"Dragon Ball Super" Series Official Announcement & Discussion Thread

[Sora Saiyan]

Accurate scan translation on the way: https://mobile.twitter.com/VegettoEX/st ... 4251465729
Thank you to Kanzenshuu in advance.

Oh! I'm excited for this.

[Avery]

The shows main audience is between 18-28 now if I'm not mistaken.

Damn. I need to grow up.

[Hellspawn28]

Here's a really stupid question but...exactly what audience is Dragon Ball aimed at? If it's aimed at kids then why does it contain so much adult content (i.e nudity, violence... etc), especially in the manga?
I know the television rating system in Japan is somewhat different from the western system, but I don't think they'd allow 10-year-old kids to watch something like that.

Japan has different rules then we do. Why do you think kids shows like Shin Chan in Japan can get away with more dirty jokes then American kid shows like Regular Show can. Not to mention the violence you see in the series is pretty tame compare to most stuff out there. Heck most younger kids are always seeing PG-13 movies these days and the violence in DBZ is no different then what they put out in theaters in the last 10 years. People talked about how much was edited on Toonami when the editing was hardly worth talking about compare to 4kids edit on One Piece.

They definitely shouldn't cater this show towards children anymore. Most children I talk to hardly know what Dragon Ball even is. The shows main audience is between 18-28 now if I'm not mistaken.

Maybe in America, but not in Japan. Japan still has a big market for Dragon Ball for kids. That's why there's Heroes, candy toys and other gimmicky stuff for kids over there. If the main target audience was 18-28 then there will be more blood and gore. We would have seen a sex scene of Gohan and Videl if Dragon Ball is now for 18 & up now.

[VegettoEX]

They definitely shouldn't cater this show towards children anymore. Most children I talk to hardly know what Dragon Ball even is. The shows main audience is between 18-28 now if I'm not mistaken.

That's completely self-defeating.

If you continue to market to an existing audience, it can only go down. General fandom attrition is guaranteed. A continually-decreasing audience means continually-decreasing money.

If you want to make money (which they do; they're a business), you need to expand your audience. In this case, expanding your audience down makes a ton of sense, because they're the ones you can then sell it to all over again as nostalgia down the road. This is precisely what Toei says their plan is, and they've been saying this for the last decade. There is massive success in the case of Dragon Ball Heroes in Japan, and Dragon Ball Kai did well enough in this regard for a short time internationally. That was a groundwork for them to expand with the movies and here in the new TV series, and they will undoubtedly continue to come back to the series and introduce it to new audiences down the road.

Create product -> sell to audience -> OPTIONAL: run it into the ground -> present to that same audience as nostalgia while simultaneously building it back up again -> sell to both audiences -> wash, rinse, repeat by expanding audience while invariably losing existing audience members

[Weedity]

They definitely shouldn't cater this show towards children anymore. Most children I talk to hardly know what Dragon Ball even is. The shows main audience is between 18-28 now if I'm not mistaken.

It really isn't, it's being aimed at kids. The original manga grew with its audience, while this anime was created to get a new generation of viewers. Dragon Ball is not being targeted at adults, not by a long shot. Kids and young teens (12-15), yes.

I'm not saying it's "target" audience, I'm saying it's general fan base has grown up with it. Most of us are 18-28 by now. I saw a chart on this not that long ago, but I can't seem to find it. I saw another chart that said the average anime fanbase is now 31 as well.

I'm not so sure how dbz will go with kids these days. Could go well, might not. I have 18 little cousins, and none of them know anything about Dragon Ball. Anecdotal evidence though.

By all means, I'd LOVE for the show to attract a new audience. I'm not saying it shouldn't. I just think it should be a little careful with the fluff and lightheartedness because it could throw it's current fan base off. Two of my friends thought BoG was way too "kiddie" as they worded it. Just some anecdotal evidence for speculation.

Edit: Btw not in Japan, I'm in America

[soulnova]

There are plenty of potential options they could use to add kids (girls or boys) to the cast at EoZ.

