Has the role of female characters improved?

[Tai Lung]

Well, as they usually know, many have the impression that the female characters of DB are only housewives, gags or fanservice of moment
chichi, pan or launch
they do not really get involved in fights and when they form a family they stop being participatory
videl and android 18
maybe the most controversial scene of series is when krillin is going to fight with super buu and the android 18 stays with his daughter.
except perhaps for bulma that somehow kept up more in the plot of the series, although it is not a warrior his inventions remained useful.

currently in the tournament of power we have had Android 18 back in the fights and new female characters in the series mostly fighters
so what do you think? Are they more interesting now? Are they more relevant? Have they improved compared to before?
forgive my bad English .. I hope you understand what I wanted to express

[SupremeKai25]

Yes, they have improved. Just look at Future Mai. She was no saiyan, she was no android, she was just a miserable earthling, she was a gnat compared to Zamasu, and yet she still managed to play an important role in the storyline through her cunning. First when she saved Vegeta from certain death, then when she played a pivotal role in the mafuba ritual used against Future Zamasu (which ultimately failed because the dumbass Goku forgot about the seal). I am extremely confident when I say that she was one of the stars of that arc, along with Zamasu and Future Trunks himself of course. Indeed, she was one of the five main characters of that arc, as you can see from the opening.

[Grimlock]

so what do you think? Are they more interesting now? Are they more relevant? Have they improved compared to before?

They're fine, all of course thanks to video-games through Towa and Android 21 mostly but I think more can be done. I do like seeing female characters more involved, engaged with what is going on, I feel they can bring another point of view to the matter if done wisely, they can get things more dinamic. Which is also one of the reasons I want Gine to appear.

My wish is to see more of the female cast in a series that does not make the same mistakes Dragon Ball super did, so that I can see what they are doing with them.

[precita]

Only for Bulma, and arguably 18. Although 18 had a similar size role in Super as she had in the Buu arc, she fought for just one tournament but spent the rest of the arc not doing anything.

Videl is a nothing character now, which is a shame since she was great in DBZ.

[Saikyo no Senshi]

Kind of. Caulifla, Kale and Ribrainne were much needed additions in this excessively male dominated franchise. That's always been one of my big problems with this franchise. So, I'm glad they finally gave us female Super Saiyans. Also, Ribrainne is a ton of fun. #18 got a decent role too although with the shitty gold digger trope attached which kind of soured the whole thing for me. But, still it was better than having no female characters at all. I guess the ToP does have some merits even if I despise the arc as a whole.

However, they can do a hell of a lot better. They have just touched the surface. Kale, Caulifla and Ribrainne are surface level writing stuff as much as I like them. Give me a full fledged character arc like some of the male characters got. There are plenty of shounen that have done it and they have done it great. It is not that hard. With Broli and all the dudebro pandering that they have reverted back to though, I fear this is going to end up being a one time thing. I hope I'm wrong.

So, yeah. Much needed improvement from the old days(except Videl of course who modern DB destroyed in the worst way), but lots of room to improve further.

[Kataphrut]

It's baby steps, but getting there. The writing for Bulma was really strong pretty much since Battle of Gods, I like how integral she was to many of the story arcs in Super, especially Future Trunks. 18 had some good stuff here and there, but it wasn't quite enough to fix the problem she's had since Cell of being little more than a trophy wife. Chi Chi continued to be just Toriyama's Mean Mom, and Videl has been almost ruined. So the returning women run the gamut from well-done to poor.

As for the new female characters, I think Android 21 was might've been the best of the bunch. She had an arc, an interesting backstory and was treated as a credible villain threat. It's just a shame her presentation was so...fetishistic. Like, there's a good character there buried beneath some pretty egregious waifu-bait pandering.

Caulifla easily takes the silver-medal, not the deepest character but very charismatic and she shone through her interactions with other characters. It's interesting that her and 21 were the best new female characters and were both designed by Toriyama, but never written by him. That seems to be the winning combination. Also, if they ever appear together in a crossover, one of them will need to change since they apparently shop at the same DFO.

