Has the Franchise Jumped the Shark?

[PrinceVegetto]

When (if at all) do you think the franchise jumped the shark?

A lot of people aren't very fond of the Buu arc or even the new movie that was just released for that matter.

I personally think the franchise jumped the shark with RoF when they introduced SSGSS.

While I am always glad for more DB content, I can't help but feel that stopping with BoG might have been the best choice for the entirety of the franchise. Nothing has made the same impact that movie made on me in 2013.

[Jord]

RoF is definitely a turning point in quality

-The massive recycling of villains got started
-While SSG got at least a slightly diffrent design SSGSS cemented the lazy hair dye power up system of Super
-Finale gets a deus ex machina ending by simply rewinding time when the heroes lost

[jaisonas]

The befriending of Frieza who was such a well executed vilain.
In general the whole modern DB power of friendship trend of befriending vilains.

[kemuri07]

The befriending of Frieza who was such a well executed vilain.
In general the whole modern DB power of friendship trend of befriending vilains.

Technically speaking, the core of Goku's allies are people who initially wanted him dead so it's not like this is a "modern DB thing."

Shounen has always run on "the power of friendship" so it's not exactly a problem. The problem is that, because Frieza is a fan favorite, he's still allowed to stick around despite being massively underpowered compared to Goku and Vegeta. Frieza isn't exactly "friends" but the last Super arc was clearly trying to position Frieza as a "rival" to Goku in a similar matter that Vegeta is. And yeah, didn't like that at all. Frieza is pure evil--not an anti-hero.

Its' not so much that DB has jumped the shark, but that its a dead cow being continually milked for profit. There's nothing it can do that hasn't been done already.

[Zephyr]

Trying to be a little rigorous about this, I'll pull from some definitions, so I can narrow down some essential characteristics of "jumping the shark":

Google:

(of a television series or movie) reach a point at which far-fetched events are included merely for the sake of novelty, indicative of a decline in quality.

Wikipedia:

The phrase is pejorative and is used to argue that a creative work or outlet appears to be making a stunt in a seemingly exhaustive attempt to generate elevated attention or publicity to something that was once perceived popular, but is no longer.

Urban Dictionary:

The beginning of the end. Something is said to have "jumped the shark" when it has reached its peak and begun a downhill slide to mediocrity or oblivion.

Rolling Stone:

a phrase for the moment that a TV series crosses the Rubicon of audience respect, losing both its integrity and the plot. The term "jumping the shark," as coined by Jon Hein for his Website devoted to the devolution of television shows, signals a pivot point in which a writer' room starts resorting to desperate measures to maintain viewers' interest.

TvTropes:

Jumping the Shark is the moment when an established Long Runner series changes in a significant manner. This can range from something relatively small, like the introduction of a new gimmick, to something that totally changes the show, like a Genre Shift. The point is that the show feels like it has to update in order to stay fresh. But it usually has the opposite effect — the viewers can see through it and realize that the show has finally run out of ideas. It's reached its peak, it'll never be the same again, and it's all downhill from here.

So we have:
- updating in order to stay fresh
- ran out of ideas
- reached its peak, only way to go is down
- loss of integrity
- loss of the plot
- significant change
- far-fetched events for the sake of novelty
- stunts for the sake of generating elevated attention or publicity
- resorting to desperate measures to maintain interest
- a decline in quality
- was once seen as popular, but is no longer

So, the writer(s) want the work to stay fresh, and they update the work. Unfortunately, they've run out of ideas, and as such, they've reached their creative peak. The only way for the story to progress is for the worse. There's a loss of writing integrity, and the thrust of the plot goes out the window, leading to significant change in the form of far-fetched events, stunts, and other desperate measures in order to maintain novelty, attention, interest, and publicity. As a result, the quality declines, and what was once popular is no longer.

So how to apply that to Dragon Ball? Let's proceed through the story in chronological order.

1. From the Get-Go: There Was Never a Shark to Jump
When it comes to "integrity", it could be argued that it never had such a thing. Manga in general is just a means to an end for Toriyama. He has smokes to buy, not stories that he's dying to tell. That would suggest that Dragon Ball never had a shark to jump; it was always vapid. While that may be true, it doesn't mean we can't identify a point where quality declined.

2. The 21st Tenkaichi Budokai: Changing to a Fighting Story
You could argue that Toriyama jumped the shark when he made the significant change from a "road trip" story to basically a "strength cultivation" story. Though, the initial approach to the story was unpopular on the verge of being cancelled. "Jumping the Shark" indicates something popular becoming less so, rather than something less popular becoming moreso. So this doesn't quite work either.

