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 Lord Beerus » Sat Sep 25, 2021 11:14 am

No.

As other users have pointed out, Dragon Ball is very much rooted in Asian culture, specifically Japanese and Chinese culture and mythology. It's also important to note that Japan still remains the country where Dragon Ball is most popular and profitable. And with how Japan is a very homogeneous society, I don't see the inclusion of minority characters in the central cast happening any time soon.

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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 Shintoki » Sat Sep 25, 2021 11:21 am

Lord Beerus wrote: Sat Sep 25, 2021 11:14 am No.

As other users have pointed out, Dragon Ball is very much rooted in Asian culture, specifically Japanese and Chinese culture and mythology. It's also important to note that Japan still remains the country where Dragon Ball is most popular and profitable. And with how Japan is a very homogeneous society, I don't see the inclusion of minority characters in the central cast happening any time soon.
that, and how almost all the main cast are minorities so OP's question is very weird, do they mean a certain minority from where they are from? :eh: cuz if so, i think the usual residents already gave their two cents about it. pretty much answering all of OP's question.

what a weirdly titled thread
PurestEvil wrote: Sat Oct 09, 2021 6:21 pm You could also, y'know, become a real buddhist
DragonBallFoodie wrote: Sun Oct 10, 2021 7:18 am Isn't this technically worshipping the Monkey King?

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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 » Sat Sep 25, 2021 11:56 am

jjgp1112 wrote: Sat Sep 25, 2021 9:50 amAnd 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.
1000% Very well said.

Also worth noting to add further to this point: the black community throughout America, dating all the way back to the 1960s and 70s, has been hugely and overwhelmingly embracing of Chinese/Japanese/Asian martial arts film, animation, and media overall (long well before most of white America ever came around to it): and never once, ANYWHERE has ANY black artist or fan of these Eastern works ever once bemoaned that they don't contain enough black characters/actors in them as presented from their native Asian territories.

Rather instead, black artists who were influenced and inspired by Asian martial arts fantasy media just... went ahead and made their own originals that were influenced by them. Which I would 100% agree with jjgp, is of VASTLY better and more constructive use of one's creative energies.

Shintoki wrote: Sat Sep 25, 2021 11:21 amwhat a weirdly titled thread
That's because clearly no real, serious thought was put into it (either the thread title, or the topic itself broadly).
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Zephyr wrote:And that's to say nothing of how pretty much impossible it is to capture what made the original run of the series so great. I'm in the generation of fans that started with Toonami, so I totally empathize with the feeling of having "missed the party", experiencing disappointment, and wanting to experience it myself. But I can't, that's how life is. Time is a bitch. The party is over. Kageyama, Kikuchi, and Maeda are off the sauce now; Yanami almost OD'd; Yamamoto got arrested; Toriyama's not going to light trash cans on fire and hang from the chandelier anymore. We can't get the band back together, and even if we could, everyone's either old, in poor health, or calmed way the fuck down. Best we're going to get, and are getting, is a party that's almost entirely devoid of the magic that made the original one so awesome that we even want more.
Kamiccolo9 wrote:It grinds my gears that people get "outraged" over any of this stuff. It's a fucking cartoon. If you are that determined to be angry about something, get off the internet and make a stand for something that actually matters.
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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 12:01 pm

MasenkoHA wrote: 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.
Yes! There's a certain mentally that some people have that think they're " WINNING YAAASSS QUEEN" because someone other than a white person ( usually a black person in particular) is portraying a traditionally white character in live action or getting swapped in source material. Directors and casting agencies always have a specific vision in mind when scouting an actor/actress for a role, meaning they intentionally went after a black girl to play Ariel for no other reason than getting Twitter Clout and hoping to get more black dollars when it drops. Funny enough when it turns out the movie is garbage and people start bringing up the old cartoon, parents are gonna have some explaining to do when they see that The Little Mermaid was a white girl.
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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 The Monkey King » Sat Sep 25, 2021 12:10 pm

Doesn't really matter imo, Dragon Ball garnered a huge international audience already with fans of every skin colour because it's entertaining.

