Do New Forms Actually Sell Merchandise?

[AliTheZombie13]

[...]

For clarity sake, I don't believe EVERY transformation exists to sell merchandise.

There are instances where they exist because of artistic merit, Toriyama himself said SSJ1 was created because he wanted to portray change in Goku's character. That, IMO, is the best way to use a transformation, when it means something to the story and isn't just there because "Oh, it looks cool and it will sell well." I can say the same about SSJ2 and SSJ4, both of which are accompanied by instances of character development from Gohan and Goku, respectively.

But, I ask you: What exactly changed in Goku's character when he acquired SSJ3? What changed in him when he acquired Super Saiyan God? What changed in him when he acquired Super Saiyan Blue, etc? Answer: Nothing. These transformations are completely empty, character and story-wise. And worse, they're magic ass-pulls to kill a seemingly impossible conflict quickly and effortlessly to the detriment of the story.

That's why it's natural for people to assume, "Oh, this must've been shoehorned into the story to sell toys," because why else would it be there? Of course, there's always the possibility that Toriyama really, REALLY wanted to just color-swap Goku's hair in BoG because he sincerely believed he was creating what he thought was a masterpiece of art and storytelling, but I seriously doubt that.

[Zephyr]

Ooh, I hadn’t seen that discussion between Yokoyama and Hosoda before. I wonder how they had planned on portraying the full extent of Gokuu's evolution in Battle of Gods? It doesn't sound like that idea was repurposed for the TV series at all.

I seem to recall that Gokuu hadn't been using ki in Super Saiyan God form, which makes me wonder if they removed a bit where he would have to relearn how to use ki blasts?

The ki blast thing is certainly a possibility. And yeah, it's strange that it seemingly wasn't repurposed in the retelling. If there is merit to the "it became SSGSS" hypothesis, then maybe there was no need in a post-RoF world?

For clarity sake, I don't believe EVERY transformation exists to sell merchandise.

There are instances where they exist because of artistic merit, Toriyama himself said SSJ1 was created because he wanted to portray change in Goku's character.

Understood.

Again, I ask for the actual quote, because that sounds interesting. I know of multiple times he said that Goku's hair turned gold so his assistant didn't have to color it in, and in the first of those two links he also mentions Bruce Lee's 'paralyzing glare' as part of the inspiration for Goku's expression. But if I'm aware of a time he said he also wanted to communicate a change in Goku's character, I've forgotten it.
(It would be very funny if this is in one of the links I myself posted)

But, I ask you: What exactly changed in Goku's character when he acquired SSJ3? What changed in him when he acquired Super Saiyan God? What changed in him when he acquired Super Saiyan Blue, etc? Answer: Nothing. His fictional RPG strength number became higher and that was it. These transformations are completely empty, character and story-wise. And again, they're magic ass-pulls to kill a conflict quickly and effortlessly, making the story more repetitive and boring.

So, an important thing to recognize is that in story about strength cultivation and fighting, there are simply going to be RPG strength number increases. That's what the journey is about. Do these increases have to be paired with a visual change? I wouldn't say so, but Toriyama seemed to think so in this "Akira Toriyama-sensei Godly Interview" for the Battle of Gods animanga:

What was your concept for [Super Saiyan] God’s appearance?
I was resistant to [the idea of] Goku getting more and more macho, or having a flashy transformation, so I wanted to make a course-correction. Except, visually-speaking, a Goku who doesn’t have any change at all would be difficult to understand, so I changed just his hair color and his eyes.

The stat change is going to happen. If you can't accept that, you are going to have a bad time. Visual changes are a helpful visual indicator of said stat change. Again, there could be some cynical action figure motive that Toriyama is deliberately not mentioning here, but it sounds like Goku looks different as a Super Saiyan God so that it is easy to understand that the stat change has occurred (this also was mentioned when he talked about Super Saiyan 1 in the "'Toriyama Thought of It Like This' Special" interview I linked at the start of the post). Another way I've put this before is that new forms for Goku are just a visually-communicable version of the "battle level power" Goku mentions to Tenshinhan in Chapter 129; ie: full strength, not holding back anymore, etc. Now, whether that's needlessly condescending to the audience is another matter entirely, but I'm not interested in having that conversation right now. Either way, we don't have have to treat "they thought they were making a masterpiece" as the only alternative explanation for a visual change.

