. More releases are not going to help. They may make the situation worse. There is TOO much Dragon Ball. FUNimation didn't pace themselves well. But who knows, maybe they did as good as they possibly could have. There's no telling.

All things considered, I think doing everything they can to extend the length of Kai for the TV Broadcast is in their best interest. If the home videos aren't selling well, at the very least they're making some money selling the show to the network. That and, well, I really want to see the Buu Saga in Kai.

[piccolo-san785]

True. FUNimation will find something else to (re)release after they're done with the DBoxes and Kai. Things may quieten down in Japan, but in the West I highly doubt it.

This is one of the reasons why I somewhat dislike Funimation. I mean geez, how many times can you re-release the same thing?

[Kiyza]

I have the strangest feeling that FUNimation is going to take their HD version of their Orange Bricks and slap it onto a Blu-ray, redub it, and call it Z Kai. If they really, really need to, they could even do the exact same thing with the original Dragon Ball, and even GT and just tack Kai onto the end. Knowing FUNimation, it doesn't actually sound that implausible.

But of course before they get to that, they still have to give us our Dragon Boxes for the rest of Z, the movies, and GT, and put the JSAT Special and Plan to Eradicate the Super Saiyans out on Blu-ray and DVD. I figure the above scenario will be their back-up plan for when they run out of Dragon Ball anything to milk.

In terms of video games, I'd say it's still pretty likely that we'll get a Raging Blast 3, (with Yamhan and Majin Ozoto ) and I'm going to say that there will be a sequel to the Dragon Ball DS/Origins title involving Piccolo Daimao and 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai, and that will be the big reveal for 3DS game. Meanwhile, those of us who really, really want a sequel to Attack of the Saiyans might not get it.

And of course, there's also Dragon Ball Online to fall back on. A beta test for the game in Hong Kong was announced for late 2011, so I'm going to go out on a limb and say it'll be in Japan around the same time. As soon as it gets commercially successful over there, (read: overnight) someone will probably start translating it for an international release. If Japan does get it around the same time period, it wouldn't surprise me if we got the game in America and Europe around Q2 2012.

Toei might just be done with the franchise as a whole, but you know, if they really felt like it, they could try and milk it for some OVAs or future JUMP tours. I could even see them doing an OVA based on Dragon Ball Online if it would bring in a little bit of cash. Animating an entire series seems a little risky to me, due to what happened with Kai, and I think they'll probably stray away from that. Or you know, they could make a Neko Majin OVA like Mr. EX wants. But in all seriousness, One Piece might just be all they need to keep them afloat until Oda announces the series is over... 20 years from now.

[MetaMoss]

If FUNimation wants to keep Dragon Ball going in the States, they need to start putting merchandise out branded with Z Kai, as the only stuff DB other than the DVD/Blu-ray releases is stuff that just hasn't sold for 5 years. Also, they should get Nick to run like a "showcase" of Z Kai on their main channel to see how well it does, like they have done for other Nicktoons shows. I don't know how well the show is doing on the CW, but I've seen a lot of stuff for Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's, like the cards and the toys. I don't see stuff for the other shows, but that's because the rest are all just reruns from completed series (Like Sonic X. Jeez, just take that show off and put something new on!!).

But this is just what I think they should do if they wanted to keep it going. Though really, they should take a break (and Viz should release them Daizenshuu and Kanzenban!).

[Dr. Casey]

I don't think Dragon Ball is completely dead, but I don't think it would be such a bad thing if the franchise does retire and don't think there's any real need to keep the series afloat forever. I mean, I'm all for new videogames and Jump specials and think it's great if those things are released... but at the same time, I don't think there's anything wrong with the alternative.

There are few series that have managed to remain semi-active past the end of their respective anime or manga for nearly so long as Dragon Ball has. Urusei Yatsura was one of the most popular series of all time, but after the manga finished in 1987 there was hardly any significant merchandise made past the early 90s (The last movie release in 1991 was the final piece of UY animation not counting a one-shot special in 2008, and the videogame line died after 1994 with the exception of one Urusei DS game in 2005). There were 14 videogames made for Ranma, but only two of them were released after the manga finished (And even then just shortly thereafter). Inuyasha hasn't received much attention since finishing three years ago, most of the Yu Yu Hakusho videogames were released while the anime was still running, Sailor Moon never got any further anime releases after Stars finished and the last game was published within five years of the show ending... I don't know. It's nice that the series still has some steam, I guess, but I don't think it would be a problem at all were Dragon Ball like most other older anime or manga: a retired, fondly-remembered classic. So long as people keep discussing it here on Daizex and I can watch episodes of Dragon Ball or Dragon Ball Z whenever I want to, that's life enough for me.

But anyway, I think Dragon Ball Online alone is enough to ensure the franchise still has a lot remaining for it. I've never played MMORPGs much, but I know that they can last a very long time, so Dragon Ball might be set for the rest of the decade, if not until somewhere in the 2020s.