That being said if we ever go EoZ and retcon GT (Please Toei/Toriyama/Toyotarou I'm on my knees!) you can safely expect Uub to be fighting along side the rest of the Z-fighters especially now that he as God ki.

Image

Also I agree with some other users the way you've worded this thread slightly bothers me, dark skinned people aren't global minorities, do you mean minorities in Japan? minorities in America? If you mean dark skinned/black/south Asian just say that please.

Not to mention 'minorities' could also include those of less represented genders and sexual orientations.

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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 12:24 pm

goku the krump dancer wrote: Sat Sep 25, 2021 12:01 pm
MasenkoHA wrote: 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.
Yes! There's a certain mentally that some people have that think they're " WINNING YAAASSS QUEEN" because someone other than a white person ( usually a black person in particular) is portraying a traditionally white character in live action or getting swapped in source material. Directors and casting agencies always have a specific vision in mind when scouting an actor/actress for a role, meaning they intentionally went after a black girl to play Ariel for no other reason than getting Twitter Clout and hoping to get more black dollars when it drops. Funny enough when it turns out the movie is garbage and people start bringing up the old cartoon, parents are gonna have some explaining to do when they see that The Little Mermaid was a white girl.

But why is it not possible Disney just decided Halle Bailey was the best fit for the role? Disney is no stranger to clout chasing. I’m pretty sure we’ve had like 5 or 6 “First gay character in a Disney movie” now. I think if Disney was specifically looking for a black actress it would have gotten out long before casting. But nobody knew it was happening until after Bailey’s casting. Maybe she just happened to be best fit for the role and since the character is a half fish lady nothing requires her to be any specific race.

In a perfect world nobody would care about her casting because as a live action Disney remake it’s going to be terrible regardless. But people have decided its gonna to be bad because of her casting just like people decided Aladdin was going to suck because of Will Smith as the genie, even though the remake was god awful on pretty much every other front from it’s adaptation choices to its music to its directing and ironically he ended up being the least awful part.

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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 » Sat Sep 25, 2021 12:25 pm

goku the krump dancer wrote: Sat Sep 25, 2021 12:01 pmYes! There's a certain mentally that some people have that think they're " WINNING YAAASSS QUEEN" because someone other than a white person ( usually a black person in particular) is portraying a traditionally white character in live action or getting swapped in source material. Directors and casting agencies always have a specific vision in mind when scouting an actor/actress for a role, meaning they intentionally went after a black girl to play Ariel for no other reason than getting Twitter Clout and hoping to get more black dollars when it drops. Funny enough when it turns out the movie is garbage and people start bringing up the old cartoon, parents are gonna have some explaining to do when they see that The Little Mermaid was a white girl.
Yup. And once again (sorry to bring this up once more, but it bears repeating), this all just gives racist conspiracy morons further unneeded ammo that there's some sort of "plan/secret agenda to erase white people from culture" (as if a bunch of shitty Hollywood movies would be in any way remotely capable of doing that somehow :lol: ).

When in reality this is just yet another example of Hollywood corporate culture being lazy, clunky, and unoriginal as fuck. Like its always been.

The real takeaway should be:

1) That it's INFINITELY better and more creatively worthwhile to just create more totally original material and characters for black/brown people, women, LGBTQ people, etc. to embody (and to create themselves frankly) instead of awkwardly and hamfistedly slotting them into white roles in tired, pointlessly redundant rehashes of old material.