---

Apart from all that, the three transformations you mentioned are poor examples to bring up if your complaint is that they killed conflicts quickly and effortlessly. Super Saiyan 3 did not defeat Boo, and Super Saiyan God did not defeat Beerus. While Super Saiyan Blue did defeat Freeza in RoF, this was at the very end of the film, long after Goku had initially whipped it out.

There's more to a form's impact on character and story than its debut. Super Saiyan 3 retroactively makes Goku look bad during his fight with Majin Vegeta, one way or another (whether you think that's a good thing or not). The form also looks like a parody of, and functions as a subversion of, prior Super Saiyan forms and transformations. This one visually takes things to a comical extreme, and unlike the prior two forms does not defeat the arc's antagonist. That makes the form extremely fitting for Dragon Ball's (then) final story arc, which was basically parodying itself in other ways as well.

Regarding Super Saiyan God, in the above mentioned interview Toriyama spells out what even acquiring the form means for Goku (the basic gist of which Goku also says himself in the film, if I remember correctly):

Goku basically only thinks of fighting as a sporting match, so borrowing the power of five people isn’t fair, and he resisted doing that; however, it seems his curiosity towards the realm that lay even further beyond him won out.

No I'm not having the "Goku's characterization" debate with you again, and yes we can point out that this is hardly the first time Goku has put his sporting pride aside to close a gap. BUT: Goku becoming a Super Saiyan God is clearly intended to be something he did begrudgingly. He is taking a hard-to-swallow pill. So we can't say the form has zero interaction with characterization. Attaining the form didn't change him, but he went against what he believes in to attain it. You don't have to be satisfied by that, but it isn't empty.

Regarding Super Saiyan Blue, there's not as much there as there is for 3 or God, but insofar as it is using the power of one form while in another form, being able to become Super Saiyan Blue at all is indicative of martial prowess, of skill at one's craft. It's another indication of Goku (and Vegeta's) growth as martial artists. In that sense, it has the same impact on character as Goku learning the Kamehameha, or Bukujutsu, or the Kaio-ken, or the Genki Dama, or making Super Saiyan feel more natural in the Room of Spirit and Time, or finding out that there even was a Super Saiyan 3 in the first place, or managing to stack Kaio-ken on top of Super Saiyan Blue, or learning Destruction. I'd say Ultra Instinct (broadly speaking) acts as another instance of this sort of thing. It's Goku hitting another in a long line of milestones. Complain that it's repetitive, but you can't say it's an "asspull" that "man gifted at martial arts continues to be gifted at martial arts".

[JulieYBM]

Ooh, I hadn’t seen that discussion between Yokoyama and Hosoda before. I wonder how they had planned on portraying the full extent of Gokuu's evolution in Battle of Gods? It doesn't sound like that idea was repurposed for the TV series at all.

I seem to recall that Gokuu hadn't been using ki in Super Saiyan God form, which makes me wonder if they removed a bit where he would have to relearn how to use ki blasts?

The ki blast thing is certainly a possibility. And yeah, it's strange that it seemingly wasn't repurposed in the retelling. If there is merit to the "it became SSGSS" hypothesis, then maybe there was no need in a post-RoF world?

It's certainly what I would have come up with if I was in the room. "God Ki is foreign enough to Gokuu that it takes him a few moments of fighting to figure out how to use ki blasts! This way we can have a nice portion of the fight that focuses on the hand-to-hand combat, then switch to mixing in ki blasts to shake-up the fight!"

It writes itself, really.

I think it would have been fascinating if Gokuu had achieved Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan in Battle of Gods. I could certainly see a producer going, "Let's save this for the next film!"

It's interesting, because that 2013 film was truncasted down to a mere 85 minutes from the planned two hours originally. I'm curious, because we know that for Broly, Nagamine Tatsuya had to truncate what was, like, 170 minutes of storyboard down to 90 minutes, but then basically said, "Hey, I need another ten minutes" and got it. It's Nagamine, though, so he is the studios' golden boy when you look at his career and even the control he was able to exert in One Piece Film Z where, I believe, he vetoed adding additional humor that Oda Eiichirou wanted added.

[Vegard Aune]

I think there is at least one recent instance where the new forms feel extremely merchandise-driven: Super Hero. Which, ironically, I'm not sure I've seen anyone who even likes Orange Piccolo and Gohan Beast as designs, but like... Gohan Beast in particular is just, why is this even here? The movie had already set up a weakness for Cell Max that they were actively trying to exploit, and all Gohan does in the form is fire one single beam which he had already been preparing for. You could still have him fire the Makankosappo on Cell Max without transforming and I don't think Cell Max's defeat would have been any less believable for it. It really feels like a form that was added just so they could have a new thing to put on the posters, put in games and trading cards and such, and to make toys out of.

