Pretty much and it's going to be the death of the franchise if that shit doesn't change sooner or later.It_Is_Ayna_You_Flips wrote: ↑Wed Mar 25, 2020 3:20 pm Dragon Ball has been frozen in amber since the Buu Saga and I don't know if the fanbase understands how much of modern DB is built on the smallest sliver of the story. Before then the status quo changed with every new arc.
I might get hate for this but, Vegeta is the original sin here. Part of what kept the story constantly evolving was mixing up the cast; who Goku's new rivals would be and how his relationship with those rivals would change. When Vegeta became Goku's permanent number 2 the stories haven't had the room to grow they otherwise would. At the end of the day each arc has to be about a threat that both Goku and Vegeta can fight and has to end with Goku on top and Vegeta maybe a single step below him. Worse still, because we've been sold on Goku/Vegeta as the core of the show they have to show up everywhere together even when the arc doesn't have room for two bonus main characters (or a bonus main villain for Vegeta to fight).
No, I totally agree that Vegeta's introduction was the start of it because you're right, once he showed up, the series became about maintaining a status quo rather than telling new and compelling stories. It's only gotten significantly worse since Super started. The series hasn't been allowed to evolve or change in 2 decades, and some people wonder why it's getting stale and others are getting tired of it.
Yes, and people choose those other things to watch because Pokemon isn't even trying to keep them entertained anymore. If Pokemon were releasing multiple different anime series/movies/OVAs that catered to different demographics and told different kinds of stories, this wouldn't really be an issue. Likewise, long running franchise's ratings and viewerships don't HAVE to drop (the film franchises that only get more viewers and make more money with each installment are a testament to that). If the writers and directors can keep things sufficiently different between stories, they can keep just about any story running forever.JulieYBM wrote: ↑Wed Mar 25, 2020 3:27 pm People have things other than Pokemon to watch. Ratings are going to drop over time. Home video sales--a literal collector's format--are going to drop. This is to say nothing of the fact that nobody knows how these things are being eaten-into by streaming.
Pokemon fans old enough to use forums are notoriously loud and stupid, so I wouldn't place any stock into their complaints. People will complain over a Pokemon's personality causing conflict in a story of all things or the series focusing on gags over battles. Hell, people are complaining about Gou from the 2019 series capturing Pokemon as if there should be undue pomp and circumstance for such a thing on every single occasion.
Complaining that a franchise whose whole main drawing point for a generation or two of players/viewers was collecting and battling with monsters actively deciding to focus more on being a gag comedy over a battle series isn't a "stupid," or unjustified complaint.