I just watched the ending of GT (Japanese version) and it was one of the most depressing things I’ve ever seen

[The Golden God]

Having to see Pan as a grandma, with none of the original characters around to keep her company implying they’re all dead, was just fricken depressing. Then she sees Goku in the crowd and before she can say hi to him he disappears. And now with the Dragon Balls gone its like all the magic has been stolen from the world, no more miracles, and Pan is basically left to shoulder all the memories of what was. Obviously the afterlife in Dragon Ball GT exists and I imagine Pan will be reunited with everyone in heaven (accept Piccolo) but it’s still sad as hell to see a world where everyone is permanently dead.

I wish it ended with Goku wishing himself back into an adult and then leaving with Vegeta to go train and prepare for the next crisis. This ending was just too emotionally painful.

I actually prefer the storyline of GT to Super, though the pacing is atrocious and the fights were badly animated for the most part and it’s based on anime canon rather than manga canon. I watched the Recut edition I found on Google which is only in dub, but watched the ending in the original Japanese subs because the recut edition changed the ending. Recut definitely helped but I didn’t agree with all the changes they made and I prefer the Japanese voices but wtvr.

Anyway just wanted to here you opinions on GT vs Super, the GT ending, and all that. I honestly wouldn’t be upset if Super never existed and they just remade GT with better animation and more accurate to the manga canon, and then they could have continued it from there by canonizing Toyotaro’s AF or something.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

Another depressing thing about the GT ending is that Pan and Bulma's descendant don't recognize one another, same goes for the former's grandson and latter's son. It suggests that after all that time Goku and Vegeta's families either lost touch or fell out, although the older I get the more I think perhaps that was the point as such things often happen in life.

[ABED]

Sad perhaps but not depressing. Things change and people move on.

[The Golden God]

Sad perhaps but not depressing. Things change and people move on.

-.- which is depressing

[ABED]

Sad perhaps but not depressing. Things change and people move on.

-.- which is depressing

I don't find that depressing. It's a simple fact of life that nothing stays the same. It's the impermanence that gives things meaning.

[The Golden God]

Sad perhaps but not depressing. Things change and people move on.

-.- which is depressing

I don't find that depressing. It's a simple fact of life that nothing stays the same. It's the impermanence that gives things meaning.

How does that give things meaning, that doesn’t make sense.

[MrSatan2099]

The word I would use is melancholy. The final episode always gets me. Not only is the episode itself emotional, it reminds me of the time period in my life when I first saw it. That was a difficult time in my life so I can't help but relive those feelings when I see it now too.

I do prefer Super overall, but there are things about GT I'll always love. Like some others I just like to think of it as an alternate timeline.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

I get what ABED is saying, in life everything is in a state of flux. Societies change, culture changes, technology changes, and generations typically have different mindsets, priorities and perspectives on the world around them.

There's the failures of people such as relationships between friends and families breaking down, as was seemingly the case with successive generations of the remaining saiyans living on Earth, but then there's the inevitabilities like death (particularly by natural causes, which we can assume was the case for most characters in the years after the fight with Yi Xing Long), and all the adventures Goku and his friends on being relegated to history.

And now with the Dragon Balls gone its like all the magic has been stolen from the world, no more miracles, and Pan is basically left to shoulder all the memories of what was.

The Dragon Balls disappearing at the end was the point of the Evil Dragons arc though, Elder Kaioshin's point about how the Dragon Balls could be abused was vindicated, Goku's friends and family were thought a lesson about their dependence on the balls. The loss of the Dragon Balls was therefore a logical resolution. Using the Dragon Balls for silly things like a pair of underwear (granted it was a gag) and fix problems like people being killed or damage being caused to the Earth became second nature to Goku and friends, they took it for granted so accepting they couldn't do these things anymore was development.

I don't think Pan would necessarily be the only one living who retains those memories though, she likely passed them on to her kids who passed them on to theirs. The state of the relationships between Goku's friends and family and Vegetas during that 100 year gap is still generally ambiguous, but I'm sure even assuming they fell out with one another or drifted apart (as is suggested to a degree) that there would be some understanding of everything that happened since the Pilaf arc on both sides, just as I know certain things about my grandmother's upbringing and life even though I wasn't alive to witness most of it.

[Koitsukai]

Well, it was kinda odd to me that one kid said to the other: "oh you can go blond, too?" not even knowing what the form even was.

I actually love the feelings evoked by the ending, don't find it depressing at all, even though is hella sad, but didn't like the families drifting apart and the children ending up completely unaware of who they actually are.
Everything really fell apart without Goku, I guess, maybe they didn't like each other that much.

[ABED]

-.- which is depressing

I don't find that depressing. It's a simple fact of life that nothing stays the same. It's the impermanence that gives things meaning.

How does that give things meaning, that doesn’t make sense.

Everything in life is limited, including time. We don't have forever so we have to make the most of what we have now. If nothing changed and we lived forever, it would get really boring. There would be no growth as there would be no need for it. The ending of The Good Place makes this point and does so really well.

Someone said that the word you're looking for is "melancholy", which I would agree with. It's sad because we no longer get to see our friends. Every ending, even happy ones are a little sad. GT's ending is sweet because ultimately everything works out okay. The group isn't in each other's lives as consistently (were they ever?) but the future looks bright.

