Official On-Going Dragon Ball Super Movie #2 Thread: "Super Hero"

[kemuri07]

I understand that the delay would've had some kind of negative effect on the Japanese box office, but it made like almost half of what Broly made in Japan. Super Hero did 18.5M USD vs Broly's 34.5M USD. That's really bad.

The movie making way more money in the US than Japan is actually hilarious and embarassing. The film released in the US 2 months after Japan, got leaked online and still managed to make $38M USD.

You've got to bare in mind that the exchange rate was weaker when Super Hero came out when compared to Broly. So rather than it being 18.5M USD against 34.5 USD it was really 2.5B vs 4B JPY so closer to about two thirds of Broly.

The movie had no real hook in the marketing, that was the problem. Except for it being CG which the Japanese don't much care for... its selling point was just that it was more Dragon Ball.

And this is the most important thing:

I mean DBS: Broly was just more Dragon Ball, but it had several things going for it: namely that it was able to start its hype cycle during the anime's run, featured Goku and Vegeta heavily, rebooted the Broly movies which were astronomically popular, didn't have to deal with an ongoing pandemic.

Granted, Toei had always been upfront about Super Hero always being a "smaller" film compared to Broly, and I imagine that fact (as well as Covid) went into their estimates over how much they were going to make.

[dragonballhero]

Damn, you ever just think about how funny and cute the Piccolo and Pan scenes are?

I'm going to be honest here... I know I'm probably going to come off as all kinds of weird for saying it, but I honestly feel as though Super Hero WOULD have been my favorite Dragon Ball movie of all time... if only Piccolo was a solo act or only he and Pan dealt with the RRA.

Again, I know it sounds really crazy, but I legit feel as though Gohan sort of getting shoved into the plot (in-universe, by Piccolo) sort of took me out of it more than I thought it would. I don't hate Gohan or anything, but I think I would have found it more fun if Piccolo (and Pan) solo'd the RRA here.

Gohan absolutely has no place in this film and it's so fucking clear that the film would be soooooo much better if it was just Piccolo and Pan.

Yep, pretty much. If anything, this movie pretty much reinforced to me the fact that Gohan is definitely NOT suited to be Dragon Ball's lead character. In a series like DB, the 'reluctant hero' schtick would only get him so far as a lead.

Also (and maybe I'm giving Gohan WAY too much credit here), I've always been of the belief that if Gohan were to train on Goku and Vegeta's level, not only would he quickly surpass them, but I imagine the foes he would end up fighting would have to be pretty insane to pose any real challenge to him or (like with Cell and Super Buu) he would have to be given quite the handicap to make things last longer than a few chapters/episodes.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

I never understood why so many fans wanted Gohan to be Goku's successor. Its clichéd and I prefer that the former is not a clone of the latter. It is so much more in character for the person Goku passes the torch on to be the reincarnation of someone he enjoyed a great fight with years ago.

[JulieYBM]

Gohan is really boring as a character, in large part because Toriyama has this weird idea that Gohan can only be this one thing and he has continually repeated that or led others to repeat that and it's just exhausting.

[super michael]

Gohan is really boring as a character, in large part because Toriyama has this weird idea that Gohan can only be this one thing and he has continually repeated that or led others to repeat that and it's just exhausting.

You are right I don't know why Gohan can't do both study and train, there is the ROSAT so he doesn't miss out on earth.
With Gohan it is like he has to choose either study or train, which is I think is crazy.

Pan she goes to kindergarten and trains. I assume Pan studies.

Pan in my opinion is worthy to be a main character. Goten and Trunks are worthy to be main characters, especially in the manga they are super heroes.

[GreatSaiyaman123]

Gohan is like that because Chi-Chi pushed him to be a student and not a fighter. He doesn't like fighting, why would he waste time with something he doesn't like?

I don't remember if the anime made him to be a fighting junkie in the ToP (I just remember the stuff about letting his guard down), but in Toriyama's mind Gohan only fights/trains when he has to, and he currently doesn't have to because Goku always saves the day. Gohan only saved the day once and whenever he steps up he only does secondary stuff, regardless of training.

[dragonballhero]

I never understood why so many fans wanted Gohan to be Goku's successor. Its clichéd and I prefer that the former is not a clone of the latter. It is so much more in character for the person Goku passes the torch on to be the reincarnation of someone he enjoyed a great fight with years ago.

