Dragon Balls (and their role in the series...)

[Sin]

Okay, I will just throw this out there.

The Dragon Balls play a major roll in Dragonball (the series was even named after them!), however, I began feeling as though after the Freeza saga the Dragon Balls became less significant; all they ever seemed to be used for was bringing someone back to life, and if we ignore Dragonball GT and the balls' role in that, I believe they weren't fully developed on.

Aside from the movies it would've been nice for the Dragonballs to be used for something other than bringing someone back or for panties. It felt as though the warriors themselves were surpassing the power of the Dragonballs and didn't need them apart from when someone died. Heck, the show should've been named 'The Adventures of Goku'.

You might disagree but all I'm saying is that it would've been nice if they were used for different things and given a more powerful development, especially with the villains. In the end the villains didn't even bother with them (e.g Androids, Cell and Buu).

So I raise the question, do you feel as though they played as significant a role as they should've in the end?

[Amigo Ten]

Well after Freeza, the villains weren't after the Dragonballs. The androids were after Goku and Buu wasn't after anything in particular, so it's not surprising they seemed less significant.

[Kendamu]

That's kind of the point by the end of it all, though. Heck, that was even a bit of a moral in the original beginning story arc of Dragonball. Yamcha and Bulma got their wishes by meeting each other rather than having to use some divine magic and they're the ones who were going after the Dragonballs the most hardcore of the group.

But, at the end of the Kanzenban, the narration says, "Even after this, we can probably expect that there will still be various troubles, no different than before. But somehow, they're definitely going to overcome them... It will be all right, because on Earth, there are some incredible guys...!!"

The big overall moral there that's touched upon several times in DB and DBZ is to rely on your strengths and the power of friendship (a big Shonen thing) to overcome hard times rather than relying on miracles.

So, less and less use of the Dragonballs is kind of a good thing.

[Rory]

Here's a little parody which tackles your thoughts.

[Son Wukong]

Kendamu pretty much nailed it.

But, at the end of the Kanzenban, the narration says, "Even after this, we can probably expect that there will still be various troubles, no different than before. But somehow, they're definitely going to overcome them... It will be all right, because on Earth, there are some incredible guys...!!"

I believe that line was specifically changed for the Kanzenban. The Tankobon says something like [paraphrase]'' there will always be the dragonballs to help the incredible guys'' [/paraphrase].

[Sin]

That's kind of the point by the end of it all, though. Heck, that was even a bit of a moral in the original beginning story arc of Dragonball. Yamcha and Bulma got their wishes by meeting each other rather than having to use some divine magic and they're the ones who were going after the Dragonballs the most hardcore of the group.

But, at the end of the Kanzenban, the narration says, "Even after this, we can probably expect that there will still be various troubles, no different than before. But somehow, they're definitely going to overcome them... It will be all right, because on Earth, there are some incredible guys...!!"

The big overall moral there that's touched upon several times in DB and DBZ is to rely on your strengths and the power of friendship (a big Shonen thing) to overcome hard times rather than relying on miracles.

So, less and less use of the Dragonballs is kind of a good thing.

Well there was never really a hard time they overcame with the Dragon Balls anyway, they were only used for reviving someone and even by the end of the series they were still used to restore things and revive people so really there was no change it's just that they were used less because main characters or vast amounts of people didn't die as often.

Also nice parody Rory, that is exactly one of the points I am trying to make

[Kendamu]

Kendamu pretty much nailed it.

But, at the end of the Kanzenban, the narration says, "Even after this, we can probably expect that there will still be various troubles, no different than before. But somehow, they're definitely going to overcome them... It will be all right, because on Earth, there are some incredible guys...!!"

I believe that line was specifically changed for the Kanzenban. The Tankobon says something like [paraphrase]'' there will always be the dragonballs to help the incredible guys'' [/paraphrase].

"Even after this, there will probably be various troubles, but somehow they'll surmount them, without a doubt... It'll be all right, because they've got the Dragon Balls...!"

http://daizex.com/multimedia/images/db_manga_ending/

That's why I specifically mentioned the Kanzenban. The changed ending makes more sense for the overall theme of the story.

[RemiLeopold]

If there's one thing I really like about GT, is that it drove the Kanzenban's point of "Dragonballs? Those are cool, but we've got some incredible people on earth, we'll rely on them first."

[Amigo Ten]

That's kind of the point by the end of it all, though. Heck, that was even a bit of a moral in the original beginning story arc of Dragonball. Yamcha and Bulma got their wishes by meeting each other rather than having to use some divine magic and they're the ones who were going after the Dragonballs the most hardcore of the group.

But, at the end of the Kanzenban, the narration says, "Even after this, we can probably expect that there will still be various troubles, no different than before. But somehow, they're definitely going to overcome them... It will be all right, because on Earth, there are some incredible guys...!!"

The big overall moral there that's touched upon several times in DB and DBZ is to rely on your strengths and the power of friendship (a big Shonen thing) to overcome hard times rather than relying on miracles.

So, less and less use of the Dragonballs is kind of a good thing.

