Should Toriyama's word be taken as absolute truth?

[MarCas92]

Let's face it. The man is infamous for forgetting things. Throughout the years he has retconned so many things. Often, it conflicts with previously established lore. So when he says something new, do you take it as the new truth, or do you dispute it and just draw your own conclusions from what has already been established?

[kei17]

Dragon Ball is not mine. It's his. He created it. I follow his words no matter how they conflict with my understandings. I always overwright my old "canon" with newly given info.

[Rocketman]

If Toriyama said Bulma had a penis, would you believe it?

[Herms]

I don't think anyone's word should be taken as absolute truth. That's obviously a terrible idea.

On the other hand, I think sometimes people are too quick to disregard what he says out of hand, if it happens to conflict with their personal power level chart or whatever.

[DBZAOTA482]

If Toriyama said Bulma had a penis, would you believe it?

Yes, yes I would.

[sintzu]

It depends on what he says.

In the manga 17&18's names were never said so him saying them doesn't go against anything.

But if he says something like Piccolo killed Cell then obviously we won't be able to but I doubt it'll get to anything like that.

[Zephyr]

Nothing in Dragon Ball should be taken as absolute truth. Whether it's Toriyama now, Toriyama back then, Toei now, or Toei back then, nobody will ever take as much careful precaution as obsessive fans would like them to.

Inconsistencies arise very often from all official parties, and so the internal workings of the Dragon Ball universe need to be continually re-evaluated. Retcons happen fairly often as well.

What this is means is that nothing said, demonstrated, or implied in the series should be taken as absolute fact. It should all be taken with a grain of salt, because the eventual status quo and cohesive picture of the way the Dragon World works that we will have, if and when the final piece of Dragon Ball material is produced, will be vastly different from the one we have now.

In short, very little is truly factual in Dragon Ball. Things are bound to be flipped on their head. Just sit back, enjoy the ride, and try not to overthink the details if they bother you that much.

[kei17]

If Toriyama said Bulma had a penis, would you believe it?

I find your analogy insulting to Toriyama because I am convinced that he will never say anything as absurd as something like that. You're taking him too lightly, almost as a senile old man who can only shake up the fandom today. The same goes for many other people here these days.

I like "Toriyama is forgettable" kind of jokes myself, but some people seem to be going too far and lacking the respect for the original creater, which really irritates me and makes me keep my distance from in-universe discussions.

[KaiserNeko]

If Toriyama said Bulma had a penis, would you believe it?

I find your analogy insulting to Toriyama because I am convinced that he will never say anything as absurd as something like that. You're taking him too lightly, almost as a senile old man who can only shake up the fandom today. The same goes for many other people here these days.

I like "Toriyama is forgettable" kind of jokes myself, but some people seem to be going too far and lacking the respect for the original creater, which really irritates me and makes me keep my distance from in-universe discussions.

It's apparently fun and acceptable for people to just be rude dicks about it, insulting a man that's spent over 30 years of his life bringing us and many others wonderful content.

It's disgusting and I'm sick of seeing it. Criticism is one thing. Being disrespectful and rude is another.

[Kid Buu]

I find Toriyama's retcons hilarious, so I always take them as absolute truth.

[Saiga]

If Toriyama said Bulma had a penis, would you believe it?

I find your analogy insulting to Toriyama because I am convinced that he will never say anything as absurd as something like that. You're taking him too lightly, almost as a senile old man who can only shake up the fandom today. The same goes for many other people here these days.

I like "Toriyama is forgettable" kind of jokes myself, but some people seem to be going too far and lacking the respect for the original creater, which really irritates me and makes me keep my distance from in-universe discussions.

It's apparently fun and acceptable for people to just be rude dicks about it, insulting a man that's spent over 30 years of his life bringing us and many others wonderful content.

It's disgusting and I'm sick of seeing it. Criticism is one thing. Being disrespectful and rude is another.

And yet he brings up a perfectly valid point. That's simply the problem with making absolute statements like that.

Perhaps he didn't have to be so crude, but it gets the point across.

And really I don't see how that's so insulting.

[MarcFBR]

If Toriyama said Bulma had a penis, would you believe it?

I find your analogy insulting to Toriyama because I am convinced that he will never say anything as absurd as something like that. You're taking him too lightly, almost as a senile old man who can only shake up the fandom today. The same goes for many other people here these days.

I like "Toriyama is forgettable" kind of jokes myself, but some people seem to be going too far and lacking the respect for the original creater, which really irritates me and makes me keep my distance from in-universe discussions.

While I agree with your point kei, calm down a bit. He writes comics about punching and slapstick jokes.

Rocket's post is indeed stupid in that he's purposely jumped to the super dumb rather than coming up with a potentially valid point (although Rocket, if he did say that, I'd say she was quite good at tucking it in.)

We can respect the guys work and also admit that most creators go a bit senile regarding their work once it ends (except Neal Adams, who seems to remember everything he ever did.)


But to actually discuss the point...

His word is 'the word of god' as it were, but we can also admit his memory over time has failed him. If he writes and is involved with new stuff, then yes, that's invariably the truth to some degree.

Of course, part of the truth on this subject is 99% of the time someone makes a comment like this regarding a comic or cartoon or show, is something they liked got bumped out and they want to try and slide it back in.


But yeah, everyone take a deep breathe and remember we are discussing a cartoon and the comic that it is based upon.

[Kid Buu]

I thought Rocketman had a good point. Some stuff Toriyama says in recent interviews just goes against what we've known, so I can see why someone would take what he says with a grain of salt.

[TripleRach]

It's apparently fun and acceptable for people to just be rude dicks about it, insulting a man that's spent over 30 years of his life bringing us and many others wonderful content.

It's disgusting and I'm sick of seeing it. Criticism is one thing. Being disrespectful and rude is another.

While I realize a lot of people have strong feelings about this issue, whichever side they're on, we don't need to start calling each other dicks about it.

Let's chill out and be shounen. Be excellent to each other. Share your pudding, Boo.

[Cetra]

Whoever is the legal owner, owning enough of a brand to actually is able to decide, decides. It is something else if it is not something not totally agreed with by everyone who can decide. There always needs to be an agreement between the owners about something.

[dbgtFO]

Share your pudding, Boo.

Ha, that was a good way to get your point across.

As for topic, I'd prefer it, if Toriyama was a bit more clear in his statements for it to be taken as absolute truth. He seems to be speculating most of the time rather than outright saying "this is how it is."
I don't really care, what he says outside of his manga, it's not in the manga afterall. It's some times good background info, but if he just talks about random things, that aren't dealt with within an official product, then I don't see why I should take it with more than a grain of salt.

[The Tori-bot]

We can respect the guys work and also admit that most creators go a bit senile regarding their work once it ends (except Neal Adams, who seems to remember everything he ever did.)

Nah, Neal Adams just puts all his senile into his new stuff.

Spoiler:

[Twinbee_Mk_II]

If Toriyama said Bulma had a penis, would you believe it?

Hey now...nothing wrong with that if that's where the man wants to go. You never know what kind of fans are reading it.

[shinmaru]

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Toriyama is God of Dragonball. Maybe if Toriyama never mentioned himself that he forgot about it, people wouldn't complain so much because it's not something new. And this subject is turning into a hype, not good.

[TJVY]

Dragon Ball is not mine. It's his. He created it. I follow his words no matter how they conflict with my understandings. I always overwright my old "canon" with newly given info.

I feel the same way, always open to his new ideas especially the ones that are being explored in the God arc. I honestly don't think that he has done anything that is extremely ridiculous and on par with a revelation that Bulma may or may not have a penis, but that's just me.