ABED wrote:A lot of people's conception of what tone is happens to be wrong. DBZ doesn't have a uniform tone. It's not that different than DB's because it's all DB. Stories can and do often change tone all the time. While there are world ending threats and characters being impaled and murdered, the characters are named after foods, the god of the gods thinks puns are the apex of humor. For the most part, Toriyama makes it work.
And what exactly is your definition then? If we are going start picking apart every meaning of the word then we'll be here forever. Point is still this : the people in charge very much understood this shift and decided it was different enough it warranted a new name. I happen to think it was the right choice.
ABED wrote: There are TWO Piccolo arcs. They flow from one to the other, but they are two distinct stories. And Z wasn't an acknowledgement of a permanent change, it was simply the later part of a story that was constantly evolving. The Piccolo arcs weren't the first step. The first Piccolo arc was as dark as DB gets. The pure gag manga had already been dropped but it still clearly carries a sense of whimsy with it even to the end of the Buu arc. The focus on action wasn't something that began when Raditz arrived, and even before the two Piccolo arcs, the story had shown that it could get serious, like when Bora was murdered.
I'm not going to debate whether or not the Piccolo arc should be seen as two arcs, some people see the 23rd TB arc as part of the Piccolo arc others do not (same as how some people see the Android arc as part of the Cell arc or that the Freeza arc has a Namek arc before it. ) There is a common story line that ties them and it just made sense to keep them together. If they made the split right after King Piccolo's death it wouldn't have been as clean as it was with starting with Radditz's arrival. Again, Torishima needed to witness how the Piccolo arc was treated in the anime in order to realize they needed a new director. It was a good choice.
Either way, that was not the point. Regardless when the separation in the anime took place, my point is and always was that these arcs, the ones that were more serious and action packed were more liked overall and brought more viewers/readers to DB.
But you think that you are contradicting yourself here a little. Something 'evolving' means changing. The Piccolo arc was the first step in a more drastic change, because it was the first arc that felt so dark and dire. There were small instances in DB before that got a little more serious, but this was an entire arc dedicated to it. Toriyama and Torishima themselves admit this.
In what way? I feel like you are trying to draw an artificial distinction between early DB and DBZ
In every way, from the way the characters are written, to the way the humor plays out. It's still silly, but not quite as outlandish as early DB.
Also, I'm a manga enthusiast. To me it really is just one whole story since there is no separation in the manga. But I still very much believe there is a clear distinction between early DB and DBZ era of the story. Again, the writer and editors in charge felt the same.
The reason the animal people disappear at some point was because Toriyama believed they didn't fit with the what the story had become. They were everywhere in early DB, nowhere to be found at the end of DBZ. He actively toned down the quirkiness of the story.
Lastly, I don't know why anyone has to say it, but popularity doesn't mean it's better.
No, just that it appeals to more people, and that's what shows etc usually aim to do.
There is no point in debating personal preference on what makes what better, because it's a matter of taste. The popularity angle is easier because it can offer empirical evidence like sales, rating, merchandise sales etc.
