How Do You Feel About Trunks TV Special?

[DragonBalllKaiHD]

This topic is more of a psychological question in regards to Trunks TV special. As you all know, this TV special is very dark and bleak, even for Dragon Ball , which is known to be light-hearted shounen that is geared toward children. How do you really feel about the Trunks TV special? Is it too dark for your taste?

I can be a bit sensitive when watching this TV special. I'm not bothered by Bardock TV special because he is... Bardock. But in the 2nd Special, almost all heroes were killed, including Son Gohan. Only Trunks remained. On the top of that, there are scenes where the Artificial Humans keep mass-murdering the humans for the fun of it. There's no Dragonballs to give them hope. For these reasons alone, I'm not entirely comfortable watching it. It's too depressing for Dragon Ball.

[TheZFighter]

I sorta see what you mean to an extent. I didn't have a problem watching it the first time around when I was a child though. In fact, I think the gravity and seriousness of the situation went a long way to strengthening Future Trunks's character and backstory.

For the majority of the main timeline, they have lived in the happy-go-lucky world where all that goes wrong can be fixed by the Dragon Balls, and if that doesn't word, they can use the Namekian Dragon Balls instead. I believe Future Trunks's timeline offered a real change of pace. The likes of Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo and Gohan had all perished, but in this world they were gone for good. I think it really perpetuated the belief that these Androinds meant business.

[BrandonR24]

I can't remember when I first saw it, but I bought it from FUNi on VHS if that says anything. It was such a different change of pace that I loved it and still do. Like you stated DB has always had a charm, but man this one went a different route and I think thats why I liked it. Not saying I want Dragon Ball to continue that, but it was a nice change of pace and a good intro to Trunks, (Saw it before Trunks was intoduced in the actual DBZ series) good stuff.

[TheBlackPaladin]

I think the significantly darker tone of this special compared to the rest of the series is one of the reasons I like it. It sticks out and is special for that reason. I like it when characters from previously light-hearted adventures are placed in a very dark situation, because after so many light-hearted adventures, one simply can't help but wonder how these characters would react if everything suddenly went to hell.

Besides which, it ends on an optimistic note, and with one of my favorite Kageyama songs ("Aoi Kaze no Hope"), which has the perfect "things suck right now but they're going to be all right soon" feel to it...perfect song to end the special with.

[Lord Beerus]

I think the Trunk TV special was about as dark as Dragon Ball would ever get. I mean, we knew from what Trunks stated in the anime about how life was growing up for him, that the future sounded like it sucked but, holy shit, it truly was terrible. But I think one negative about the TV special is that set the precedent for how the Western audience thought the tone should always be like in DBZ. Constantly dark and always serious and Dragon Ball is not meant to be like that at all. Also, watch the TV special in its original subtitled form. Funimation butchers the script and soundtrack so badly, it almost kills some of the drama.

But discounting Funimation's shabby treatment of the TV special in its dub, overall it had great writing, great animation, great fight and great character development. Easily the best side story Dragon Ball has every produced.

[shinmaru]

Love everything that came with the Android/Cell Saga. Except the Cell games that is boring for me, but I liked the dark feel of the Trunks Special.
I'm really hoping for a new future Special or Movie showing us how Mirai Trunks is doing. Unfortunately, that will never happen

[eledoremassis02]

I like it because it is the original Dragon Ball Z future (before Trunks changed it). And if you think about it, a sudden turn in both events and theme. Imagine if they originaly went that rought then had trunks go back and cary on

[samuraix123]

I love it a-lot! but God is it depressing. future Gohan and Trunks had such a hard life compared to our timeline. I was happy to see Trunks go back and beat them. I'm wondering is Xenoverse going to talk about what Trunks has been into all the time of the Boo saga?

[dbzfan7]

I think the Trunk TV special was about as dark as Dragon Ball would ever get. I mean, we knew from what Trunks stated in the anime about how life was growing up for him, that the future sounded like it sucked but, holy shit, it truly was terrible. But I think one negative about the TV special is that set the precedent for how the Western audience though the tone should alway be like in DBZ. Constantly dark and always serious and Dragon Ball is not meant to be like that at all.

Yeah one of it's biggest downfalls indeed. I do like the tone and would like this kept to being rare so these moments would be more powerful, but some people see this as what Dragon Ball really is.

[EXBadguy]

Funimation butchers the script and soundtrack so badly, it almost kills some of the drama.

Even this too? http://youtu.be/eP0WAxRS7rY

If you're including that song, then I'ma find you!


Anyway, for me, it was a depressing special. A super apocalyptic world where all of the Z warriors died, including Goku and Gohan, and the hero not winning in the end, damn that sounded depressing enough. I remember the first time I saw Gohan's death on TV as a kid, I was shaking. But as time went on, I started to get addicted to dark, apocalyptic stories and atmospheres, hence why I consider Cell and the King Piccolo sagas to be the best ones of the series, AND....why I bitched up a storm in the movie thread regarding these stupid angels and most of yall here try to "damage control" it by shutting me up. I know DB isn't just about being dark, but I just like it for its darkest moments.

