Dragon Ball Super: TV Ratings Discussion Thread

[ChaosLordBrandon]

Why the hell are you guy acting like these ratings are bad?
Toei has stated multiply time that the only thing they care about is merchandise. Why do people think this is USA and UK where ratings matter?
Because merchandise is what matters to most anime shows in Japan.

[ArchedThunder]

Why the hell are you guy acting like these ratings are bad?
Toei has stated multiply time that the only thing they care about is merchandise. Why do people think this is USA and UK where ratings matter?
Because merchandise is what matters to most anime shows in Japan.

Because if people aren't watching the show they also might not buy the merchandise. It's not hard to figure out.

Super dropping to 9 like that with a 5.3 is definitely not a good thing... I was hoping that the ratings would be better now that we're in the new material. I hope this was just an oddity.

[LightBing]

http://www.tvguide.or.jp/ranking/timerr ... index.html

DVR Rating: 18th of January - 24th of January
1st: Lupin III - 100.0
2nd: Yokai Watch - 89.0
3rd: Doraemon - 83.6 (Up 1)
4th: One Piece - 83.4 (Down 1)
5th: Boku Dake ga Inai Machi - 68.0 (Up 2)
6th: Detective Conan - 65.8 (Down 1)
7th: Mobile Suit Gundam - 64.8 (Down 1)
8th: Gintama - 60.8
9th: Dragon Ball Super (Episode 28) - 58.0
10th: Ansatsu Kyoushitsu (TV) 2nd Season - 52.6

The first episode of the new arc didn't haven an impact, we maintain the same spot and percentage from last week. BokuMachi makes noise this week ascending to the 5th spot, first of the non-juggernaut anime's.
Let's see if the current flow of good and consistent episodes makes the viewers look forward to record the show; trusting that the show didn't lay an egg.

[GodVegetto91]

http://www.tvguide.or.jp/ranking/timerr ... index.html

DVR Rating: 18th of January - 24th of January
1st: Lupin III - 100.0
2nd: Yokai Watch - 89.0
3rd: Doraemon - 83.6 (Up 1)
4th: One Piece - 83.4 (Down 1)
5th: Boku Dake ga Inai Machi - 68.0 (Up 2)
6th: Detective Conan - 65.8 (Down 1)
7th: Mobile Suit Gundam - 64.8 (Down 1)
8th: Gintama - 60.8
9th: Dragon Ball Super (Episode 28) - 58.0
10th: Ansatsu Kyoushitsu (TV) 2nd Season - 52.6

The first episode of the new arc didn't haven an impact, we maintain the same spot and percentage from last week. BokuMachi makes noise this week ascending to the 5th spot, first of the non-juggernaut anime's.
Let's see if the current flow of good and consistent episodes makes the viewers look forward to record the show; trusting that the show didn't lay an egg.

Seriously?? I knew it. Or i always had a bad feeling things wouldn't pick up even when the new arc started.. Are people over in japan just not interested in watching dragon ball super or something? I know the merchandise is doing grest and all.
But i would definitely choose db super over any other anime. Including one piece and definitely this so called "sazea san"? Or something like that. But hey i guess it's because i'm such a hardcore dragon ball fan xD

[ArchedThunder]

The rushed production and starting with retellings definitely hurt Super, it's going to be an uphill battle from here to recover from the first 27 episodes. The last two episodes have been received really well so as long as the series doesn't nose dive in quality then it could grow from word of mouth slowly. I wonder if the series can ever go past 6.6 or even into the 7 range like episodes 1 and 3
But hey, this isn't the lowest the series has gone, this coming episode could be up in the 6 range with how weird this show's ratings are, I just want it to level out in the mid to high 6 range with some 7 range episodes here and there.

[Kuririn Fan]

Ratings don't matter...

[Lord Beerus]

Ratings don't matter...

This. The Gundam franchise has never been the greatest in terms of ratings, but as far as merchandise sales go, no other anime or live action franchise comes even remotely close. It's the undisputed king of merchandise sales in Japan, and has been so for the last 30 years. On average, it makes 60 billion Yen a year, that more than more than $500,000,000. And it's merchandise sales make up for 20% of its Bandai total profit.

