So how is Mai not middle-aged?

[dragonballhero]

Personally, I'm in the camp that thinks Emperor Pilaf, Shu, and Mai wished for youth prior to Kami's death via Piccolo's demise at the hands of the Androids. If their wish for youth really took place from that period in time, I really feel like Mai would have more than enough (or at least, just enough) time for her to re-age, and coincidentally, approximately be around the same age as Future Trunks.

Amazing how after all these years, karma caught up with the Pilaf Gang fro doing what they did to Goku in DBGT.

[FoolsGil]

So the current most likely theory is that in the Mirai Timeline the Pilaf Gang would waste a wish when they were only in their forties-fifties. Not only that apparently because of Trunks and Cell's time travel Pilaf and co wait and bungle the exact same wish 10+ years later in the main timeline?

Man that is dumb. Not to those who believe that. But the fact that this theory is going to be canon. It could happen.

[jjgp1112]

What I want to know is: does anyone get the underlying creepy implications of this pairing on the writing side? I mean, I've seen some shit from comics but this is still a weird creative choice lol. Seems like Trunks gets em either really young (Pan) or really old (Mai).

There was never any attraction between Trunks and Pans, that was just fans being weirdos.

[JoeCapricorn]

I think I said this before but I think Future Trunks saves Future Mai from deathz0rs, but is too late to save Pilaf and Shu, so Mai continues to wear Pilaf's logo on her jacket to honor his memory.

[SingleFringe&Sparks]

I'm just bothered by how random it was. There really isn't anything that really connects them together.

It's so crazy (and such a weird, unexpected payoff to the gag-pairing that began back in Battle of Gods), that I couldn't be more for it. That's how couples work in Dragon Ball.

Nah, Toriyamadeserves its credit for having at least some subtle build up to most of his pairings.
#18 kisses Krillin and spares him, Krillin gets crush, Krillin wants to save #18, Krillin convinces everyone to spare her, #18 is embarrassed, Time-skip, get married.

He knows how to write solid couples, and always had his strength in the subtly he had, without the exaggerations of romance and etc.
I just don't think Mai x Trunks was his idea. Because Trunks has never displayed any interest in girls in either timeline, nor has Mai expressed any feelings for him specifically beyond just randomly accepting kid Trunks as her boyfriend when threatening Sorbet. There is just nothing in between that really rationalizes this. Now it just seems forced.

[TheDevilsCorpse]

I just don't think Mai x Trunks was his idea. Because Trunks has never displayed any interest in girls in either timeline, nor has Mai expressed any feelings for him specifically beyond just randomly accepting kid Trunks as her boyfriend when threatening Sorbet. There is just nothing in between that really rationalizes this. Now it just seems forced.

Interview #1
There are some romantic developments, which is rare…?
The truth is, I wrote juuust a little bit of romantic developments in the movie, but that was happenstance. (laughs) I’m really bad with romantic plots. Even if the backstory is there, I shy away when I actually try to draw it. (laughs)

Interview #2
They stirred things up in an unexpected role (?). I was honestly surprised at that romantic development!
Ah! Well, anyway, that’s the Pilaf gang for you. If they were to keep on appearing as villains, they’d just be easily defeated. So I figured, “maybe if I inject a little romance, the later developments will come more easily~”. (laughs) I hardly ever draw romance.

[Cipher]

I just don't think Mai x Trunks was his idea. Because Trunks has never displayed any interest in girls in either timeline, nor has Mai expressed any feelings for him specifically beyond just randomly accepting kid Trunks as her boyfriend when threatening Sorbet. There is just nothing in between that really rationalizes this. Now it just seems forced.

I can't imagine it being anyone's idea but his. It's too weird. Plus, Super wrote out the Trunks+Mai subplot from the Battle of Gods arc.

I honestly think Trunks and Mai's interactions in the present timeline are enough to lead-up to this hilariously unexpected future coupling. It feels comparable to Bulma and Vegeta (which, don't forget, was a complete shock upon introduction), Kuririn and #18, or Goku and Chi-Chi (a gag character from the first arc who only popped up years and years later to make good on a promise I'm sure most readers had written off). Dr. Slump also has couples that come out of nowhere simply for comic juxtaposition.

