Trunks, A Mary Sue?

[thatdbzguy]

Every relationship should have build-up.

Is that a law or something?

It's common sense for good writers.

[Luso Saiyan]

It's common sense for good writers.

Oh, so it's just your opinion after all. My bad.

[ABED]

Every relationship should have build-up.

Is that a law or something?

It's common sense for good writers.

it really isn't.

[qjz123]

Every relationship should have build-up.

Is that a law or something?

It's common sense for good writers.

No it's not...

[Patrick]

Who says you need build up to have a relationship? You think people who end up dating because they met at a party and talked for 10 minutes had a lot of build up before hand?

There's no golden rule for writers, except maybe to keep the readers turning the pages.

[ABED]

Who says you need build up to have a relationship? You think people who end up dating because they met at a party and talked for 10 minutes had a lot of build up before hand?

There's no golden rule for writers, except maybe to keep the readers turning the pages.

The will they won't they stuff is only on TV, and it doesn't need to be done necessarily. I can think of plenty of great on screen couples that just got together without any hint of build up (Chandler and Monica, Dwight and Angela, Veronica and Logan, Xander and Cordelia). Here's the thing, none of Toriyama's couples are even that great because he's not interested in romance, but I do buy Vegeta and Bulma together.

[mAcChaos]

Every relationship should have build-up.

Is that a law or something?

It's common sense for good writers.

There's a time skip. All the build up is just assumed. And it's not that hard to figure out unlike other things in the series.

[GarrettCRW]

There is a bit of build-up for Vegeta and Bulma getting together, as Bulma is taking an extra interest in him even before we see Trunks. Just wanted to put that out there.

[Gaffer Tape]

Only if you count the TV series. In the manga, the only time they exchange dialogue before we see Trunks is when she extends the invitation to stay at Capsule Corp. to him and when he comments on her showing up to the Freeza/Cold battle.

The Blooma/Vegeta pairing is a relationship that comes out of nowhere and is very poorly done and obviously done only to get the resulting child. It is a nice coincidence that their poor personality traits happen to match up. But it is bad writing. Even Toriyama says he can't write relationships worth crap. I honestly think a lot of you wouldn't be defending this so vehemently if it was anyone other than thatdbzguy who was carrying the torch against it.

[Kid Buu]

It's just odd to me she'd let a mass murderer casually live with her. Later on, she brings a baby to the Android invasion.

Tenshinhan and Piccolo barely did anything bad compared to Vegeta, but they are barely involved with the group unless it is fighting.

[GarrettCRW]

Piccolo's the reincarnated form of a mass murderer.

[Attitudefan]

Actually, if you think about it, for a lack of a better term (and I hate using this), Trunks is the "Yamcha" of the whole Cyborg/Cell arc. His fruitions never come to pass making people doubt him or he is just plain incorrect with his assumptions. He allowed Cell to travel back in time to destroy them; Trunks also lost every fight he was in except when he is introduced with Mary Sue qualities. Also, he is the only one to get murdered out of the entire main cast. Mary Sue? No way. Butt-monkey of the group? Yup.

Piccolo's the reincarnated form of a mass murderer.

And he lives alone. Only Gohan fully trusts him. Everyone else sees him as a friendly rival or very dangerous to be around. I think the cast sees him differently when he merges with Kami since he is no longer the reincarnate of Piccolo, but has returned to become the nameless Namek (despite keeping Piccolo's body).

[Kid Buu]

Goku was killed out of the main cast too actually.

[Attitudefan]

Goku was killed out of the main cast too actually.

I used the word 'murdered' instead of 'killed' because of what you just brought up. Don't think I forgot!

Goku sacrificed himself in an attempt to save everyone. He failed but I think his actions keep him exempt from being labelled as a character being 'owned' in the show.

[ABED]

Only if you count the TV series. In the manga, the only time they exchange dialogue before we see Trunks is when she extends the invitation to stay at Capsule Corp. to him and when he comments on her showing up to the Freeza/Cold battle.

The Blooma/Vegeta pairing is a relationship that comes out of nowhere and is very poorly done and obviously done only to get the resulting child. It is a nice coincidence that their poor personality traits happen to match up. But it is bad writing. Even Toriyama says he can't write relationships worth crap. I honestly think a lot of you wouldn't be defending this so vehemently if it was anyone other than thatdbzguy who was carrying the torch against it.

I never had a problem with it, and it makes more sense than Goku and Chichi. Comes out of nowhere isn't necessarily a bad thing, it's where they go with it, so the only problem I have with it (beyond the obvious dating a mass murderer) is that Toriyama never expanded upon it. While it's not canon, episode 124 where Bulma takes care of Vegeta after he injures himself is how I imagine that relationship going. There was also probably some alcohol involved.

[xmysticgohanx]

Googled what a Mary Sue and I don't think Trunks is even close to being a Mary Sue even when he was first introduced. The only reason he went to the past was because he couldn't help with anything in his future.

[WittyUsername]

I think that Trunks did come off as a bit of a Mary Sue in his first appearance, but beyond that I don't think he really fits the criteria.

[thatdbzguy]

the only problem I have with it (beyond the obvious dating a mass murderer) is that Toriyama never expanded upon it.

Those are two huge problems that contribute to why it's abysmal writing.

[ABED]

Mountains out of molehills, dude.

The dating a massmurderer thing wasn't a problem with the writing. DB has always played loose with its morality, hence why a demon and a guy who trained to become an assassin can become good guys. That's fine, it's fiction which allows for killers and vigilantes to be heroes.

[Wibbs]

the only problem I have with it (beyond the obvious dating a mass murderer) is that Toriyama never expanded upon it.

Those are two huge problems that contribute to why it's abysmal writing.

The definition of abysmal is "extremely bad" or "appalling". Now Vegeta's relationship with Bulma was skimmed over I'll admit, but to outright call it abysmal is stepping over the line. I'm not saying it's the be all and end all, I'm just saying you're taking jabs at such a small thing. It is important, it's just not so important that you should call the authors writing ability into question about it.

To be honest I don't know what you were expecting though, it's a manga with the target audience of 6 and up. I hardly think a deep, passionate relationship is going to grasp the attention of a 6 year old - hell I'm 17 and even I'm not that bothered by it. That isn't to say Toriyama shouldn't bother just because of the target audience. I just mean for what it is, an action manga for kids, what we got was serviceable.