Me neither. Like, don't get me wrong. I like Gohan and honestly? His adventures navigating high school were quite fun, but even I was really hoping that DB wouldn't lean TOO far into whatever it was becoming during the Great Saiyaman mini-arc (Mind you, I'm someone who enjoys Toriyama's writing, even when it's NOT all fighting).

Gohan is really boring as a character, in large part because Toriyama has this weird idea that Gohan can only be this one thing and he has continually repeated that or led others to repeat that and it's just exhausting.

Funny thing is, Super seems to occasionally jab at Gohan with that idea (that almost everyone he knows has found him to be rather dull, especially folks who meet him for the very first time). Not going to lie, I've actually kind of liked that gag, as long as they don't get all mean-spirited about it.

Gohan is really boring as a character, in large part because Toriyama has this weird idea that Gohan can only be this one thing and he has continually repeated that or led others to repeat that and it's just exhausting.

You are right I don't know why Gohan can't do both study and train, there is the ROSAT so he doesn't miss out on earth.
With Gohan it is like he has to choose either study or train, which is I think is crazy.

Pan she goes to kindergarten and trains. I assume Pan studies.

Pan in my opinion is worthy to be a main character. Goten and Trunks are worthy to be main characters, especially in the manga they are super heroes.

Actually, I think Pan is a much better choice for DB's new lead, if they ever go that route. Personally, I think KaiserNeko (of TFS) sums up better than me why Pan would be a fitting replacement lead if (for whatever reason) Goku isn't used or at the very least, if Goku and Vegeta aren't around at the moment.

https://twitter.com/KaiserNeko/status/1 ... 9314436098

Gohan is like that because Chi-Chi pushed him to be a student and not a fighter. He doesn't like fighting, why would he waste time with something he doesn't like?

I don't remember if the anime made him to be a fighting junkie in the ToP (I just remember the stuff about letting his guard down), but in Toriyama's mind Gohan only fights/trains when he has to, and he currently doesn't have to because Goku always saves the day. Gohan only saved the day once and whenever he steps up he only does secondary stuff, regardless of training.

It honestly throws me off sometimes how Gohan defeated ONE main antagonist and all of a sudden everyone hyping him up to be Goku's successor. It doesn't exactly help that 'Z' was a lot of folks' first exposure to DB too.

[The Monkey King]

Pan is like a fusion between Kid Goku and Arale, she'd be great as a new protagonist for Dragon Ball

[Issei189]

Gohan is really boring as a character, in large part because Toriyama has this weird idea that Gohan can only be this one thing and he has continually repeated that or led others to repeat that and it's just exhausting.

You are right I don't know why Gohan can't do both study and train, there is the ROSAT so he doesn't miss out on earth.
With Gohan it is like he has to choose either study or train, which is I think is crazy.

Pan she goes to kindergarten and trains. I assume Pan studies.

Pan in my opinion is worthy to be a main character. Goten and Trunks are worthy to be main characters, especially in the manga they are super heroes.

Well, Gohan was doing both of those things in the manga atleast until Toyotaro adapted the movie recently where he's following Toriyama's script and had no choice but to regress Gohan. In the manga, Gohan had kept up his training after the TOP during the Moro saga. Piccolo also called him the third strongest after Goku and Vegeta in this. In this arc, Gohan also showed up himself to defend the Earth without Piccolo dragging him or calling him out to the fight. If Toriyama had written Gohan similarly to this in the movie where he only shows up to fight Cell Max and also reveals that he unlocked a new transformation (Beast) through training then this would have been good progression. It also would have been a good follow up to Anime Gohan's goal which was him obtaining an Utlimate form that no one has seen before and he said this to Goku during his sparring match in Pre-TOP training eps.

The problem in my opinion is that neither Toyotaro and Toei have the guts to criticize Toriyama's writing and give him proper suggestions. Toriyama wouldn't really have minded it

[GreatSaiyaman123]

It honestly throws me off sometimes how Gohan defeated ONE main antagonist and all of a sudden everyone hyping him up to be Goku's successor. It doesn't exactly help that 'Z' was a lot of folks' first exposure to DB too.

To be fair, I'd argue Gohan already was the co-protagonist of Z. He beats Vegeta and is way more present than Goku for most of the Freeza Saga. He was also going to be the main character in the Boo Saga before Toriyama felt Goku had to stay.

But I say "was" because his train already parted. DBS reassures this is Goku's story and Gohan is just a very important secondary character who gets his occasional spotlight. I don't think anyone in their right minds would expect Gohan to ever be a main character after the Boo Saga.

[sangofe]

Pan is like a fusion between Kid Goku and Arale, she'd be great as a new protagonist for Dragon Ball

Just don't make her GT Pan...

