All Bulma has left are old lady jokes

[DragonBallFoodie]

It's really sad.

That particular joke was okay when it started in Battle of Gods, but they kept up through DBS and the successive films and it's just not funny now, to me anyway.

Bulma is old, but still pretty. But all she cares about is being younger for herself. She even collected the Dragon Balls to look younger, but she can't look too young because people will notice and complain, despite it being what she wants to start with.

The time machine episode in DBS was a fun episode to me, it gave Bulma a goal and put her in trouble trying to achieve it. She tried to build a forbidden time machine, and went to lengths like summoning Shenron for parts and bribing Android 18. And then it got shot down by Beerus who found out about it. That was a great way to make Bulma funny, and I wish it was more of that instead of Christmas cake jokes.

[fleahop]

Yeah Toriyama is both less risque and somehow more narrow-minded and set in his ways at the same time. The older he's gotten the more we've seen him be the worst of both worlds when writing his female characters. Especially the mainstays. It's a shame and really brings the franchise down.

[Grimlock]

That particular joke was okay when it started in Battle of Gods,

It wasn't. It ultimately culminated in a plot hole, Bulma is not thirty eight years old in the movie. It was a bad joke from all angles you see it.

but they kept up through DBS and the successive films and it's just not funny now, to me anyway.

Another continuous "joke" I noticed was: Whis asks if Goku wants to be a God of Destruction )---> Goku denies it )---> Beerus pissed off.

This happens in all three movies. We know it's not going anywhere. It's not funny. I don't even think it's supposed to be funny. So what's the point in repeating this moment? (And there's a good chance it will happen yet again in the next movie. We might as well have to endure Freeza and his stupid wish to be taller for years to come).

[Lukmendes]

Another continuous "joke" I noticed was: Whis asks if Goku wants to be a God of Destruction )---> Goku denies it )---> Beerus pissed off.

This happens in all three movies. We know it's not going anywhere. It's not funny.

I didn't even remember that happened in RoF.

Whis also asks Goku why he wants to become stronger in Broly, which I'm pretty sure that's asked in BoG (By Beerus at least), thought I'm not sure if that was in RoF... If it was, man, what a weird recurring question.

I don't even think it's supposed to be funny. So what's the point in repeating this moment?

Maybe to restablish the kind of character Goku is everytime.

Also I get the feeling that Boo will have a joke that's related to him being asleep again, 'cause that one seems to be a favorite...

[Grimlock]

I didn't even remember that happened in RoF.

I shouldn't remember either (especially Movie 15), I only do because I watched all the three movies in sequence last year.

Maybe to restablish the kind of character Goku is everytime.

Also I get the feeling that Boo will have a joke that's related to him being asleep again, 'cause that one seems to be a favorite...

You gotta love and respect these recurring things, and you can't get enough of them.

[Noah]

How so? Bulma doesn't even look old anymore! I don't get who's behind this direction (probably Toriyama himself) but I dislike how her recent character design and Super overall make her look like she's teenager again! I know that young characters has more appeal to the viewers, but having Bulma to look young as in the very first arc in the series is a blatant inconsistency.

Keep in mind that Super Hero is only a few years before EoZ and Bulma doesn't look even close like this:

[Yuji]

How so? Bulma doesn't even look old anymore! I don't get who's behind this direction (probably Toriyama himself) but I dislike how her recent character design and Super overall make her look like she's teenager again! I know that young characters has more appeal to the viewers, but having Bulma to look young as in the very first arc in the series is a blatant inconsistency.

Keep in mind that Super Hero is only a few years before EoZ and Bulma doesn't look even close like this:

I mean the hairstyle is 90% of the reason she looks old there and that kind of hairstyle has fallen out of fashion after the 90s. The animators can add that one wrinkle and she'll still look younger with a more modern hairstyle.

[ChronoTwigger]

Zuno measures moment, people.

[JulieYBM]

Old lady jokes written by men aren't funny and it really sucks that society thinks commenting on women in general is funny. Our patriarchal society has made being feminine or being women a 'bad' thing and that really sucks.

[coola]

Old lady jokes written by men aren't funny and it really sucks that society thinks commenting on women in general is funny. Our patriarchal society has made being feminine or being women a 'bad' thing and that really sucks.

One teacher in university even mentioned, that in grade school pics grandma is showed in pics as granny glued to her chair, while next pic showed badass and proud looking grandpa in military uniform...

