Is Dragonball deeper than it looks?

[Big Momma]

This may apply to the Z-portion of the story more, but I've always said this(Or I just read it on Daizex somewhere and forgot):

"Dragon Ball's plot is about as thick as the paper it's written on."


There's not much to the story, not that it isn't enjoyable. It's a whimsical, fantastic fairytale about a kid with a monkey tail looking for seven balls to get a wish. There are no extensive backstories for the characters, there isn't much motivation for them, either.

It's simple, and that's the way I like it.

[Adamant]

Watch the Saiya-jin arc. Not deep.


Watch the 23rd Budoukai. FRICKEN DEEP.

Elaborate, sir.

There's this evil dude there who's evil because he was born that way, and he wants to take over the world, but this other guy has been trained to be able to stop the evil guy.

See? Deep.

[Rocketman]

Dragonball: Through hard work and determination, even the most idiotic weakling and coward can become the stuff of greatness.

Unless you're not the designated hero, in which case it doesn't matter how hard you work, it will all be made meaningless by people who got shit for free.

[Amigo Ten]

Dragonball: Through hard work and determination, even the most idiotic weakling and coward can become the stuff of greatness.

Unless you're not the designated hero, in which case it doesn't matter how hard you work, it will all be made meaningless by people who got shit for free.

Mr. Satan.

[B]

Dragonball: Through hard work and determination, even the most idiotic weakling and coward can become the stuff of greatness.

Unless you're not the designated hero, in which case it doesn't matter how hard you work, it will all be made meaningless by people who got shit for free.

Ooooh, well that's just not true.

[SSJ2bardock]

Dragonball: Through hard work and determination, even the most idiotic weakling and coward can become the stuff of greatness.

Unless you're not the designated hero, in which case it doesn't matter how hard you work, it will all be made meaningless by people who got shit for free.

Mr. Satan.

Knowing Rocketman's history, he was probably referring to Gohan.

[Amigo Ten]

Unless you're not the designated hero, in which case it doesn't matter how hard you work, it will all be made meaningless by people who got shit for free.

Mr. Satan.

He was referring to Gohan.

But Gohan was the one who got shit for free.

[mAcChaos]

I like FMA and all, but how is it deep?

[SSJ2bardock]

Mr. Satan.

He was referring to Gohan.

But Gohan was the one who got shit for free.

In what way is Mr. Satan the "designated hero"? He was referring to the Son family.

[Ununbium]

I wouldn't say so.
I wouldn't say the ones your friend mention are either though, other then Monster which I haven't seen.
I've always felt the story of Future Trunks was deep-ish, though.

[ShinRogafuken]

In terms of the underlying World-Government plots.

I think I'd classify that as more "complex" than "deep" (in the sense of having deep themes and deep characters).

Complex, that's the word I should have picked. There aren't any deeper meanings to those plots, they're just complex and well planned. Complex and deep are different things.

If you were a historian like me you'd know why it is deep.

[Sebastian (SB)]

Dragon Ball is about as deep as all the plethora of puns Toriyama put in the universe. Otherwise, it's a very fun Shonen manga. If you guys want deep, try watching Legend of the Galactic Heroes and come back to me.

[Raki]

I like FMA and all, but how is it deep?

It's an okay series. But it's about as deep as a 40 year old hooker.

[Deep Thought]

Hell no.

