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

[Skar]

I thought it was a nice ending. It makes sense there would come a long period of peace after all the major threats were defeated. In DB, it was a few hundred after King Piccolo was sealed that the Earth was in danger. Then all these threats showed up in relatively quick succession but many were supposed to be under rare circumstances and the universe isn't going to keep making them forever. DBO was similar because some minor events happened but it was hundreds of years after most of the main cast passed away that another serious threat emerged. I'm curious how it would've ended.

The only confusing part about GT's ending was Goku leaving with Shenron or what the point was. I heard it was to give finality but death would've been more permanent by that point since they no longer had Dragonballs. I guess this was to differentiate it from Piccolo's sacrifice earlier in GT who didn't come back later while Goku was able to.

[Grimlock]

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

Not in gt.

My "it" was in reference to Dragon Ball Online. I should've specified that. Sorry for the confusion.

[ABED]

I thought it was a nice ending. It makes sense there would come a long period of peace after all the major threats were defeated. In DB, it was a few hundred after King Piccolo was sealed that the Earth was in danger. Then all these threats showed up in relatively quick succession but many were supposed to be under rare circumstances and the universe isn't going to keep making them forever. DBO was similar because some minor events happened but it was hundreds of years after most of the main cast passed away that another serious threat emerged. I'm curious how it would've ended.

The only confusing part about GT's ending was Goku leaving with Shenron or what the point was. I heard it was to give finality but death would've been more permanent by that point since they no longer had Dragonballs. I guess this was to differentiate it from Piccolo's sacrifice earlier in GT who didn't come back later while Goku was able to.

The point was his death was final and he wasn't just having fun in the afterlife where he could be surrounded by friends. He was gone and not coming back.

[Skar]

The point was his death was final and he wasn't just having fun in the afterlife where he could be surrounded by friends. He was gone and not coming back.

I get that but the series already established how its afterlife worked. I was wondering about the in-universe reason why Shenron thought Goku needed to leave with him instead of a regular death. I could be forgetting and it was explained in the episode.

[ABED]

The point was his death was final and he wasn't just having fun in the afterlife where he could be surrounded by friends. He was gone and not coming back.

I get that but the series already established how its afterlife worked. I was wondering about the in-universe reason why Shenron thought Goku needed to leave with him instead of a regular death. I could be forgetting and it was explained in the episode.

It wasn't spelled out, but death was so meaningless by that time that it needed to be permanent to prevent something as cataclysmic as the Evil Dragons from happening again. There had to be a cost.

[Anonymous Friend]

I thought it was a nice ending. It makes sense there would come a long period of peace after all the major threats were defeated. In DB, it was a few hundred after King Piccolo was sealed that the Earth was in danger. Then all these threats showed up in relatively quick succession but many were supposed to be under rare circumstances and the universe isn't going to keep making them forever. DBO was similar because some minor events happened but it was hundreds of years after most of the main cast passed away that another serious threat emerged. I'm curious how it would've ended.

The threats in DB were more related to people finding out about the dragon balls and searching for them. Pilaf and co. wanted to rule the world, but would they have found all the balls on their own. And if Bulma hadn't found Goku first, could they have gotten his ball? Red was going to wish to be taller. King Piccolo release was due to Pilaf not getting his own wish, right?

[Skar]

It wasn't spelled out, but death was so meaningless by that time that it needed to be permanent to prevent something as cataclysmic as the Evil Dragons from happening again. There had to be a cost.

The cost seemed to be that Shenron left and they no longer had Dragonballs so death would've been permanent. I'm asking what that would have to do with Goku though. There's been some fan theories that Goku had to sacrifice himself for Shenron to grant the final wish which could give Goku a reason why he had to leave.

The threats in DB were more related to people finding out about the dragon balls and searching for them. Pilaf and co. wanted to rule the world, but would they have found all the balls on their own. And if Bulma hadn't found Goku first, could they have gotten his ball? Red was going to wish to be taller. King Piccolo release was due to Pilaf not getting his own wish, right?

I meant DB in general from Pilaf to the Shadow Dragons. Some were searching the Dragonballs while others happened to emerge for other reasons every few years. I thought it made sense that eventually there wouldn't be any major threats left and the characters get to live out their remaining lives in peace.

