Could a "Dragon Ball: Next Generation" show work?

[Peach]

How would you feel about a Legend of Korra or Boruto style show set in the Dragon Ball universe? Focusing on Pan, Bulla, Uub, or an all new set of characters?

The voice actors are getting old and aren't going to be alive forever. And with Goku surpassing Gods and entire universes, it seems like he doesn't have much longevity as a main character.

[Ongam]

Of course it can work, the question is whether TOEI has enough faith to make it interesting. Dragon Ball writing is so 2-dimensional and formulaic, it doesn't seem like it lends itself to creative ingenuity like Boruto to captivate a new audience with stories not revolving around Goku. It's like Kurumada already tried with Gohan and Goten in the past, but the fandom and then his editors rejected the idea. Maybe now it can work, and if it's good, the fans will embrace it because any new Dragon Ball is better than no Dragon Ball, but the desire and creativity has to be there.

[Matches Malone]

If someone told me years ago that a next generation Naruto show would be successful, I wouldn't believe it, but it is. I don't think the question should be whether or not it can succeed, because we have proof of the concept working, but whether or not it can succeed just as much as the original. although Boruto is a success, there's no denying that a show focused on the original characters would've blown it out of the water.

That's financially, quality wise, Boruto has been very, very hit or miss. You will have arcs that are just as good as the original's, while the others are just OK at best. Apart from the last 3 villains, Naruto's threat levels have been manageable, which allows the introduction of a next generation without sacrificing the established threat level. In DB, the threat levels and the current cast's power have gotten so out of control that a next gen show would require hitting the reset button, killing any potential tension in the show.

Overall, I think if a next gen DB show were to happen, it'd be something in the middle. It won't be as successful or good as the original show, but it also won't be a train wreck.

Do I personally want it to happen ? Not now. There are still plots that need to be tied up with the original cast, so that should come first. After that, if I had to pick between some kind of reboot or a next gen show, I'd gladly take it over a reboot.

[McDonaldsGuy]

wasn't that kind of Dragon Ball GT? Pan, Trunks, and kid Goku were the main stars. I guess Vegeta and SSJ4 Goku do come back though. One thing I did like about DBGT, is that it went back to the heart of Dragon Ball which was searching for Dragon Balls.

Akira Toriyama made Gohan the main character in the Cell saga abut it didn't work out for multiple reasons.

I actually think it's a very good idea, but it would be VERY hard. One thing I would like is more female main characters. Android 18 IMO was wrongly discarded after Cell saga. I mean this is a chick who killed Gohan, Piccolo, Super Vegeta, etc. etc. in the future and now she's rendered to being a jobber to kid Goten and Trunks. Also, like you said, it'd be nice to not see Super God Status Best-in-the-32954395-Universes Goku dominate every single second. At which point does it become a parody?

It'd be nice to see, but I'm not entirely sure Toei, etc. etc. wants to get rid of their cash cow known as Son Goku quite yet.

[Matches Malone]

wasn't that kind of Dragon Ball GT?

GT was Goku Time. There were other characters, but they were just there. Goku was the one doing everything. What fans mean by a next gen show is one that includes little to no Goku, like what Boruto is doing. I just don't know if that can be done with DB due to how different it is from Naruto, especially when it comes to threat level. It would've been easier had DB ended with the 23rd Tenkaichi as things were very controlled back then.

[Psajdak]

The voice actors are getting old and aren't going to be alive forever.

No matter how iconic, they can always be replaced with other iconic voice actors who can do a good job.

Just look at Muten Roshi, Tenshinhan, Bulma, and some others...

[Skar]

This topic comes up every few months it seems . Could a new generation work? It's possible. Would it be successful or last long? Maybe not. They're currently playing it relatively safe taking place during timeskip with existing popular characters that have already developed. I don't think anyone involved is invested enough to develop the next generation. Toriyama is well past his prime and seems to consider End of Z as the epilogue of his story.

Another reason it might not be as successful is that I don't feel the next generation is as interesting or diverse as the old cast. Goten, Trunks, Bra, and Marron have decent mentors to guide and train them so there's not as much struggle for them. They're not interested in training so the only dilemma might be juggling between regular life and fighting to protect the universe which Gohan already did.

It has been said that Uub is more of a plot device by some fans which I think is true. He mainly exists to give Goku something to look forward and rematch with Kid Buu's reincarnation but that might be it. Uub's a well rounded kid and has one of strongest and most skilled martial arts masters in the multiverse. Considering how fast super prodigies progressed in DBS, Uub might realize all that potential in a few months or years and end up being one of the most powerful mortals in the multiverse if not the most powerful by the time his training is over.

[MasenkoHA]

That’s kind of what the Boo saga felt like at times. At least until Super Boo absorbed Gohan.

[10gigtriforce]

yeah, arguably its what buu saga should have been. if not earlier.

but pan/her kids could totally do a next gen show. maybe with uub as their master even.

[Robo4900]

The parts of the Boo arc that didn't work were the parts when it wasn't doing this. Clearly, it could work.

But, it 100% depends on whether the person/people behind it are good. If Toriyama & Toyotaro & Toei were doing it in the same format as Super, I'd have zero faith in it; it'd be the same bland, unambitious, awfully-paced, fanfic-y, nostalgiabaiting, infinitely-upwards-powerscaling, new-transformation-every-week-ass, inert brick that Super's storylines have been. I'd rather they just stick with the same era so that at least their nostalgiabaiting nonsense would fit to an extent that people could actually nod along with that well enough to get to the parts that are actually reasonably well-done (the fights). As with Super so far, I wouldn't be happy, but at least its existing audience would be happy with that approach to a Super 2.0; more of the same is pretty much always dependable, I guess.

