Are Caulifa and Kale popular characters? What is the general consensus?

Discussion specifically regarding the "Dragon Ball Super" TV series premiering July 2015 in Japan, including individual threads for each episode.
snpaa
Not-So-Newbie
Posts: 73
Joined: Thu Jun 15, 2017 12:22 am

Re: Are Caulifa and Kale popular characters? What is the general consensus?

Post by snpaa » Thu Nov 02, 2017 2:59 am

pacz360 wrote:
snpaa wrote:I personally don't believe they are , I've never been given any empirical data that proves they are in fact popular. I think some people may be misinterpreting the marketing push for them as popularity .
someone check the threads in Japan and said the fans reaction to the girls are similar to here in the west
Sorry but that's just anecdotal evidence from a questionable source.

precita
Banned
Posts: 6037
Joined: Thu Jul 09, 2015 3:10 pm

Re: Are Caulifa and Kale popular characters? What is the general consensus?

Post by precita » Thu Nov 02, 2017 3:38 am

I bet they'll both last till the final 10 characters too.

User avatar
Yomi
Regular
Posts: 616
Joined: Sun May 29, 2016 8:45 am

Re: Are Caulifa and Kale popular characters? What is the general consensus?

Post by Yomi » Thu Nov 02, 2017 3:40 am

precita wrote:I bet they'll both last till the final 10 characters too.
Nah, universe 6 is finish. They are gone after Kafla's defeat.
Universe 6 only has 4 people left, and they're fighting U7.
:clap:

User avatar
namekiansaiyan
I Live Here
Posts: 4358
Joined: Sat Nov 21, 2015 9:39 am

Re: Are Caulifa and Kale popular characters? What is the general consensus?

Post by namekiansaiyan » Thu Nov 02, 2017 4:04 am

Yomi wrote:
precita wrote:I bet they'll both last till the final 10 characters too.
Nah, universe 6 is finish. They are gone after Kafla's defeat.
Universe 6 only has 4 people left, and they're fighting U7.
Kafla is going first. Kale and Caulifla having 3 episodes in a row has they are finsihed written all over it. The Namekians will go whenever they decide to have a proper fight with Piccolo and Gohan.

User avatar
BrolyKale
OMG CRAZY REGEN
Posts: 924
Joined: Sun Jun 04, 2017 5:06 am

Re: Are Caulifa and Kale popular characters? What is the general consensus?

Post by BrolyKale » Thu Nov 02, 2017 5:10 am

Acetona wrote:Caulifla is a fun character, I won't lie. But her constant learning of Super Saiyan Forms in like 2~3 days is stupid and make me dislike her more than I would like her if she was, for example, introduced the same time Cabba was. I think the timing she appeared plus the plot needing her to be strong ruined her.

But Kale... oh my God. She's beyond terrible. I mean, Broly was already a terrible tier character, and the we get a genderswap version of him just because they can't canonize him. Like, seriously? I doubt this was Toriyama's idea, it must be more of Toyotaro's stupid fanservice-driven ideas, like Vegetto Blue and that Potara retcon.

I really wish Super was a pure Toriyama product now that I know that Toyotaro is playing a big role on the general plot.
I thought the whole Kale-thing was Toei's idea. But I also heard Toyotaro was a fan of Broly so it could be him too... I just hope he won't ruin Broly's legendary status in the manga.
Zamasu, Broly, Mira & Fu

Timetraveller
Beyond Newbie
Posts: 224
Joined: Sun Jul 02, 2017 3:53 am

Re: Are Caulifa and Kale popular characters? What is the general consensus?

Post by Timetraveller » Thu Nov 02, 2017 6:44 am

Acetona wrote: I really wish Super was a pure Toriyama product now that I know that Toyotaro is playing a big role on the general plot.
You mean Old Toriyama. New Toriyama would just give them a different colored god form they achieve offscreen after a few days of training.

User avatar
CJStriker_CBR
I'm, pretty, cozy, here...
Posts: 1622
Joined: Tue Aug 22, 2017 7:22 pm

Re: Are Caulifa and Kale popular characters? What is the general consensus?

Post by CJStriker_CBR » Thu Nov 02, 2017 9:31 am

Asura wrote:I am curious if anyone has ever done polls on the popularity of these characters, or the popularity of the new characters in the ToP in general.