Dragon Ball Z has little to no character development or backstory. The only two characters who have a real backstory are Goku and Piccolo. The only character that actually develops is Piccolo. Goku doesn't need a backstory because we see him since he is twelve, and Piccolo's backstory, while not particularly deep, is definitely there. Goku doesn't develop, when I see adult Goku, I see kid Goku in an adult body. Same goes with Yamcha, Tien, Kurrin, and Vegeta. The only things that we get to indicate that Vegeta changed at all were his self-sacrifices, but his character itself didn't change at all. Every time he admits that Goku is his superior, he retcons it in the next saga. He never learns anything. The only bit of character development that ever occurs is when an evil character comes in contact with Goku, they'll become a good guy, up till Freeza. However, not only is this an incredibly cliche method of character development, it is so unrealistic and plot-convenient. The evil character become good guys too quickly to be believable, save for Piccolo. Characters have little to no backstory. Kurrin admittedly doesn't really need one. However, why did Yamcha become a bandit? What is his life, really? Does he have any loved ones or anyone he cares about? What about Tien? Why is he an assassin in training? There must be some reason to why an otherwise okay guy would want to spend the rest of his life killing people, evil or innocent. What about Vegeta? Why is he evil? Because he's from an evil race? Really? That's not a backstory, that's just an explanation. Vegeta can't come out of nowhere, so they need to explain where he comes from. However, what motivates him? What drives him? These are things that really should be explained. Freeza is a joke in terms of backstory. We can't even use the evil race excuse, because we can't say that for sure. People aren't assholes for no reason, and we really should know what made Freeza so evil. I'm not even getting into Cell, the Androids, and Buu. They almost literally came out of nowhere.

So, yeah, Dragon Ball has all the depth of a kiddie pool.

[Dr. Casey]

The only character that actually develops is Piccolo.

Yeah, I can't really agree here. I think it's pretty undeniable that Gohan and Krillin get some development, unless you think Gohan's exactly the same as a four year old toddler as he is when he's a married 26 year old father, or the bratty, sneaky, cynical 12 year old Krillin's the exact same as his much more innocent and selfless adult version.

[Amigo Ten]

He was referring to Gohan.

But Gohan was the one who got shit for free.

In what way is Mr. Satan the "designated hero"? He was referring to the Son family.

He's not the designated hero. That's the point. His actions weren't made meaningless by the people who got shit for free. Piccolo acknowledged him as a true hero, and Goku's yelling "Maybe you are the true champion of the world Mr. Satan!" as throws the spirit bomb at Boo.

[Rocketman]

The evil character become good guys too quickly to be believable, save for Piccolo.

I would replace Piccolo with Vegeta. Piccolo was magically less evil from his birth (and then becomes a good guy by kidnapping/abandoning/starving/abusing a small child?). Vegeta's a selfish prick who'd happily kill everybody else if he could up to the Cell Games.

Tien had the worst example of that, though.

[Bussani]

You can find lot of things, like one old religion which is going to rbake apart because it's isolated from outer world.....
Like one man who have mysterious past who's behind all things that happened in all sagas....
The story is about battle against evil but it shows you that evil and good is not black and white....
Main character is good but then he's seduced by evil in believe that he'smaking it for good....

Well, I did say that depth was where you find it, but for me none of that really strikes me as very deep. Maybe a bit deeper than a kiddy pool, but... 'Evil and good aren't black and white' doesn't exactly blow my mind.

If you were a historian like me you'd know why it is deep.

Let me guess, it would 'take you too long to explain it,' though?

Maybe we're just defining 'deep' differently. To me it has little to do with the plot, and more to do with the message or meaning.

[MCDaveG]

Yeah most of Holywood movies are shining with deepnes

[ShinRogafuken]

You can find lot of things, like one old religion which is going to rbake apart because it's isolated from outer world.....
Like one man who have mysterious past who's behind all things that happened in all sagas....
The story is about battle against evil but it shows you that evil and good is not black and white....
Main character is good but then he's seduced by evil in believe that he'smaking it for good....

Well, I did say that depth was where you find it, but for me none of that really strikes me as very deep. Maybe a bit deeper than a kiddy pool, but... 'Evil and good aren't black and white' doesn't exactly blow my mind.

If you were a historian like me you'd know why it is deep.

Let me guess, it would 'take you too long to explain it,' though?

Maybe we're just defining 'deep' differently. To me it has little to do with the plot, and more to do with the message or meaning.

Actually it wouldn't take me too long to explain, but its wayyy off topic. I'd have to go into a lot of non-DB related stuff (One Piece isn't even fully DB-related to being with lol) and that is against the rules I believe, so I won't.