So yeah, TV and DVR ratings don't mean shit for a shonen anime like Dragon Ball Super. It's all about the merchandise sales. And if Bandai's merchandise profit projections are anything to go by, Dragon Ball merch is selling like hotcakes. And that's all that matters.

[ArchedThunder]

Ratings don't matter...

This. The Gundam franchise has never been the greatest in terms of ratings, but as far as merchandise sales go, no other anime or live action franchise comes even remotely close. It's the undisputed king of merchandise sales in Japan, and has been so for the last 30 years. On average, it makes 60 billion Yen a year, that more than more than $500,000,000. And it's merchandise sales make up for 20% of its Bandai total profit.

So yeah, TV and DVR ratings don't mean shit for a shonen anime like Dragon Ball Super. It's all about the merchandise sales. And if Bandai's merchandise profit projections are anything to go by, Dragon Ball merch is selling like hotcakes. And that's all that matters.

As far as I'm aware Gundam is in the same boat as series like Transformers where people care more about the designs of the mechas for merch as opposed to Dragon Ball which relies more on the characters themselves. Dragon Ball merch is doing well right now and a lot of that could be more due to BoG and F than Super, I mean we already know that a show can kill Dragon Ball merch sales, just look at Kai. The likely hood of someone buying merch of Dragon Ball Super characters despite not watching the show is probably lower than that of people who buy Gundam merch despite not watching the show that certain Gundams are from. Saying ratings just plain don't matter is too reductionist, poor ratings could negatively affect merch sales(lower ratings could translate into lower interest in the merch) and higher ratings could improve merch sales.

And even beyond that people just like to see things they like do well, hoping for better ratings isn't really much different than rooting for a sports team. Lower ratings might not mean the show will go away, just like how a sports team losing games doesn't mean it will stop existing, but people just want to see what they like do well.

[Draconic]

http://www.tvguide.or.jp/ranking/timerr ... index.html

DVR Rating: 18th of January - 24th of January
1st: Lupin III - 100.0
2nd: Yokai Watch - 89.0
3rd: Doraemon - 83.6 (Up 1)
4th: One Piece - 83.4 (Down 1)
5th: Boku Dake ga Inai Machi - 68.0 (Up 2)
6th: Detective Conan - 65.8 (Down 1)
7th: Mobile Suit Gundam - 64.8 (Down 1)
8th: Gintama - 60.8
9th: Dragon Ball Super (Episode 28) - 58.0
10th: Ansatsu Kyoushitsu (TV) 2nd Season - 52.6

The first episode of the new arc didn't haven an impact, we maintain the same spot and percentage from last week. BokuMachi makes noise this week ascending to the 5th spot, first of the non-juggernaut anime's.
Let's see if the current flow of good and consistent episodes makes the viewers look forward to record the show; trusting that the show didn't lay an egg.

Seriously?? I knew it. Or i always had a bad feeling things wouldn't pick up even when the new arc started.. Are people over in japan just not interested in watching dragon ball super or something? I know the merchandise is doing grest and all.
But i would definitely choose db super over any other anime. Including one piece and definitely this so called "sazea san"? Or something like that. But hey i guess it's because i'm such a hardcore dragon ball fan xD

Duuude... Super is in the top 10. There have been countless hugely popular animes which ran for years and never even got a taste of the 10th spot. People ARE watching Dragon Ball. I mean, there's already been six months, do people still not get that those ratings are very very good?

[Lord Beerus]

Ratings don't matter...

This. The Gundam franchise has never been the greatest in terms of ratings, but as far as merchandise sales go, no other anime or live action franchise comes even remotely close. It's the undisputed king of merchandise sales in Japan, and has been so for the last 30 years. On average, it makes 60 billion Yen a year, that more than more than $500,000,000. And it's merchandise sales make up for 20% of its Bandai total profit.

So yeah, TV and DVR ratings don't mean shit for a shonen anime like Dragon Ball Super. It's all about the merchandise sales. And if Bandai's merchandise profit projections are anything to go by, Dragon Ball merch is selling like hotcakes. And that's all that matters.

