It Super targeted at a younger audience?

[HybridSaiyan]

The Future Bulma Death footage was..weird, like she just slowly faded into the wind lol.

Maybe she faded into another timeline, he could've sent her somewhere with his ring.

I'd laugh if that was the case.

[Sodhi]

What is meant by younger audience? For the standard of where I live(US), Super would be rated for teens because of blood, dick jokes, saggy titties etc etc. Which is really kinda sounding like the first series, which somehow converted into DBZ as the story went on.

[Hellspawn28]

I don't think it's that, One Piece is made to sell the manga and due to it being so big they follow it better.

One Piece has merchandise being sold to kids. You have backpacks, t-shirts, pajamas and other types of merchandise. Kids help these shows stay alive for a long time. Just like how shows like Naruto, Super Sentai, Kamen Rider, Pokemon and Precure still stay around. Even Naruto had happy meal toys too. Shows market to kids keep on going based on merchandise sales. While later night shows need the help from TV ratings and home video sales.

[sintzu]

I think the issue is that AT is writing his story outlines with the same mindset and tone as always, but Toei is putting their own spin on it that gives it a feel closer to something like Yatterman.

That's why I wish he was more hands on with the overall writing cause you can tell with this arc especially that there's more then one main chef in the kitchen.

You have Toriyama's plot which is serious and Toei's added humor in-between which is ruining the flow of the story.

Hopefully we'll get a movie version of this alongside the Champa arc that follows his story more closely cause they said the tone in the movies won't be as light hearted as the show due to them being aimed at both kids and adults.

[sintzu]

What is meant by younger audience? For the standard of where I live(US), Super would be rated for teens because of blood, dick jokes, saggy titties etc etc.

Which is really kinda sounding like the first series, which somehow converted into DBZ as the story went on.

We've been talking about Japan's standards and for them Super is being written for a younger audience compared to the original.

In the US the only way to watch Kai (which has less blood then Z) is on a midnight block so Super will probably end up there as well which should give you an idea about what a joke the US TV standard is.

[ChronoTwigger]

The difference you see is that back in the day this demographic was allowed a bit more adult/crude humor as well as violence compared to these days.
At the same time I believe it's still written in a way that enjoyable for adults. I mean if its just for tiny kids how stupid are we that we cant figure out the plot? I can see what is about to happen in 90% of cartoons/anime these days fairly easily

Yes, good point.
And yes, indeed it's good scheduled, enough to create continual questions on our side. I think is one of the best point of the whole anime. Altough sometime we speculate too much on future outcomes XD.

[sintzu]

One Piece has merchandise being sold to kids.

I know that but they're also trying to sell the manga so they're going to keep it close to it to encourage people to buy it.

[GeeRod]

Dragon Ball always had the same target audience. Back in the day we could get away with some scenes with violence in it, nowadays is completely different. Parents will get upset if their kids watch a show like that and most studios don't want this kinda of problems. We're all grown ups watching a show that's not target to us, unfornately.

[fadeddreams5]

Same target audience; completely different direction.

[precita]

I think the difference is now we're all adults whereas when we all first experienced DBZ we were kids and teenagers. So back then characters dying and being beaten up felt "adult" because that's not something seen in other cartoons airing for kids at least in the U.S.

Now as adults the series feels like its for kids because we've experienced adult-centric shows that deal with deeper themes, violence, story arcs, etc. I think its just we all got old and became adults.

[DBZAOTA482]

I generally think so... GT was aimed at a younger audience than DB and Z so Super being the same is out of the equation. Constant (rather childish) jokes/gags, simplified characterization, lack of violence, and lack of heavy-hitting themes suggests this.

[GodKaio-Ken]

Goku did literally stop a fight because his opponent wasn't allowed to kill him. Thats at least kinda adult

[Lord Beerus]

Super is more close to something like Yatterman than something that runs in Shonen Jump.

Does Yatterman feature characters being brutally murdered onscreen, characters suffering from PTSD and mass genocide?

Yes.

Is it played for laughs?

[Shinomori]

I think the difference is now we're all adults whereas when we all first experienced DBZ we were kids and teenagers. So back then characters dying and being beaten up felt "adult" because that's not something seen in other cartoons airing for kids at least in the U.S.

Now as adults the series feels like its for kids because we've experienced adult-centric shows that deal with deeper themes, violence, story arcs, etc. I think its just we all got old and became adults.