[ABED]

It's stated without being spelled out. There's a line from Shen Long to Goku at the end that clearly indicates a bargain was struck that allowed Goku the time to defeat the One Star Dragon.

[Skar]

It's stated without being spelled out. There's a line from Shen Long to Goku at the end that clearly indicates a bargain was struck that allowed Goku the time to defeat the One Star Dragon.

I'm rewatched the final episode and not sure where that line was stated. Shenron does say he's taking the Dragonballs so it was clear that final wish was the last time they could revive anyone. I checked Kanzenshuu's analysis for the ending and they had a few different theories and quotes from the writer. It seems that it was intended to be vague whether he was dead or not when he left or if he was killed by the One Star Dragon and temporarily revived a different way. He wasn't taking any damage while charging the Genki Dama and Shenron's eyes were glowing when he first appeared implying he already granted a wish.

[ABED]

It's stated without being spelled out. There's a line from Shen Long to Goku at the end that clearly indicates a bargain was struck that allowed Goku the time to defeat the One Star Dragon.

I'm rewatched the final episode and not sure where that line was stated. Shenron does say he's taking the Dragonballs so it was clear that final wish was the last time they could revive anyone. I checked Kanzenshuu's analysis for the ending and they had a few different theories and quotes from the writer. It seems that it was intended to be vague whether he was dead or not when he left or if he was killed by the One Star Dragon and temporarily revived a different way. He wasn't taking any damage while charging the Genki Dama and Shenron's eyes were glowing when he first appeared implying he already granted a wish.

Shen Long: "Come, let us go, Goku."
Goku: "Huh? Is it that time already?"
So I wasn't exactly correct. It was the short exchange between Shen Long and Goku in the last episode.

Unless you need me to clarify any of my points, I think I"ve said all I can say on the topic.

[Skar]

Shen Long: "Come, let us go, Goku."
Goku: "Huh? Is it that time already?"
So I wasn't exactly correct. It was the short exchange between Shen Long and Goku in the last episode.

Unless you need me to clarify any of my points, I think I"ve said all I can say on the topic.

Ah ok I remembered that exchange. I'm fine with a vague ending leaving it up to the readers' imagination. This kinda seemed like a mix between that and being vague because an in-universe explanation couldn't really be given with how death and the Dragonballs worked before. The GT analysis pointed out these writers might've just forgotten some details.

DBO had a similar ending for the Dragonballs with Dende just deactivating them for a few hundred years. It seemed more consistent with what was established since they were creations of the Nameks along with the dragon statue. GT implied Shenron was more of an independent entity since he decided on his own to take them and made a deal with Goku without Dende being involved. Maybe GT assumed the Nameks only created the statue to summon the Dragons from a different plane of existence separate from the regular universe and Other World. When Shenron was killed, I assumed he just went to Other World until Kami and Popo restored his statue.

[Dr. Casey]

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.

I don't think it would get boring for most people. I have always been of the opinion that diminishing returns only diminish up until a certain point, and then stabilize. Christmas obviously isn't as magical as when I was a 5 year old, but I still enjoy it to the same moderate degree that I did when I was 17. Anime now doesn't leave as deep of an impression as when I was keeping up with on-going anime for the first time in 2008, but it's still my favorite hobby. Videogames aren't nearly as amazing now as when I was an 11 year old kid, but they're still great fun and my enjoyment hasn't diminished since I was a 14 or 15 year old. That probably applies to life in general. It's not an eternal decline into complete ennui. The level of enjoyment and meaning things give you declines over time, but it doesn't go from 100 to 0. It goes from 100 to... maybe somewhere in the 50-70 range, then stays there for good.

I don't think mortality is a necessity for personal growth either. The year where I changed the most was 2011, and my mortality never entered my mind at all there given that I was a 23/24 year old with my teens a relatively recent memory.

If you think the finite nature of life helps give it meaning, that's a valid opinion and feeling, but if aging just wasn't a thing that existed, we would also see that as fine. I doubt we'd go "Man, I wish we all died at some point," the same way that we don't go "I wish the average human lifespan was the 20s or 30s rather than 80s."