With second part, i politely disagree, seeing how many people dislike Abby or Aloy in new Horizon, who look manly and muscular...

[PurestEvil]

Zuno measures moment, people.

Like anyone cared about Bulma's "canonical" cup size anyways...

[JulieYBM]

Old lady jokes written by men aren't funny and it really sucks that society thinks commenting on women in general is funny. Our patriarchal society has made being feminine or being women a 'bad' thing and that really sucks.

One teacher in university even mentioned, that in grade school pics grandma is showed in pics as granny glued to her chair, while next pic showed badass and proud looking grandpa in military uniform...

With second part, i politely disagree, seeing how many people dislike Abby or Aloy in new Horizon, who look manly and muscular...

You're literally describing the Catch-22 that patriarchy thrusts on us women.

If we don't conform to gender stereotypes we're bitchy and undesirable. If we do conform to gender stereotypes we're weak and our words and ideas are to be ignored. Yet society expects us to be the latter and harasses us for failing to meet those standards.

Like, Toriyama is outright shouting from the rooftops "lol old bitches aren't good for a fuck am i rite?"

[ChronoTwigger]

Zuno measures moment, people.

Like anyone cared about Bulma's "canonical" cup size anyways...

I don't too, but it was another comedy moment starring Bulma. I noticed it more than that ageing issue.

[ChronoTwigger]

Old lady jokes written by men aren't funny and it really sucks that society thinks commenting on women in general is funny. Our patriarchal society has made being feminine or being women a 'bad' thing and that really sucks.

One teacher in university even mentioned, that in grade school pics grandma is showed in pics as granny glued to her chair, while next pic showed badass and proud looking grandpa in military uniform...

With second part, i politely disagree, seeing how many people dislike Abby or Aloy in new Horizon, who look manly and muscular...

You're literally describing the Catch-22 that patriarchy thrusts on us women.

If we don't conform to gender stereotypes we're bitchy and undesirable. If we do conform to gender stereotypes we're weak and our words and ideas are to be ignored. Yet society expects us to be the latter and harasses us for failing to meet those standards.

Like, Toriyama is outright shouting from the rooftops "lol old bitches aren't good for a fuck am i rite?"

The patriarchy doesn't exist outside the perception of your personal life. If you feel somehow restrained, try find the actual reasons, not abstractions you can attach to everything.
Toriyama isn't shouting nothing alike.

[JulieYBM]

One teacher in university even mentioned, that in grade school pics grandma is showed in pics as granny glued to her chair, while next pic showed badass and proud looking grandpa in military uniform...

With second part, i politely disagree, seeing how many people dislike Abby or Aloy in new Horizon, who look manly and muscular...

You're literally describing the Catch-22 that patriarchy thrusts on us women.

If we don't conform to gender stereotypes we're bitchy and undesirable. If we do conform to gender stereotypes we're weak and our words and ideas are to be ignored. Yet society expects us to be the latter and harasses us for failing to meet those standards.

Like, Toriyama is outright shouting from the rooftops "lol old bitches aren't good for a fuck am i rite?"

The patriarchy doesn't exist outside the perception of your personal life. If you feel somehow restrained, try find the actual reasons, not abstractions you can attach to everything.
Toriyama isn't shouting nothing alike.

Keep your gaslighting to yourself hon, thanks.

[ChibiGoku]

One teacher in university even mentioned, that in grade school pics grandma is showed in pics as granny glued to her chair, while next pic showed badass and proud looking grandpa in military uniform...

With second part, i politely disagree, seeing how many people dislike Abby or Aloy in new Horizon, who look manly and muscular...

You're literally describing the Catch-22 that patriarchy thrusts on us women.

If we don't conform to gender stereotypes we're bitchy and undesirable. If we do conform to gender stereotypes we're weak and our words and ideas are to be ignored. Yet society expects us to be the latter and harasses us for failing to meet those standards.

Like, Toriyama is outright shouting from the rooftops "lol old bitches aren't good for a fuck am i rite?"

The patriarchy doesn't exist outside the perception of your personal life. If you feel somehow restrained, try find the actual reasons, not abstractions you can attach to everything.
Toriyama isn't shouting nothing alike.

Just like how ableism doesn't impact my day to day life and being told some things aren't just meant for me if I'm having issues due to my disability.

Seriously, you have to live some absolute privilaged life if you can't see how so many things are normalized and how it impacts so many people in life, ranging from sexism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, ageism, etc., and when many of us call out shit in media that normalizes it, we get push back.

