Future of Dragonball

[bjh13]

Going from what I've been told over the past decade that GT is not very popular in Japan at all. DB and DBZ are much popular since more people grew up with them and there is more merchandise of those two shows. I don't think GT being in heroes is enough to say that GT is popular.

There is a huge difference between "not very popular" and "unpopular". As I said, I would like to see some actual numbers since it's being thrown around as a given that it is so strongly disliked in Japan.

Sure it isn't near as popular as Dragon Ball or Dragon Ball Z, but I highly doubt people wouldn't watch a new show just because it incorporated GT into it's backstory.

[Hellspawn28]

If GT was popular then won't there be more merchandise of the show? Most of the toys that I've seen in the past decade have been based on DB and DBZ. Not to mention people on the web in the past 10+ years have hated GT. I think it's pretty clear that GT is not very popular at all. GT to Dragon Ball is what Batman & Robin is to Batman. If GT didn't had low ratings and poor merchandise sales then the series would have continued beyond 1997 and we likely would have more shows.

[Jackal puFF]

Dragon Ball is done, and over. It will always be popular with those who grew up with it or were introduced to it later. This is how things are now, we don't get series or a movie ever year for a franchise whose main body is no longer functioning.

Dragonball is far from over..

If it was over there would literally be nothing of it. There practically is a new movie every year. The Jump Special, The Plan to Eradicate the Super Saiyans, Episode of Bardock and now Battle of Gods.

[bjh13]

If GT was popular then won't there be more merchandise of the show? Most of the toys that I've seen in the past decade have been based on DB and DBZ.

Right, which is why I agreed it wasn't near as popular as Dragon Ball or Dragon Ball Z.

Not to mention people on the web in the past 10+ years have hated GT.

This isn't a valid argument. "People on the web" absolutely hated the prequel Star Wars trilogy, which somehow made a fortune and spin off material like the Clone Wars is still really popular. "People on the web" also hate Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal skull, a movie that made more than $780 million worldwide and got resounding praise from critics. "People on the web" will tell you Firefly was the greatest show ever made ever, yet when Universal game them Serenity and they were heralding it as the greatest movie of all time, (better than any Star Wars movie!) it didn't get enough theater attendance to make its production budget back. "People on the web" think Brolli is the worst character in Dragon Ball history, yet every new fan seems obsessed with how he would match up against SSJ3 Gogeta.

The web has lots of different opinions, that doesn't mean they are gospel.

I think it's pretty clear that GT is not very popular at all. GT to Dragon Ball is what Batman & Robin is to Batman.

I don't disagree that it isn't very popular, but I don't find the analogy works. More like Dragonball Evolution is the Batman & Robin of the franchise. Batman fans pretend that movie never existed, a sizable portion of Dragon Ball fans still reference or enjoy things about GT, even on these forums.

If GT didn't had low ratings and poor merchandise sales then the series would have continued beyond 1997 and we likely would have more shows.

Oh, it had low ratings, but there are a lot of factors in this. The first part of the series wasn't very good, hurting peoples first impression. That said, it certainly wasn't any worse than the Garlic Jr saga, or various other parts of filler. It just came at a point where the audience was getting older. People had been watching Dragon Ball for over a decade, saturated with it. Many of those early fans had grown up and moved on.

I'm not trying to tell you Dragon Ball GT is the greatest thing of all time, but if it was as bad as you say fans would actively avoid anything to do with it. Instead, you have modern projects like the video games incorporating elements from the show. I think fans are mostly indifferent to it just like they are to many of the movies and filler episodes.

Your point earlier in the thread is they wouldn't incorporate GT because everyone in Japan hates it, my point is that most fans would still watch it, and likely not care. GT elements didn't hurt Budokai 3's sales years ago, I doubt they would hurt a new TV series.

[DBZ Mick]

Didn't Herms post that ratings wise the show went downhill after Freeza anyway?

By the time GT finished I think the whole series had been done to death by that point anyway. Even if GT was succesful I don't see the series being around for too much longer.

[Saiyan Prince Vegeta]

I really wish they'd re animate the series and make it match the manga perfectly... Or just keep it at Kai's length and reanimate the entire thing

[JP6GAMER]

The Dragonball we know, is done.
But the franchise is too succesful.Toei knows if they make a new series, it will be a success, it won't need a good story to be succesful. Like someone said before we won't get it soon, but in about 10 years or more. So it's pretty sure that we get a new series, we just have to wait several years.