...Orange Piccolo meanwhile feels at least a bit more integrated into the plot even if that, too, is a thing I really would rather the story do without. The fact that it's a powerup literally borne from him going "Hey Shenlong, can you give me more power please?" and Shenlong is like "Oh I'll give you more more power, actually!" is... not particularly narratively satisfying.

[JulieYBM]

Orange Piccolo is sexy as fuck, so I will be putting my horse into this gay little race. I do wish that the story had actually been about Piccolo's accumulated training post-Cell finally paying off, though. Like, instead of using the Dragon Balls just fucking explain that Piccolo has been slowly reaching for something within himself through his consistent meditating over the years and to protect Pan he finally unleashes it. Boom, nice little drama and it can tie into training and/or character development.

[Vegard Aune]

Orange Piccolo is sexy as fuck, so I will be putting my horse into this gay little race. I do wish that the story had actually been about Piccolo's accumulated training post-Cell finally paying off, though. Like, instead of using the Dragon Balls just fucking explain that Piccolo has been slowly reaching for something within himself through his consistent meditating over the years and to protect Pan he finally unleashes it. Boom, nice little drama and it can tie into training and/or character development.

That would have indeed been more satisfying. I still doubt I would have liked the form from a design perspective, but it would have at least felt earned that way.

[JulieYBM]

Orange Piccolo is sexy as fuck, so I will be putting my horse into this gay little race. I do wish that the story had actually been about Piccolo's accumulated training post-Cell finally paying off, though. Like, instead of using the Dragon Balls just fucking explain that Piccolo has been slowly reaching for something within himself through his consistent meditating over the years and to protect Pan he finally unleashes it. Boom, nice little drama and it can tie into training and/or character development.

That would have indeed been more satisfying. I still doubt I would have liked the form from a design perspective, but it would have at least felt earned that way.

Oh gosh, yeah, I'm still really into the size stuff and that jaw that Orange Piccolo has going on lol.

[AliTheZombie13]

Again, I ask for the actual quote, because that sounds interesting. I know of multiple times he said that Goku's hair turned gold so his assistant didn't have to color it in, and in the first of those two links he also mentions Bruce Lee's 'paralyzing glare' as part of the inspiration for Goku's expression. But if I'm aware of a time he said he also wanted to communicate a change in Goku's character, I've forgotten it.
(It would be very funny if this is in one of the links I myself posted)

Mostly the fact that the original SSJ was meant to convey a few things:
1. Goku's expression changing as you mentioned.
2. Goku changing from good-natured martial artist to merciless Saiyan fighter (execution aside).
3. Helping his assistant have an easier time.

Those are hella more easy to forgive than just... "This happened because money" or "This happened because I needed to write a quick way out to defeat the bad guy."

Regarding Super Saiyan God, in the above mentioned interview Toriyama spells out what even acquiring the form means for Goku (the basic gist of which Goku also says himself in the film, if I remember correctly):

Goku basically only thinks of fighting as a sporting match, so borrowing the power of five people isn’t fair, and he resisted doing that; however, it seems his curiosity towards the realm that lay even further beyond him won out.

No I'm not having the "Goku's characterization" debate with you again, and yes we can point out that this is hardly the first time Goku has put his sporting pride aside to close a gap. BUT: Goku becoming a Super Saiyan God is clearly intended to be something he did begrudgingly. He is taking a hard-to-swallow pill. So we can't say the form has zero interaction with characterization. Attaining the form didn't change him, but he went against what he believes in to attain it. You don't have to be satisfied by that, but it isn't empty.

If that was the intention, that was VERY BADLY executed, then.
If this interview didn't exist, I would've never even realized that was the case, at all.
I doubt many people took that by simply watching either the movie or the anime either.

Regarding Super Saiyan Blue, there's not as much there as there is for 3 or God, but insofar as it is using the power of one form while in another form, being able to become Super Saiyan Blue at all is indicative of martial prowess, of skill at one's craft. It's another indication of Goku (and Vegeta's) growth as martial artists. In that sense, it has the same impact on character as Goku learning the Kamehameha, or Bukujutsu, or the Kaio-ken, or the Genki Dama, or making Super Saiyan feel more natural in the Room of Spirit and Time, or finding out that there even was a Super Saiyan 3 in the first place, or managing to stack Kaio-ken on top of Super Saiyan Blue, or learning Destruction. I'd say Ultra Instinct (broadly speaking) acts as another instance of this sort of thing. It's Goku hitting another in a long line of milestones. Complain that it's repetitive, but you can't say it's an "asspull" that "man gifted at martial arts continues to be gifted at martial arts".