Media impacts us in many ways, normalizes things, and can cause significant internalized issues for many of us. On top of that, you saying the patriarchy doesn't exist is being ridiculous. Women are still at a disadvantage, many tropes and depictions of women in media are still day old age tropes (Dragon Ball Super also literally had a sexual assault joke that was normalized in 2016/17 and Roshi's training of sexually assaulting Puar over and over again to "reduce his urges" is fucking gross, I'm sorry).

If you want to see how harmful these depictions are on people, notably younger ones, literally read this article that goes over a petition to Shueisha about the problematic content (sexual assault, sexualization of minors/women, etc.) that normalized behaviors and shit:

https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/intere ... mp/.163133

Seriously, get out of here with this.

[Regarder]

I dunno. Trying to restore her youth and fretting about being old seems exactly in line with Bulma's character. She's always been portrayed as both a super genius and quite superficial at the same time. Consider her initial plans for the Dragonballs during the Emperor Pilaf story arc (strawberries, boyfriends). Bulma being up for that kind of treatment is hardly a new development. Perhaps it's a part of the series you're not so fond of, but Bulma's superficial qualities are consistently up for a joke. I would agree that they've dragged out this particular incarnation of it long enough, but to really finish that sort of story, you'd have Bulma actually get her wish and then somehow realize that looking younger has downsides. I don't think Dragonball is committed to that sort of character resolution though.

Hey, at least Bulma gets to still be an active character because she's a super genius. Oolong also has an even more superficial personality (which is what makes a lot of their interactions in the first arc funny), but without the utilitarian qualities.

[JulieYBM]

I dunno. Trying to restore her youth and fretting about being old seems exactly in line with Bulma's character. She's always been portrayed as both a super genius and quite superficial at the same time. Consider her initial plans for the Dragonballs during the Emperor Pilaf story arc (strawberries, boyfriends). Bulma being up for that kind of treatment is hardly a new development. Perhaps it's a part of the series you're not so fond of, but Bulma's superficial qualities are consistently up for a joke. I would agree that they've dragged out this particular incarnation of it long enough, but to really finish that sort of story, you'd have Bulma actually get her wish and then somehow realize that looking younger has downsides. I don't think Dragonball is committed to that sort of character resolution though.

Hey, at least Bulma gets to still be an active character because she's a super genius. Oolong also has an even more superficial personality (which is what makes a lot of their interactions in the first arc funny), but without the utilitarian qualities.

The issue is not the fiction, it's the real people making it. The real people in question are men, many of which do not have a track record of being good allies. This isn't a case of a woman writing a vain woman as an extension of herself, it's a case of all female characters sounding like they're written as if they're space aliens.

[Regarder]

I dunno. Trying to restore her youth and fretting about being old seems exactly in line with Bulma's character. She's always been portrayed as both a super genius and quite superficial at the same time. Consider her initial plans for the Dragonballs during the Emperor Pilaf story arc (strawberries, boyfriends). Bulma being up for that kind of treatment is hardly a new development. Perhaps it's a part of the series you're not so fond of, but Bulma's superficial qualities are consistently up for a joke. I would agree that they've dragged out this particular incarnation of it long enough, but to really finish that sort of story, you'd have Bulma actually get her wish and then somehow realize that looking younger has downsides. I don't think Dragonball is committed to that sort of character resolution though.

Hey, at least Bulma gets to still be an active character because she's a super genius. Oolong also has an even more superficial personality (which is what makes a lot of their interactions in the first arc funny), but without the utilitarian qualities.

The issue is not the fiction, it's the real people making it. The real people in question are men, many of which do not have a track record of being good allies. This isn't a case of a woman writing a vain woman as an extension of herself, it's a case of all female characters sounding like they're written as if they're space aliens.

I'm responding to what was explicitly advanced in the opening post that this is all Bulma has left. I don't have much of an opinion on the politics stuff that has followed. If you think all female characters sound like they're written by space aliens then maybe you could put pressure on the creators, get together a petition or something, post it on twitter etc. Maybe run for office if you think it'll help.

[MasenkoHA]

Zuno measures moment, people.

Like anyone cared about Bulma's "canonical" cup size anyways...

I don't too, but it was another comedy moment starring Bulma. I noticed it more than that ageing issue.

There was a comment about them sagging.

It was absolutely an aging joke.