3. Piccolo Daimao: Killing Kuririn
Now, Dragon Ball does experience a gradual tonal shift, and by the Piccolo Daimao arc things are pretty consistently serious (though not without plenty of humor). Maybe killing Kuririn was Dragon Ball's "jumping the shark" moment? That said, the story is still progressing in a natural way, and popularity definitely remained, well into Kondo's tenure as editor, so the Piccolo Daimao arc likewise doesn't quite work.

4. The Saiyans: Making Son Goku an Alien
I've seen a signature around here that said that Dragon Ball jumped the shark when Son Goku was revealed to be an alien. This occurs immediately after the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai arc, which was itself such a solid conclusion that Kame Sennin breaks the fourth wall to say the story's not over. This might be the most solid point yet. I know a lot of people don't like the story as much from this point on. But just like with the Piccolo Daimao arc, the story still is proceeding in a natural way, and the popularity has yet to reach its peak. Moreover, we know that Toriyama was planning some of this stuff as far back as the Piccolo material, so he's not exactly run out of ideas, yet, either.

5. Trunks: Earth Robots Stronger than Freeza?
"Dragon Ball should have ended after the Freeza arc" is such a commonly seen opinion that it's often warped into "Toriyama wanted to end DB after the Freeza arc". That arc would have been a very good spot to end the story, I think. Goku has defeated the strongest person in the universe, and has achieved a legendary state. He's reached the top! What better place to end a story about "strength cultivation"? Moreover, if I remember correctly, Dragon Ball's popularity in Jump was at its peak during the Freeza arc. The next story opens by bringing Freeza back, as a cyborg, and has him effortlessly killed by a mysterious sword-wielding John Connor, who can also turn Super Saiyan!? He comes from the future, to warn of artificial humans created on Earth, which are stronger than him. As the arc unfolds, Toriyama shows such a lack of confidence in his ideas for the story that he changes the antagonist multiple times, and at the 11th hour has Gohan take the leading role. From what we know, it seems that Toriyama had ideas sketched out in his head from Piccolo to Freeza, but not farther than that. So yeah, this is by far the strongest candidate so far.

While I can accept more Super Saiyans, and Earth robots stronger than Freeza, it definitely doesn't flow as naturally from what came before, when compared to how the 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai arc flows through the Freeza arc. That said, I don't think this arc is without merit. The Super Saiyan state is decided to have room to develop, improve, and grow, which gives Goku a new realm to grow into. The Red Ribbon Army has created a super-being, using the DNA of Goku, his friends, and even Freeza. This superbeing comes from the future, so after fighting the strongest in the universe, the strongest across time seems a natural point of escalation. Goku trains with his own son, while Vegeta trains with his, in improving Super Saiyan. Goku's method, and what is effectively his "school" of Super Saiyan, proves superior, and wins the day. Goku has finally become a martial arts master of his own, and by the end of this arc he dies and "passes the torch" to his son.

6. Majin Boo: Dragon Ball on Fumes
After the Cell arc, we get an arc that is much more comedic than anything from the era which saw Kondo as Toriyama's editor. Many fans of the Kondo era story arcs seem to not like it for that reason. Toriyama introduces more and more gods in this arc. He introduced many more powerups, all of which go nowhere, and many take issue with Gohan not winning against Boo in the end. The quality of the art is noticeably worse than what it once was, and taken together with his comments he just seems like he was beyond exhausted by this point. He ended it here for a reason. So, I think there's a case to be made that the Boo arc was when Dragon Ball "jumped the shark". Though honestly, the salience of this arc's flaws only drive home how much stronger of a case there is for the Cell arc being the shark jumping point. Said point indicates the beginning of the decline in quality, and this is simply a story on the other side of that decline.

Like the Cell arc, I think this story, while flawed, has its strengths. Being a more comedic arc overall, and having things like Super Saiyan 3 and the Elder Kaioshin powerup being effectively self-parody, make this really click structurally as Dragon Ball's final story arc. I think this arc is stronger than the Cell arc, overall. If you had to continue the story past Freeza, you should at least continue past Cell to a more fun story and more entertaining villain as the closer. The Cell arc may signal a decline in the story's quality, but the Boo arc makes suffering through that decline worth it, to me.