The stat change is going to happen. If you can't accept that, you are going to have a bad time. Visual changes are a helpful visual indicator of said stat change.

The stat change happening or not is besides the point. The point being, it worsens the story.
Best exemplified by the recent SSJ3 Vegeta in Daima. I called from the very first minute his fight against the Tamagami started that, "Why is Daima even attempting to create fake drama? We all know Vegeta is going to just pull a transformation out of his ass and beat the enemy effortlessly."

That's all to say that, this doesn't make for a good story. It bores me. It bores me profoundly. It bores me so much it actually pisses me off every single time it happens. It makes me feel like I am wasting precious time of my life watching something so predictable and unwilling to change. And It's really easy to hate transformations or associate a greedy motive behind them when this is their main role in the story.

[Dbzk1999]

Regarding Super Saiyan God, in the above mentioned interview Toriyama spells out what even acquiring the form means for Goku (the basic gist of which Goku also says himself in the film, if I remember correctly):

Goku basically only thinks of fighting as a sporting match, so borrowing the power of five people isn’t fair, and he resisted doing that; however, it seems his curiosity towards the realm that lay even further beyond him won out.

No I'm not having the "Goku's characterization" debate with you again, and yes we can point out that this is hardly the first time Goku has put his sporting pride aside to close a gap. BUT: Goku becoming a Super Saiyan God is clearly intended to be something he did begrudgingly. He is taking a hard-to-swallow pill. So we can't say the form has zero interaction with characterization. Attaining the form didn't change him, but he went against what he believes in to attain it. You don't have to be satisfied by that, but it isn't empty.

If that was the intention, that was VERY BADLY executed, then.
If this interview didn't exist, I would've never even realized that was the case, at all.
I doubt many people took that by simply watching either the movie or the anime either.

I’m going to be honest, I don’t see how someone could watch the movie in particular and not realize it unless they’re sleeping during it, because the movie makes that intention very explicit.

[AliTheZombie13]

I’m going to be honest, I don’t see how someone could watch the movie in particular and not realize it unless they’re sleeping during it, because the movie makes that intention very explicit.

I watched the whole thing again just to be sure.
There is not a single moment the entire time where Goku expresses discomfort or hesitates to become SSJ God.
While everybody is explaining what they have to do, he's looking laidback in the background like this:



What does happen afterwards is they start fighting, then they stop momentarily to talk about how Goku is not happy to have had done it. I might've missed it or misremembered because I largely don't care about the fight scenes, and the wording they choose to convey it is kind of confusing. I had trouble interpreting it at first. (eg. They keep using the word "world" as a stand-in for "power.")

But anyway, my criticism still stands, it's executed badly. Goku explicitly tells the viewer he's not happy to have had transformed by using everyone else's power, then shrugs and keeps fighting, after he's already transformed. Which brings me again to the scene above, the characters explaining what they have to do for Goku to transform, and Goku not showing or expressing the slightest bit of hesitation, unhappiness or discomfort. So why am I to believe him later when he says he's not happy about it?

"Show, don't tell."

[JulieYBM]

Gokuu acting like an adult and not complaining about having to do the thing that he has to do until he's away from his family and talking to The Boys (Beers) is honestly more maturity than he's shown in a lot of subsequent stories lol.

[BootyCheeksJohnson]

I think in April 2019 the end of year fiscal records from Bandai reported that Dragon Ball was the highest selling franchise in Japan for merch. That would have been post Super Broli, and therefore post Broli merch cycle. So many toys of Super Saiyan Blue Goku and Vegeta (and Super Saiyan God Vegeta since that hadn't been seen before by an anime audience), and all of the new Broli forms would have been in circulation. Along with all of the other merch tie-ins.
There were also reports saying that for the first time in many years a media franchise managed to outsell Gundam which almost never happens.
I don't know if Dragon Ball has come close to that since though.

[AliTheZombie13]

In retrospect...

If "Goku with red hair" is supposed to mean he's reached a level of strength by means he deems unethical, and "Goku with blue hair" is supposed to mean he's reached a level of strength by himself, then maybe I can give these forms some slack. I still don't like the story creating fake tension, though.

