GT 1st arc

[DB1984]

Yeah, I have never seen an interview where Toriyama said that he would have liked to have done a chapter where Goku became a kid again.

[JulieYBM]

Dragon Ball GT is such a mess. Head Writer Matsui Aya stopped writing for the series personally after Episode #22 and Series Director Kasai Osamu never seemed to have a direction for the series. If Yama'uchi Shigeyasu hadn't left the television series to direct the tenth anniversary movie I think he would have been series director of Dragon Ball GT. Yama'uchi basically served that role for the Majin Buu arc and as a result I've come to wonder just how much better Dragon Ball GT would have been if Yama'uchi had been leading it.

[VegettoEX]

Toriyama admit that he like the idea of Goku becoming a kid again, so I do wonder what his take on the story would have been like.

Do you have a source for that?

Yeah, I have never seen an interview where Toriyama said that he would have liked to have done a chapter where Goku became a kid again.

It's based on a quote from the Shenlong Times that accompanied the seventh Daizenshuu, which we have translated here on the site:

With regards to the anime’s new series, Dragon Ball GT, how involved are you?
Just a little bit. I’ll check the stories that come up from Toei Animation, and give them a little bit of advice. Also, I’ve drawn just a few characters and illustrations. But it’s interesting! It feels like, “Ah, so they could do it this way”. I think everyone at Toei Animation really racked their brains. Good work. To think they’d make Goku little. With this story, I might even be able to continue the manga serialization again… though I have absolutely no intention of drawing it. (laughs)

[ABED]

Dragon Ball GT is such a mess. Head Writer Matsui Aya stopped writing for the series personally after Episode #22 and Series Director Kasai Osamu never seemed to have a direction for the series. If Yama'uchi Shigeyasu hadn't left the television series to direct the tenth anniversary movie I think he would have been series director of Dragon Ball GT. Yama'uchi basically served that role for the Majin Buu arc and as a result I've come to wonder just how much better Dragon Ball GT would have been if Yama'uchi had been leading it.

Not sure what you mean by direction of the series? Did DBZ have an overall direction?

[JulieYBM]

Dragon Ball GT is such a mess. Head Writer Matsui Aya stopped writing for the series personally after Episode #22 and Series Director Kasai Osamu never seemed to have a direction for the series. If Yama'uchi Shigeyasu hadn't left the television series to direct the tenth anniversary movie I think he would have been series director of Dragon Ball GT. Yama'uchi basically served that role for the Majin Buu arc and as a result I've come to wonder just how much better Dragon Ball GT would have been if Yama'uchi had been leading it.

Not sure what you mean by direction of the series? Did DBZ have an overall direction?

A series director will generally steer a series in a creative direction they want. "We'll do this sort of thing or that sort of thing!" Kasai didn't seem to really know what he wanted to do, let alone figure out a way to do it successfully. A good series director will steer the project on a clear path, whether it is through script modifications or storyboard modifications. For example, Yuu Yuu Hakusho Series Director Abe Noriyuki eventually began having all of the storyboard artists--himself included--try to match or compete with Shinbou Akiyuki's storyboards for the series to elevate the creativity of the visual communication of the series. Other animators began to do the same with regards to trying to outdo Wakabayashi Atsushi's animation.

In the animated series about creating animated series, Shirobako, Series Director Kinoshita struggles with storyboarding the final episode of Exodus because he is struggling with what he wanted to say about the characters. Later on while adapting a comic he gives his series a brighter, hopeful ending that the original author doesn't care for because Aria's indecision is a reflection of his own demons. The two have a heated discussion and come to a mutual agreement that allows the original author to write a hopeful new storyline for his main character while also allowing Kinoshita to fulfill his creative vision for the animated series.

[MCDaveG]

Yeah, GT actually has two arcs.
1st ends with Baby's defeat and second should be somewhat like ''Evil Minus Energy Dragon Balls arc'', because the villains coming alive and hell merging easily was somehow the sideeffect of the cracked dragon balls.
Damn, it is such a mess it doesn't make sense. Same with the Baby actually creating Dr. Myu/Dr. Myu creating Baby weird stuff.

[ABED]

I know what an overall direction is, I don't see what you meant in this context. Do you mean the story lacks an overall direction?

it is such a mess it doesn't make sense. Same with the Baby actually creating Dr. Myu/Dr. Myu creating Baby weird stuff.

The Baby/Myu issue was weird but from what I can gather, Baby was created, then created Dr. Myu or took him over, then made him gather the power for him.

[JulieYBM]

I know what an overall direction is, I don't see what you meant in this context. Do you mean the story lacks an overall direction?

Everything. Story, expression and character all seemed disengaged.

[ABED]

I know what an overall direction is, I don't see what you meant in this context. Do you mean the story lacks an overall direction?