And 2) That most of these movies people hold up as examples - whether it be The Little Mermaid, the all female Ghostbusters reboot, what have you - aren't shitty for prominently featuring minorities in main character roles (which obviously isn't anything the least bit new to begin with, and anyone who actually thinks it is simply doesn't watch many movies period), but rather the bigger issue beyond that is that they're often just shitty, lousy movies in and of themselves for much the same exact tired-ass reasons as so many other big budget Hollywood movies: they're lazily concieved, awkwardly/carelessly slapped together, and without an original thought or idea to be had in them.

The whole thing where they just drop in a minority actor in a role originated by a white actor is purely a symptom/byproduct of that laziness rather than evidence of some "scheme" to attack white people in some fashion. Most of these movies would still be JUST AS TERRIBLE as they already are if they were instead stacked with an all white-male cast.

Instead, so much of internet nerd culture is SO hopelessly gullible, socially awkward, emotionally stunted, agoraphobic, Hikikomori-esque, and frankly media-sheltered, that a vast chunk of it was *actually convinced successfully* that these kinds of crappy-ass movies are endemic of some sinister, Machiavellian plot to "erase whiteness" or some shit (as opposed to just, you know, making fucking money in the cheapest, laziest, safest, most minimal-effort way possible: that many of these same morons freaking out about this stuff are also staunch capitalists to their core as well is just another layer of irony/stupidity to the whole shitshow).

And this on-its-face ridiculous, asinine, completely moronic assumption was used as one of THE core, cornerstone springboards that was instrumental in launching an entire new generation of hate movements that are still going to this day, with many of its adherents STILL believing this crap wholeheartedly sincerely and unironically.

It'd be grimly hilarious if it didn't already cause so much incredibly serious damage to a lot of people's lives (and frankly, to a lot of their minds and basic cognition as well in many cases) throughout the better part of the last 6 or 7 years now.
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Journey to the West, chapter 26 wrote:The strong man will meet someone stronger still:
Come to naught at last he surely will!
Zephyr wrote:And that's to say nothing of how pretty much impossible it is to capture what made the original run of the series so great. I'm in the generation of fans that started with Toonami, so I totally empathize with the feeling of having "missed the party", experiencing disappointment, and wanting to experience it myself. But I can't, that's how life is. Time is a bitch. The party is over. Kageyama, Kikuchi, and Maeda are off the sauce now; Yanami almost OD'd; Yamamoto got arrested; Toriyama's not going to light trash cans on fire and hang from the chandelier anymore. We can't get the band back together, and even if we could, everyone's either old, in poor health, or calmed way the fuck down. Best we're going to get, and are getting, is a party that's almost entirely devoid of the magic that made the original one so awesome that we even want more.
Kamiccolo9 wrote:It grinds my gears that people get "outraged" over any of this stuff. It's a fucking cartoon. If you are that determined to be angry about something, get off the internet and make a stand for something that actually matters.
Rocketman wrote:"Shonen" basically means "stupid sentimental shit" anyway, so it's ok to be anti-shonen.

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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 1:13 pm

goku the krump dancer wrote: 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.
Ah, I gotchu. No disagreement from me there at all.
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 Demon Prince Piccolo » Sat Sep 25, 2021 1:22 pm

MasenkoHA wrote: 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.
Eh, I liked Cinderella, and most recently Cruella (which wasn't really a remake to be fair). :lol: But anyway, with race lifts, as krump said, you see people who are automatically onboard and ready to shoot anyone's opinion down who disagrees; if you're black and disagree, in some circles people will accuse you of being a Tom. I've always heavily despised race lifts myself because it just feels tacky. If the point is to prove that "black people are equal and can be inserted into any role," it's undercut by said character forever being the "black version" of previous character. It's why I rolled my eyes at all the clamoring for a black James Bond. Idris Elba is the man, but give him his own role; he doesn't need to be a black Bond. I'm scared to death Marvel is going to do a race swap with Fantastic Four for Mr. Fantastic, Invisible Girl, and Johnny for that very reason, to appear progressive while really moving several steps back. Instead of doing that, give me a Static movie! Give me a John Stewart Green Lantern!
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 MasenkoHA » Sat Sep 25, 2021 2:11 pm

