Do you want Dragon Ball to continue indefinitely?

[Xeztin]

I know a majority of you won't agree with my opinion, but I just can't see Dragon Ball ever "ending" again. They are bringing back old franchises like the original Yu-Gi-Oh! and Naruto which ended in 2014 but with all the material we got up until now, it doesn't feel like it's ended at all! On top of that there is a Boruto manga coming out, which is probably going to be the "Super" of Naruto. Dragon Ball is the biggest global anime franchise the world has ever known, or will probably ever know. At the end of the day money out weighs story-telling and quality. I think Dragon Ball will become like Yu-Gi-Oh! and Pokemon and have multiple spin-offs. As long as it's doing good I don't think it will ever end again. I do believe that Toriyama has come back to close the book on Goku and the cast's story though and the whole point of the 12 universes was to allow for Toei to do spin-offs with new casts. That whole thing about Toriyama giving Toei 10 years worth of material would solidify that if it were true. I do hope Toyotaro continues doing the manga if there are spin-offs though! The only way I see us going on after the EOZ with the same cast is if we follow Uub as the main character from then on. I'd bet on Super itself going at least 100-150 episodes because I have no doubt in my mind we will explore U6.

[Kuririn Fan]

Dragon Ball should have ended with the manga, Almost everything after 1995 is a fucking disaster. I hope Super won't be longer than 100 episodes.
Video games? Sure, i don't give a fuck about those.
Movies? Definitely, every now and then.

[omaro34]

Dragon Ball should have ended with the manga, Almost everything after 1995 is a fucking disaster. I hope Super won't be longer than 100 episodes.
Video games? Sure, i don't give a fuck about those.
Movies? Definitely, every now and then.

Does this make Super a disaster in your opinion?

[Kuririn Fan]

Dragon Ball should have ended with the manga, Almost everything after 1995 is a fucking disaster. I hope Super won't be longer than 100 episodes.
Video games? Sure, i don't give a fuck about those.
Movies? Definitely, every now and then.

Does this make Super a disaster in your opinion?

A good episode here and there can't save the show so far.

[Vijay]

I refuse to allow DragonBall franchise turning into Pokemon, short-lived Digimon, Yugioh, Super Yoyo etc

I'm not CEO of TOEI Animation, or Shueisha, or Bandai. But a regular fan & well-wisher of DB franchise.

GT (1995-1997) & Kai (2009-2014) were both disgrace to DB franchise. Period.

And I'm not even talking about Super that doesnt hold a candle to those masterpieces.

On a positive note, DragonBall franchise has this "eternal staying power" thanks to its phenomenal fanbase & popularity. Very few shows can take pride with its accomplishments:

1. Managed arguably, greatest action anime of all time, DB & Z

2. Made a killing on sales of manga, toys, merchandises, games, cards, close to 20 movies, OVA's, Specials combined

3. Low-budget, high profit method as opposed to studios like MadHouse, Sunrise & BONES as seen in alternating quality of each episode.

[Hellspawn28]

The Champa saga so far has been great. So I have a good feeling that the rest of Super will be pretty good.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

I know a majority of you won't agree with my opinion, but I just can't see Dragon Ball ever "ending" again. They are bringing back old franchises like the original Yu-Gi-Oh! and Naruto which ended in 2014 but with all the material we got up until now, it doesn't feel like it's ended at all! On top of that there is a Boruto manga coming out, which is probably going to be the "Super" of Naruto. Dragon Ball is the biggest global anime franchise the world has ever known, or will probably ever know. At the end of the day money out weighs story-telling and quality. I think Dragon Ball will become like Yu-Gi-Oh! and Pokemon and have multiple spin-offs. As long as it's doing good I don't think it will ever end again. I do believe that Toriyama has come back to close the book on Goku and the cast's story though and the whole point of the 12 universes was to allow for Toei to do spin-offs with new casts. That whole thing about Toriyama giving Toei 10 years worth of material would solidify that if it were true. I do hope Toyotaro continues doing the manga if there are spin-offs though! The only way I see us going on after the EOZ with the same cast is if we follow Uub as the main character from then on. I'd bet on Super itself going at least 100-150 episodes because I have no doubt in my mind we will explore U6.