[ABED]

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.

I don't think it would get boring for most people. I have always been of the opinion that diminishing returns only diminish up until a certain point, and then stabilize. Christmas obviously isn't as magical as when I was a 5 year old, but I still enjoy it to the same moderate degree that I did when I was 17. Anime now doesn't leave as deep of an impression as when I was keeping up with on-going anime for the first time in 2008, but it's still my favorite hobby. Videogames aren't nearly as amazing now as when I was an 11 year old kid, but they're still great fun and my enjoyment hasn't diminished since I was a 14 or 15 year old. That probably applies to life in general. It's not an eternal decline into complete ennui. The level of enjoyment and meaning things give you declines over time, but it doesn't go from 100 to 0. It goes from 100 to... maybe somewhere in the 50-70 range, then stays there for good.

I don't think mortality is a necessity for personal growth either. The year where I changed the most was 2011, and my mortality never entered my mind at all there given that I was a 23/24 year old with my teens a relatively recent memory.

If you think the finite nature of life helps give it meaning, that's a valid opinion and feeling, but if aging just wasn't a thing that existed, we would also see that as fine. I doubt we'd go "Man, I wish we all died at some point," the same way that we don't go "I wish the average human lifespan was the 20s or 30s rather than 80s."

But you are mortal. Regardless of whether are in the first 25 years of your life or the last, you are in fact mortal. You face the alternative of life and death at every point in your life.

[8000 Saiyan]

Depressing? Yeah, for Goku's family, who never see him again until they pass away of old age.

I suppose it's meant to be ambiguous on what happens to him. Some say he's dead while others say he's immortal.

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

Depressing? Yeah, for Goku's family, who never see him again until they pass away of old age.

I suppose it's meant to be ambiguous on what happens to him. Some say he's dead while others say he's immortal.

Yes, and considering that Pan is the only remaining family member of his from back then (not counting his great great grandson in the present there) who is still alive as of Heroe's Legacy/end of GT ep 64.

I assume that must be what the show's writers were going for, as in an intentional vagueness or ambiguity as to where Goku went with Shenron and if he had actually died or just ascended to some higher form of existence through absorbing the Dragon Balls into his body as they were flying away to parts unknown. Like as in a kind of immortality or state of being beyond a normal person's comprehension.

[dva_raza]

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"

I agree! Id say the depressing part would be the whole Goku dissapearing into emptiness forever to never speak to anybody again thing, not the comments on how great Goku was.

Horrific even, in a story where dying just makes Goku go to heaven and still be able to speak to the living or being revived, this is darkest DB has ever gone maybe

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

Horrific even, in a story where dying just makes Goku go to heaven and still be able to speak to the living or being revived, this is darkest DB has ever gone maybe

I would say the Future Trunks arc in Super is the darkest Dragon Ball has ever been. The way Zamasu kills Chi-Chi and Goten, the deaths of children and Bulma that weighed on Trunks mind, an entire timeline irreversibly wiped out, the list goes on.

[dva_raza]

I mean in universe yeah definitely that's darker, not that mass murder isn't a constant in DB. But from an out of universe perspective that's something dark being dark. GT's ending I guess sticks out cause it's presented as wholesome or something, while being an unusual fatal ending where the main character of a mostly comedic series leaves abruptly and doesn't die in the usual way but just becomes nothing.

[MasenkoHA]

I don't see anything dark about the ending. Like, at all.

It's a bitter sweet ending because Goku is saying goodbye to everyone "forever" (although considering the episode is literally called "Goodbye Goku...Until Day We Meet Again") but nothing about the ending is portrayed as dark. Even the epilogue is Goku's spirit watching his descendant fight Bulma and Vegeta's descendant. So he hardly disappeared into nothingness or whatever.

[dva_raza]

Lol. Maybe that would work if he actually said goodbye to everyone. His kids weren't even aware that he was leaving to never come back. His family was expecting him for dinner l think.

And nah Goku didn't die in the same way. Cell games was bittersweer cause he just stayed in heaven.
Nothing sweet about him going into the void.