Demon Prince Piccolo wrote: Sat Sep 25, 2021 1:22 pm
Eh, I liked Cinderella, and most recently Cruella (which wasn't really a remake to be fair).
Admittedly, I’ve only seen snippets of the 2015 Cinderella movie and haven’t seen Cruella but I’m just over Disney’s awful remakes and the buzzfeed brand of diet feminism #GirlBoss kick they’ve been on. Jasmine can’t just feel oppressed by the restrictive life of royalty and want to make her own choices and see the world she now wants to run the Kingdom because #GirlBoss
Belle can’t just be a girl who likes to read fictional books she has to take her dad’s role as an inventor because #GirlBoss
:lol: But anyway, with race lifts, as krump said, you see people who are automatically onboard and ready to shoot anyone's opinion down who disagrees; if you're black and disagree, in some circles people will accuse you of being a Tom. I've always heavily despised race lifts myself because it just feels tacky. If the point is to prove that "black people are equal and can be inserted into any role," it's undercut by said character forever being the "black version" of previous character. It's why I rolled my eyes at all the clamoring for a black James Bond. Idris Elba is the man, but give him his own role; he doesn't need to be a black Bond
I can understand the criticism of feeling pandered too but a lot of the backlash seems to be mostly white people complaining about a traditional white character getting a race lift, a character who isn’t defined by her whiteness (because again she’s a mermaid) . These Disney remakes are the definition of lazy and soulless cash grabs a Black Ariel is going to be far from that movie’s biggest problems.

.
I'm scared to death Marvel is going to do a race swap with Fantastic Four for Mr. Fantastic, Invisible Girl, and Johnny for that very reason, to appear progressive while really moving several steps back. Instead of doing that, give me a Static movie! Give me a John Stewart Green Lantern!
The Fantastic Four thing is apt because the 2015 movie cast Michael B Jordan as Johnny and there was quite a bit of backlash there. And like Michael B.Jordan is a fantastic (no pun intended) actor, the movie was just dog shit. But they kept Sue Storm as a white woman and honestly? If you’re going to make one of them black you really should make them both black. Only giving one of them a race lift and leaving the other as is just makes it feel way more like lazy half hearted tokenism.


A lot of 2000s kids would love to see a Static Shock movie and I wouldn’t be surprised if DC/Time Warner does something in the next 5 years.

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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 2:24 pm

MasenkoHA wrote: Sat Sep 25, 2021 2:11 pm I can understand the criticism of feeling pandered too but a lot of the backlash seems to be mostly white people complaining about a traditional white character getting a race lift, a character who isn’t defined by her whiteness (because again she’s a mermaid) . These Disney remakes are the definition of lazy and soulless cash grabs a Black Ariel is going to be far from that movie’s biggest problems.
This is true. It's what I was addressing in my initial reply to krump on this thread. On one hand we don't want pandering, but the members of the far right who complain about minority representation are always going to complain regardless of any context. Maybe it doesn't apply to Dragon Ball, but when is it "acceptable" for a minority character to be included; why does it always have to go through a screening process? So yeah, while I'm not a fan of race-swapping, a lot of those guys were approaching criticizing it with a different agenda on their minds. And then they make the dumb counterarguments about "What if we made Black Panther white?" when his race is actually an essential part of his character.
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 goku the krump dancer » Sat Sep 25, 2021 2:49 pm

MasenkoHA wrote: Sat Sep 25, 2021 12:24 pm But why is it not possible Disney just decided Halle Bailey was the best fit for the role?
The best fit under what pretense though? Her acting chops? Yeah right, its Ariel from the Little Mermaid not friggen Annie Wilkes from Misery. Yes there are mermaid stories in folkore of many cultures including African folklore but its pretty obvious that the Little Mermaid has heavy Greek influences especially with King Triton pretty much posing as Poseidon. I mean, how hard could it have been to find some ginger headed Irish girl to play the role of a mildly rebellious teenager going through her coming of age emotions as depicted in the cartoon source material, why go out of your way to find someone who looks NOTHING like her to play the role. Its just unnecessary.
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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 3:29 pm

