Toei's Suspense Killing

[TripleRach]

I remember asking a question similar to this in a Daizenshuu podcast a long time ago. Something like Goku transforming into a Super Saiya-jin 3 for the first time was spoiled right in the episode title. So in Japan, I'd imagine people's reaction to him transforming would have been more like, "Oh, he's doing it!" instead of, "Holy crap! What's he doing?! Is he transforming again?!"

There was a study done about spoilers a few months ago that got a lot press. The conclusion was that spoilers are good for you, and knowing what will happen builds up suspense and anticipation. So I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of people in Japan have already embraced that mindset, since Dragon Ball isn't the only series with titles like that.

Actually, as I recall, the manga also had a few chapter titles that were just "____ Dies!!" The chapter titles are a lot shorter and less detailed than the anime episode titles, but they could still be spoiler-y, too. So it wasn't just Toei.

[Bussani]

Actually, as I recall, the manga also had a few chapter titles that were just "____ Dies!!"

And Dragon Ball certainly isn't the only manga that does that, either. To be fair, though, there are a few western comics with titles like, "The Death of _______" as well. I have a trade paperback with a name like that. Sure, it came out some time after the comics contained within it, but still.

[Piccolo Daimao]

Actually, as I recall, the manga also had a few chapter titles that were just "____ Dies!!"

And Dragon Ball certainly isn't the only manga that does that, either. To be fair, though, there are a few western comics with titles like, "The Death of _______" as well. I have a trade paperback with a name like that. Sure, it came out some time after the comics contained within it, but still.

I always thought, with those Western comics, it's because the entire hype around them is the fact that a well-known fictional character that's practically integrated into pop culture is going to be meeting his end. And then, due to fucked-up comic continuity, they end up bringing them back via reboot, character replacement, some retarded plot device (like what happened to Jason Todd), or writing it off as an alternate universe event.

[Bussani]

That's sometimes true, but this one I'm thinking of they're apparently not going back on. Of course, you never know with comics.

[Piccolo Daimao]

That's sometimes true, but this one I'm thinking of they're apparently not going back on. Of course, you never know with comics.

Yeah, that's what I'm talking about; comic book continuity is weird. Superman, Batman, Spiderman, and two Robins have died before, only to miraculously be revived, even with ridiculous bullshit like "reality-punching".

(For the record, I'm not that much of a comic book fan; it's just stuff I've heard. But I think this is part of the reason why they remain so inaccessible for many people.)

[Zestanor]

With episode 43 of the Fake Namek Arc, Toei actually used their suspense killing titles to their advantage and lied. The title of episode 43 is The Dragon Balls Are All Here! Piccolo-san Comes Back to Life

[KiddoCabbusses]

They seriously came up with the titles first and the plot later? O_O
That sounds humorously reckless of them and at the same time really challenging. It also explains why some of the movie titles are so vague.

It also explains why many of the trailers (The one for "Fight! 10 Billion Power Warriors"/Movie 6 in particular, since there was a way to access that one from FUNi's Movie 5 single DVD) show basically no footage of anything that actually happens in the movie.

[LiamKav]

Kai had an interesting approach to spoilers with it's opening and ending themes, showing the slightly confused "who is this aimed at" nature of the series. Personally, I quite like the inclusion of SSJ Goku in the first end credits, because it's fairly subtle. (ie, it's from the back, you can't say for sure it's him, and if you don't know the series you will have no idea what is going on). On the other hand, when they give away pretty much the entire Goku/Freeza fight in the second (third?) opening animation, it's a bit much...

Same thing with Freeza. The brief glimpse of him during the Saiyan arc is fine. Showing all his transformations before they occur? Ruins it, I think.

[matt0044]

Same thing with Freeza. The brief glimpse of him during the Saiyan arc is fine. Showing all his transformations before they occur? Ruins it, I think.

Would've been better if they covered each one in shadows only to unveil them as each are revealed.

[fps_anth]

It seems to have been expected that everyone already knew what was going to happen, yeah. It's difficult for a lot of us foreign fans to remember/know just how damn popular the franchise was during its original run in Japan.

So popular they just had to throw away all those original audio masters! *shakes fist*

A hilarious example of the blatant disregard for spoilers comes during the next episode preview before Majin Vegeta's debut.

*suspicious, zoomed in shots of Vegeta*

Dabura: Babidi-sama, one of them does not have a pure heart!

*more shots of Vegeta*

Gohan: Father, I think Babidi is trying to control one of us.

*more shots of Vegeta*

Goku: What are you doing to Vegeta?

*cut to Majin Vegeta, permanent marker on forehead and all*

I'd be so pissed if I was a Japanese kid who didn't follow the manga when this originally aired

[Cold Skin]

That "suspense killing" can be a real problem when you show the series to someone for the first time.

With the manga, Akira Toriyama doesn't spoil anything in his title, it's the kind of title you understand once the chapter's over, but it doesn't ruin surprises as far as I remember.