As far as I'm aware Gundam is in the same boat as series like Transformers where people care more about the designs of the mechas for merch as opposed to Dragon Ball which relies more on the characters themselves. Dragon Ball merch is doing well right now and a lot of that could be more due to BoG and F than Super, I mean we already know that a show can kill Dragon Ball merch sales, just look at Kai. The likely hood of someone buying merch of Dragon Ball Super characters despite not watching the show is probably lower than that of people who buy Gundam merch despite not watching the show that certain Gundams are from. Saying ratings just plain don't matter is too reductionist, poor ratings could negatively affect merch sales(lower ratings could translate into lower interest in the merch) and higher ratings could improve merch sales.

And even beyond that people just like to see things they like do well, hoping for better ratings isn't really much different than rooting for a sports team. Lower ratings might not mean the show will go away, just like how a sports team losing games doesn't mean it will stop existing, but people just want to see what they like do well.

You kinda shot yourself in the foot by saying that and mentioning how much of a flop Kai was. I mean, Kai pulled in great ratings, and on average did much better than Super has so far. But despite the fact that many viewers were watching Kai, merchandise sales were awful. Regardless of whether ratings improved during the original run of Kai or not, the Japanese fanbase just wasn't interested in Dragon Ball merchandise at all when Kai was on the air. So the whole higher ratings = better merch sales doesn't really correlate. I mean, Kamen Rider and Super Sentai/Power Rangers have never been big ratings hits in Japan, but as far as merchandise sales go, much like Gundam, they've been pulling in major profit for Bandai for decades.

[ArchedThunder]

You kinda shot yourself in the foot by saying that and mentioning how much of a flop Kai was. I mean, Kai pulled in great ratings, and on average did much better than Super has so far. But despite the fact that many viewers were watching Kai, merchandise sales were awful. So the whole higher ratings = better merch sales doesn't really correlate. I mean, Kamen Rider and Super Sentai/Power Rangers have never been big ratings hits in Japan, but as far as merchandise sales go, much like Gundam, they've been pulling in major profit for Bandai for decades.

Kai having good ratings doesn't change the fact that lower ratings for a show can affect merch sales, lower ratings can be the cause of low interest as a whole which can affect merch sales. We aren't far enough away from Resurrection F to say what affect Super will have on merch sales yet. And I didn't say higher ratings will mean better merch sales, I said that it COULD lead to better merch sales.

[voltlunok]

As far as I'm aware Gundam is in the same boat as series like Transformers where people care more about the designs of the mechas for merch as opposed to Dragon Ball which relies more on the characters themselves.

As someone who buys and builds Gunpla as their core hobby, this isn't correct at all. Design does matter some but through personal experience and talking with lots of fellow gunpla builders (I run a large, local gunpla builders group for my area thats about 500 members strong.), people will buy the kits of their favorite characters first before anything else and a character's popularity can also dictate the level of investment Bandai will put into a certain kit, I mean a month hadn't passed since they announced a High Grade kit for the Amazing Red Warrior from Gundam Build Fighters Try and they were already announcing a Master Grade version (Thats a much higher price point, larger scale and even deeper engineering.) and most people will cite the popularity of Mejin Kawaguchi as the reason for this. The same can be said for transformers, I don't buy Optimus Prime cause I think he looks cool, I buy prime cause he's freakin Optimus Prime! Heck the next Masterpiece Transformers toy (A normally triple digit price pointed, perfect show accuracy collectors item.) was decided entirely by fan vote (Optimus Primal from Beast Wars if you were wondering.) so in closing, design matters to a degree sure but the character behind the machine matters just as much if not even more.

As for the ratings, it is true they don't really matter as long as the merch keeps flowing off the shelves, I mean Gundam is nearing its 40th anniversary and rarely do we even peek into the top ten live ratings these days (Though we do camp out in DVR ratings.) so really, that should say something. Dragon Ball won't be canceled if they suddenly fall out of the top ten and I can assure you, the fans in Japan aren't checking the ratings every week like we do and panicking when the show drops a place. Dragon Ball has staying power, its not going anywhere, not now and certainly not anytime soon.

