Is Dragon Ball becoming too soft?

[Captain Space]

Up to you. I mean, the "Z" equivalent portion of the manga is a pretty good read in its own right (I've gotten some people hooked on anime/manga in general by giving them that), but if you want to start from the very beginning, um, do so. It's kind of shaky at the start, comparatively, but it's got some genuine great laughs.

[sayian_nation_]

Up to you. I mean, the "Z" equivalent portion of the manga is a pretty good read in its own right (I've gotten some people hooked on anime/manga in general by giving them that), but if you want to start from the very beginning, um, do so. It's kind of shaky at the start, comparatively, but it's got some genuine great laughs.

Well in the mean time, I know sites like Rightstuf that are selling a lot of the dragonball/z manga for cheap. I'm starting there. I do want this dragonball box set manga I've seen online, comes in a nice box.

[Captain Space]

I mean, y'know...it's all Dragon Ball manga, it's not like you can go wrong.

[sayian_nation_]

I mean, y'know...it's all Dragon Ball manga, it's not like you can go wrong.

Exactly that's a good way of looking at it!

[Black_Liger]

I really would hope Toriyama keep it Frieza-saga feeling, it was dark enough, funny enough. I'm not angry at going back to db roots, I'm just angry that Toriyama has not been keeping anything serious or dark, of course, not everything has to be dark but the "Dragon ball can't be serious or dark" is just a pile of stinky bullshit. Piccolo Daimaoh arc of original db was dark enough, and it was the best in the entire classic series. SURE, it doesn't have to be Death note dark, but surely it's not bad to spice it up a bit, for example, Hunter X Hunter anime began quite lighthearted, but it knew when to go dark while still keeping the funny aspects. and even children get killed onscreen in the chimera ant art, blood is nonexistent, I don't know why so many companies are afraid to show a little action or blood...

Of course, I hope FUkkatsu no f fixes this

[tx3]

Dragon Ball still seems the same to me. The series is not some R rated series that it is dark and gritty with blood, gore, sex and dropping F bombs. If you want that then watch something else like that awful Power Rangers fan film.

u right Dragonball isnt that but it has some harsh fights in it ..like fighting till somebody dies ...the story of battle of gods did not give that atmosphere since the villain Breeus isn't really evil. ...to be honest all i want to see is big moutains getting destroyed be somebody getting kicked through them and power beams making holes in the ground as big as football field ... i love that stuff so much and since dragonball did that kind of stuff like nobody else i was so sad as it just went flat in BoG.

let's hope return of f does it better

ah btw

where goku fought Breeues the first time as SSJ3 and punched a hole in the Planet i was like ...WOW thats Dragonball! this movie gona be awesome ..but then it went totally in the wrong direction i was so disappointed. i mean the humor could not save it, since ...a dancing Vegeta was like meh....okay thats not that funny.

[Captain Space]

There, uh...there was some pretty large-scale destruction in the final fight in BoG.

[Hellspawn28]

I felt like the tone in both the Saiyan saga and Namek saga handle things pretty well. They are not silly and over the top but not too dark neither. Fans reading the manga and watching the show expect Goku to show to save the day but end up being too late when he see his friends dead. I do think Dragon Ball needs to stay around PG or maybe PG-13. The series should never be R rated and nothing in the series is close to being rated R. Yeah DBZ has some bloody moments but none of the violent moments in the series is close to being R rated. There is also nudity but the nudity is only shown for a very small moment and never brought up again. The series at uncut at best is at PG-13 since most stuff you see in uncut in the series is the typical stuff that you would see in PG-13 movies now these days in the past 10 years.

I know someone will say "PG?! That's too kiddy" when PG movies can get way with darker story telling. Both Watership Down and Secret of Nimh are dark PG movies and are both made for kids.

[Captain Space]

Pretty much, yeah. If, given the connected storylines, you take the saiyan and Namek arcs as one big "saga", it'd be my favourite in DB.

[MagicBox]

violence

violent

violent

hardcore

grittier

I don't get this obsession with hardcore violence. Is it really that important to see blood splattering everywhere? That's something 14-year-olds pay attention to when they want to pretend that something they're watching is "mature." There are mindless slasher films out there if you want something to scratch that itch.