7. Dragon Ball GT: Ignoring the Expiration Date
I think it was perilous to continue Dragon Ball past the Freeza arc. But, if it had to continue past that arc, then I think Toriyama lucked out with the Boo arc as another very solid ending point. It'd be quite difficult to get that lucky again. However, Toei didn't want it to end. As a result, we get GT continuing the story of the anime. They turn Goku into a kid and have the first story be another road trip, trying to recapture the "magic" of the arc that was so unpopular in Jump that it almost resulted in the series being cancelled. Pan is explicitly relegated to being a "damsel in distress". We get a "Tsufruian revenge plot" ripped straight from Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans, we get "all the bad guys return from Hell" ripped straight from DBZ Movie 12, and we defeat the final antagonist with a big Genki Dama. A story very much past its prime, adding in tons of gimmicks, and taking story ideas from past stories, without much in the way of subversion. The scope is also reduced. This is probably the next strongest contender after the Cell arc, if not a stronger one. The Boo arc was about as decisive of a Dragon Ball ending as you could have, this side of the Freeza arc.

I do like GT, though. I like Super Saiyan 4's design. I like Baby Vegeta's design. I like the "invasion of the body snatchers" shtick. Nozawa dunking on Nakao and Wakamoto is fun. Bra getting excited to fight is fun. Goku punching Super 17 across the planet is a col bit of visual spectacle and escalation. I like the idea of the Dragon Balls turning on the protagonists. I like the idea of the dragon birthed by the Four Star Ball being the most honorable, and just having a good time fighting with Goku. It could be argued that GT Episode 64 serves as a great conclusion for the franchise as a whole (up to that point), and so it continuing past Boo pays off. I can agree with that, even if it doesn't do the same for Goku's character arc.

8. Battle of Gods: Bringing Dragon Ball Back from the Dead
Like with the Cell arc and GT before it, Battle of Gods continued the story past a perfectly good ending point. Vegeta conceded that Goku was #1 in the final battle with Boo. He's run his course as the current "Tenshinhan/Piccolo", so it's odd to see him get that powerup against Beerus, such as to impress him.

Beyond that, though, I don't think it's bad. It opens things up with a new type of god, a new type of transformation, and reveals that there are more universes worth of fighters to see.

9. Resurrection F: Bringing Freeza Back from the Dead
Bringing back a long-dead villain can be seen as running out of ideas. Though, Toriyama got the idea from a concert, so I can't say it's not inspired. Though, there was no narrative need for it, and the means of inspiration certainly shows that. Moreover, like I said in the Battle of Gods bit, why is Vegeta still Goku's "Tenshinhan/Piccolo"? I'd argue Beerus would sufficiently supplant him in that role. Or, even better, why not Freeza, who was the next logical candidate for that after Vegeta, before he was killed off in the original story? He'd be perfect, yet gets killed again here. And yeah, sure, the design of SSGSS is pretty uninspired. Finally, we just got word of more universes, why go back to a localized Earth conflict?

I don't hate this, either, though. Movie's pretty fun. I like the banter between Goku and Freeza, as well as the latter's being inspired to "cultivate strength". The one-inch punch is a cool moment. Whis training Goku is a pretty natural progression.

10. Dragon Ball Super: Broly
The Tournament of Power served as a successful payoff for the things introduced in Battle of Gods and Resurrection F. We got to see the strongest fighters across the multiverse. We got to see the fruits of Goku's training with Whis have him surpass said strongest fighters in battle. Freeza was brought back as a dead fighter after having further "cultivated strength" in Hell, allying with Goku's team (ala Tenshinhan vs. the Mazoku, Piccolo vs. the Saiyans, and Vegeta vs. Freeza's army), and finally becoming Goku's next Tenshinhan. If the Cell arc's needless existence was justified by the Boo arc's successful conclusion, then Battle of Gods' needless existence was justified by the Tournament of Power's successful conclusion. So, to continue the story like this feels needless. Bringing Broly back also comes across as less inspired than bringing Freeza back did. Nothing in the story really grows Goku or Freeza as martial artists.

But like all things, I don't really hate this either. The comedic parallel between Freeza and Bulma was great. And it's great seeing Freeza no longer purely out for Goku's blood anymore. Like, yeah he brought Broly and everything, but he didn't just blow up the planet when things started going south for him.

---

Alright, so, that was long, and probably really rambly, with points I probably could have expressed better. Oh well. Places I think we could really say Dragon Ball "Jumped the Shark":
- The Saiyan arc
- The Cell arc
- Dragon Ball GT
- Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods
- Dragon Ball Super: Broly

All five of these directly follow perfectly natural points of conclusion for Goku's story. The Cell arc and GT are the only ones of the five that I think we could say went with a decline in popularity. The Saiyan arc and Battle of Gods are the only ones I can point to and not think they were desperate for ideas.