As for the rest, they were all decent. Future Mai was really well done, Kale was good once she got the Broly out of her system, Ribrianne was a fun mid-level villain, Vados was a good snarky foil to Champa,and the rest were kind of shallow, not that they needed to be anything more. It's not the best run of female characters, but by Dragon Ball standards it's getting there and you can do a lot worse. Hell, even a lot of modern shounen still has issues with female characters. Everybody loves the girls in My Hero Academia, but when you think about it, they're all kinda shallow and under-powered compared to the main guys.

[DestructoDisc]

Yes. It improved a lot. I mean, back in the Z days me and friends couldn't remember more than 5 female characters and 18 was the only one of them that all of us liked, and that was only because she kicked Vegeta's ass, who we all hated in the Android/Cell saga.

Super gave us a lot of new and pretty likeable female characters like Future Mai and Vados who were fun to watch whenever they were on screen. We got more female fighters like Caulifla, Kale, Ribrianne, Rozie and some fodders I don't remember the name of. Even the already existing female characters like Bulma became more likeable imo, and 18 got more screentime and respect here than she got in the Buu saga. We also got some great video game characters like Towa and Android 21.

[Doctor.]

I don't think they've changed. There are a lot of more female characters now, but Super has a lot more characters in general than the original series. The original series still had women fighters, housewives and eye-candy (at the start, at least). Super is the first to shamelessly design characters to pander to otaku, though.

[Neo-Makaiōshin]

I don't think they've changed. There are a lot of more female characters now, but Super has a lot more characters in general than the original series. The original series still had women fighters, housewives and eye-candy (at the start, at least). Super is the first to shamelessly design characters to pander to otaku, though.

Like what character(s)?

[Doctor.]

I don't think they've changed. There are a lot of more female characters now, but Super has a lot more characters in general than the original series. The original series still had women fighters, housewives and eye-candy (at the start, at least). Super is the first to shamelessly design characters to pander to otaku, though.

Like what character(s)?

Kale.

And Android 21, although she's not from DBS, just modern Dragon Ball.

[Lord Beerus]

It's certainly better than before, but there is great room for improvement.

In terms of the original cast, it's a mixed bag. Videl and Chi Chi have been terribly written in most of modern Dragon Ball stories. With Chi Chi shrill attitude being flandersised to absurd level. While Videl was stripped on anything that resembled a personality. But Bulma's character writing has remain consistently strong, while #18 has got a many good appearances in Super.

In terms of new characters introduced, again, it's a bit of a mixed bag. I adore Caulifla and legitimately believe she's one of the best female characters Dragon Ball ever had. They got an incredibly amount of mileage from Future Mai, Vados work very well a snarky foil to Champa and Kale became decent after she stopped being Broly 2.0 and her character arc kicked in.

However, despite the wonderfully unique concept of Ribrainne, she ultimately overstayed her welcome and her gag got old really quick. And most of the other female characters introduced in the Tournament Of Power where throwaway characters with no real distinguishable personality traits.

Android 21 is weird case. She screams "waifu bait" right out of the gate. But out of all the Dragon Ball videogame original characters, she's hands down the best. Because there was actual effort into crafting some kind of detailed story centered around her. Which is why I would loved the concept behind Android 21 (i.e. a tragic female villain with a literal split personality and ties to the Red Ribbon Army) to be retooled and refashioned for another female antagonist in a more fleshed out and organic Dragon Ball story in the future.

The jury is still out for Towa because I here a lot of shit is going on with her in Heroes beyond what we see of her in Xenoverse. However, I don't have the time and patience to go down that rabbit hole. So she stays in limbo for now.

[Marlowe89]

No. At best, it's just the same, and at worst, it's worse than the original. Older characters are flanderized to extremes, and most of the newer female characters are no less cliché; Kale and Ribrianne are particularly awful in the anime.

Caulifla is pretty good, but so were several female characters in the franchise's source material.

[CJStriker_CBR]

In terms of new characters introduced, again, it's a bit of a mixed bag. I adore Caulifla and legitimately believe she's one of the best female characters Dragon Ball ever had. They got an incredibly amount of mileage from Future Mai, Vados work very well a snarky foil to Champa and Kale became decent after she stopped being Broly 2.0 and her character arc kicked in.

However, despite the wonderfully unique concept of Ribrainne, she ultimately overstayed her welcome and her gag got old really quick. And most of the other female characters introduced in the Tournament Of Power where throwaway characters with no real distinguishable personality traits.