We also know Disney isn't above casting minorities simply to pat themselves on the back, only to squander their roles in the process. For instance Finn/John Boyega in Star Wars. With Force Awakens, he's promoted everywhere with a lightsaber, so people assume he's a black Jedi. But no, it's a misdirect, and his role becomes goofier with every film. It's to the point where Boyega himself has said his role wasn't what he was promised. He was essentially just "funny black guy," running around sweaty, looking scared, cracking jokes, hollering after a white girl every movie, getting his ass handed to him...it became a parody within itself. I'm surprised they didn't have him shout "Aw hell nah" at some point. It's pretty much a scenario that after they cast a black guy, they got to cross off a check mark off the social responsibility list and proceed to do nothing with his character.

So yeah, I'm not in the camp assuming Disney was solely looking at who best fit the role with Little Mermaid either.
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 BWri » Sat Sep 25, 2021 3:42 pm

WittyUsername wrote: Fri Sep 24, 2021 6:02 pm When I saw the title of this thread, I assumed the OP was talking about adding a black person who doesn’t look like Mr. Popo to the cast, or some other racial or ethnic group that doesn’t appear much in anime, which would most likely never happen.
Yeah, I was trying to figure it out as well. A minority in Dragon Ball is very different from what we'd consider to be a minority in the real world, specifically in the west (Europe, North America) so I assumed they meant someone who isn't fair skinned which was backed up in the initial post.

Going by that, there are two issues going on here. One is that the cast lacks what we'd consider to be diversity but the other, which is completely different, is that the cast is visually boring. I can kind of agree with the second point, especially with Goku and Vegeta using the same forms for most of Super. Things are a little different now that the protags have visually distinct forms. Outside of Goku and Vegeta's visual similarities (Saiyan similarities in general) I never considered the cast lacking in a visual way. There's always female combatants on the field nowadays, in virtually every arc after U6, though some can stand to be at least a little stronger. Each arc also brings a new and distinct alien character and design. Some of Toriyama-san's alien design can look a little "same-y" but they are diverse.

For all my criticisms of it, I think Super is doing a great job at introducing new and intriguing aliens into the story. I wish they didn't waste so many good ones such as Shisami, but characters like Hit and Jiren stand above the pack. Even the likes of Magetta are used well and made memorable. I think the main problem is that they haven't yet supplanted the side characters with some of the newbies but that's an issue with the writing itself IMO.

As far as the cast lacking diversity compared to our standards IRL, that is so far removed from my mind and conception of DB that its not a thing to me (a minority irl). That world just isn't the same as ours. Would it be cool to have a black Saiyan? Absolutely! I remember the black saiyan artwork from the mid-2000's that was really amazing. But outside of representation, it wouldn't really change anything for me. I don't think it would have done anything for kid me either, as Piccolo was, is, and always will be my favorite character even if they had a black Saiyan or powerful human on the show. There is an implied otherness with Piccolo that I likely connected with, but mostly, it was his attitude, his mind, and his actions that drew me to him.

As far as diversity goes in the current DB cast, we have 2 full blooded Saiyans (minorities), 2 Namekians (minorities), 1 Triclops (minority), 1 Chaozu (whatever the hell he is), 1 dwarf, 1 genie, 5 half saiyans, 1 giant, 11+ normal-ish fair skinned humans (including #17 & #18), 4 anthropomorphic animals of different species, 1 1/4 Saiyan and eventually 1 darker skinned "Asian" (Uub).

I didn't even include Beerus, Whis, or any of the Kais, just the Earth folk we've been seeing since Z and the new babies.