[Noah]

Chikashi Kubota (Super Hero character designer) just had a panel in Japan Expo Sud, a french anime/manga event and revealed some information:

- The actual production for the movie took 1 year and a half. He feared he wouldn't be able to meet the deadline, but then Toei got hacked and he got extra 2 months to finish the movie well...

- When he worked in DBS Broly he said to Norihiro Hayashida (producer) to trust the character designs to him one day, because there's no bigger animator DB fan than him.

- He felt it was a shame that the movie would be 3D, so his condition to be the character designer was to have at least one fully 2D scene. That was the recap in the beginning solely done by him.

-Toriyama met the main staff from DBS Broly, but Kubota still didn't met him because Super Hero has been made during covid.

- He told Hayashida if they ever decide to remake DB to count with him. His 2D recap is like his portfolio to convince them to do it.

Source

These are quite interesting insights. Although I got used to the CGI in the movie while watching it, what really captivated me was the 2D introduction at the beginning. Man, if the animation had followed that style throughout, it might have attracted a much larger audience, even if the story was weak and once again relied on unnecessary transformations popping out of nowhere.

Quote from Akira Toriyama himself regarding the movie's dumb name:

Spoiler:

The Godlike infallible qualities fans give Toriyama sometimes is really annoying.

Yeah, right? People tend to forget how terrible Resurrection 'F' (2015) was, solely produced because Toriyama couldn't handle the criticism that Battle of Gods (2013) received for having less combat or a more tense storyline and yet some used to say that the guy didn't care about what the fanbase thought. What this franchise currently lacks is someone like Toriyama's directors back when he was producing the manga—people unafraid to speak their minds and give their opinions on any concept they found lame and/or could be changed in the story. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be anyone with that profile anymore; they're probably a bunch of yes-men.

So I really enjoyed this movie, and I just found out in the few hours that internationally it did gangbusters...But it wasn't well received in Japan. Makes me wonder how this will play out in future movies or a new series. (if they do it) The international voice of Dragonball is the strongest it ever been. And surprisingly Toei has been willing to play ball internationally. But if the Japanese fans don't care for what's coming out, will Toei choose to cater to Japan first and international second, no matter how much money we could throw at them?

Japan remains Dragon Ball's biggest market by a wide margin. If there are any business decisions that will be made regarding how the franchise is handled, the Japanese will always be the ones to take into consideration the most. Every other market internationally is secondary.

Well, they're foolish. If you hold the rights to a franchise like DB that is not only huge in Japan but much bigger in other countries, I don't see why you shouldn't consider opinions there regarding the consumption of your products. However, I haven't seen what FoolsGil said as Super Hero was quite weak here in Latin America, with its cinemas mostly empty after the first week, so... I don't know if it was a success in the United States or Australia, but I'm glad that Japan didn't like it either, as it greatly reduces the chances of the next one being CGI again.

[Jiren The Alpha]

Chikashi Kubota (Super Hero character designer) just had a panel in Japan Expo Sud, a french anime/manga event and revealed some information:

- The actual production for the movie took 1 year and a half. He feared he wouldn't be able to meet the deadline, but then Toei got hacked and he got extra 2 months to finish the movie well...

- When he worked in DBS Broly he said to Norihiro Hayashida (producer) to trust the character designs to him one day, because there's no bigger animator DB fan than him.

- He felt it was a shame that the movie would be 3D, so his condition to be the character designer was to have at least one fully 2D scene. That was the recap in the beginning solely done by him.

-Toriyama met the main staff from DBS Broly, but Kubota still didn't met him because Super Hero has been made during covid.

- He told Hayashida if they ever decide to remake DB to count with him. His 2D recap is like his portfolio to convince them to do it.

Source

These are quite interesting insights. Although I got used to the CGI in the movie while watching it, what really captivated me was the 2D introduction at the beginning. Man, if the animation had followed that style throughout, it might have attracted a much larger audience, even if the story was weak and once again relied on unnecessary transformations popping out of nowhere.

Quote from Akira Toriyama himself regarding the movie's dumb name:

Spoiler:

The Godlike infallible qualities fans give Toriyama sometimes is really annoying.

Yeah, right? People tend to forget how terrible Resurrection 'F' (2015) was, solely produced because Toriyama couldn't handle the criticism that Battle of Gods (2013) received for having less combat or a more tense storyline and yet some used to say that the guy didn't care about what the fanbase thought. What this franchise currently lacks is someone like Toriyama's directors back when he was producing the manga—people unafraid to speak their minds and give their opinions on any concept they found lame and/or could be changed in the story. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be anyone with that profile anymore; they're probably a bunch of yes-men.