Well yeah, but as the story went on there was more of a use of the Dragonballs. They're used 3 times in DB I think. In Z, including Namek's Dragonballs, it was... 8? Around that. They much more reliant on them as the story progressed because more people kept dying.

[the_abberration]

So I raise the question, do you feel as though they played as significant a role as they should've in the end?

Well if it weren't for the Dragonballs, Goku would not have beaten Buu.

[Kendamu]

That's kind of the point by the end of it all, though. Heck, that was even a bit of a moral in the original beginning story arc of Dragonball. Yamcha and Bulma got their wishes by meeting each other rather than having to use some divine magic and they're the ones who were going after the Dragonballs the most hardcore of the group.

But, at the end of the Kanzenban, the narration says, "Even after this, we can probably expect that there will still be various troubles, no different than before. But somehow, they're definitely going to overcome them... It will be all right, because on Earth, there are some incredible guys...!!"

The big overall moral there that's touched upon several times in DB and DBZ is to rely on your strengths and the power of friendship (a big Shonen thing) to overcome hard times rather than relying on miracles.

So, less and less use of the Dragonballs is kind of a good thing.

Well yeah, but as the story went on there was more of a use of the Dragonballs. They're used 3 times in DB I think. In Z, including Namek's Dragonballs, it was... 8? Around that. They much more reliant on them as the story progressed because more people kept dying.

True, but the stakes were higher in Z than they were in DB. Plus, Z was a much longer series.

[Thanos]

At the end of Z, the Dragon Balls saved everyone. Not only by resurrecting Earth, its people, Vegeta (woohoo!) and giving Goku the boost to send that Genki Dama toward Boo into oblivion... I'd say that's fairly significant.

[Herms]

It's not just post-Freeza either. There's major chunks of the story before that where the dragonballs hardly factor in at all, such as all the tournaments.

[SHINOBI-03]

At the end of Z, the Dragon Balls saved everyone. Not only by resurrecting Earth, its people, Vegeta (woohoo!) and giving Goku the boost to send that Genki Dama toward Boo into oblivion... I'd say that's fairly significant.

Something - annoys me - with Sparking NEO

Before Goku gives the Genki Dama his final boost, he says "Thank you, Dragon Balls". The dub of the same scene, Goku says "Thanks, Dende"

But yeah. Don't you think new fans think for a moment "This show is called Dragon Ball... where's the balls?!"

I find it a sad thing that Shenlong switchs from a Wish-Granting Dragon to a Necromancer... He would be like:

Shenlong: "Oooh, back in the old days, people used to ask me anything they want... but now, all I'm asked to do is bringing the dead back to life and nothing else... Now if you would excuse me, I have to revive someone's hamster...!!"

[Choujin Daizenshuu]

This show is called Dragon Ball. I say this show should be called Extreme Violence Fight...because that's what it is.

Dragon Balls? Meh, they're just a has-been plot point now.

[Super Sonic]

Have to admit, wonder why Gero didn't go after the Dragon Balls. He surely knew of their existance, though not why his boss wanted them. Maybe his ego or something.

[Big Momma]

Have to admit, wonder why Gero didn't go after the Dragon Balls. He surely knew of their existance, though not why his boss wanted them. Maybe his ego or something.

He probably forgot. I swear he'd lose his head if it weren't attached.

[rereboy]

Have to admit, wonder why Gero didn't go after the Dragon Balls. He surely knew of their existance, though not why his boss wanted them. Maybe his ego or something.

Maybe he was afraid of drawing attention to himself, knowing that the Goku gang also had a Dragon radar.

Also, remember that he didn`t have that many opportunities to grab the Dragon Balls. Lets see..


After destroying the red ribbon army and bringing Upa`s father back to life, Goku kept his 4 star Dragon Ball.
Years later that Dragon Ball was stolen by Piccolo`s minions and then used to give Piccolo youth. After that Piccolo destroyed the Dragon.

After Piccolo`s defeat kami brought the Dragon Balls back to life and after the wish they spread.
They turned to stones like they normally do, but one year later they were active and for the first time Gero had the opportunity to take them all without Goku or his gang having one.

Two years after the Dragon balls become active, Goku defeats Piccolo junior and marries Chi Chi.
In the beggining of Z we find out that Goku found two dragon balls during that time, which means that Gero could only get them before Goku found at least one.

After Goku`s death the gang takes hold of the Dragon Balls for the year before the sayans arrival so that they could bring Goku back to life.
After they do that Piccolo dies and so do the Dragon Balls.

They only return when he is brought back and they immediately fulfill the wish of bringing everyone from Namek to Earth, turning to stone for a year.
By then Gero certainly was already more interested in his androids which were certainly well developed because the android saga was already coming about.

So in conclusion, even if Gero wanted the Dragon Balls, he only had one opportunity to get them, a small window of a few years, before Goku found at least one Dragon Ball after defeating Piccolo junior. And he had to worrie about being detected.

[SHINOBI-03]

Don't forget that the RRR (Red Ribbon Radar) wasn't affective as Bulma's.

They couldn't pinpoint the exact location of any ball. They had to dig a whole area for days just to get one ball

So, maybe Gero couldn't make a better one, or... he spent his years putting his brain in a robot body ((Which movie did they get this joke from?))