I don't know if Yu-Gi-Oh Duel Monsters will be making a comeback the same way Dragon Ball has. It could all depend on how the upcoming movie does.

I would absolutely LOVE for Dragon Ball to have spinoffs, not just a Jaco series but I've always wanted to see The Life and Times of Mr. Satan and Buu .

GT (1995-1997) & Kai (2009-2014) were both disgrace to DB franchise. Period.

GT was an interesting experiment for its world building, even if it wasn't what fans in 1996, and even 2003 wanted.

As for Kai, I think most fans of it (myself included) would argue the dub was invaluable for the fans who liked to watch the series in English.

[sangofe]

As long as it doesn't get REALLY bad I'd love for it to continue forever.

[sintzu]

The video games, home releases and merchandise will continue forever which is to be expected from a franchise as big as dragon ball.

In terms of the actual story, I'm OK with it going on for as long as Toriyama or whoever else can write good stories.

[trick007z]

It doesn't matter and fans should just take the continuity they like as their own personal canon and leave everything else to the people who want to keep going and keep taking the product as it's released.

If you are a purist, the manga exists. If you live by the Toonami run, that still exists. If you love GT, it's out there for you. If you like the original movies, you got em. Battle of the Gods and RoF peaked your interest, great. You want Dragon Ball, need more Dragon Ball, and needed it yesterday? Well here is Dragon Ball Super.

This series is well past the point where someone can claim that it is getting ruined by extending. Toriyama didn't have a plan going in and didn't even know where the series would be after the first arc with Goku, Bulma, and Oolong. By the time we got to Buu it was beyond the threshold of continuing for the sake of continuing. If this was a 50 episode run with one thread line throughout, okay I can see the value in letting sleeping dogs lie. But at this point, make as much as TOIE wants and if it sucks get ignore it, if it gets great, enjoy it.

That's all you can ask for anymore.

[Xeztin]

I think for the most part Toei learned from their mistakes on GT. I loved GT but i could definitely see the problem if people where expecting it to be like Z.

[Thanos]

Dragon Ball has been going strong, with peaks and valleys, for 32 years. If you end up not enjoying the new material, simply stop consuming it and allow those of us who wish to continue to have new material indefinitely to enjoy it. I'm not sure I really understand the "it should end at x or y" mentality; don't like it? Don't watch it. Done.

As for Super's duration... I think it's a tricky thing, trying to predict how long it'll go. On one hand, the expectation is that it'll have a fairly short run, and I don't think anyone would be surprised if that were the case. To me, this whole "omg 100+ episodes" thing is pretty AF tier... in terms of, ya know, the propensity for random, unsubstantiated rumors to come out of fucking no where that spreads like wildfire.... However, it's supposedly doing very well, and with all the anticipation of nearly 20 years leading up to finally having a new series, they'd need to make the decision to close the book on it very carefully. I think the main premise behind Toriyama ending the series was getting tired of having to draw it. If he can simply submit story premises, key points and various character designs, I don't see why this can't run and run. Surely Toyotaro is in no hurry to give up his job, either.

[ekrolo2]

If it gets a better writer who'll do something halfway interesting instead of spinning the wheels with the cast then it can last forever. In its current form? I'd rather they just kept it dead.

[Kunzait_83]

Do I want Dragon Ball to continue indefinitely? Nope. Stories should end. This one ended in 1995. And that was perfectly okay. It not producing new content doesn't keep me from enjoying it.

Perfectly said.

Dragon Ball had its time and place: it came and went and that's not a bad thing at all. It left a helluva mark in its wake and it should live on through that legacy its left, not by continually shitting out lesser content purely for the sake of shitting out content and keeping a "brand IP" alive well long past its sell-by date.