[Yuji]

But, I ask you: What exactly changed in Goku's character when he acquired SSJ3?

He became severely overconfident again, a trait we hadn't seen since the Piccolo Daimao arc. SS3 is what made him take Boo lightly and this overconfidence persists in Super, namely against Beerus but also beyond.

What changed in him when he acquired Super Saiyan God?

Half of the movie is dedicated to Beerus mentoring Goku that he should relish the SSG power whereas Goku is unhappy because he didn't earn it.

What changed in him when he acquired Super Saiyan Blue, etc? Answer: Nothing.

This one's right but SSB does signify the shift in Goku and Vegeta's dynamic to be more on equal terms.

[AliTheZombie13]

But, I ask you: What exactly changed in Goku's character when he acquired SSJ3?

He became severely overconfident again, a trait we hadn't seen since the Piccolo Daimao arc. SS3 is what made him take Boo lightly and this overconfidence persists in Super, namely against Beerus but also beyond.

What changed in him when he acquired Super Saiyan God?

Half of the movie is dedicated to Beerus mentoring Goku that he should relish the SSG power whereas Goku is unhappy because he didn't earn it.

What changed in him when he acquired Super Saiyan Blue, etc? Answer: Nothing.

This one's right but SSB does signify the shift in Goku and Vegeta's dynamic to be more on equal terms.

Here's the thing, though: Most of these don't need a visual representation, those are not drastic alterations to their characters.
Goku's always been overconfident, he's always been doing stupid shit like breaking the Potara or letting people like Vegeta or the Cyborgs roam free because "Eh, I'll just beat them." And Vegeta has had, what now, 5 instances of "I finally caught up with Kakarot!" only for Goku to whip out a new fresh transformation that sets him back again.

[Basaku]

Maybe not initially but as soon as the publishers and other companies involved see some transformations/powerups/new armors selling merch like hot cakes it obviously becames a big factor in literally any production. Be it comic book movies, space operas/shooters, shonen, magical girls, power rangers, sentai/kamen, transformers etc etc.

People like new powered up designs, they buy the merch en masse, companies see it and push for even more within the stories, simple

[Koitsukai]

I’m going to be honest, I don’t see how someone could watch the movie in particular and not realize it unless they’re sleeping during it, because the movie makes that intention very explicit.

Agreed, this does NOT need to be shown beforehand for it to work either. I mean, how childish would've been to have Goku be all I DON'T WANNA, but Beerus is right ther-- I DON'T LIKE IT... but Beerus is already charging his attac- HATE IT. That's Peter Griffin.
Julie has a point, it's the most mature thing I've seen Goku do... ever. Letting his issues take the back seat until he gets there and then open up about it in private.

I see it like somebody getting a crappy job, Goku attaining SSG. You need money, you need it fast, bills(no pun intended for the LATAM audience) are due today, you'll start today at a nursing home*, doing stuff that you hate to make ends meet... after you are back on track, you can start voicing your complaints, you do not like doing it this way, but there was no other way, while your boss tells you that you should be happy you have money in your pocket.


*selling drugs/ being United Healthcare CEO/ etc...

[WittyUsername]

I think there is at least one recent instance where the new forms feel extremely merchandise-driven: Super Hero. Which, ironically, I'm not sure I've seen anyone who even likes Orange Piccolo and Gohan Beast as designs, but like... Gohan Beast in particular is just, why is this even here? The movie had already set up a weakness for Cell Max that they were actively trying to exploit, and all Gohan does in the form is fire one single beam which he had already been preparing for. You could still have him fire the Makankosappo on Cell Max without transforming and I don't think Cell Max's defeat would have been any less believable for it. It really feels like a form that was added just so they could have a new thing to put on the posters, put in games and trading cards and such, and to make toys out of.

...Orange Piccolo meanwhile feels at least a bit more integrated into the plot even if that, too, is a thing I really would rather the story do without. The fact that it's a powerup literally borne from him going "Hey Shenlong, can you give me more power please?" and Shenlong is like "Oh I'll give you more more power, actually!" is... not particularly narratively satisfying.

Orange Piccolo and Gohan Beast were definitely included to fulfill some post-BoG requisite that every Dragon Ball movie include some kind of new form. There is no narrative reason I can think of for why they needed to exist. They seem like they were included purely for commercial reasons. They don’t even bother to explain what the hell Gohan Beast is.

[Zephyr]

I'm not sure I've seen anyone who even likes Orange Piccolo and Gohan Beast as designs

I love them both as designs (especially Beast). They're similar to Super Saiyan 3's design in my eyes: really cool, really silly, really silly because they're really cool, etc.