But when showing Dragon Ball Kai to other people (which happened to me five or six times until now), they usually ask me to skip the Next Episode Previews once they've seen a few because they say it spoils any surprise and also shows if something big is going to happen or if it's going to be "just another minor episode", taking out part of the thrill of the next 20 minutes.

As an additionnal precaution, I've made up my own titles for the episodes and for my six seasons when they want to check out the list, showcasing the concept of the episode but not spoiling too much (or so I tried, but I might not be able to judge myself if they are "bad" titles)... I certainly had the bad concept of naming all episodes from my Season 5 with words ending in "-ion" as a nod to Cell's on-going evolution, but hey, I assume that weird idea and keep those titles anyway...

[VegettoEX]

I certainly had the bad concept of naming all episodes from my Season 5 with words ending in "-ion" as a nod to Cell's on-going evolution, but hey, I assume that weird idea and keep those titles anyway...

FUNimation thought that was a brilliant idea for their DBGT singles, and ultimately ran out of "-tion" words and had to use a "-sion" word.

[superrayman3]

With episode 43 of the Fake Namek Arc, Toei actually used their suspense killing titles to their advantage and lied. The title of episode 43 is The Dragon Balls Are All Here! Piccolo-san Comes Back to Life

I wonder how many Japanese viewers were pissed off when Piccolo didn't come back to life like the title led them to believe.

[Cold Skin]

I certainly had the bad concept of naming all episodes from my Season 5 with words ending in "-ion" as a nod to Cell's on-going evolution, but hey, I assume that weird idea and keep those titles anyway...

FUNimation thought that was a brilliant idea for their DBGT singles, and ultimately ran out of "-tion" words and had to use a "-sion" word.

I didn't even think that this kind of twisted idea would pop up in anyone's mind but mine, and thanks to you, I learn that it's part of an official product!!
I guess their task was much more complicated though: they had to find "-tion" / "-sion" concepts that would be relevant to describe not only one, but a bunch of episodes!
It's already annoying as it is to find "-ion" concepts that would fit ONE episode's storyline!

But back then, I thought "what I consider the fifth season is all about evolutions, the stages of evolution reached by Cell, the Super Saiyan evolution chosen by Vegeta and Trunks which turns out to be not so great, and the "real" Super Saiyan evolution Goku finds out for him and his son".
So I named the season that way, and then, that casual idea: "All those evolutions, through absorptions, with confrontations, leading to humiliations, and all of this for perfection... Hey, what if I named all episodes like that!".
Well, the titles that came up might be farfetched, but at least I'm pretty sure they're mostly not "suspense killers", though I still kept some titles that do reveal what's going to happen (when you see an episode named "Perfection", you can guess the main event...).

[TripleRach]

With the manga, Akira Toriyama doesn't spoil anything in his title, it's the kind of title you understand once the chapter's over, but it doesn't ruin surprises as far as I remember.

As I said earlier in the thread, some of the manga titles did spoil things. It wasn't as often or as detailed as the anime, but it definitely happened.

[penguintruth]

You think suspense is killed in DBZ? You should watch Legend of the Galactic Heroes. The narrator gives away things long before they happen. And you have to avoid next episode previews at all costs.

Still one of the greatest anime of all time, though.

[CODii]

There was a study done about spoilers a few months ago that got a lot press. The conclusion was that spoilers are good for you, and knowing what will happen builds up suspense and anticipation. So I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of people in Japan have already embraced that mindset, since Dragon Ball isn't the only series with titles like that.

Here's an article that references that research for anyone who is curious. It's certainly an interesting idea to ponder since it seems so contrary to common sense.

[dbboxkaifan]

It's not just Toei that has NEP for their series' episodes but in general and I do appreciate having them as I can sample what's coming next.

[Pantalones]

It's kinda funny that for the very last movie they finally used a "give away what happens" title, even though almost all of the others (in the Japanese version anyway) are extremely vague and tell you basically nothing about the movie. They're basically all something along the lines of "Fierce Battle! The Super Awesome Strongest Warrior!!!" which tells you that... uh... there's going to be fighting? And that the people who come up with these titles love exclamation marks.

Now that I think of it, though, movie 12's title is pretty give-stuff-away-ish too (and in both Japanese and English this time!) I mean, it only gives away that fusion will be used again, but considering that the movie's main fighters are Goku and Vegeta it's pretty obvious that the bad guy won't last much longer once they do finally fuse. Once they get it right, anyway.

[Piccolo Daimao]

With the manga, Akira Toriyama doesn't spoil anything in his title, it's the kind of title you understand once the chapter's over, but it doesn't ruin surprises as far as I remember.

As I said earlier in the thread, some of the manga titles did spoil things. It wasn't as often or as detailed as the anime, but it definitely happened.

Yeah, I remember one chapter that flat-out said, "Piccolo Dies!" And whadda ya know, at the end of the chapter, Piccolo sacrifices himself to save Gohan from Nappa's blast. I mean, he doesn't actually die in that chapter, but it's pretty obvious, and he does in the next one.