Really I think that is the Point, it is much of a Mixed Bag as is how Mixed and Unique is the Fandom like all fandoms are, allot of it comes down to Personal Preference in what you want in characters.

Their are fans who could not Stand Kale and Caulifla as well as Ribrianne, they made it perfectly clear they where not happy with them. But others Gave the opposite Views, why they liked these characters and why while the themes did not work for some fans, they where Golden to other Fans like Caulifla's Sassy Attitude or Kale's Sweetness and Loyalty to Caulifla or Ribrianne's devotion to her Beliefs in Love which the Whole of her Universe 2 believe in and made them one of the highest mortal levels in DB.

Fans that liked them could just give as much back as those that disliked them and this is where we find the Role on why Females have Improved in DB ~~~~ We are Still Talking about Them to Great Lengths many months since Super has Ended.

Kale, Caulifla and Ribrianne and some others despite fans have odds at times about them, but their is just as much love given to them and their Presence non-the less has transformed the Landscape of the DB Fandom. From Fans Basing Avatars on them, to the Debates, to the Amazing Amount of Fanart for each of these ladies, one way or another they have had an Impact.

The worst thing a Character, Male or Female, can be is boring or un-unique. They get forget and IMO is what seem to plague Female characters to much in DB for to long. It is good that Bulma, Videl and 18 have been Given again some Sassy ideals back to them that has help them stand-out more again, whether on the same power level or not does not matter, it is their persona's that define who they and any character the most.

Kale, Caulifla and Ribrianne as well as others, but mostly them, have Made their own Unique Themes and Nitchs that are completely their own and help them stand out whether it connects to all Fans or not, does not matter, they made an impact.

This has Great Connect with fans both here and with others I have meet, No Time IMO was Wasted on any of them, Ribrianne is Funny but Not at all just a Gag Character or took to long, she stayed for what she needed to get the basics of who she was and showed her development. The Episode with Kale and Caulifla against Goku where Vital in Progressing the Sayain Girls and while yea some said it went on for to long, others would say it was needed to develop them to achieve the heights they did by the end with Kefla, it comes again down to personal preference, but not matter what These Girls Leave that Impact!

So to the Question has the Statue of Females Improved in DB ~~~~~ YES, most definitely, we need much more development now, but they are off to a decent Start!

[Tai Lung]

well, videl is supposed to have retired from the fights to devote to a more quiet life, in the epilogue of z this can be observed, I do not know how much you can criticize that

Kale.

I do not really see it like that, kale was created simply because broly is popular it could have been man but in any case it would be identical to broly.
and a lot of its behavior is similar.

And Android 21, although she's not from DBS, just modern Dragon Ball.

here if I have nothing to say .. I am partly in agreement, just see how internet react with the android 21.
but in any case 21 was created before kale besides video games and anime are different.

[AnimeNation101]

Kale, Caulifla, 18, 21, Future Mai, and Towa have gotten a great intro and treatment.

Bulma has always been valued. She’s like the Lucy to Goku’s Natsu.

Videl has sadly been downgraded from badass female to timid housewife. But at least she’s hella loyal and is on the more trusting side of the woman spectrum.

I sure hope Caulifla doesn’t become a timid housewife when she marries.

[ricky84]

Anime Kale is highly underrated as a character. Once she stops being a broly clone (ep.101), she actually starts to develop and become interesting. I can't see why anyone would prefer her manga version though. She has no development and once she transforms she's nothing more than an M10 Broly ripoff.

Caulifla is simply awesome, if you ignore the power-scaling issues with her character, but that has nothing to do with her personality. The dynamic we see with her and Kale in the anime is something we haven't gotten in DB since, ever really. Same can be said for Kefla.

Future Mai is also an awesome character. Nearly everything portrayed about her in the Black arc was done right imo. She's a way better character than her Early DB counterpart.

Bulma, 18 and Chichi are basically the same as they were in DB(Z), so no changes there. Bulma is still the most valued non-fighter in the series, right up there with Goku & Vegeta in terms of relevance. Hell, at this point she is more important to DB than Piccolo and (sadly) Gohan. DBS Videl however just plain sucks though. She is stripped of everything that made her interesting in the Buu saga (GT made the same mistake too).

