By Super, Bulma has become corrupt like any early series villain

[FoolsGil]

This is the quote that really got me thinking, by @skullmandible on Twitter

in dragonball super bulma has a worldwide team on standby to find and gather the dragonballs the INSTANT they become active again because they're too dangerous to leave out in the wild. she uses the yearly wish to give herself minor cosmetic edits to stay looking young. king shit

Couldn't exactly find a source, but in Super Hero she did admit to using the Dragonballs for the latter half of the quote, which is already really selfish. But if the quote is accurate, she's basically became like an early series villain, only perhaps not willing to kill some kids if they got in her way.

1) Megalomaniac Aspirations: So Pilaf wanted to take over the world. He was (supposedly) a King but he wanted more. On some level one could wager he believed he could do better than King Furry, and wanted to use the Dragonballs to make it happen. Bulma claims that the dragonballs are too dangerous for the world, and only she can be trusted with them, like the end all be all to justice in the world. And sure Freeza did get resurrected, but she doesn't need to gather all 7 if she wanted to protect the world: She only needs one, and a way to jam the signal the Dragonball would give off, which the characters have known was possible for decades.

2) Minions Make It Less Personal: Pilaf, the RR, King Piccolo, and Freeza done it, and Bulma does it too apparently. And when you don't do your own dirty work, and you have an ego that clearly says you don't like being told "no" the people who work for you will do whatever they need to to make sure they stay on your good side: Now I'm not saying Bulma would order anyone to strongarm anyone who has a dragonball and are resisting her minions, and if confronted with her people committing abuse she would be angry, and ashamed at what happened under her name...But at the same time Bulma, like anyone else in her position wants only results. If its not brought to her attention, she'd be more than happy to assume that every dragonball found was found in a valley, or a stream, and not picked up by someone when it was a regular rock, or even found the same day it was activated, and now that particular person have a couple guys blocking their way.

3) She's destroying the Magical Adventure for future generations: The mysticism and beauty of early dragonball ended when suddenly animal people no longer appeared for a scant few, and everyone now believes the World Tournament is a glorified wrestling show, but if Bulma is actively going for the dragonballs the moment they activate, the chance she got as a young girl, she's actively stealing from any other kid who finds a dragonball and dreams for more. The legend of the dragonballs truly becomes that, just a legend. And depending on how sugary sweet you like your good and evil stories, this might be the thing that cements Bulma as a villain: killing dreams.

Even if I'm completely wrong and that tweet is bupkis, I think I'd love an OVA from this perspective, some kids find a dragonball, some minions in Capsule Corp uniforms show up and steal the ball, the kids fight for it, steal a radar, find the other balls, Bulma personally steps in, but gets foiled. The kids verbally lay into her when they find out what she's been using the balls for. She relents the wish and will try to put her faith in humanity to do the right thing instead of trying to protect the world with her own entitled sense of justice.

[theherodjl]

I wouldn't say that Bulma is corrupt, just a bit selfish and perhaps, opportunistic as a result of few other people on Earth knowing about the DBs as well as lacking the tools & means to find them. She could certainly be using her wishes for more benevolent, actual-important reasons, but at least Bulma doesn't want to take over the world/universe or cause harm like some other characters have attempted. If someone else needed the DBs for the purposes of helping others, I'm sure that Bulma would relent and let them take the wishes...probably. She might need to be physically held back by Vegeta at least once or twice.

[Koitsukai]

I disagree.

Bulma is vain and selfish but not even close to be a soft villain. She collects the DBs just in case, and when nothing happens, she uses them for selfish wishes due to her own insecurities. She is not building empires or destroying wildlife, she just gets rid of her wrinkles, and does so in a way that not even her friends will notice the DBs were used. Somehow she manages to have them available for whenever they need them.

She is not killing any dreams either, you need a radar, means to travel the world, and the time to do so, those are resources extremely hard to come by. It would take ages for regular people to gather just one of them, and you never know what they might wish for.
Since the show started, only herself, Pilaf, a giant corporation and alien villains have tried to gather the DBs, it's not a thing your next door neighbour might be trying to do.

And in any case, she and her crew have done so much for the planet and the universe, that I think they've won the right to be their guardians. On Namek, the DBs aren't a thing that's readily available for anyone, they are kept by certain people, so on Earth, Bulma has that job.
If we consider that the future timeline went to hell because somebody else was hogging the DBs, same could be said for GT, then I'm even more convinced that she should be the keeper.
They are too powerful to be left lying around just for anyone to exploit them.

[Dr. Casey]

she just gets rid of her wrinkles, and does so in a way that not even her friends will notice the DBs were used. Somehow she manages to have them available for whenever they need them.

Does she make the same wish every year? That actually doesn't make much sense since if you wish for your youth to be restored you won't lose it again within the same year. Not really any difference between 20 and 21.

[FoolsGil]

She is not killing any dreams either, you need a radar, means to travel the world, and the time to do so, those are resources extremely hard to come by.

Since the show started, only herself, Pilaf, a giant corporation and alien villains have tried to gather the DBs, it's not a thing your next door neighbour might be trying to do.

It's only after the fact, 2 arcs after the Pilaf Saga, we learn that Bulma is an heiress with the money and time to go on expeditions. When we first meet her there is no reason to think she isn't the next door neighbor going on an adventure, and considering shonen as a genre, kids going on an adventure with no resources is just a thing.

And even if Bulma is the most equipped to go on adventures, she wouldn't be the only one. DB Earth is very advanced, for all we know it could be quite easy to get a Radar made once you know what radiation you're looking for, And Hoi Poi vehicles and lodging may not necessarily be too expensive. And lastly Bulma went on her first adventure during school break.

It would take ages for regular people to gather just one of them, and you never know what they might wish for.

That's the cynical entitlement that goes through Bulma's head. That people just can't be trusted: Bulma wasn't exactly going to wish for world peace with her first wish, should her chance to go for the balls have been denied by someone more active on the balls? someone with their own self righteousness?

[MasenkoHA]

This is one hell of a bad take. Like comically bad.

Bulma wishing for perkier tits and ass and a more youthful face is nowhere near the same as Pilaf wanting to subjucate the entire world. She's also not having people murdered to get the dragon balls like Commander Red.

[GreatSaiyaman123]

I wouldn't compare her to a villain, but I get the point. She's monopolizing what's supposed to be a gift from god to the humans for selfish reasons.

I didn't know she had a wordwide team just for that though. I thought she either asked Goku to get them (Like in the Cell Saga), or she just gets them herself (DBS: Broly).