Do couples in the DB universe seem believable?

[Valerius Dover]

Good question. My stance is generally that real life and fiction are two entirely different things. It goes for anything, really. And that's not a bad thing, because fiction would kind of suck if it were realistic.

Case in point, I'd say none any of the DB couples are truly realistic, but this goes for pretty much every other anime out there, too.

-I don't think Chi-Chi would realistically put up with Goku's long absences like that without explanation.
-Vegeta and Bulma? Depends on whether he's still killed people or not. Realistically, there's no way someone who's done that would even be on the streets. But if we leave that out along with the superpowers, then I suppose it might work. They're both about as alpha as you can get, Vegeta's height aside. And Bulma's rich, too,
-On a side note, Yamcha dating Bulma kind of reminds me of those high school couples that would last like a week tops. Yamcha seems like a bad boy and cool guy at first, but it wouldn't take long for Bulma to get tired of him. It'd be pretty absurd to date for over a decade and then break up.
-Android 18 is WAY out of Krillin's league, so there's no way she'd even notice him, realistically.
-Much like above, there's no way Videl would go for someone like Gohan, ever. He's a nice guy and a nerd. Plus she's rich, so she has an even wider selection.

[Jinzoningen MULE]

They're either portrayed as lopsided and abusive or too perfect. None of it is representative of a real couple. Well... none of it is representative of a successful couple, anyhow.

[Gog]

Nah, Goku and Chi-Chi's relation ship was essentially Goku going through a promise he made with Chi-Chi. However, you can chalk it up to being Chi-Chi having a child hood crush, and I do suppose that Goku being Goku did eventually manage to win her over.

Bulma's and Vegeta's is less believable. To this day I question how, and why she would have slept with a mass murdering psychopath who killed her friends, and nearly destroyed Earth. I would actually go ahead and call her actions with Vegeta to be character assassination.

Videl, and Gohan's is more believable it essentially started off as a teenager flick, and bloomed into something much, much more.

[Cipher]

Dragon Ball couples, ranked:

1. Gohan/Videl - Believable peers who come together out of a common niche interest; this one seems pretty healthy
2. Bulma/Vegeta - People with strong personalities are often attracted to other strong personalities, regardless of moral implication
3. Tenshinhan/Chaozu - Pretty believable
4. Goku/Chi-Chi - Not so great
5. Kuririn/#18 - This is okay. Most of the development happens off screen, and Kuririn is a bit fawning; depends on what their courtship looked like

[precita]

Why do people think Krillin/18 is unbelieveable? Krillin has never been seen as unattractive in canon, just short. Just because 18 is a blonde doesn't mean she's looking for some muscle-bound meathead.

[Cipher]

Why do people think Krillin/18 is unbelieveable? Krillin has never been seen as unattractive in canon, just short. Just because 18 is a blonde doesn't mean she's looking for some muscle-bound meathead.

I don't know. Why are people so scandalized by the idea of Vegeta/Bulma when they go to another thread to talk about how much they'd like to dick Vados, an emotionally abusive space sociopath?

Cognitive dissonance, thy name is Dragon Ball fans.

[precita]

Also another good point is Maron is only 3 years old in the Buu saga, but there's a 7 year gap between the end of the Cell arc and when we see Krillin/18 married.

So assuming Krillin/18 did start dating or whatever not too long after the Cell arc, they still waited 4 years into their relationship to have a kid. I think this is pretty realistic, it's not like Krillin/18 got together automatically the next day and got married and knocked up. The only reason we don't think of this is because the 7 year gap is off-screen. So Krillin/18 had at least 4 years to get to know each other before Maron was born...how is this not realistic?

[TobyS]

Bulma going out with a genocide commuting psycho who ordered the execution of all her childhood friends and first love feels like total bullshit.

All the others are fine.

[Majin Jator]

Why do people think Krillin/18 is unbelieveable? Krillin has never been seen as unattractive in canon, just short. Just because 18 is a blonde doesn't mean she's looking for some muscle-bound meathead.

A lot of people seems to project their own insecurities when it comes to this couple, not to mention all the cliches taken as face value.
That aside, I think C18 would be initially reluctant to hang out with anyone that remids her that chapter of her life, but Krillin is a nice guy that obviously cares for her, so maybe that made an impression on her.

Gohan and Videl is probably the most believable, because it's pretty much by the book, ignoring one of them is an insanely powerful half-alien. He could have help her with maths instead of teaching how to fly, and the story would work the same. We get to see how it develops, too, which is more that we can say about the other relationships of the series.

The saiyan relationships came out of the blue. AK wanted to marry Goku, and he needed parents for Trunks. At this point of the story is nice and fun to see their interactions as a couple, but the way how they arrive at that point is contrived.

[Grimlock]

Bardock and Gine is definitely believable. Imagine Gine always in trouble with gangsters or whatever and Bardock always appearing there to save her.

Also, why was this thread resurrected? The last post was in 2015!

[emperior]

- Goku and Chi-Chi: They have strong personalities and Goku is an extremely charismatic man. We know they love eachothers. Chi-Chi also doesn't seem like someone who loves to have sex (like Goku) so this couple can definitely work.
- Vegeta and Bulma: They both have very strong personalities, a seemingly high sex-drive and a very big ego. Vegeta is not a gold digger because he could realistically rob all the banks in the world or ask Shenron for unlimited wealth.
- 18 and Krillin: Krillin seems like the loser guy who manages to make the most gorgeous girl of the school fall in love for him. It's that sort of couple which makes many wonder "How did he get her" but there exist in the real world so it can be believable.
- Gohan and Videl: The standard high-school couple, which have no previous experience, who fall in love and spend the rest of their lives together. Very plausible, they obviously love each others.

[Basaku]

18 & Krillin got the best exectued relationship. Mutual attraction from the start and it continues forward. They seem most believeable.

Vegeta & Bulma end up in that spot but at first there doesn't seem to be much between them other than "sex happened, Bulma got preggo". Though I guess that's a different kind of realistic, not so rarely couples start accidentaly/casually or even as just friends and grow closer together as the time goes.

Gohan & Videl are cute in DBZ but in Super, watching paint dry is more exciting than watching these two "interact".

Chi-Chi & Goku can hardly be considered a couple, there's literally nothing from Goku's side there but then again, other than fighting and eating there's nothing else to Goku anyway.

Future Trunks & Mai are ok but I just don't buy their chemistry, the relationship seems forced as if Toriyama was searching for any established available female to pair him up with and Mai was basically the only one that could sorta qualify.

Tenshinhan & Chaozu I will comment on when Toriyama develops balls to actually state/draw/write it openly.

[DBZAOTA482]

They're all believable in their own, unique way. I mean, didn't Goku x Chi-Chi start the whole childhood promise trend in anime/manga?

Bulma and Vegeta are fairly vain, shallow people so naturally they'd be seeing each other on the hush. Krillin was such a real and nice person which turned #18 on. Gohan understood Videl and was the first boy she seriously hung around.

Toriyama may have claimed to not be good with romance but he sure knew how to set up interest ones.