Do I see us getting more diverse human-esque characters with more diverse features? Yes, actually. I think the franchise has been steadily shifting in that direction for the past decade or so. Anime/manga in general has. Its slow but it will happen. Do I see Toriyama-san doing it? Maybe. I don't see him doing a black main character, but it's possible he'd add a black person to the main cast. It depends on what catches his imagination. Maybe he watches Tenent and decides it would be cool to do a storyline like that in DB, enter DB's John Washington insert. He did it with Terminator and Edward Furlong.
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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 » Sun Sep 26, 2021 7:37 pm

I agree that adding new characters just as token minorities is pointless. A character should actually have a connection to the story and a reason to be there. That's why I want Uub to become a main character, because he was established quite a while ago and it would feel natural for him to join the 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 JulieYBM » Sun Sep 26, 2021 9:12 pm

I think introducing a character who just so happens to be queer or a woman or a person of color can work effortlessly but the writer in me also wants to use those elements to challenge the pre-established characters. For example, what if Gokuu had to fight a woman that challenged him as a character and made him re-think his approach to his relationship with his wife? Or his children? Or himself?
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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 » Sun Sep 26, 2021 11:04 pm

JulieYBM wrote: Sun Sep 26, 2021 9:12 pm For example, what if Gokuu had to fight a woman that challenged him as a character and made him re-think his approach to his relationship with his wife?
Judging by all the fanart, he DID.
Goddamn, the amount of "Caulifla cucks Chi Chi" fanart is outrageous
I REALLY hope the U6 Saiyajin brats turn out to not be underage or else four, going on five years of fanart is going to be REALLY uncomfortable

Personally, though, I'm a bigger fan of the "What if: Cauliflowa and Carrot Boy" scenario
(Admittedly I'm almost certainly the one who kicked it off)
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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 » Sun Sep 26, 2021 11:22 pm

Yuli Ban wrote: Sun Sep 26, 2021 11:04 pm
JulieYBM wrote: Sun Sep 26, 2021 9:12 pm For example, what if Gokuu had to fight a woman that challenged him as a character and made him re-think his approach to his relationship with his wife?
Judging by all the fanart, he DID.
Goddamn, the amount of "Caulifla cucks Chi Chi" fanart is outrageous
I REALLY hope the U6 Saiyajin brats turn out to not be underage or else four, going on five years of fanart is going to be REALLY uncomfortable
*Leans forward in fan of NTR*

Why, hello there...

I think it's a fun idea! I really enjoyed how Gokuu was something of a shishou Caulifla and Kale during the Tournament of Power. Nakamura and friends still played that dynamic mostly safely but I really want to see them lean into it and have Gokuu act as their mentor in more episodes. Passing on lessons and helping those two develop as personalities. Caulifla is so invested in learning more transformations that I'd love to see how Gokuu helps her reach the mental character development to learn how useless the form is, for example, and how that can tie into some other aspect of what she's going through.
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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 UpFromTheSkies » Mon Sep 27, 2021 3:38 pm

Yeah, it looks like they're slowly setting up Uub to take on the mantle of the main character. They can't get rid of Goku completely though, so my theory is he will eventually develop full angel powers and become immortal, but he'll be forbidden from interfering in mortal affairs just like the other angels, and he'll then act as a mentor type character.

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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 » Tue Sep 28, 2021 2:10 am

UpFromTheSkies wrote: Mon Sep 27, 2021 3:38 pm Yeah, it looks like they're slowly setting up Uub to take on the mantle of the main character. They can't get rid of Goku completely though, so my theory is he will eventually develop full angel powers and become immortal, but he'll be forbidden from interfering in mortal affairs just like the other angels, and he'll then act as a mentor type character.
I like Uub but a problem in Z was that ratings started to dip whenever episodes weren't focused on Goku, hence why they made Goku the main character in GT. I don't know if this is still in the case but if it is I don't see Goku taking over.

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