I would love to help put an end to the "everyone and their mother hates Caulifla and Kale and all Dragon Ball fans are a collective hivemind that hates them and if you don't think 95% of the fanbase hates them you're wrong" mentality that I see being commented around sometimes on other sites.

They're no doubt controversial, I just have a very hard time believing that the "vast majority" of the fanbase hates them.
The line that Everyone Hates Caulifla and Kale, lets put in any New ToP Character in this to like Ribrianne, Rozie, Jiren too, that 95% of the Fanbase Hates them or any large majority of that matter, any level like that spouted by anyone online should have been laughed off the stage of talk as soon as it was uttered. :shifty:

However like anything, some end up thumb-uping that view or saying Yea to it even thought it is a matter of not being possible to be. No Fandom can be truly ever polled to that level, it take a Herculean effort of both online and on the street polling to know who is liked and not. No company will ever do that or any group of fans have to ablity to engage that with real results.

It is mainly spouted to make the fans of the dislike of characters look bigger and more important, like an intimidation factor that if you go against my view you are going against the majority opinion, to snuff out detectors. But many here and on other forums on many topics not just DB, Comics too, many fans got wise to this Political Trick long ago and know it is smoke and mirrors.

I don't think any mass showing of support or major story developments in the positives for any character would snuff out the more hardcore haters of a character, but that is now who you need to focus on. Many need to have discussions with more in the middle and reasonable fans to try and engage them on the characters yields more positive views on them to grow the fanbases. :thumbup:
--- ADMIN NOTE: THIS SIGNATURE IS FAR TOO LONG. PLEASE REDUCE IN SIZE. ---
Let it Bloom. Let it Ring. The Song of Love & Victory!”:clap:
Brianne De Chateau/Ribrianne!
My #1 in DB!
:thumbup:

I’m a Veteran Poster of Comic Book Resources since 2012! 8)
http://community.comicbookresources.com ... -CJStriker

User avatar
Asura
I'm, pretty, cozy, here...
Posts: 1919
Joined: Sun Sep 05, 2010 8:53 pm

Re: Are Caulifa and Kale popular characters? What is the general consensus?

Post by Asura » Thu Nov 02, 2017 11:45 am

namekiansaiyan wrote:
Yomi wrote:
precita wrote:I bet they'll both last till the final 10 characters too.
Nah, universe 6 is finish. They are gone after Kafla's defeat.
Universe 6 only has 4 people left, and they're fighting U7.
Kafla is going first. Kale and Caulifla having 3 episodes in a row has they are finsihed written all over it. The Namekians will go whenever they decide to have a proper fight with Piccolo and Gohan.
I highly doubt that Kafla will go before the barely-introduced Namekians do.

I'd be more than willing to bet that Kafla and Goku's fight will be broken up, and U6 will survive until at least U3 is eliminated.

User avatar
namekiansaiyan
I Live Here
Posts: 4358
Joined: Sat Nov 21, 2015 9:39 am

Re: Are Caulifa and Kale popular characters? What is the general consensus?

Post by namekiansaiyan » Thu Nov 02, 2017 11:59 am

Asura wrote:
namekiansaiyan wrote:
Yomi wrote:
Nah, universe 6 is finish. They are gone after Kafla's defeat.
Universe 6 only has 4 people left, and they're fighting U7.
Kafla is going first. Kale and Caulifla having 3 episodes in a row has they are finsihed written all over it. The Namekians will go whenever they decide to have a proper fight with Piccolo and Gohan.
I highly doubt that Kafla will go before the barely-introduced Namekians do.

I'd be more than willing to bet that Kafla and Goku's fight will be broken up, and U6 will survive until at least U3 is eliminated.
What I get from what Toei have done with the Namekians so far is that they are waiting until they are the only 2 fighters left from Universe 6 before they start to show them off properly.

User avatar
Asura
I'm, pretty, cozy, here...
Posts: 1919
Joined: Sun Sep 05, 2010 8:53 pm

Re: Are Caulifa and Kale popular characters? What is the general consensus?

Post by Asura » Thu Nov 02, 2017 10:17 pm

namekiansaiyan wrote:
Asura wrote:
namekiansaiyan wrote:
Kafla is going first. Kale and Caulifla having 3 episodes in a row has they are finsihed written all over it. The Namekians will go whenever they decide to have a proper fight with Piccolo and Gohan.
I highly doubt that Kafla will go before the barely-introduced Namekians do.

