GT Ratings Decline & Cancellation

[NeoKING]

Making Goku a kid would've been a great plot point if they actually made it a handicap.

That way, they wouldn't have to make such power inconsistencies like the whole Rild > Boo thing.

Isn't there any way we can Twitter some folks at Toei to ask them exactly what was going on with GT? I feel that the Perfect Files never gave us a clear look into the mind of the staff.

[Demon of Light]

Isn't there any way we can Twitter some folks at Toei to ask them exactly what was going on with GT? I feel that the Perfect Files never gave us a clear look into the mind of the staff.

I know Hiroyuki Kakudou, who directed some GT episodes, is pretty active on Twitter. I'm not sure his directing credit would put him in a position to know much, though. Plus, he gets hassled by Digimon fans enough, I don't think a bunch of western Dragon Ball fans asking questions would be the most welcome addition to his daily routine.

Which show aired after GT in the Wednesday evening timeslot? Was it One Piece? It would be interesting to know what kind of ratings it got in comparison, considering it's a much more universally loved WSJ-based anime than GT was.

[TripleRach]

Which show aired after GT in the Wednesday evening timeslot? Was it One Piece? It would be interesting to know what kind of ratings it got in comparison, considering it's a much more universally loved WSJ-based anime than GT was.

Dr. Slump 1997 was GT's replacement in that slot, but One Piece did come after that. One Piece moved to its current Sunday morning slot after a couple years, and I think variety shows have aired on Wednesday evenings since then.

[Chuquita]

Re: the wish as an actual power handicap

Now that would've been interesting and a better way to do it.

Another aspect of bad choices with early GT in regards to Gokû; without him as an adult, without Vegeta, and with the only main male an un-fun version of Trunks, you lose a lot of fan girls. Not all obviously, but a lot considering popularity polls for the characters.

[Kuwabara]

But wasn't Goku's age treated as a handicap, at least for a little while? I vaguely remember him saying his younger body just couldn't handle Super Saiyan 3 for an extended period of time against Baby.

[90sDBZ]

But wasn't Goku's age treated as a handicap, at least for a little while? I vaguely remember him saying his younger body just couldn't handle Super Saiyan 3 for an extended period of time against Baby.

Yes and there was also the fact that he couldn't use Instant Transmission as a Kid. I actually liked Goku being turned into a Kid again. It made Super Saiyan 4 seem even more awesome whenever he used it, due to the fact that both his appearance and personality changed all the more drastically. And I noticed how Pan always seemed to respect him a lot more when he went SS4. I will say that I wouldn't have minded Goku being turned back into an adult at some point, like maybe after Baby.

As for Toei's direction with the series, it's worth pointing out that they mentioned a problem with Earth's Dragonballs at the very end of the Baby saga, and showed them cracking halfway through the Super 17 fight, so it's not like they just pulled the Shadow Dragons out their ass at the last minute.

[LuckyCat]

It's a shame Japanese bloggers weren't active when the series premiered, otherwise we might have some insight as to the why the series declined at least to its intended audience. Although ratings definitely show which episodes were more and less popular on premiere, I don't think we're getting the whole picture here.

Here's a question, do you guys think GT was intended for older fans of Dragon Ball, or was Goku being turned into a kid an attempt to draw younger children into the franchise?

[Hellspawn28]

I think Goku becoming a kid was made to cash in on the nostalgia of the original show since both GT and Path of Power came out on the 10th anniversary. Also GT was the tamest out of the three shows, so I think GT was also made to have more younger viewers watch it given how Goku is now a smaller child now.

[soulnova]

I think Goku becoming a kid was made to cash in on the nostalgia of the original show since both GT and Path of Power came out on the 10th anniversary. Also GT was the tamest out of the three shows, so I think GT was also made to have more younger viewers watch it given how Goku is now a smaller child now.

Yeah, this is the reason why I think they also have kept Goten and Trunks as children in BoG. They still want to pander to that demographic without compromising... If Super is immediately after FoF and they show young teen Trunks/Goten they might fear they will loose the appeal for the kids. If Super starts at EoZ then they would have Uub, Pan and Bra to work with, but I don't know if they dare to develop the two girls as part of the main cast for a Dragon Ball story. They could always add a new extra boy to "balance" things out.

In any case, I remember I growled in disgust when they turned Goku into a child.

[ABED]

But I think it's important to remember he's still an adult, just in his young body.

[Chuquita]

And that tease at the end of the 4th GT ED! Adult base form Gokû with tail and nyoi-bô! (Ｔ▽Ｔ) It's like, "here's something we know you'd love to see. Are we gonna give it to ya? Nope!".
It was like, why?! Why would they show us that knowing it'd never happen in-show? Depressing.

But yeah, there's almost always a token child. Except for F, of all things. Unless you count Pilaf Gang.