• Android 17's child: He has one biological child and two adopted children. The biological child might show fighting promise. He could be a runaway (hell, would you be surprised by that?) and end up showing up at 18's home and meet the rest of the cast from there... This is just waiting to happen, dammit.
• Tarble's child: Could have a small saiyan humanoid body with light blue skin. He is sent to train with his uncle. He could be the kawaii kid just learning about Earth. He could be 7 years by EoZ, that's just perfect.
• Tenshinhan and Launch's kid: It could have happened right after Buu. I bet the kid would have a warrior mentality thanks to tenshinhan. If it inherits Launch's personality change traits, much more fun then.
• A surviving Saiyan with his/her child: A Saiyan who was in hiding all these years decides to come Earth when the news of the remains of Freeza's army was defeated. He or she brings her/his child along.
• *Pan's brother: It can be possible but it would have to be at least 5 years after EoZ to make any sense.
• *Goku's third kid: Very VERY unlikely. Same problem with Pan's brother.

That's at least 4 kids, right off the bat if they play their cards well.



Here in Mexico, all the generations have keep up with Dragon Ball Z. I know 8-10 years old who are big fans of the show.

[Captain Space]

I'm not so sure how dbz will go with kids these days. Could go well, might not. I have 18 little cousins, and none of them know anything about Dragon Ball.

I mean, I don't know your location, but if you're not in Japan...it's much more ubiquitous there.

[sangofe]

Yeah, I see no reason to have this pre BOG if they're using Beerus (who would be asleep at the time) and Whis.
I can't trust ANN's transitions anymore.

Beerus doesn't has to show up right away.

[Doctor.]

There are plenty of potential options they could use to add kids (girls or boys) to the cast at EoZ.

• Android 17's child: He has one biological child and two adopted children. The biological child might show fighting promise. He could be a runaway (hell, would you be surprised by that?) and end up showing up at 18's home and meet the rest of the cast from there... This is just waiting to happen, dammit.
• Tarble's child: Could have a small saiyan humanoid body with light blue skin. He is sent to train with his uncle. He could be the kawaii kid just learning about Earth. He could be 7 years by EoZ, that's just perfect.
• Tenshinhan and Launch's kid: It could have happened right after Buu. I bet the kid would have a warrior mentality thanks to tenshinhan. If it inherits Launch's personality change traits, much more fun then.
• A surviving Saiyan with his/her child: A Saiyan who was in hiding all these years decides to come Earth when the news of the remains of Freeza's army was defeated. He or she brings her/his child along.
• *Pan's brother: It can be possible but it would have to be at least 5 years after EoZ to make any sense.
• *Goku's third kid: Very VERY unlikely. Same problem with Pan's brother.

That's at least 4 kids, right off the bat if they play their cards well.

They could go the DBO route and give Mr. Boo some, huh, "company".

Future Trunks could come back with his son, too, if we're just naming possibilities.

[Tennessaiyan]

Oh wow, so the story ties into RF? That's the best news I've heard in a while! Now that makes it a whole lot more exciting. I'd love to see how Vegeta reached god level. And I wonder if this series will make BoG non-canon? I certainly hope not.

[Luso Saiyan]

They definitely shouldn't cater this show towards children anymore. Most children I talk to hardly know what Dragon Ball even is.

How many do you know? How are they even enough to make such an extrapolation to the series' target audience?

The shows main audience is between 18-28 now if I'm not mistaken.

Why? Based on what?

[sintzu]

Here's a really stupid question but...exactly what audience is Dragon Ball aimed at? If it's aimed at kids then why does it contain so much adult content?

All kid Shonen series like DB such as One Piece&Naruto contain the same content and are aimed at kids and the reason is because Japan don't treat their kids like brain dead idiots who don't know the difference between fiction and reality.

[Hellspawn28]

I think in America, DBZ is like what Robotech and Voltron are. They are popular with older fans while very few kids these days are really into it. Nick Toons and CW help introduced the series to a younger audience in the US, but it didn't make it as big as it was on Toonami back in 1998 - 2003.

All kid Shonen series like DB such as One Piece&Naruto contain the same content and are aimed at kids and the reason is because Japan don't treat their kids like brain dead idiots who don't know the difference between fiction and reality.

Not to mention the people who freak out about the violence and nudity in the DB series must never seen anything like it before. The nudity that you see in the series is hardly shown. You see it once and it's gone fast. No different then what you see in a PG-13 movie. The violence in the series has it's moments, but nothing that is R rated. The Alien and Predator movies has more blood and gore then DBZ does.

[Kakarotto92]

I don't get it. Back in the 80s when Toriyama decided to make Goku grow up the only person who had a problem with that was his editor...and he was the main character. Why is it necessary to have the "cute kids" among the main cast nowadays?