[Kuririn Fan]

Yeah, but for some reason, some fans need reassurement every single week that Dragon Ball isnt going anywhere.

[FortuneSSJ]

I'm also disappointed with ratings, since I thought Champa arc would bring a boost right away.

And even beyond that people just like to see things they like do well, hoping for better ratings isn't really much different than rooting for a sports team. Lower ratings might not mean the show will go away, just like how a sports team losing games doesn't mean it will stop existing, but people just want to see what they like do well.

It's just that simple.
Fans love the series, fans want it to perform well. Well = Beating everything else, for some hardcore people.

[voltlunok]

Yeah, but for some reason, some fans need reassurement every single week that Dragon Ball isnt going anywhere.

Well lets see, Toriyama has his passion for the franchise again and wants to work hands on with it again, Since airing, super hasn't fallen out of the top ten save for I think one time, Dragon Ball is if I remember that sale chart, Bandai's 4th best selling product, and I'm sure there are like 20 other reasons we can look at to reassure ourselves that the series is back for a while.

I'm also disappointed with ratings, since I thought Champa arc would bring a boost right away.

Were you expecting Dragon Ball Super to just jump to the top and rule the ratings forever once the Champa stuff started? I'm sure we'll get a little better ratings soon but I don't see Dragon Ball shooting up any higher then its current average of like 6th place.

[FortuneSSJ]

Well lets see, Toriyama has his passion for the franchise again and wants to work hands on with it again, Since airing, super hasn't fallen out of the top ten save for I think one time.

Super was always in Top 10 live ratings.

[Kuririn Fan]

Yeah, but for some reason, some fans need reassurement every single week that Dragon Ball isnt going anywhere.

Well lets see, Toriyama has his passion for the franchise again and wants to work hands on with it again, Since airing, super hasn't fallen out of the top ten save for I think one time, Dragon Ball is if I remember that sale chart, Bandai's 4th best selling product, and I'm sure there are like 20 other reasons we can look at to reassure ourselves that the series is back for a while.

I'm also disappointed with ratings, since I thought Champa arc would bring a boost right away.

Were you expecting Dragon Ball Super to just jump to the top and rule the ratings forever once the Champa stuff started? I'm sure we'll get a little better ratings soon but I don't see Dragon Ball shooting up any higher then its current average of like 6th place.

All episodes were in top 10, just one dvr rating wasnt.

[voltlunok]

Yeah, but for some reason, some fans need reassurement every single week that Dragon Ball isnt going anywhere.

Well lets see, Toriyama has his passion for the franchise again and wants to work hands on with it again, Since airing, super hasn't fallen out of the top ten save for I think one time, Dragon Ball is if I remember that sale chart, Bandai's 4th best selling product, and I'm sure there are like 20 other reasons we can look at to reassure ourselves that the series is back for a while.

All episodes were in top 10, just one dvr rating wasnt.

Ah alright, so yeah, why are we panicking again? Merch does good, always top ten live ratings. What's to worry about?

[Sodhi]

There is nothing to worry about with these ratings. Not going to lie I myself thought that the ratings are going to increase with the new arc, however these are still good ratings. It just means that super is attracting no new fans, just people who are watching it from episode 1 anyways. It's not a bad thing by any means, dragon ball has a huge fanbase in japan anyways. Thats why no matter what, it won't fall from the top 10.

[Araki]

Top 10 ratings for last week (episode 30)

Sazae 14.2
Doraemon 9.5
Crayon Shin-chan 9.5
Chibi Maruko-chan 8.8
Detective Conan 8.4
Dragon Ball Super 6.7
Kindaichi Case Files R 6.3
Yokai Watch 5.4
Mahou Pretty Cure! 5.2
Pokemon XY & Z 3.9

Super follows its "bad ratings' path towards cancellation" (according to some).

These are the best numbers since episode 3, and close to series' high. It took a couple of weeks but it seems people are hearing about the new arc. It's probably a good thing that it was partially a recap.