Shen Long giving Piccolo an additional power-up is, if nothing else, funny to me. Adds another angle by which he is actually very selective and plays favorites, which in turn fleshes him out as a character. Makes sense he'd be giving his creator something extra on the side (though, it is then strange and backwards that he calls him "Piccolo-sama" and not "Kami-sama"). But I agree with you and Julie that I would have preferred it to be the culmination of his martial journey rather than a freebie.

As for Beast, well, there's nothing in the film itself that would make us anticipate it. But a lot of people had been expecting Gohan to get a new form since Goku recruited him for the Tournament of Power. We all remember this line:


Did they intend for this to set up Beast? I doubt it. But the fact is that Gohan at one point in time mentions a form nobody has ever seen before, and at a later point in time transforms into something nobody has ever seen before. Serendipity, mistakes into miracles, throwing shit at the wall and seeing what you can make of it, etc. Gohan's line here is partly why the whole "Gohan Blanco" meme became a thing at all: a lot of fans were anticipating a new Gohan transformation.

All that said, yeah, it's not really paying off anything in the film itself. Gohan's been slacking for the most part (teaching himself the Makankosappo aside), so why's he reaching a new level of strength? Is the Makankosappo somehow related to it? Well, going by Toriyama's comments on the form it's related to his fits of rage, so probably not.

I think in April 2019 the end of year fiscal records from Bandai reported that Dragon Ball was the highest selling franchise in Japan for merch. That would have been post Super Broli, and therefore post Broli merch cycle. So many toys of Super Saiyan Blue Goku and Vegeta (and Super Saiyan God Vegeta since that hadn't been seen before by an anime audience), and all of the new Broli forms would have been in circulation.

Right. But again, I'm always seeing stuff based on pre-GT material out in the wild. So the question is: is the Super merch actually chiefly responsible for it? Maybe! Is there anything that can help us confirm that, or are we left to informed speculation? It's fine if the latter is the case, but if the former is the case it would be very cool to have in the discussion.

Like, it's obviously straightforwardly believable that new stories come out, new forms (and characters) appear, merch of those new things get made, people buy merch of those new things, and sales go way up. It's also straightforwardly believable that new stories come out, DB in general consequently occupies more of the public consciousness, people buy whatever DB merch grabs them (which could be of new stuff or old stuff), and sales go way up; for instance, post-SH merch cycle I saw some mighty tempting 23rd TB-era Goku and Piccolo statues at Barnes & Noble.

The stat change happening or not is besides the point. The point being, it worsens the story.
Best exemplified by the recent SSJ3 Vegeta in Daima. I called from the very first minute his fight against the Tamagami started that, "Why is Daima even attempting to create fake drama? We all know Vegeta is going to just pull a transformation out of his ass and beat the enemy effortlessly."

That's all to say that, this doesn't make for a good story. It bores me. It bores me profoundly. It bores me so much it actually pisses me off every single time it happens. It makes me feel like I am wasting precious time of my life watching something so predictable and unwilling to change. And It's really easy to hate transformations or associate a greedy motive behind them when this is their main role in the story.

Forest for the trees here. The point is that there is more going on than a stat change in so many of these examples, regardless of whether or not that "more" is something you find good, enjoyable, or worthwhile.

The second paragraph pertains to the larger point I'm trying to make here. If the writers are being lazy, then sure, the new forms they introduce come across as lazy. They're being lazy with their forms because the whole point of the form is to sell merch. Sure enough. Now expand that thought a little bit: they're being lazy with the show's writing as a whole because the whole point of the show is to sell merch. Sure enough. But wait.....that's just business as usual? Insert "always has been" meme here. It's all for merch all the way down, whether it's good storytelling or bad storytelling. So the observation adds nothing to a conversation, and it's disingenuous to critically ascribe the greed motive to bad stories when it's also applicable to the good stories.

Does that make sense?

[JulieYBM]

I wouldn't call the writing team on Dragon Ball Super lazy, so much as beholden to needing to juggle the input of people other than them and decisions to not explain stuff being left to "Don't explain it too much, because Toriyama might want to contrdict you later on." Like, Tomioka Atsuhiro is hardly being 'lazy' when he's writing 2-5 consecutive episodes and turning around and coming up with battle strategies for episodes, too.

That's basically been my biggest criticism, though: everyone's afraid of making a firm decision and committing to it, so the story winds up suffering.