I hear where you're coming from, but DBZ definitely had a much more serious tone compared to DBS. Think back to how Frieza was shown killing Namekians in cold blood, even killing a small child. Then there was the scene where Frieza mercilessly beat Vegeta after he thought he reached the level of Super Saiyan. Man, that was one of the toughest beat downs in anime history. (Also during that scene, Frieza was shown licking Vegeta's blood and eating a crab raw, like a wild animal) I could go on and on, 18 breaking Vegeta's arm, Cell breaking Piccolo's neck and blowing a hole in his side, we've seen nothing that comes close to any of those scenes in Super.

Super has tough themes in it and people die, however its not handled in a manner that feels realistic for the characters going through them. Trunks just witnessed his mother and girlfriend die, yet he's talking and having a good time with the characters in the present. By the way, the last time people died in Trunks future, they stayed dead. So for all he knows right now, his mother and girlfriend are going to stay dead. So he's completely on his own now, yet he's still acting like "it is what it is"? In DBZ, Trunks went into fits of rage because he wanted to prevent the future from becoming destroyed again by the androids. I'm just not seeing this continuous anger in Super, and again he should be even angrier now that his loved ones are gone forever for all he knows. (Now I know a gag will be presented later with the dragon balls wishing them back, but he didn't do that after the Cell arc concerning those who died by the hands of the androids.)

[VegettoEX]

Trunks' emotions flipped on a dime back in the original run, as well. You went from his initial super-serious appearance to kill Freeza directly into smiles and sunshine and cupcakes (well, drinks) with the cast members before getting super serious with Goku's arrival. This happened time and time again while he was around.

Sure, the series' move from a Wednesdays at 7:00 p.m. timeslot in the 80s and 90s to a Sundays at 9:00 a.m. timeslot in the 2010s affects what can and will be shown, but so has the entire shonen genre, as well, by and large (particularly in Shueisha's properties).

Time and time again the producers and their marketing partners literally spell out that the series is for young boys and if anyone else happens to like it, great. They need to pander to and engage the younger audience, because without an increased audience size that you can indoctrinate at a young age, all you're going to be doing is fighting a battle of attrition for the rest of your days (and that's a losing battle).

[Shinomori]

Trunks' emotions flipped on a dime back in the original run, as well. You went from his initial super-serious appearance to kill Freeza directly into smiles and sunshine and cupcakes (well, drinks) with the cast members before getting super serious with Goku's arrival. This happened time and time again while he was around.

Sure, the series' move from a Wednesdays at 7:00 p.m. timeslot in the 80s and 90s to a Sundays at 9:00 a.m. timeslot in the 2010s affects what can and will be shown, but so has the entire shonen genre, as well, by and large (particularly in Shueisha's properties).

Time and time again the producers and their marketing partners literally spell out that the series is for young boys and if anyone else happens to like it, great. They need to pander to and engage the younger audience, because without an increased audience size that you can indoctrinate at a young age, all you're going to be doing is fighting a battle of attrition for the rest of your days (and that's a losing battle).

In terms of Trunks in DBZ, in that scene he was meeting everyone for the first time. Plus in that time, Trunks thought he was changing his own future. I think it's okay for him to smile when he's meeting his father for the first time. In Super, it's just awkward to see tones change so quickly, and then tends to stay on the lighthearted side once it goes there. As you said, this could be the series really pandering to the youngest of viewers to make that money, but in all seriousness, Dragon Ball should be able to survive on name alone and not have to pander for money's sake.

Well, its safe to say this series will not surpass DBZ.

[Hellspawn28]

I can see why they want to put the series on Sunday morings since Kai seeing that it seems like the right time slot for kids to watch TV. I don't think most kids are still awake for most late night TV shows. With Sunday Morining shows, you can still get away with darker storylines. I mean some of the recent Kamen Rider shows got away with some dark and serious stuff like Kamen Rider Gaim. We still haven't seen the rest of the Future Trunks arc yet. So far, we are in the right track with the tone in my opinion.

[sintzu]

We still haven't seen the rest of the Future Trunks arc yet. So far, we are in the right track with the tone in my opinion.

The tone is great, the problem is Toei messing it up every few minutes with "funny" Pilaf gags.

[VegettoEX]

The tone is great, the problem is Toei messing it up every few minutes with "funny" Pilaf gags.

Define "messing up." I'm enjoying it and them a lot.

[Faisal Shourov]

No. Dragon Ball's main target audience has always been young boys and that will never change.

I think he's saying that previously DBZ was made to be enjoyable even for teenagers, now the production is strictly aiming for kids only. Barely any blood, and way too bright like other kids cartoon