Everything. Story, expression and character all seemed disengaged.

The story isn't any more lacking in direction than when Toriyama wrote it. The direction changed, but not nearly to the obnoxious degree that the Buu arc ever did. GT started off with a lighthearted quest for the DB's then became about Baby's quest revenge. Then Hell opened up due to the crack in the DB's, and finally after their overuse, the dragon became evil. I don't see a lack of direction as much as a lackluster execution.

Your YYH example was just "hey, let's animate better!"

Expression?

[MCDaveG]

I know what an overall direction is, I don't see what you meant in this context. Do you mean the story lacks an overall direction?

Everything. Story, expression and character all seemed disengaged.

The story isn't any more lacking in direction than when Toriyama wrote it. The direction changed, but not nearly to the obnoxious degree that the Buu arc ever did. GT started off with a lighthearted quest for the DB's then became about Baby's quest revenge. Then Hell opened up due to the crack in the DB's, and finally after their overuse, the dragon became evil. I don't see a lack of direction as much as a lackluster execution.

Your YYH example was just "hey, let's animate better!"

Expression?

Nah, it was damn mess, because the hell opens by two No. 17s opening the hole and somehow, the dragon balls are also involved, which is stated vaguely like 3 times along the way.
But no specific info, how exactly are the dragon balls involved, which I assume is probably that outside them opening the hole, the villains are also get revived.

[JulieYBM]

The story isn't any more lacking in direction than when Toriyama wrote it. The direction changed, but not nearly to the obnoxious degree that the Buu arc ever did. GT started off with a lighthearted quest for the DB's then became about Baby's quest revenge. Then Hell opened up due to the crack in the DB's, and finally after their overuse, the dragon became evil. I don't see a lack of direction as much as a lackluster execution.

Toriyama has nothing to do with it. This is Kasai's series. He is the series director, he is the one crafting the story with his head writer and overseeing the storyboards.

Your YYH example was just "hey, let's animate better!"

Expression?

Camera angles, coloring, lighting, use of drawings, flow, layouts and character expressions. The manner in which information is conveyed is something conveyed by the storyboard and director. Date Hayato has no real discernible style but much of his tenure as series director of Naruto has had him encourage the use of storyboard artists and animation supervisors who bring to the table what they specifically have to offer. A Murata Masahiko (strong emphasis on color usage and lighting) episode looks different from a Tsuru Toshiyuki episode (lens manipulation, color filtering), a Wakayabashi Atsushi episode or a Sessha Gorou episode. Satou Shinji's storyboards feature layouts that place emphasis on dynamic angles to sharpen focus on the parts of their bodies being used to express their current emotion--or obscuring the exact emotion to leave it up to interpretation.

[ABED]

Nah, it was damn mess, because the hell opens by two No. 17s opening the hole and somehow, the dragon balls are also involved, which is stated vaguely like 3 times along the way.
But no specific info, how exactly are the dragon balls involved, which I assume is probably that outside them opening the hole, the villains are also get revived.

How is that a mess? You've named two things but you make it sound super convoluted and overly complicated. The minus energy from the overuse of the dragon balls has caused the balls to crack and negative consequences are beginning to happen, including a breakdown of the wall between Hell and the living world.

Jacob, you aren't clarifying anything for me. You are using a bunch of series I haven't seen as examples. I've seen YYH, but I fail to see how that proves your point. Specify exactly what you mean using GT as the example. I fail to see how it lacked direction. Like what specifically can you see from the series that shows lack of direction other than simply poor execution of its story and action?

[MCDaveG]

Nah, it was damn mess, because the hell opens by two No. 17s opening the hole and somehow, the dragon balls are also involved, which is stated vaguely like 3 times along the way.
But no specific info, how exactly are the dragon balls involved, which I assume is probably that outside them opening the hole, the villains are also get revived.

How is that a mess? You've named two things but you make it sound super convoluted and overly complicated. The minus energy from the overuse of the dragon balls has caused the balls to crack and negative consequences are beginning to happen, including a breakdown of the wall between Hell and the living world.

Jacob, you aren't clarifying anything for me. You are using a bunch of series I haven't seen as examples. I've seen YYH, but I fail to see how that proves your point. Specify exactly what you mean using GT as the example. I fail to see how it lacked direction. Like what specifically can you see from the series that shows lack of direction other than simply poor execution of its story and action?

In that case, we would have to logically assume, that the cracking Dragon Balls involve the hell, that is on different plane than Earth, so villains come back to life (we see Dr. Myu and Dr. Gero first).
They work on the Hell Fighter 17 then and later sync him up with Earth's No. 17 to open the hell gate. If it was stated outright like this in the series, then it makes sense.
I've just rewatched GT and with someone here saying, that it also involved the Dragon Ball directly, so I've tried to pay attention.