I'd be more than willing to bet that Kafla and Goku's fight will be broken up, and U6 will survive until at least U3 is eliminated.
What I get from what Toei have done with the Namekians so far is that they are waiting until they are the only 2 fighters left from Universe 6 before they start to show them off properly.
Considering they're already fighting without so much as an introduction, I wouldn't count my chickens.

I know you're big on Namekians, but I'm willing to bet that TOEI only gives a very vague shit about them. They hid them from the beginning of the tournament and even in the intro U6 shot so they're probably going to be doing something with them, but I don't think they're going to be a major factor in this tournament, at least not more so than Kafla.

Timetraveller
Beyond Newbie
Posts: 224
Joined: Sun Jul 02, 2017 3:53 am

Re: Are Caulifa and Kale popular characters? What is the general consensus?

Post by Timetraveller » Fri Nov 03, 2017 12:58 am

MajinMan wrote: This is what I'm talking about. Timetraveller, I don't know if you said it on purpose or not, but you're basically saying that everyone who likes these characters are hardcore "anime nerds" and retarded, while everyone who does not like them are intelligent savants.

And finally onto Kale. Kale is strange because her intial character before she transforms isn't that terrible, but when she becomes Broly, it all falls apart for me. The Broly schtick seems to be less of a focus now, which is good, but she still looks exactly like Broly when she goes "Berserk." It throws me off every time I see it, and based off the preview for 114, there's a slight chance that they're going to do away with the no pupils, raging Broly form and have a more controlled version of it instead, which I'm all for. Even then though, I won't really care for her character that much, unless something drastic changes about her.

Overall I think Caulifla is enjoyable, and Kale is a mess. And to answer the question for the topic, you could say that the (internet) fanbase is pretty divided on them.
I said that in my experience most of the audience who like Caulifla and Kale are the hardcore anime fans (not sure how else to put it) and some of the female fans who just wanted a strong female saiyan in the show (i.e. the Tumblr demographic) and I stand by it. By anime fans, I mean the many people talking about making them waifus (still don't understand this meme) online, making explicit fan art about Kale and Caulifla or youtubers making videos about which one is hotter. I mean, android 21's (from the Fighterz) a popular character for the same reason and we know nothing about her.

As characters, there's close to nothing redeeming about them. They're shallow fan-service characters with asspulls on the same scale as SSJ3 Gotenks. If you like that, then that's fine but you can understand why everyone else hates them. Every episode with them is just "I love you sis" and monkey-see, monkey-do with the transformations. I wouldn't mind it as much if they were filler characters but Toei's forcing them into the story.

User avatar
Asura
I'm, pretty, cozy, here...
Posts: 1919
Joined: Sun Sep 05, 2010 8:53 pm

Re: Are Caulifa and Kale popular characters? What is the general consensus?

Post by Asura » Fri Nov 03, 2017 3:58 am

I think this is a good video in defense of Caulifla and Kale and how they don't deserve a lot of the hate they get.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwGKF8_RO28

User avatar
namekiansaiyan
I Live Here
Posts: 4358
Joined: Sat Nov 21, 2015 9:39 am

Re: Are Caulifa and Kale popular characters? What is the general consensus?

Post by namekiansaiyan » Fri Nov 03, 2017 4:12 am

Asura wrote:
namekiansaiyan wrote:
Asura wrote:
I highly doubt that Kafla will go before the barely-introduced Namekians do.

I'd be more than willing to bet that Kafla and Goku's fight will be broken up, and U6 will survive until at least U3 is eliminated.
What I get from what Toei have done with the Namekians so far is that they are waiting until they are the only 2 fighters left from Universe 6 before they start to show them off properly.
Considering they're already fighting without so much as an introduction, I wouldn't count my chickens.

I know you're big on Namekians, but I'm willing to bet that TOEI only gives a very vague shit about them. They hid them from the beginning of the tournament and even in the intro U6 shot so they're probably going to be doing something with them, but I don't think they're going to be a major factor in this tournament, at least not more so than Kafla.
It probably won't be as big as Kafla but I think they have something new to show and we have already seen Universe 6 Saiyans before in the series so that could be a reason for Namekians going last.

User avatar
sintzu
Banned
Posts: 13583
Joined: Fri Sep 02, 2011 1:41 pm

Re: Are Caulifa and Kale popular characters? What is the general consensus?