Obviously their interactions in the present are just a bit of cosmic teasing, and I fully expect something a little more grounded to have occurred between their future variations to bring them close. But if Trunks is destined to wind up with Mai, that's just Toriyama being classically unpredictable to me. I really do find it funny, especially with as much of a gag villain as Mai's been and what a typical lady-killer of a character Future Trunks is.

Your mileage may vary, but since the introduction of Beerus and Whis, this is one of the most classically Dragon Ball-esque developments of all the new material so far. It's nice to see Toriyama not playing by the rules again.

[AvatarReiko]

Thing is, I had the impression that the timelines only diverged thanks to Trunks coming back through time - before the date of his arrival everything should be the same, so no wish for youth by Pilaf & the gang could have taken place.

No. The timelines divergenced when Frieza arrived on Earth. In Trunks' timeline, Goku defeated Frieza.

[TheDevilsCorpse]

Thing is, I had the impression that the timelines only diverged thanks to Trunks coming back through time - before the date of his arrival everything should be the same, so no wish for youth by Pilaf & the gang could have taken place.

No. The timelines divergenced when Frieza arrived on Earth. In Trunks' timeline, Goku defeated Frieza.

Timelines diverge because of the time machine and its initial arrival in the past, not because Trunks killed Freeza. And technically, the two timelines in question diverged specifically because of Cell's trip into the past, which occurred with him arriving a year before Trunks ever showed up.

[Alruneia]

Thing is, I had the impression that the timelines only diverged thanks to Trunks coming back through time - before the date of his arrival everything should be the same, so no wish for youth by Pilaf & the gang could have taken place.

No. The timelines divergenced when Frieza arrived on Earth. In Trunks' timeline, Goku defeated Frieza.

Well, actually the timelines diverged when Cell came to the past and arrived in Age 763. Then there was another split with Future Trunks arriving in Age 764.

Technically there should be four timelines, then. Timelines 00, 01 and 10, 11. (That's binary, by the way. The first bit is Cell arriving, the second is Trunks arriving.) The main timeline is 11, while Future Trunks' timeline is 10 and Cell's timeline is 00. I don't know what happened to the Cell who travelled into timeline 10 (maybe Android 16 was activated after all and Cell vs 16 resulted in a double kill), but he must've arrived there, as he travelled to a point in time where there had been no divergence before him. But this is mathematical and Dragon Ball doesn't really do that, so who knows.
There's also an unseen timeline 01 in which Future Trunks learned how to deactivate the androids in timeline 00 without training in the RoSaT.
But this is all just fanmade "multiverse" theory.

[AvatarReiko]

Thing is, I had the impression that the timelines only diverged thanks to Trunks coming back through time - before the date of his arrival everything should be the same, so no wish for youth by Pilaf & the gang could have taken place.

No. The timelines divergenced when Frieza arrived on Earth. In Trunks' timeline, Goku defeated Frieza.

Well, actually the timelines diverged when Cell came to the past and arrived in Age 763. Then there was another split with Future Trunks arriving in Age 764.

Yh, your right but what I meant was that the "changes" didn't occur until Trunks interfered. This was a significant event. For example, Cell being in the ground all those years wouldn't have impacted any events in the timeline since he never interacted with anything/anyone. The real spit in the timeline would have been Trunks killing Frieza instead of Goku. It starts branching off completely from here. Thats the way I always saw it.

What I never understood is why Trunks wasn't aware of the fact that Goku defeated Frieza orginally. He even said that he wanted to avoid interacting with anyone else. Future Bulma should have known exactly how it all played out. The z-warriors in Trunks' timeline obviously managed to hold Frieza off until Goku arrived since they live until the androids appear.

[TheDevilsCorpse]

Yh, your right but what I meant was that the "changes" didn't occur until Trunks interfered. This was a significant event. For example, Cell being in the ground all those years wouldn't have impacted any events in the timeline since he never interacted with anything/anyone. The real spit in the timeline would have been Trunks killing Frieza instead of Goku. It starts branching off completely from here. Thats the way I always saw it.

