Discussion regarding the entirety of the franchise in a general (meta) sense, including such aspects as: production, trends, merchandise, fan culture, and more.
This is a phenomenal write up and you took the words right it of my mouth. The Boo arc wouldn’t be half as memorable without Toriyama’s chaotic structure. Could it have benefitted from a more traditional approach? Definitely, but it manages to work in some very interesting ideas and concepts because it doesn’t.
On a related unrelated note, Goku flying off with Oob is the most fitting ending for the series I can think of. It perfectly captures the essence of Goku’s character and feels tonally appropriate for Dragon Ball. GT’s end always struck me as too overly sentimental.
Perhaps overly sentimental, but still within the realm of DB.
The biggest truths aren't original. The truth is ketchup. It's Jim Belushi. Its job isn't to blow our minds. It's to be within reach.
"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take - Wayne Gretzky" - Michael Scott
Happiness is climate, not weather.
Vegeta_Sama wrote:I like how Gohan looked in the RoF saga, many peoole hate the tracksuit just because they associate it with Gohan beign weak. I think it looks good on him. I also prefer his hairstyoe in this arc, it feels like a more natural progression of his hair from when he was a kid. I hate his Yamcha hairstyle, especially Now that they removed the bang in his normal state. I also hate how Ultimate became a transformation.
ABED wrote:Sure there are plenty of people that like Vegeta and Bulma together, but I get the general sense that people would agree that the only real romance that worked was Gohan and Videl. I think most will agree that Chichi and Goku aren't a great couple.
Yeah, I agree. It's the only real couple in the series that has chemistry.
ekrolo2 wrote:Reason 3: For every Heart of Ice there's at least 5 entirely mediocre or forgettable episodes. The episodes that work well still work but that's like... an eighth or seventh of the entire thing?
I have to agree with you on this one. I honestly find Superman TAS and the Justice League cartoons more consistent in their writing.
Those cartoons didn't have a "I've Got Batman in My Basement".
"It was deemed to be too awesome." - Scott McNeil on Dragon Ball Kai not being aired yet in Canada.
8000 Saiyan wrote:Yeah, I agree. It's the only real couple in the series that has chemistry.
Romantic chemistry. Vegeta and Bulma play off each other well.
The biggest truths aren't original. The truth is ketchup. It's Jim Belushi. Its job isn't to blow our minds. It's to be within reach.
"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take - Wayne Gretzky" - Michael Scott
Happiness is climate, not weather.
Vegeta_Sama wrote:I like how Gohan looked in the RoF saga, many peoole hate the tracksuit just because they associate it with Gohan beign weak. I think it looks good on him. I also prefer his hairstyoe in this arc, it feels like a more natural progression of his hair from when he was a kid. I hate his Yamcha hairstyle, especially Now that they removed the bang in his normal state. I also hate how Ultimate became a transformation.
I like Gohan design in RoF as well,the tracksuit looks good on him.
GamerSkull wrote:I think Bulma's sister, Tights, was an unnecessary addition to the franchise.
I agree with that too, also could say the same about Jaco.
Power levels are not just big numbers:
Spoiler:
Power levels establish tension and drama. People who care about them (well, people who care about them in a narrative) don't care about the big numbers or the fancy explosions. If you have character A who's so much above character B, who's the main character, you're gonna be left wondering how in the hell character B, the character we're supposed to care and root for, is going to escape the situation or overcome the odds. It makes us emotionally invested.
If character B doesn't escape the situation in a believable way that's consistent with previous events, then that emotional investment is gone. It was pointless tension, pointless drama made just to suck in the viewer. It has no critical value whatsoever. The audience is left believing that the author can just create whatever scenarios he wants and what happens to the characters is decided by whatever the author wants to happen, regardless of the events that happened in the story. Which, in fairness, is what happens, but the audience wants to be fooled. The audience wants to know that the world they're following has rules. That the world they're invested in isn't going to bend to external factors that are irrelevant to them.
An author can do whatever he wants with the characters, that's not false. But the author should also have the responsibility to make sure it fits in cohesively with the other events in the narrative he has created.
I think Toppo had one of the best characters arcs in all of Dragon Ball.
Spoiler:
Akira Toriyama wrote:My policy is to try and forget things once they’re over. Since if I don’t discard the old and focus on what’s new, I’ll overload my brain capacity. I still haven’t lived down going, “Who the heck is Tao Pai-pai?” that one time I was talking with Ei’ichiro Oda-kun. But the fact that there are still people reading the series after all this time… All I can say is; “thank you.” Really, that’s all.
Akira Toriyama wrote:Drawing Dragon Ball again reminded me of two things--how much I love it, and how much I never want to do it again.
Kunzait_83 wrote:And if you're upset because all this new material completely invalidates the tabletop RPG rulebook-sized statistical system and flowchart for the characters' "canonical Power Levels" that you'd been working on painstakingly for the last bunch of years now... well I don't think there's a kind, non-blunt way of saying this, but that's 100% entirely your own misguided fault for buying so deeply into all this nonsensical garbage in the first place. And that you also have IMMENSELY skewed and comically backwards priorities in what you think is most important and needed to make a good Dragon Ball story.
Zephyr wrote:Goodness, they wrote idiotic drivel in a children's cartoon meant to advertise toys!? Again!? For the ninetieth episode in a row!? Somebody stop the presses! We have to voice our concern over these Super important issues!
Kamiccolo9 wrote:Fair enough, I concede. Sean Schemmel probably has some kind of hidden talent. Maybe he is an expert at Minesweeper. You're right; calling him "talentless" wasn't fair.
Michsi wrote: ↑Mon Jul 04, 2022 11:29 amIn Super Piccolo got yelled off the stage by Vegeta in the U6 Tournament arc and lost to Jiminy Cricket in the ToP , he deserved 15 new transformations with his theme song played by Metallica in the background.
Kinda, but I wish they had more time to proper develop his character.
Power levels are not just big numbers:
Spoiler:
Power levels establish tension and drama. People who care about them (well, people who care about them in a narrative) don't care about the big numbers or the fancy explosions. If you have character A who's so much above character B, who's the main character, you're gonna be left wondering how in the hell character B, the character we're supposed to care and root for, is going to escape the situation or overcome the odds. It makes us emotionally invested.
If character B doesn't escape the situation in a believable way that's consistent with previous events, then that emotional investment is gone. It was pointless tension, pointless drama made just to suck in the viewer. It has no critical value whatsoever. The audience is left believing that the author can just create whatever scenarios he wants and what happens to the characters is decided by whatever the author wants to happen, regardless of the events that happened in the story. Which, in fairness, is what happens, but the audience wants to be fooled. The audience wants to know that the world they're following has rules. That the world they're invested in isn't going to bend to external factors that are irrelevant to them.
An author can do whatever he wants with the characters, that's not false. But the author should also have the responsibility to make sure it fits in cohesively with the other events in the narrative he has created.
The biggest truths aren't original. The truth is ketchup. It's Jim Belushi. Its job isn't to blow our minds. It's to be within reach.
"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take - Wayne Gretzky" - Michael Scott
Happiness is climate, not weather.
Was there any internal struggle for him throughout the tournament and leading up to his switching of ideals? I've watched every episode I didn't even notice anything of the sort.
Zephyr wrote:Was there any internal struggle for him throughout the tournament and leading up to his switching of ideals? I've watched every episode I didn't even notice anything of the sort.