[NeoKING]

And that tease at the end of the 4th GT ED! Adult base form Gokû with tail and nyoi-bô! (Ｔ▽Ｔ) It's like, "here's something we know you'd love to see. Are we gonna give it to ya? Nope!".
It was like, why?! Why would they show us that knowing it'd never happen in-show? Depressing.

But yeah, there's almost always a token child. Except for F, of all things. Unless you count Pilaf Gang.

Am I the only one who never thought that was some kind of spoiler? It just seemed to me that they were carrying on the theme of the GT endings by showing things from the older series. All the GT endings are pretty much love-letters/tributes to the fans of original series. Look at that one that pretty much animates Toriyama's original illustrations from the manga's chapter pages.

[Chuquita]

And that tease at the end of the 4th GT ED! Adult base form Gokû with tail and nyoi-bô! (Ｔ▽Ｔ) It's like, "here's something we know you'd love to see. Are we gonna give it to ya? Nope!".
It was like, why?! Why would they show us that knowing it'd never happen in-show? Depressing.

But yeah, there's almost always a token child. Except for F, of all things. Unless you count Pilaf Gang.

Am I the only one who never thought that was some kind of spoiler? It just seemed to me that they were carrying on the theme of the GT endings by showing things from the older series. All the GT endings are pretty much love-letters/tributes to the fans of original series. Look at that one that pretty much animates Toriyama's original illustrations from the manga's chapter pages.

I knew it was never a spoiler; I researched all about GT back when I was getting into Dragon Ball in general (I thought the outer space arc was going to have the entire Z cast flying around in a giant spaceship on the DB hunt; how depressingly wrong I was bout that) so I knew going in that there wasn't going to be any adult base form Gokû with tail.

I guess I mean it was a tease not in the "spoilers!" sense, but a tease in the "hey, wouldn't this be cool; you won't see it though, just like you won't see the EoZ era beach episode we alluded to during the Bebi arc" sense. I used the wrong wording there.


Oh wow I hadn't thought about that EoZ beach episode in ages!
Trunks and Goten buried a sleeping Vegeta in the sand and built a mermaid body over top of him in that, didn't they? Boobs and everything.
I actually forgot about that.

[TheGmGoken]

And that tease at the end of the 4th GT ED! Adult base form Gokû with tail and nyoi-bô! (Ｔ▽Ｔ) It's like, "here's something we know you'd love to see. Are we gonna give it to ya? Nope!".
It was like, why?! Why would they show us that knowing it'd never happen in-show? Depressing.

But yeah, there's almost always a token child. Except for F, of all things. Unless you count Pilaf Gang.

Am I the only one who never thought that was some kind of spoiler? It just seemed to me that they were carrying on the theme of the GT endings by showing things from the older series. All the GT endings are pretty much love-letters/tributes to the fans of original series. Look at that one that pretty much animates Toriyama's original illustrations from the manga's chapter pages.

It was weird because everyone else was Dbgt. Until you got to Goku who was EoZ with a tail. Very confusing.

[Chuquita]

It's almost a false ending in a way.
"Gokû could get the child-curse removed from him, restoring him to his actual adult age, and then continue living happily with the rest of the cast (and somehow have nyoi-bo again despite it being used to connect Korin's and Kami's homes), but instead of that let's never remove the the curse and send child?Gokû off with Shenlong forever."
>_< It's frustrating is what it is.

Another reason I'm so so anxious for Super; because I can't see them ever pulling the "turn Gokû into a child" card ever again after GT.

[fadeddreams5]

Another reason I'm so so anxious for Super; because I can't see them ever pulling the "turn Gokû into a child" card ever again after GT.

In Super, he'll become an old man instead, forcing Uub to take over.

[Theophrastus]

Trunks' hair is purple.

Just like it always was??

If I were to think of cartoon examples in general, compare Z & GT to Spiderman: The Animated Series and it's sequel Spiderman Unlimited.

Lol, I actually liked Spiderman Unlimited(thought it looked cool and exciting). I never understood why the series was cancelled so soon.

It was lighter in Z. Almost gray.

!

You could maybe rationalize the discrepancy with Trunks' hair as "The Future Trunks from the alternate timeline was under extreme stress because of the androids and general state of his world, which made his hair go a little whiter. Teenage Trunks in GT never had to deal with any of that shit".

Granted, I'm not sure that rationalization would really hold up under scrutiny vis a vis Buu saga kid Trunks, but uh...it's something?

[soulnova]

Trunks' hair is purple.

Just like it always was??

If I were to think of cartoon examples in general, compare Z & GT to Spiderman: The Animated Series and it's sequel Spiderman Unlimited.

Lol, I actually liked Spiderman Unlimited(thought it looked cool and exciting). I never understood why the series was cancelled so soon.

It was lighter in Z. Almost gray.

!

Yeah, GT!Trunks looked so young in there... ugh I hated that. He was supposed to be older than Future Trunks.