So I really enjoyed this movie, and I just found out in the few hours that internationally it did gangbusters...But it wasn't well received in Japan. Makes me wonder how this will play out in future movies or a new series. (if they do it) The international voice of Dragonball is the strongest it ever been. And surprisingly Toei has been willing to play ball internationally. But if the Japanese fans don't care for what's coming out, will Toei choose to cater to Japan first and international second, no matter how much money we could throw at them?

Japan remains Dragon Ball's biggest market by a wide margin. If there are any business decisions that will be made regarding how the franchise is handled, the Japanese will always be the ones to take into consideration the most. Every other market internationally is secondary.

Well, they're foolish. If you hold the rights to a franchise like DB that is not only huge in Japan but much bigger in other countries, I don't see why you shouldn't consider opinions there regarding the consumption of your products. However, I haven't seen what FoolsGil said as Super Hero was quite weak here in Latin America, with its cinemas mostly empty after the first week, so... I don't know if it was a success in the United States or Australia, but I'm glad that Japan didn't like it either, as it greatly reduces the chances of the next one being CGI again.

You mean the same guy that liked Resurrection 'F'? And Toriyama made the movie because he heard a song form Maximum the Hormone call 'F' let's not spread misinformation and make this plads look like a YouTube comment section, and the movie made more then Battle of Gods, so it looks like it was the right decision.

[QuakingStar]

Chikashi Kubota (Super Hero character designer) just had a panel in Japan Expo Sud, a french anime/manga event and revealed some information:

- The actual production for the movie took 1 year and a half. He feared he wouldn't be able to meet the deadline, but then Toei got hacked and he got extra 2 months to finish the movie well...

- When he worked in DBS Broly he said to Norihiro Hayashida (producer) to trust the character designs to him one day, because there's no bigger animator DB fan than him.

- He felt it was a shame that the movie would be 3D, so his condition to be the character designer was to have at least one fully 2D scene. That was the recap in the beginning solely done by him.

-Toriyama met the main staff from DBS Broly, but Kubota still didn't met him because Super Hero has been made during covid.

- He told Hayashida if they ever decide to remake DB to count with him. His 2D recap is like his portfolio to convince them to do it.

Source

These are quite interesting insights. Although I got used to the CGI in the movie while watching it, what really captivated me was the 2D introduction at the beginning. Man, if the animation had followed that style throughout, it might have attracted a much larger audience, even if the story was weak and once again relied on unnecessary transformations popping out of nowhere.

Quote from Akira Toriyama himself regarding the movie's dumb name:

Spoiler:

The Godlike infallible qualities fans give Toriyama sometimes is really annoying.

Yeah, right? People tend to forget how terrible Resurrection 'F' (2015) was, solely produced because Toriyama couldn't handle the criticism that Battle of Gods (2013) received for having less combat or a more tense storyline and yet some used to say that the guy didn't care about what the fanbase thought. What this franchise currently lacks is someone like Toriyama's directors back when he was producing the manga—people unafraid to speak their minds and give their opinions on any concept they found lame and/or could be changed in the story. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be anyone with that profile anymore; they're probably a bunch of yes-men.

Japan remains Dragon Ball's biggest market by a wide margin. If there are any business decisions that will be made regarding how the franchise is handled, the Japanese will always be the ones to take into consideration the most. Every other market internationally is secondary.

Well, they're foolish. If you hold the rights to a franchise like DB that is not only huge in Japan but much bigger in other countries, I don't see why you shouldn't consider opinions there regarding the consumption of your products. However, I haven't seen what FoolsGil said as Super Hero was quite weak here in Latin America, with its cinemas mostly empty after the first week, so... I don't know if it was a success in the United States or Australia, but I'm glad that Japan didn't like it either, as it greatly reduces the chances of the next one being CGI again.

You mean the same guy that liked Resurrection 'F'? And Toriyama made the movie because he heard a song form Maximum the Hormone call 'F' let's not spread misinformation and make this plads look like a YouTube comment section, and the movie made more then Battle of Gods, so it looks like it was the right decision.