Post by sintzu » Fri Nov 03, 2017 4:19 am

I think they alongside Rebrannia are the 3 worst characters ever introduced into the franchise. My opinion could change if they're handled better in the manga but as of now, they're nothing but animated merchandise.
Cabba wrote:DBS would right all wrongs done with Kales introduction for the sake of fan service if Kefura fights SSB Goku at best. SSG preferably
If Kale alon could beat Blue Goku then fused with a stronger fighter would result in more power needed assuming Super decides to use logic for the first time.
RedHeat wrote:There's no actual way to tell how popular a certain character is, even with merchandise 'cause Raditz and Sorbet (okay, maybe not Sorbet)...
Where I live there are roads named after Sorbet and statues that people go to every morning to pay their respect.
Last edited by sintzu on Fri Nov 03, 2017 4:33 am, edited 2 times in total.
July 9th 2018 will be remembered as the day Broly became canon.

User avatar
omaro34
I'm, pretty, cozy, here...
Posts: 1969
Joined: Thu Nov 26, 2015 7:27 pm
Location: Western Canada

Re: Are Caulifa and Kale popular characters? What is the general consensus?

Post by omaro34 » Fri Nov 03, 2017 4:21 am

Not a big fan of either of them. But I do see why people would like them. People have been harping and writing fanfics about female super saiyans for decades, not surprising they would have fans.

I find Caulifla's power ups too much, since other characters were introduced as prodigies like Gohan, and it still took the main original cast years of training to achieve something like a super Saiyan two.

It just undermines all the other arcs in the past, and it comes across like they are just playing catch up with their power to match the protagonists.

Outside of that, I have no problem with them. Kale still reeks of fan service but I can live with it.
"Kami is the Morgan Freeman of Dragonball Z"

Check out my Piccolo page: https://www.facebook.com/PiccoloTheSuperNamek/?ref=hl

User avatar
mfwlegend3
Regular
Posts: 642
Joined: Sun Jan 22, 2017 7:00 am

Re: Are Caulifa and Kale popular characters? What is the general consensus?

Post by mfwlegend3 » Fri Nov 03, 2017 4:27 am

I like both of them, Caulifla more or so. Kale, at first, was someone I could honestly give less of a fuck about. She's grown on me now. I understand why people don't like them, though. I also like seeing how anything these characters do make some people in this fandom sperg like man children.

User avatar
BlueBasilisk
I Live Here
Posts: 3062
Joined: Sun Feb 05, 2017 11:58 am

Re: Are Caulifa and Kale popular characters? What is the general consensus?

Post by BlueBasilisk » Fri Nov 03, 2017 4:31 am

Asura wrote:I think this is a good video in defense of Caulifla and Kale and how they don't deserve a lot of the hate they get.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwGKF8_RO28
I love this guy's videos. He makes a lot of salient points about Toriyama's writing style and how he severely limits the scope of his setting by establishing so many absolutes right off the bat. Like here he effectively wrote things into a corner by establishing that nobody in U6 knew what a Super Saiyan was when there was little reason to do that except to fish for a reaction from Cabba and set up the mentor/student relationship between him and Vegeta. He goes more in-depth about these writing foibles in the two power level videos that precede this one. And the rapid advances Caulifla and Kale are making do smack of Toriyama's handiwork as this entire scenario between them and Goku is playing out as an extended call-forward to what's going to happen with Uub at the world tournament in a few years. Kid had no training, no fighting experience, no mentor, couldn't even fly, but he was able to learn to fight and made rapid advances on Goku after just a few pages of punch-up.

Every new set of "prodigies" makes the old set of prodigies look bad. Gohan shit on everything anyone did in Dragon Ball by being 3 times stronger than the best they had to offer as an untrained child. Then Trunks, then Trunks and Goten, then Uub, and even Piccolo who made up the ground that took everyone else years of training in just 3 years on his own with no instruction.

Kataphrut
I'm, pretty, cozy, here...
Posts: 1704
Joined: Thu Aug 31, 2017 8:12 pm

Re: Are Caulifa and Kale popular characters? What is the general consensus?

Post by Kataphrut » Fri Nov 03, 2017 5:04 am

Asura wrote:I think this is a good video in defense of Caulifla and Kale and how they don't deserve a lot of the hate they get.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwGKF8_RO28
Hahaha, oh Plague. I don't want this man in my corner, and clearly he doesn't either.