If you want a really sad ending, watch the broadcast version (and intended ending) of How I Met Your Mother's.

[Grimlock]

I wish it ended with Goku wishing himself back into an adult and then leaving with Vegeta to go train and prepare for the next crisis.

That's sort of how it ends, though. Goku and Vegeta leave Earth, apparently never to come back again. It was to settle their rivalry once and for all, but knows if they got to have a "next crisis". They were never heard since.

We (or me, at least) can only hope this ending gets adapted eventually.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

The broadcast ending of How I Met Your Mother is indeed sad, its also very true to life.

Every ending, even happy ones are a little sad.

I don't hear this brought up much, but it's a good point. I often hear complaints about how Disney's Star Wars trilogy never reunited Luke, Han and Leia, which while I would have liked to see I don't blame J.J Abrams and Laurence Kasdan for not going that direction. Their adventures together ended in Return of the Jedi, which was sad but worth it because they accomplished their goals as a trio, and stories are about the journeys not the destinations.

[supersaiyamangod]

I wish it ended with Goku wishing himself back into an adult and then leaving with Vegeta to go train and prepare for the next crisis.

That's sort of how it ends, though. Goku and Vegeta leave Earth, apparently never to come back again. It was to settle their rivalry once and for all, but knows if they got to have a "next crisis". They were never heard since.

We (or me, at least) can only hope this ending gets adapted eventually.

How is it ever shown that vegeta left to do the exact thing you are saying it’s never said or shown?

[MasenkoHA]

To each their own but I wouldn't exactly call an ending that's all about how great Goku was and how he changed the world for the better "depressing" The episode certainly doesn't dwell on the fact that the cast would be dead by the time Pan is 109 because that really isn't the point.

[LoganForkHands73]

The broadcast ending of How I Met Your Mother is indeed sad, its also very true to life.

Every ending, even happy ones are a little sad.

I don't hear this brought up much, but it's a good point. I often hear complaints about how Disney's Star Wars trilogy never reunited Luke, Han and Leia, which while I would have liked to see I don't blame J.J Abrams and Laurence Kasdan for not going that direction. Their adventures together ended in Return of the Jedi, which was sad but worth it because they accomplished their goals as a trio, and stories are about the journeys not the destinations.

As someone who's pretty much ambivalent to the Sequels, Mark Hamill's expectation for the trilogy to just be a big reunion celebration was almost equally unappealing and I'm glad they didn't just do that, not least because the Sequels are already full of nostalgia.

Anyway, I agree with what most people are saying here. Bulma and Goku's descendants not knowing each other after a hundred years doesn't devalue the specialness of their relationships. Unless you're part of some privileged bloodline, would you really expect your distant descendants to "carry the torch" for your own friendships? The sad reality that most of us have to face is that our own sphere of influence ends after two or three generations, max. If you're able to come to terms with that, GT's ending won't feel that depressing. Goku is lucky to have had enough of an impact to be remembered by many as the great hero that he was.

As for the Dragon Balls disappearing... I guess our own world (and every other fictional world) is pretty depressing for not having them in the first place. On the one hand, their usefulness in bringing people back from the dead is what makes them so wonderful, but the fact that they give the protagonists such a carefree mentality when it comes to the consequences of death is not entirely healthy.

[Raki]

I'm wondering if GT was successful in Japan would we have gotten that ending. But the GT ending always sat well with me. The long franchise was over with a sense of finality.

[Grimlock]

How is it ever shown that vegeta left to do the exact thing you are saying it’s never said or shown?

Who said it was never said?

AGE 801
Son Goku disappears
Realizing his death is imminent, Goku, who wanted to settle their rivalry, left the Earth with Vegeta. Years later, a supernova explosion was detected; perhaps caused by Son Goku and Vegeta’s battle.

[Zephyr]

I wish it ended with Goku wishing himself back into an adult and then leaving with Vegeta to go train and prepare for the next crisis.

That's sort of how it ends, though. Goku and Vegeta leave Earth, apparently never to come back again. It was to settle their rivalry once and for all, but knows if they got to have a "next crisis". They were never heard since.

I'm pretty sure the "it" in question is Dragon Ball GT the television show, not Goku and Vegeta's in-universe rivalry.

[Anonymous Friend]

Having to see Pan as a grandma, with none of the original characters around to keep her company implying they’re all dead,

How do we have a Goku jr if Pan has no one? Goku is remembered enough if his great-grand kids decide to name their son after him. And we also have Vegeta jr.

Roshi and the turtle are still around, although I'd think his connection was mostly with Krillin and Goku. Then there's the fact that the Son family spend so much time away, that the group didn't even know Goku has a kid. Then again, Trunks and Goten are pretty close.

And that when i realized that while all these connections existed, Pan is super old and as already stated most of everyone we know is either dead or super duper old. And I've circled back to Goku jr and Vegeta jr who don't seem to know each other at all, even though Goku's and Bulma's family should be close.

I'ma stop rambling now.

[supersaiyamangod]

How is it ever shown that vegeta left to do the exact thing you are saying it’s never said or shown?

Who said it was never said?

AGE 801
Son Goku disappears
Realizing his death is imminent, Goku, who wanted to settle their rivalry, left the Earth with Vegeta. Years later, a supernova explosion was detected; perhaps caused by Son Goku and Vegeta’s battle.

Not in gt.