Yes, major events didn't start changing until Trunks defeated Freeza, but the point is that the physical split occurred the moment the time machine arrived. Even if Trunks didn't do anything once he showed up except turn around and go home, the timeline could eventually butterfly effect into something completely different down the line.

What I never understood is why Trunks wasn't aware of the fact that Goku defeated Frieza orginally. He even said that he wanted to avoid interacting with anyone else. Future Bulma should have known exactly how it all played out. The z-warriors in Trunks' timeline obviously managed to hold Frieza off until Goku arrived since they live until the androids appear.

The rest of the fighters didn't have to hold off anyone. Trunks did know that Goku defeated Freeza. He assumed that time had shifted or something since Goku's attack ball wasn't scheduled to arrive until after Freeza was already on Earth, but Goku clearly reveals that he planned on showing up with shunkan-ido/teleportation. Trunks just happened to reveal himself before Goku did it, so he let it play out.

[Saturnine]

Thing is, I had the impression that the timelines only diverged thanks to Trunks coming back through time - before the date of his arrival everything should be the same, so no wish for youth by Pilaf & the gang could have taken place.

No. The timelines divergenced when Frieza arrived on Earth. In Trunks' timeline, Goku defeated Frieza.

... which happened because there was no Trunks to do it, lol.

[Cetra]

The timesplit was because of Cell himself. There was no second Cell in Trunks' timeline because he never arrived.

[LuckyCat]

The timesplit was because of Cell himself. There was no second Cell in Trunks' timeline because he never arrived.

Chronologically, that makes sense. But also remember Cell doesn't need to travel back in time unless Trunks has already done so to learn the secret to defeat the Androids. So for Cell to travel back in time, Trunks needs to travel back first.

I.e., Trunks is always the catalyst.

[Kishido]

Mai is a pedo... You wan't see an answer for this question by Toriyama

[Draconic]

Mai is a pedo... You wan't see an answer for this question by Toriyama

Mayyybe in the present, but in the future Trunks is over 30 years old. He can date whoever he wants, be it a 60 year old in a young body.

[Kishido]

Mai is a pedo... You wan't see an answer for this question by Toriyama

Mayyybe in the present, but in the future Trunks is over 30 years old. He can date whoever he wants, be it a 60 year old in a young body.

You don't see the problem do you?

Trunks timeline Mai had to become a kiddo at the time before the cyborgs killed Piccolo and with him the DBs... In our timeline way before BoG as our Mai.

And it doesn't change the fact that even Trunks timeline Mai is still way older as she is looking

[Cipher]

I'm going to take the bold stance that it's okay for people to date with a thirty-year age gap in real life (as strange as that may seem), and that it's certainly okay for them to date in whimsical fiction in which one has been biologically de-aged and grown up again, and both are stuck in a post-apocalyptic Terminator-pastiche future.

Their present-day interactions (which we've barely seen) may be iffy, but they must have met under different circumstances in the future anyway. Likely within the decade or so since Trunks went back to the future (II), having already grown up.

[Draconic]

Mai is a pedo... You wan't see an answer for this question by Toriyama

Mayyybe in the present, but in the future Trunks is over 30 years old. He can date whoever he wants, be it a 60 year old in a young body.

You don't see the problem do you?

Trunks timeline Mai had to become a kiddo at the time before the cyborgs killed Piccolo and with him the DBs... In our timeline way before BoG as our Mai.

And it doesn't change the fact that even Trunks timeline Mai is still way older as she is looking

But Trunks is not a kid in that timeline so Mai is not a pedophile no matter if she is 60 in a 60 year old body or 60 in a 30 year old body. If she and Trunks share something, well... why should anyone care about the age difference, since both are consenting adults. There are such relationships in real life, and while they might seem weird, who are we to judge? I guess it might be a problem if Mai hides the fact she is actually 60 years old to Trunks, but this is Dragon Ball and if he doesn't know and finds out it will most likely be treated as a gag.