To have a good story for a new series they need complete new characters.
But the side/origin stories are also good ideas.

I'm getting deeper to my idea for the story later.

[Fizzer]

I really wish they'd re animate the series and make it match the manga perfectly... Or just keep it at Kai's length and reanimate the entire thing

I just wish that the Kai we have now was complete, meaning it covered all 42 volumes of the manga. If I had that, I would be completely satisfied with the available DB forever.

[TheRed259]

I pin my hopes on a new Dragon Ball Series after the Buu Saga which will ingnore GT's existence .
If I were Akira Toriyama , I would choose that series to be my ''swan song'' .

[soulnova]

I pin my hopes on a new Dragon Ball Series after the Buu Saga which will ingnore GT's existence .
If I were Akira Toriyama , I would choose that series to be my ''swan song'' .

You know, he wanted to free himself from the hell of release date, working non-stop and I completely understand. If he can work with the animators instead of drawing.... you know, simply coming up with the ideas just like he did with the movie, I'm sure it would work out wonderfully.

They could use some timetravel goodness with the excuse to keep GT as an alternate timeline.

[TheRed259]

You know, he wanted to free himself from the hell of release date, working non-stop and I completely understand.

Akira Toriyama does have the potential to do better but sometimes his laziness holds him back :

Kintoki - Akira Toriyama (2010)
(image with mistranslation of title and scanlation URL removed by admin)

[DBZGTKOSDH]

A Dragon Ball Online anime would be awesome. However, I no longer want a Dragon Ball Heroes one. I don't like Yu-Gi-Oh in Dragon Ball.

And to those who say that a Dragon Ball Online & Heroes anime wouldn't feel like Dragon Ball... Wake up guys. Goku, Vegeta, everyone is in both games. In DBO, the main story has players going back in time where they meet Goku & co., and in DBH, Goku & co. are summoned through cards.

[Herms]

Didn't Herms post that ratings wise the show went downhill after Freeza anyway?

For the anime the Cell Games to early Boo stuff got the highest ratings, then ratings hit their low point in the later Boo arc (not counting GT). The manga scored highest in Jump popularity polls during the Freeza arc, but it didn't necessarily plummet in popularity afterwards. It's well known that Jump sales saw a considerable decline after DB ended, so it must have still been pretty popular right up to the end (though some other popular Jump series ended around the same time, so the sales decline wasn't all due to DB's end).

[JulieYBM]

Dragon Ball will continue on. Whether through toys, comics, cartoons, films, video games or breads, it shall live.

[Hellspawn28]

DB is not dieing anytime soon. You will always have people that will love and remember the franchise. I like things are at the moment, but I still won't mind having a new show though. I rather have a new show then have boring new games once ever year.

[DoomieDoomie911]

Dragon Ball will continue on. Whether through toys, comics, cartoons, films, video games or breads, it shall live.

You're absolutely right.

[DBZ Mick]

Didn't Herms post that ratings wise the show went downhill after Freeza anyway?

For the anime the Cell Games to early Boo stuff got the highest ratings, then ratings hit their low point in the later Boo arc (not counting GT). The manga scored highest in Jump popularity polls during the Freeza arc, but it didn't necessarily plummet in popularity afterwards. It's well known that Jump sales saw a considerable decline after DB ended, so it must have still been pretty popular right up to the end (though some other popular Jump series ended around the same time, so the sales decline wasn't all due to DB's end).

Cheers, that was it. Couldn't remember your exact wording. Interesting stuff.

[Hellspawn28]

a sizable portion of Dragon Ball fans still reference or enjoy things about GT, even on these forums.

I see Bond fans that enjoy things in Die Another Day and still reference it, but that movie is still hated among the fan base. I don't think some fans liking the show means it's popular. It seem GT is unpopular in the franchise. I think in a marketing stand point of view, Toei won't waste time or money on making a flow up to GT. It be like if Sony made a sequel to the 1998 Godzilla movie. Not many people would watch it or buy it.

[DBZ Mick]

I wouldn't call it hugely popular, but it still seems liked enough with fans wanting GT characters in games, GT characters in DB Heroes, most fans who do their own stories (see Absalon and that Toyble story) take place after GT.

They're also doing everything based on DBZ because it's the Juggernaut of the series. I don't see TOEI in any hurry to do anything based on DB either...

I probably wouldn't mind seeing something after GT (although I'd prefer something set within the series to make it longer, lol).

[AnimeMaakuo]

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