You can't even blame this on Toriyama. Sure, the man prefers comedy over action, but that doesn't explain why Dragon Ball Kai is airing on Japanese television with censored violence. The television and film industries have simply changed worldwide. You can no longer get away with what certain shows did in the 70s, 80s, and 90s. We'll probably never again see the levels of blood we saw in DBZ. I imagine that was pushing the boundaries of what you could show on Japanese television even back then. If blood and impalement was what attracted you to this series in the first place, you need to reevaluate your priorities.

If we can keep getting well-choreographed action with interesting characters, I'll be here for life. That's always been the appeal. Stories can be tactful and tell an interesting, dramatic story without resorting to cheap gore to get their point across. I still can't believe so many fans have turned their backs on Toriyama and his world because of two measly lighthearted productions (the JUMP Special and the 2013 movie).

[Hellspawn28]

Dragon Ball is not Mortal Kombat. If you want to watch blood and gore everywhere then watch something. I think some fans want to prove Dragon Ball is not a all age series and feels like that they need be like "DBZ has blood and nudity. Not for kids!!! IT'S A SHOW FOR FUCKING ADULTS!!!". That's why you had people like Anime Labs who feel like that they want to drop F bombs in their subs to show that DBZ is some hardcore show for adults.

[Captain Space]

The "lighter is worse" crowd does puzzle me somewhat, I'll admit.

[Ajay]

The "lighter is worse" crowd does puzzle me somewhat, I'll admit.

Gross misunderstanding of the series. Usually caused by a lack of familiarity with anything outside of the FUNi Z dub and/or having never read the manga.

Dragon Ball was 'gritty' once. For not even one entire volume. I just don't get it.

[Captain Space]

The Z-era is by far more well-known over here, to be fair. It's only natural it forms pretty much the entirety of some peoples' idea of the series.

[tx3]

There, uh...there was some pretty large-scale destruction in the final fight in BoG.

yeah u right but still i didn't feel right ...cause the whole fight didn't make any sense ..he fight him as god ...than SSJ. .then he is like pffff who needs SSJ i just stay normal than he fights in outta space like who needs to breath ...then this one scene where they: like lets go under the ground for no good reason..and the whole fight was just like lets fly around and punch clouds away ...i mean it's the little things ...

[Captain Space]

Actually, he fought in God, then dropped to base since his time ran out, and then went back to SSJ. Don't see a problem there.

And...I don't really get your other points. What, it's not realistic that they can breathe and fight in space? Because, you know, Goku went to the moon that one time in DB and he was breathing just fine. And they went underground because that's just where the fight took them, that happened all the time in DBZ.

Plus I thought the clouds were cool.

[Black_Liger]

Lighthearted is not the problem, the problem is that lately, there has not been remotely the amount of serious scenes to balance the lightheartedness, I seriously enjoy the tone of BoG, but I cannot imagine 10 more movies like it. I seriously cannot comprehend the *DB is a laugh-fest, it shouldn't have too much action, it shouldn't try to be serious* either.

There was enough serious material in the classic series,

Bora getting killed ruthlessly in front of his son, who cries at his corpse is pretty serious.
Commander red getting shot dead in the head is pretty serious.
Tienshinhan breaking Yamchas leg while he can't fight is pretty bad too.
A child (krillin) getting killed by a monster is pretty gruesome too.
Another child (Goku) mourning his best friend is pretty heartbreaking too.
A monster taking over the world and making all crime legal is pretty serious too.


Don't come saying DB is just fun and games... if it was, there would be no Freeza Saga.

[Captain Space]

I suppose. I mean, even the silliest arcs are action-heavy.

[MagicBox]

I seriously cannot comprehend the *DB is a laugh-fest, it shouldn't have too much action, it shouldn't try to be serious* either.

I don't recall a single person ever saying that, though.

Ignoring all potential flaws in "Battle Of Gods" and focusing strictly on its tone, I thought it balanced things perfectly. You had some killer gags, but I never once felt like there wasn't something huge at stake. Super Saiyan 3 Goku's fight with Beerus, Vegeta's flashbacks, Vegeta's conversation with Kaio, Vegeta's fight with Beerus, and Goku's final battle with Beerus are all perfectly tense scenes which remind us that, yes, our characters are in a serious predicament. Beerus didn't have to murder Kuririn for the fiftieth time to get that point across.

[MCDaveG]

Was Dragon Ball ever ''hard''?
That's the question.