If the team behind Super did a "Dragon Ball: The Next Generation" show, it'd be like Digimon Adventure 2, or Heroes season 2; they're trying to introduce new protagonists, but they also want to still have the old, recognisable characters involved, so the audience just doesn't care and wants to watch the old protagonists, and gets annoyed at the new people hogging the screentime.
And no doubt, Toei would constantly work in nostalgiabait stuff with the old protagonists, which would just serve to undercut the new cast even further.
It would be shit.

Bring in some new blood who have ambitious ideas and a real creative flair, and we'll have something cool. It'd be a different take on Dragon Ball, but Dragon Ball would be fresh again for the first time since the Namek arc.
... But this will never happen.

On the plus side, we did kinda get this with Dragon Ball Heroes: Victory Mission. Though despite the amount of people who love this concept, no one has translated chapters 15-29 yet... Even though the raw Japanese chapters are all on Shueisha's website for free, for all to see.

[ABED]

What themes and ideas are dying to be explored that can only happen with the next generation?

[MasenkoHA]

What themes and ideas are dying to be explored that can only happen with the next generation?

Why the themes of how to continue to ride the corpse of a franchise that was supposed to have died 25 years ago of course!

[xm0c]

A Next Generation show should happen. There's only so much millage you can get out of Goku and Vegeta wanting to be the strongest ever. I'd love if they ever go past the end of Z, and if they want to retcon GT, they focus on the younger characters. Online tells us Trunks and Goten open up their own training school focused on swords and ki. Wouldn't that be cool to see? Or the new Turtle and Crane schools. Or the creation of the Majin race. Really, anything Online promised us.

You know what, just adapt Online into TV series. Change somethings up to align them more with Super, and we'd be all set. Have the first episode be Goku and Vegeta's final battle in space ending in a supernova, then focus the rest of the series on Goten and Trunks being the new protectors of Earth. There are already so many villains like the Red Pants Army, the reborn Frieza Force, and Towa & Mira. That's 3 whole arcs right there.

Or, if they want new characters that they know Japanese kids will love, bring the Heroes Avatars in. Beat has become practically a second mascot to the franchise, and giving him his own anime I'm sure would push sales for the anime and Heroes.

[Zestanor]

GT answered the question: “why are there so many bad guys nearly destroying the world now, but never in the past?” And the answer is “Goku and Dragon Balls.”

GT alone has succeeded in restoring a status quo to their world by removing from it Goku and the DBs. I think this was necessary, or else we would expect, statistically, for some reason, powerful villains nearly killing everybody every few years to become the new normal until the end of time. Except that’s an absurd expectation for a fictional world that was at peace until relatively recently!

Fiction is poorly written, in my opinion, when it comes up with random bad guys just to extend the life of the series. This is forgivable when a single protagonist connects the dots, but if it is this: “random bad guys attack our great-grandkids’ world now too,” no thanks. It cheapens the drama of the original story and characters.

[ABED]

Define "random" in this context.

[Grimlock]

Online tells us Trunks and Goten open up their own training school focused on swords and ki. Wouldn't that be cool to see? Or the new Turtle and Crane schools. Or the creation of the Majin race. Really, anything Online promised us.

You know what, just adapt Online into TV series. Change somethings up to align them more with Super, and we'd be all set. Have the first episode be Goku and Vegeta's final battle in space ending in a supernova, then focus the rest of the series on Goten and Trunks being the new protectors of Earth. There are already so many villains like the Red Pants Army, the reborn Frieza Force, and Towa & Mira.

Sounds amazing! But hear me out: how about retelling Dragon Ball Super: Broly, then coming up with a few more tournaments in a row set in AGE 780 and without changing anything? Even better right?

[Zestanor]

Random meaning independent from a previous villain. Vegeta and Freeza are not independent, but Buu and Cell and Freeza are. The fact that Cell and Buu (a worse threat than Freeza the space Nazi) existed began to strain the world’s believability, but the explanation was that Goku was a magnet for powerful evil people. Or in other words, there was some sort of fate or destiny trope at play which justified all the villains showing up within a few years of one another.

[ABED]

But on the other side, it can come across as incredibly convenient that there's some connection. Goku was something of a magnet, but he also would've been searching them out regardless. I feel about this the same way I do things like bad guys in cop or spy stories. We don't need some established history or some linkage between previous villains. It's their job to face bad guys. They don't need more justification than that. Hell, Freeza's connection to Vegeta, while interesting, wasn't the reason everyone came into conflict with him. Their paths were going to cross due to the Dragon Balls. Goku doesn't need more justification to fight someone than he wants to fight the strongest. As long as it isn't a string of sheer coincidences, it's fine. The villains don't need a connection to either the hero or the previous villain.

I hate fate and destiny tropes, generally speaking. It's usually a weak substitute for an actual plot.

[MasenkoHA]

Cell is tied to the Red Ribbon Army he’s hardly random/independent.

Boo, sure but he arrived 7 years later and fit in with the whole “the universe is a big place there’s always someone stronger” theme

I know some people took issue with Gero’s ability to creare artificial lifeforms more powerful than Freeza but ehhhh whatever.

[ABED]

Cell is tied to the Red Ribbon Army he’s hardly random/independent.

Boo, sure but he arrived 7 years later and fit in with the whole “the universe is a big place there’s always someone stronger” theme

I know some people took issue with Gero’s ability to creare artificial lifeforms more powerful than Freeza but ehhhh whatever.

Ehhh, whatever is more or less what my view is at this point. I think I was bothered by it when I was younger but it's a show with smiley faced poop.

The only issue I have with Buu in this context is it's awfully coincidental that he was buried on Earth, but again, ehhhh...