I'd say that the Cell arc was the only point in the original comic that "jumped the shark". The franchise, I think, jumped the shark with GT, and again with Battle of Gods, by continuing a story that was lucky enough to conclude on as good of a foot as it did. On the other hand, while I'm not sure how we could compare its popularity today to the popularity of its comic in Jump during its peak in the Freeza arc, Dragon Ball seems to be as popular as ever. So, I'm not really sure we can fully say that it's "jumped the shark". I guess it really depends on which of those qualities listed above take more precedent, which ones matter more.

The befriending of Frieza who was such a well executed vilain.
In general the whole modern DB power of friendship trend of befriending vilains.

Technically speaking, the core of Goku's allies are people who initially wanted him dead so it's not like this is a "modern DB thing."

Shounen has always run on "the power of friendship" so it's not exactly a problem. The problem is that, because Frieza is a fan favorite, he's still allowed to stick around despite being massively underpowered compared to Goku and Vegeta. Frieza isn't exactly "friends" but the last Super arc was clearly trying to position Frieza as a "rival" to Goku in a similar matter that Vegeta is. And yeah, didn't like that at all. Frieza is pure evil--not an anti-hero.

Yeah, Freeza allying himself with Goku's team is one of the most "Dragon Ball" things about Super. He's just doing the same kind of thing Tenshinhan, Piccolo, and Vegeta did before him. And however evil Freeza might be, he's neither a demon, nor the spawn of a demon, so there's precedent for actually pure evil characters to change. I'd love Freeza to replace Vegeta as Goku's rival and #2, as that would be the natural rival progression, but I don't really expect Super to head down that road, unfortunately.

[DBZAOTA482]

Dragon Ball started going downhill after the Freeza arc and it became obvious by the Boo arc because Toriyama became burnt-out with writing the series.

Toyotarou and Toei simply don't have the skill to write on prime Toriyama level.

[ChronoTwigger]

Sayan arc + Frieza arc made a perfect conclusion for a martial artist story, with the final "evil master" to kill and give a narrative role to Goku (the avenger of Sayan), so all of such past training had an higher moral sense. The alien setting was very original and different from default martial arts movie, with the higher possible scale (unitl they came with gods many years later).Just perfect for such a fantasy story.

To me, the story could have finished that moment, saving Goku from the planet explosion and goodbye. Or Goku clearly self sacrificing in the last moments to defeat Frieza (the actual conclusion of the arc is itself an hint they planned to do something with Goku just after).

What happened to me is that such hyperbolic fightings with beams, powerups and aliens were a golden egg goose, a new territory to explore, with people very reactive to such theme.
The drama was the lack of context. Toriyama and all others had to "provoke" situations to stage such fights, as the narrative was already concluded. Goku story and meaning ceased with Frieza, you cannot add nothing more to the character in a narrative sense.

From that point onward Goku is a "victim" of the setting instead of the factor that generate it. Things happen from a random table of encounters.
The shift was subtle but dramatical. Goku was tagged as the "hero that save the worlds", casted in a void setting, without any chance of actual drama that made some Superman stories (the closer equivalent) so exciting.
It's very hard to write a story with such premises: you have fighting, but no violence. You had to incite tension, but no one can actually suffer. You have to escalate on strenght to make the arc evolve, turning previous efforts meaningless. The world is static and unknown, and you never quoted of any society mutation to incite a story.

The more they continue, the more such strict context will dry out Dragon Ball of any narrative meaning, and they are drying out of meaning even past arcs! We are to the point of facing the stronger being in the galaxy met by pure chance. They fight for the reason Goku have to fight, and nothing more than this. Tapping in Goku Sayan past, drying it out of meaning too.

So, to me, after Frieza arc, they Jumped the Shark, but probably unaware of it.
The "erosion" was slow and initially hidden, but lookig the franchise right now, they started digging the mountain the wrong direction, and now they are lost in a descending spirale into darkness - to me, with Moro and Granola they hit a diamond wall, they cannot proceed anymore.
They can't do nothing about, to change the thing you have to entirely change the mood and premises, it's easier and logical to write another story entirely.

[Anonymous Friend]

Someone had asked if the Supergirl TV show had Jumped the Shark, and ignoring all the problems with that and all CW superhero shows, I'll give a similar response:

Comic book superheroes and shonen anime/manga, by their very nature constantly "jump the shark" by their very nature. There's always something big and dramatic right around every corner. It's what they are.

[PurestEvil]

IMO Dragon Ball did jump the shark when Cell revived himself after blowing himself up.

[SorikaiWolf89]

IMO Dragon Ball did jump the shark when Cell revived himself after blowing himself up.

Yeah I don’t think that made any sense either especially since he came back as his Perfect Form again with barely any explanation why or at least I forget exactly how Cell explained it but it still made no sense it was basically a butt pull in my opinion