Android 21 is a good character (especially her heroic version) but her storyline has so many missed opportunities. In concept alone, she could have rivaled Vegeta as the franchise's most development character. That's why I hope she becomes canon so Toriyama could flesh her out more. The same could be said for Towa & Chronoa to a lesser extent, and Vados to an even lesser extent (if that makes sense).

Ribranne and her friends are okay in concept, but far too one-note and annoying imo (I don't have issues with anyone liking the character though). The female Pride Trooper (forgot her name) had an interesting design, too bad she didn't get to do much in the ToP. I would have had her replace Dyspo as 3rd strongest personally.

So overall I would have to say yes, the role of women on average has improved compared to the 90s. I don't think any of the new females are as terrible as GT Pan.

[ricky84]

Kale, Caulifla, 18, 21, Future Mai, and Towa have gotten a great intro and treatment.

Bulma has always been valued. She’s like the Lucy to Goku’s Natsu.

Videl has sadly been downgraded from badass female to timid housewife. But at least she’s hella loyal and is on the more trusting side of the woman spectrum.

I sure hope Caulifla doesn’t become a timid housewife when she marries.

I don't think the concept of a housewife even exist for saiyan women (Gine was considered an outlier/unusual saiyan due to her lack of a fighting instinct like Tarble).

[RandomGuy96]

The manga maybe (I'm leaning towards "nah" though), but the anime relies far too much on unfunny rape jokes and otaku bait for me to give it that much credit. Plus stuff like #18 being told to stay in the kitchen and Videl losing any semblance of personality.

[goku the krump dancer]

I think the question here though is not if they're "Roles Improved" but what roles are you expecting them to have? Bulma has been the second or third most important character in the entire series once in while falling back to maybe 5th most important but even then thats great when you consider that she's a non fighter in story that revolves around characters who love to do just that.

Even though Chi Chi is Goku's wife, she's never been that integral to the overall story. and she doesn't have to be. Toriyama has said numerous times that he isn't all that great of a romantic writer. Chi Chi getting involved in Goku's bouts with Demon Alien Space Gods would only serve the rage out cause and that's about it! Honestly there's nothing wrong with her place in the story.

Same with 18, though she's never really had much of a personality to begin with (liking clothes and Money doesnt make a personality guys). Videl was bound to fall to the way side anyway once Toriyama decided to go with Goku again instead of Gohan and even then, she slowing down from fighting in favor of motherhood is completely normal. There're plenty of real life examples where women and even men give up a certain lifestyle they had in favor of catering to their kids.

To answer the question though, I believe they've largely stayed the same, which is Aye okay by me. New female fighters here and there is cool and all but its a far cry from being the thing that's gonna make or break the series.

[ricky84]

I think the question here though is not if they're "Roles Improved" but what roles are you expecting them to have? Bulma has been the second or third most important character in the entire series once in while falling back to maybe 5th most important but even then thats great when you consider that she's a non fighter in story that revolves around characters who love to do just that.

Even though Chi Chi is Goku's wife, she's never been that integral to the overall story. and she doesn't have to be. Toriyama has said numerous times that he isn't all that great of a romantic writer. Chi Chi getting involved in Goku's bouts with Demon Alien Space Gods would only serve the rage out cause and that's about it! Honestly there's nothing wrong with her place in the story.

Same with 18, though she's never really had much of a personality to begin with (liking clothes and Money doesnt make a personality guys). Videl was bound to fall to the way side anyway once Toriyama decided to go with Goku again instead of Gohan and even then, she slowing down from fighting in favor of motherhood is completely normal. There're plenty of real life examples where women and even men give up a certain lifestyle they had in favor of catering to their kids.

To answer the question though, I believe they've largely stayed the same, which is Aye okay by me. New female fighters here and there is cool and all but its a far cry from being the thing that's gonna make or break the series.

Exactly. This series doesn't to need to conform to any PC quota (which Japan never cared about anyways). Either way, if Videl continued to be a fighter she would be no more useful/relevant than Tien (which isn't at all). They still should have still kep't her personality from the Buu saga though. And Toriyama has gone on record saying that he doesn't like Chi-chi at all, which explains why she has never been that important of a character.