Dragon Ball ended more than 20 years ago now. I know this particular sentiment sounds like a complete joke considering we're now in a "one Star Wars film a year every year for the rest of eternity" media landscape (ugh), but really this, like most things in general, should just be left alone. People (both fans and creators alike) need to stop picking at the carcasses of things that once were in the past and move ahead onto other things.

[ABED]

There is no brand sell by date. It's not like a piece of meat that will spoil. Brands and stories can be revived. Look at Creed.

[Xeztin]

Exactly, I don't see why people can't ignore it or let it go and move on if they do not enjoy it. It's just like with Yu-Gi-Oh! because right after the end of the original and all the spin-off's came out, a lot of the fans of the original series didn't like it. They had 2 choices: One: Get over it and accept just because they don't like it doesn't mean others don't and that the franchise and the world doesn't revolve around or stop for them. Two: leave the franchise and stop watching it on a daily basis and merely enjoy the memories that they had with the original series. The franchise was split between these two obviously but way more just accepted and enjoyed the new material than those that left the franchise for good because it became a big part of their lives and they couldn't leave it even though they didn't agree with the new material. I think before too long it's going to happen with Dragon Ball, and we're going to have those two options. It's one or the other and sticking around and complaining about it isn't going to solve anything because the fans that enjoy it including incoming new fans, far outweigh the sour older ones that don't like it. Also the new material isn't aimed at the older fans, it's aimed at kids of the new generation that aren't as hardcore as us which is why Kai happened in the first place to introduce new fans to the franchise. Having said all that, If Toei's going to listen to anyone at all it's the new generation not the old one because the kids fill their pockets by buying way more toys and merch than what the adults do. I know a lot of us hardcore fans on here collect DB figures and such, but we can't hold a light to a kid who will have their parent's buy them anything related to DB, including cheap made material that we wouldn't even take a second look at on a daily basis. Heck, they will have their parents drive them to Mcdonalds just for the Goku card that comes with the happy meal even though its absolutely worthless.

[Lord Beerus]

There is no brand sell by date. It's not like a piece of meat that will spoil. Brands and stories can be revived. Look at Creed.

Couldn't have said it any better. There is potential for an infinite amount of good stories in Dragon Ball. It just takes the appropriate writing and directing. No major franchise, whether it be live action, video games, literature or animation, has an expiration date. It can be brought back at any time and have just as good, or even better stories, than its predecessors. Creed, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Tomb Raider (2013) and The Force Awakens are prime examples.

[Kunzait_83]

There is no brand sell by date. It's not like a piece of meat that will spoil. Brands and stories can be revived. Look at Creed.

Also Mad Max.

I suppose it depends. It depends on if there's a genuine spark of inspiration and the work is coming from a creative place, as opposed to just a corporate-mandated "just put out something to keep the IP going and wring out some more cash" sort of filler.

I mentioned Star Wars earlier because that's clearly a prime example of the latter (a more cynical wringing of nostalgia dollars than The Force Awakens you will be hard pressed to find), but examples like Creed and Mad Max are also great examples of the former. There's a HUGE difference between a creator's passion project and a workman-like paycheck gig and it often plainly shows in the finished work.

The new Dragon Ball material at times sort of feels like something torn in between the two (though probably leaning more heavily on the "just do something, anything, to keep the IP going" side of things): Toriyama came back into this willingly and with nobody twisting his arm to do so, and in some of this you can clearly tell there's a genuinely talented person having a ball with their old toys. But there's also a ton of behind-the-scenes goings on with regards to animation budget as well as the general marketing whims of the current anime marketplace that make the whole enterprise feel as if there's a ton of fingers being stuck into the cookie jar.

Toriyama's also a very different person though from who he was 20 years ago, and the entire anime landscape (and Wuxia landscape for that matter) is also likewise a very different place from where it was 20 years ago, while Dragon Ball is the sort of series that very clearly has "80s & 90s" written all over it. So I don't think there's a very pat, easy answer as to why the new revival material is as... lets say "divisive"... as it is. Its possible that, if we're running fully with the "DB Evolution angered Toriyama back into the game" narrative, that maybe "getting pissed with someone else doing a shitty job with your work" all alone and by itself maybe isn't the best of reasons solely to dive headlong back into your old creative well after a 20 year absence.