That being said, I think he's got the right idea about how this all came to be. Sometimes it's worth remembering that writers don't think about these things the way fans do, especially Toriyama who has admitted to not planning ahead or taking things seriously on multiple occasions. Also, that's the best take I've ever seen on the scene of Kale walking through the blast because it actually acknowledges the concept of homage. Goku had to be in Blue for the scene to work as intended, simple as that. Fans can either work around it or work with it but their power rankings were not the first consideration. I generally prefer to work with this stuff, which might be my tolerance of DB nonsense is so high. If I don't like something, I'll just stop watching which is what I did with GT.

Also, for all his whinging about not wanting to be a DragonTuber...still made a banner for it. How long til he pops up on Geekdom's channel?

User avatar
TekTheNinja
I'm, pretty, cozy, here...
Posts: 1647
Joined: Sat Feb 06, 2016 11:36 pm

Re: Are Caulifa and Kale popular characters? What is the general consensus?

Post by TekTheNinja » Fri Nov 03, 2017 9:26 am

Kataphrut wrote:
Asura wrote:I think this is a good video in defense of Caulifla and Kale and how they don't deserve a lot of the hate they get.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwGKF8_RO28
Hahaha, oh Plague. I don't want this man in my corner, and clearly he doesn't either.

That being said, I think he's got the right idea about how this all came to be. Sometimes it's worth remembering that writers don't think about these things the way fans do, especially Toriyama who has admitted to not planning ahead or taking things seriously on multiple occasions. Also, that's the best take I've ever seen on the scene of Kale walking through the blast because it actually acknowledges the concept of homage. Goku had to be in Blue for the scene to work as intended, simple as that. Fans can either work around it or work with it but their power rankings were not the first consideration. I generally prefer to work with this stuff, which might be my tolerance of DB nonsense is so high. If I don't like something, I'll just stop watching which is what I did with GT.

Also, for all his whinging about not wanting to be a DragonTuber...still made a banner for it. How long til he pops up on Geekdom's channel?
What's wrong with him? I love the guy. He's great.

Anyway the difference for me though, is that while I hate their inexplicable power, I also think their personalities are insufferable. Caulifla is a spoiled brat and also a flat out bitch, and Kale has two modes: Broly, and "ZOMG I'M FIGHTING WITH SIS, I HOPE CAULIFLA SENPAI NOTICES ME!"

Kataphrut
I'm, pretty, cozy, here...
Posts: 1704
Joined: Thu Aug 31, 2017 8:12 pm

Re: Are Caulifa and Kale popular characters? What is the general consensus?

Post by Kataphrut » Fri Nov 03, 2017 9:57 am

TekTheNinja wrote: What's wrong with him? I love the guy. He's great.

Anyway the difference for me though, is that while I hate their inexplicable power, I also think their personalities are insufferable. Caulifla is a spoiled brat and also a flat out bitch, and Kale has two modes: Broly, and "ZOMG I'M FIGHTING WITH SIS, I HOPE CAULIFLA SENPAI NOTICES ME!"
Oh don't get me wrong, he's funny and he has some good insights. At the same time, I think his Dragon Ball stuff goes for the low-hanging fruit a bit too much. Like, the Tien video which blew up for going on about "Toriyama handjobs." Not exactly high critique ;)

See, I'm the opposite; I'm fine to write off their power because I just don't care about that side of things. Meanwhile, it's their personalities that make me stick up for them. I was lukewarm on Caulifla in her first few scenes, but since the Tournament began she's grown on me tremendously, to the point where she might be my favourite character introduced in Super. I think it's her attitude; it's very typical Saiyan arrogance on the face of it but without the try-hard (dare I say impotent) cool of Vegeta or the cheerful obliviousness of Goku. She's energetic and brash, but not completely self-absorbed either. It's fun when she demands Goku to teach her Blue so she can beat him up with it, or talks about how the fight with Jiren only made her scared..."of (her) own infinite potential!" but she's also encouraging Kale to come out of her shell and join in the action, and trying seriously to step up when Cabba and Hit get knocked out.

As for Kale...look, the Broly stuff was dodgy, but it also hasn't been a problem for a while. At least they're trying to do something different with the concept; hell, the TFS version of Broly (aka the only good version) was basically Kale before Kale. Whereas, when she's not being Broly...not gonna lie, I don't mind that stuff. It's cliche but it's cute, I dig the obvious shipping. There was already homoerotic subtext between Goku and Vegeta before the Potara earrings sent them flying gayly toward one another, dick-first. I can't wait to see the gay go even further beyond when Caulifla and Kale fuse next ep.

Post Reply