Oh, two more, the character developments were cool and I for one liked some of the songs Funi used, including Gohan's last fight, his death, and the second round of Trunks vs Androids.

[TheBlackPaladin]

Well, speaking of the soundtrack...

I know there's not a huge fanbase for this, but for those who actually like the 5.1 "English Dub With Japanese Music" audio option, this special is worth noting. Unfortunately, the quality of the mix on the 5.1 track varies from episode to episode, movie to movie, and special to special. In many instances, the music is mixed waaaay too low, completely drowned out by the voices and SFX except for the loudest of points (and even then, it can hardly be heard).

Not so in this special! The music was very nicely mixed and was definitely loud enough.

[Lord Beerus]

Funimation butchers the script and soundtrack so badly, it almost kills some of the drama.

Even this too? http://youtu.be/eP0WAxRS7rY

Well, that's an exception.

But the rest of English soundtrack blows. Purely because it's so unfitting given the tone of the movie. Who the hell thinks it's a good idea to have rap music after a dramatic fight scene?

No, seriously. There is rap music played in the background after a fight scene.

[EmmaWinters]

I'd never seen this special until about 2 months ago.

It seems to be a fan favorite, so I thought I'd enjoy it more than I did. It dragged on near the end, and a lot of the fighting was by-the-numbers and uninteresting. Gohan's death was handled well I suppose, even if it diverged from the source material. All in all, it wasn't awful, but it's not something I plan on seeing again anytime soon.

_{"Kinda like my arm... Only one left..."}
Yikes. I find that joke to be in even poorer taste than the music selection.
Glad I didn't watch the dub.

[Ringworm128]

There's nothing wrong with a light hearted show going dark from time to time, as long as it's done well. Also I have to say I actually prefer the Funimation dub or at least the music that was used. The Japanese score is fantastic but I think the dub had some more interesting music placement ideas going on.

[SilverArmada]

I love the History of Trunks special. *_* It's one of my favorite storylines in Dragonball. Yeah I suppose I like things dark... I don't know. It felt a lot like Terminator 2, which was one of my favorite movies as a kid (and still is), and I just love time travel stories in general. I'm a bit obsessed with the future timeline I suppose, and how open ended it's been left since basically everyone is dead. It's why my main fanfic is about what happens to Trunks in that timeline, because there's a huge opportunity to do really anything in that timeline.

[voltlunok]

When I first watched it, I was a little taken aback by just how dark it went but after the years went by and I gathered a more refined taste for somethings, I've gained an appreciation for it and how it is pretty dark. I love when shows balance the light and the dark in terms of story and imagery because when a light hearted show goes dark it stands out a lot more against it's standard appearance and the same could be said for when a dark show has more light hearted moments, so when Gohan lost his arm, I was actually really shocked the first time around! I was shocked with how much wide spread genocide was not only being implied but also shown a bit. While I appreciate it as a contrast to DBZ's general light hearted nature...I don't think I'd want to see anything outside of TV specials being that dark.

[DarkPrince_92]

As much as it lacks Vegeta... it's easily the most interesting part of the series for me. After all the SSJ and the defeat of Freeza hype, everyone had their heads held high. Boy were they in for a surprise. Only few survive the onslaught, and Gohan and Trunks was the Earth's last hope. It's an alternate universe, and it was so serious. You would think Dragon Ball was a story where the hero always wins, and everything is alright in the end, then that happened. That's why I love it.

[Luso Saiyan]

Well, I found both TV specials (Bardock and Trunks) to be much more interesting in terms of content than the movies (even though the Trunks TV special was adapted from the manga). It's not my favourite of the two specials, but I like it (even though I value the manga version more).

[TheLegend23]

This is absolutely my all time favorite Story of dragon ball. The History of Trunks was amazing, infact I remember watching it until the tape broke back when I was a kid. I bought it on DVD a few years ago and still watch it the most out of my whole collection of DB/DBZ/DBGT DVDs. It's kind of a special special to me.

[DragonBalllKaiHD]

Well, it looks like the majority of people in this forum adore the Trunks TV Special, and I don't blame you. I do like the special for how the story was written along with the plots, characters, and execution.

Guess I was just feeling sorry for Trunks losing his best friend at the hand of two most evil human beings the Earth has ever known. The fact that Gohan died has shown just how dark this special is. Gokû was not there to save the day, and Gohan had to stay strong all by himself while looking out for Trunks. The Earth was the world full of emptiness. It was heck of a roll coaster full of emotions. It's not something I'm used to watching Dragon Ball, even if I watched the special a several times.