Who knows. None of us will until the torrid sex, murder, and drugs-filled tell all book on this is released years from now.

The point is that some works, after a very long absence, can come back feeling revitalized while others come back tired and haggard shells of their former selves. A lot of it ultimately comes down to creative alchemy, and a creator should generally feel as though they've a very good reason and inspiration for reviving an old work many years down the line.

"Sell-by date" was probably the wrong term to use, but there are most definitely some works that are clearly products of their time and place while others have a more "timeless" quality to them. Its very possible for even the most specifically dated-seeming of works to still come back generations later successfully... but its FAR from easy nor does it happen often.

With Dragon Ball, not only is it a very, very "product of its time" sort of thing, but its also a VERY massive and dense fucking series content-wise. I'm often amazed by how hungry modern fans still are for "more" DB material. There's already a LOT of it there from its original run, and its covered an utterly GIGANTIC spectrum of genre styles and ideas. I don't now, and probably never will, understand the mindset of fans (and to be fair, its pretty much always the younger ones) who are still antsy and eager to see this old dog bust out yet more tricks, when it already pretty much ran nearly the full gamut of tricks from its genre well back in the day. Too much seems to never be enough for some folks.

This sort of has the net effect of making DB feel like exactly the sort of old series/work that never really NEEDED to come back, and if it did it'd probably better have a damn good reason to on a creative-level (considering how long it went on for and how much stuff it already did with its universe). All the new stuff out now, like it or don't like it, has "extraneous" written all over it. Even at its absolute very best, none of it feels "necessary" and very little of it is really pushing the series in the kinds of radical directions it would often push itself in its heyday. Even the two most "extraneous" arcs of the original series, Cell and Boo, did way, way[]/i] more and added far more to the series' legacy than this stuff has (apart from Beerus, who seems to be the sole aspect of this thus far with any real staying power in the series' overall iconography).

I'm all for the (fairly rare) underdog examples of an old work from ages ago making a grand comeback and feeling as vibrant and relevant as ever: but the sort of stuff in the new DB material so far is hardly at all exemplary of that, and is more instead indicative of the usual end result of stirring this kind of old beast from its slumber: where you're left with the feeling of "just let sleeping dogs lie".

Again though, who knows: Super's still a long ways off from being finished, and its very possible for something genuinely worthwhile to still come of it. I don't really see how anyone can be this excited for it at this point though: thus far its been pretty interminable. And as I said, Dragon Ball was already a VERY massive series jam-packed with ideas and cool stuff to see. Its hardly the sort of thing that "leaves you wanting more" by the end. But apparently a lot of people today DO still want more: which strikes me as kinda gluttonous at a certain point.

[B]

The new Dragon Ball material at times sort of feels like something torn in between the two (though probably leaning more heavily on the "just do something, anything, to keep the IP going" side of things): Toriyama came back into this willingly and with nobody twisting his arm to do so, and in some of this you can clearly tell there's a genuinely talented person having a ball with their old toys. But there's also a ton of behind-the-scenes goings on with regards to animation budget as well as the general marketing whims of the current anime marketplace that make the whole enterprise feel as if there's a ton of fingers being stuck into the cookie jar.

This is absolutely key in this discussion. All official companies involved are going to move forward with whatever they want, and it's only by the grace of God that 1) they're happy to let Toriyama take the driver's seat where appropriate, and 2) Toriyama wants to be involved. His participation in a lot of ways feels like a footnote. Not a happy thing to think about, but once he's gone, they're definitely not going to stop until we've reached peak 1997-levels of burnout.

[Xeztin]

Little bit off the script but can Toei/Shueisha still produce Dragon Ball material once Akira Toriyama is gone? (By gone I mean leave this world) The entire world will stop that day, hope I never see it to come.