Why do people think no fighting/action in an episode makes an ep pointless?

[precita]

In the recent ep of Super that aired as an example, it was Future Trunks visiting Gohan and was a great character-centric episode. We saw Future Trunks come to terms with Gohan as a family man, then a touching scene of him wondering what his life would have been like with Mai had Goku Black not shown up. Plus it had comedy scenes with Pan going crazy. Yet because there was no fighting in the episode, some people called the episode "pointless" or "slow."

Why on earth do people think there needs to be fighting in every single episode for an episode to, "matter?" The whole point of Dragonball is its also a character-centric franchise, without good character interaction there would be no reason to care about the fighting in the first place. It almost reminds me of Americanized DBZ fans who think Dragonball is just about characters screaming and punching each other for 22 minutes.

I'd much rather the fights be brief rather than stretched out and more character moments or plot moments in the series. So why do people feel the lack of fighting or action in an episode, makes it "pointless?"

[TheGreatness25]

I mean fighting has always been a selling point of DB and was marketed as a fighting series. But yeah, I agree. In a series, there's room for that.

[Cetra]

Because there are people that actually think Dragon Ball is only a fighting and not also a comedy show and stuff. Dragon Ball is already shallow enough so it needs those scenes. But some people don't like them.

[fadeddreams5]

I thought what they tried to do in episode 52 was great, actually. Gohan was used as a foil to Trunks' character, as he contrasted his and his master's (Future Gohan's) realities with Present Gohan's. At the end of the episode, you can see this visit strengthened Trunks' resolve to save his future world from Black so he can enjoy the same sort of life Gohan has. He didn't even mention to Gohan his reasons for being there because he didn't want to drag him into this.

The execution wasn't the greatest, and it could have benefited from far better exposition, but if you realize the intent of the episode, you'll see this wasn't just another one of Super's mindless slice of life fillers.

[ABED]

Define "better exposition".

[MajinMan]

Because DBZ is all about muscles and Super Saiyans and yelling. Well, it's either that or people bitching about characters being useless for months on end. I don't know. People are weird sometimes.

[TheGreatness25]

Some people really like the fighting aspect. Though, out of curiosity, are these fans who call an episode like that "useless" or "boring" or whatever, from YouTube? Because not every fan is more or less civilized and reasonable like on here. Every time I see a DB-related clip on YouTube, I look at the comments just for laughs because those people are... funny. Funny, but not representative of this community, I'd say.

[sintzu]

The whole point of Dragonball is its also a character-centric franchise, without good character interaction there would be no reason to care about the fighting in the first place.

Without good characters there's no reason to care about the interactions.

[ABED]

Writers can and should should show character through action. Toriyama does that.

[floofychan333]

I've actually come to cherish filler because it's a break from the endless and stupidly predictable fighting. If it weren't for filler I probably would've skipped the entire fight with Frieza. The OGDB was largely interaction, cleverly written training, and humour with fighting not being the central focus of the show, which is why I loved it. Don't get me wrong, I can enjoy a good DB fight if i see one but now that I'm watching Z I'm starting to dread the long fights.

[ABED]

I've actually come to cherish filler because it's a break from the endless and stupidly predictable fighting.

I think you're watching the wrong show if you consider it endless and stupidly predictable fighting.

[LordCrumb]

Who are these people who think it's pointless when there is no fighting? very, very few I would guess.

If you added up all the episodes and times where people fought in the DB franchise, i'd say the episodes they don't fight outnumber those that do.

[nite_jay]

I feel like people will like the non fighting types of episodes a little more when they're dubbed. People accustomed to the dub will be more comfortable with the english voices and the jokes will probably be made to fit an english audience a little more.

[precita]

Who are these people who think it's pointless when there is no fighting? very, very few I would guess.
.

Look through the review thread of the recent Super episode, tons of people kept saying, "Another pointless episode," or "Another boring episode, when is Black coming back?" or "Super is boring now."

That's actually what prompted this thread because I loved that episode and consider it one of Super's best episodes. Character centric episodes are often great.

[ABED]

Character centric episodes are often great.

Character centric can include fighting. The fighting should be character based.

[LordCrumb]

Who are these people who think it's pointless when there is no fighting? very, very few I would guess.
.