That was the 80's, things are way different now then it was 30 years ago. Kids who watch Dragon Ball in Japan are around the ages of 4 - 10 and someone like Goten & Trunks fit their age group. They have someone that they can somewhat relate too.

I feel this is a very flawed perspective among business executives who don't know any better. As a child, I could care less about a kid my age in a show I watch. On the contrary, I want an adult (or teenager) I can look up to and aspire to become like.

I've seen them introducing kids into shows for this reason many times, and not once has it worked: Justin from Power Rangers Turbo, Chibi-Usa from Sailor Moon (I liked her though...), Kid Goku from GT, etc.

I first saw Kid Goten and Trunks when I was like 9, and I didn't like them at all. I wanted Future Trunks, not his kid version. Ironically, I'm more fond of them now, as an adult.

Exactly the same with me. I only started appreciating Kid Trunks and Goten as characters after reaching adulthood. As a child and as a teen I did like Gotenks but was pretty indifferent towards the two characters individually.

[Weedity]

They definitely shouldn't cater this show towards children anymore. Most children I talk to hardly know what Dragon Ball even is.

How many do you know? How are they even enough to make such an extrapolation to the series' target audience?

The shows main audience is between 18-28 now if I'm not mistaken.

Why? Based on what?

I have eighteen younger cousins. Me being the big dbz nerd, they are always asking me about it. None even saw Kai on nicktoons, at least weren't interested in it. Like I said though, that's just anecdotal evidence so doesn't mean anything.

Plus, being in America, most people I talk to think the Batle of Gods became to child-like and loss interest. Which I can totally see how that's possible.

Basically all I am saying is, attracting a younger and newer audience is great, I'm not saying turn this into some sienen or anything. But they should also consider that they still have a large fan base that are also older.

I'm trying to find the chart for the average Dragon Ball fan age, it was on dataisbeatiful if I am not mistaken.

[Hellspawn28]

Your viewing things in a American stand point of view. In Japan, Dragon Ball is still market towards children. The Japanese are the main target audience for the franchise since it's a franchise from Japan. I know America is one of the biggest target audience for the series, but I don't think Toei cares if there is more of a older market for the series in the US then it is in Japan. Otherwise they would have made the recent movies much more darker and gritter.

[Weedity]

Your viewing things in a American stand point of view. In Japan, Dragon Ball is still market towards children. The Japanese are the main target audience for the franchise since it's a franchise from Japan. I know America is one of the biggest target audience for the series, but I don't think Toei cares if there is more of a older market for the series in the US then it is in Japan. Otherwise they would have made the recent movies much more darker and gritter.

Yeah, I just think once they start losing the American fans, eventually the show will just fade out. After all, they did have a HUGE fan base here back in the early 2000s. Most people my age I know still know and enjoy Dragon Ball, sadly a lot of them don't even know what Battle of Gods even is

[SansrivaaL]

I doubt Gohan and Videl would have s*x before getting married tho. I mean their characters doesnt fit it (but maybe thats just me)

I was just about to post this same thought. Gohan never would strike me the kind of guy to do something like that, same with Videl.

The wording (specially the words "the kind of guy") seems to imply that you think that premarital sex is a bad thing. I mean, haven't we already gone past that?

Outside of Master Roshi's antics and some humour in the early sagas, Dragon Ball has never really brought that topic up: it's not really important for the story, and I honestly can't see how it would/wouldn't fit them.

Wasnt implying that, Vegeta did it (probably) and I never once saw him in a bad way because of it. I simply dont see it in both Gohan and Videls character to do that early on. I'm not telling you this as a fact but as an "my opinion on Gohan and Videl"

[freak27]

So are we going to have the Blue Hair transformation implied from the Movies and actually not see it in the series???

I think this is the worst thing in the series. The peak is in the transformations! Whats the point if i dont see it with a huge build up?

I wish Frieza is a filler movie(like dbz movies) and the original Transformation is being told in the Anime with no blue hair(probably wont happen) but I'm losing interest because of that. Huge letdown

[Captain Space]

Yeah, I just think once they start losing the American fans, eventually the show will just fade out. After all, they did have a HUGE fan base here back in the early 2000s. Most people my age I know still know and enjoy Dragon Ball, sadly a lot of them don't even know what Battle of Gods even is

Not sure if it'll "fade out" without them...diminish, sure, but it was already a huge cultural phenomenon in Japan before coming to the West in any big way. If they start losing Western fans, they'll probably just start putting less effort into releasing the series for Western fans, and save money that way.