jjgp1112 wrote: Wed Jan 21, 2026 1:19 am
Artorias wrote: Tue Jan 20, 2026 5:50 pm
Regarding the discussion of the Future Trunks arc's ending, I believe the biggest issue with it that subconsciously drove a large portion of the negative response when it aired, is that none of the characters behave how you would expect them to, given the situation. There is a massive disconnect between how the audience believes the characters SHOULD be reacting, and how they're actually acting. The ending of that arc, as in what literally happens, is utterly horrifying and completely depressing, yet the characters all stand around smiling and yucking it up as if what we just watched was in any way satisfying or hopeful. The writers try to treat it like it's your typical happy-go-lucky Dragon Ball ending, and it's just not, so it just feels incredibly uncomfortable all around. I believe this, along with a multitude of other factors (Spirit Bomb sword, Zeno erasure), etc., is at it's core why a lot of the fandom reacted so viscerally to the ending back in the day. I think any sort of Super remake could easily fix these issues, and I would pray that these sorts of changes are made if this supposed remake were to occur. There's a LOT of clean up that is needed.
SupremeKai25 wrote: Mon Jan 19, 2026 2:57 pm
The ending of the Future Trunks saga was awesome. There's nothing to "fix". It was foreshadowed directly in the first episode, when Whis said Zeno is capable of erasing whole universes if he dislikes something.
And the Future Sword of Hope was an awesome send-off to Future Trunks. He finally had the power to defeat the villain himself, instead of having to rely on someone else to save him. Sure it requires some suspension of disbelief, but so does everything in fiction.
Just because something is "set up" doesn't mean it's automatically good. No one would argue that the end of the FT arc doesn't logically "make sense". The argument from most people including myself is that it's extremely unsatisfying and weird. I can't objectively sit here and tell you that you how you should feel, but I would like to think that you could at least understand why so many people find it insulting to sit through an entire storyline only for a third party to show up that had nothing to do with anything at the VERY end and erase all tension immediately by solving the problem essentially with a snap of their fingers. I can't think of a better example of what NOT to do to resolve a story.
And funnily enough, conversely, the Trunks Spirit Bomb sword thingy was actually not set up at all, which is why I would argue that it's bad. It does not make any logical sense in-universe whatsoever. This goes beyond "suspension of disbelief" into downright unbelievable territory. You can see the hands of the writers in this scene forcing the victory upon Trunks, rather than coming up with clever way to actually allow him to naturally pull out the win. The concept of Trunks defeating the villain is totally fine, it's HOW it happened that people have a problem with.
The ending I think is a unfortunate byproduct of Toriyama's preference for obtuse endings - think about it, every arc but the Buu saga in the original run ended either a twist or an asterisk. First arc, they make their wish...and it ends up being a desperation request for panties. 21st TB, Goku loses. Red Ribbon arc...Red did all this to get taller and the last Dragon Ball, Goku has to fight in a tournament to find it. 22nd TB, Goku loses again. Piccolo gets defeated *then spits out a reincarnation. Piccolo Jr. is defeated *Goku gives him a senzu bean. AFter 8 million false finishes, Krillin has Vegeta dead to rights, Goku tells him to let him leave. Oh, and half their friends are dead and the Dragon Balls are gone. Goku beats Frieza *but gets caught in Namek's explosion *Oh wait he acually escaped *Oh wait he doesn't want to come back *Oh wait Frieza survived *Oh wait there's another Super Saiyan who kills him in 5 seconds. Gohan defeats Cell *and Goku's dead.
And then with Zamasu...he just goes for the weirdest, bizarre depressing ending possible. At least with those other endings, they directly set up the following arc to correct the odd circumstances but instead...that's it. Trunks is just stuck hangin' around a copy of himself! I don't think it even goes down like that if Toriyama is still in the thick of it, writing the manga.
Like was said on the previous page - if Trunks simply stuck around, fought in the ToP and got his timeline restored...perfect! That's classic DBZ storytelling of one arc ending with a price and then the next arc resolving it.
I've been following the convo regarding Future Trunks in Super for a few pages now and I'm so happy that there are others who share my sentiment. I'm not even joking when I say this... the ONLY way I'll be sold on a Super remake is if *major* plot elements are changed, most especially the ending to the Zamasu arc.
Like you said, the crazy thing is how there WAS a way to fix F. Trunks' reality. Literally have him participate in the T.O.P., although MY idea for that would be altered a bit. Specifically, F. Trunks
would win, but after seeing all of the other universes get erased, he'd have to briefly make the hard decision of choosing whether to restore HIS reality or restore the lost universes. He'd eventually choose the latter and the Grand Priest, upon witnessing F. Trunks willingly make such a sacrifice, would restore HIS reality as well as a "freebie". Of course, this would come with the caveat of warning him to never time-travel again, which F. Trunks would accept wholeheartedly.
Like, if they're willing to change up
that absolute dogshit ending, I'll be more than willing to sit through yet another retelling of Super. Otherwise, I'd rather they just start from Moro (or a Broly retelling, if it comes to it).
Funny thing is, I honestly get the feeling that those who work intrinsicly on DB stuff that cover Super also aren't fans of that ending, because I've never seen a DB game that covers that arc cover... THAT part of said arc.