Look through the review thread of the recent Super episode, tons of people kept saying, "Another pointless episode," or "Another boring episode, when is Black coming back?" or "Super is boring now."

That's actually what prompted this thread because I loved that episode and consider it one of Super's best episodes. Character centric episodes are often great.

Yeah I don't listen to those people, people have been saying "super is boring now" since Episode 2. They have no idea what Dragon Ball is all about.

And as for reading the Super thread.. unless you watch it live, good luck trying to keep up with it.. 14 pages already.. soon to be 35.

[SingleFringe&Sparks]

I like exposition episodes if done to tell new information or call backs from the past to connect a though like Super's Episode 51. I don't like the random humour episodes that do nothing to add onto the plot or lore. Basically the irrelevant filler. Though there are some people who thing dialogue itself equals filler which I obviously disagree with.

[ABED]

Exposition is fine if necessary, but I'm not a fan of the idea of an entire episode where they explain things. It's not dramatic and slows things down.

[precita]

Exposition is fine if necessary, but I'm not a fan of the idea of an entire episode where they explain things. It's not dramatic and slows things down.

There's an entire episode of the Cell saga where Krillin/Trunks/Bulma go and find Cell's time machine. No action in the episode, just exposition...and it was a great episode.

[Kunzait_83]

Plenty of episodes from the original anime are perfectly great (some even among the best in the series) without a single punch or kick thrown. Even in a martial arts series, its obviously more than possible (and very important) to make fantastic non-fighting episodes: they break things up, they add variety and dimension, they help you to better understand the show's universe and better get to know and like the characters, they're instrumental in helping to create intrigue and tension, and overall they generally just show that the core of the series has a lot more to stand on and to offer beyond just pure mindless violence/action.

BUT... even with that being said, its important also to not forget that this is, when all's said and done, a show about martial arts. Fighting is BOUND to happen and IS a totally necessary component; because its what the fundamental core of the narrative and characters is intrinsically about. I see just as many fans who lose sight of this and want Dragon Ball to be a full blown sitcom as fans who just want "punchpunchpunchpunch" every single second.

Its important to have a good balance of elements (characterization, humor, drama, etc), while also understanding and not losing sight of exactly what kind of show you're ultimately making (a show about fighters whose lives revolve around training constantly to better kick the snot out of one another). And like ABED said earlier (and he's 100% absolutely right on this), its not like the fighting CAN'T also be character driven-in and of itself. That's kind of an essential component to most martial arts fiction in general.

I've given Super a lot of shit for its non-fighting episodes, but not because I want the series to be nothing but a mindless punching-fest: but because A) I think that Super relies WAY too much on "slice of life" sitcomy moments (which the original series certainly had SOME of, but to nowhere even NEAR the same degree as this) and B) they're just... shitty, terrible episodes in and of themselves.

Super's non-fighting episodes (the ones I've seen at least) typically fall into the same trap that a ton of other modern anime from the last 10+ years do: they mistake bundles of mindless quirk for humor and characterization. There's no actual "jokes" present to the vast majority of these scenes (with few exceptions). Characters going apeshit over food endlessly, in and of itself and without anything more to it, isn't funny or interesting or engaging: its just pointlessly dumb and meant to elicit a "daaaaw!!!" out of you to help you forget that the "humor" being presented lacks any sort of a set up or punchline.

I get more annoyed with the portion of the fanbase who eat up the "gawking at youtube cat videos" aspect of current anime and want to see Dragon Ball more fully devolve into that type of storyless/pointless/mindless "look at characters be cute and frolic all day" slice of life garbage than I do the dub-centric folks who want nothing but a testosterone-fueled bash-a-thon. I think the former is WAY more vocal and WAY more wrongheaded than the later is at this point. I never thought I'd see the day where I genuinely felt that DBZ dub fans missed the point of the series less than sub fans do but... yeah, I think I've been at that point for quite awhile now.

Mindless "whimsical charm" is every bit equally as gratingly awful and stupid as mindless "hardcore xtreme 2 tha max!" nonsense. The former is in NO way inherently superior or preferable to the latter. They're simply two varying flavors of brain-deadening idiocy.

Do non-fighting episodes in a fighting show by any and all means: just also make sure that there's some kind of an actual point to them somewhere in there that doesn't get lost in the shuffle of "adorably charming" shopping trips and cookouts.