Too late for that, seems a ton of the cringey instagram/youtube comment section people are here lol

[Noah]

Yeah, right? People tend to forget how terrible Resurrection 'F' (2015) was, solely produced because Toriyama couldn't handle the criticism that Battle of Gods (2013) received for having less combat or a more tense storyline and yet some used to say that the guy didn't care about what the fanbase thought. What this franchise currently lacks is someone like Toriyama's directors back when he was producing the manga—people unafraid to speak their minds and give their opinions on any concept they found lame and/or could be changed in the story. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be anyone with that profile anymore; they're probably a bunch of yes-men.

You mean the same guy that liked Resurrection 'F'? And Toriyama made the movie because he heard a song form Maximum the Hormone call 'F' let's not spread misinformation and make this plads look like a YouTube comment section, and the movie made more then Battle of Gods, so it looks like it was the right decision.

Mate, if you're only going to respond to my quote, you don't need to quote the entire thing. It's not that hard to edit your posts, ya know?

Now, you accuse me of spreading misinformation, yet you could very well be doing the same? IIRC, the song by Maximum the Hormone merely served as inspiration for the title of the film and not as inspiration for the film as a whole.

By the time BoG was released we had Toriyama's comment as "I wrote Battle of Gods again, then realized there was no fighting, so I added fighting on top of an already finished idea." and by the time RoF was going to be released he said "This time will of course be a continuation of the previous Battle of Gods, but I’ve deliberately increased the amount of action scenes by a good deal. With regards to the contents, they told me, “Keep it a secret!” like they’re all high-and-mighty, so I can’t touch on it yet, but it should be super-duper interesting! The fact that I’d say that, when I’m not big on the flashy action-stuff, means there’s no doubt about it! Even my very first editor Torishima, who rarely ever praises me, said, “This is good!”"

So yea, this strongly indicates that he was aware of the criticisms regarding the previous film, to the point where he wouldn't have emphasized that its sequel would have more action scenes if that weren't the case. Also it implies his editor liked the action stuff, not the thing as whole.

But back to my point, anyone can see that just as it was suggested for Toriyama to not only create a character resembling Broly (Kale) because he's popular, but also a film about him that would fit into his story, it's not difficult to deduce that the same was done regarding the sequel to Battle of Gods. It was suggested to him to make a film with more action since the last one had very little.

[YamiGoku]

I think one of the biggest problems with this franchise is that Toriyama is the main head, He can still write good stories, I think Super Hero was good, but the problem is that Toriyama is very forgetful and on top of that he doesn't care about details or continuity as he should, and without anyone stepping up and telling him things like "this contradicts this", "that creates a plot hole", "thats not how this character is right now", etc, we are going to always get character regressions, plot holes, and inconsistencies.

Toriyama needs someone that knows about Dragon Ball and knows when to tell him he should not write something "that way" or maybe tell him to change it a bit to make it make more sense.

But we have got this problem for years and Dragon Ball still is successful as ever, so I really dont think any of the heads of this franchise even remotely cares if things like these keep happening.

[Jiren The Alpha]

Spoiler:

Yeah, right? People tend to forget how terrible Resurrection 'F' (2015) was, solely produced because Toriyama couldn't handle the criticism that Battle of Gods (2013) received for having less combat or a more tense storyline and yet some used to say that the guy didn't care about what the fanbase thought. What this franchise currently lacks is someone like Toriyama's directors back when he was producing the manga—people unafraid to speak their minds and give their opinions on any concept they found lame and/or could be changed in the story. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be anyone with that profile anymore; they're probably a bunch of yes-men.

You mean the same guy that liked Resurrection 'F'? And Toriyama made the movie because he heard a song form Maximum the Hormone call 'F' let's not spread misinformation and make this plads look like a YouTube comment section, and the movie made more then Battle of Gods, so it looks like it was the right decision.

Mate, if you're only going to respond to my quote, you don't need to quote the entire thing. It's not that hard to edit your posts, ya know?

Now, you accuse me of spreading misinformation, yet you could very well be doing the same? IIRC, the song by Maximum the Hormone merely served as inspiration for the title of the film and not as inspiration for the film as a whole.

By the time BoG was released we had Toriyama's comment as "I wrote Battle of Gods again, then realized there was no fighting, so I added fighting on top of an already finished idea." and by the time RoF was going to be released he said "This time will of course be a continuation of the previous Battle of Gods, but I’ve deliberately increased the amount of action scenes by a good deal. With regards to the contents, they told me, “Keep it a secret!” like they’re all high-and-mighty, so I can’t touch on it yet, but it should be super-duper interesting! The fact that I’d say that, when I’m not big on the flashy action-stuff, means there’s no doubt about it! Even my very first editor Torishima, who rarely ever praises me, said, “This is good!”"

So yea, this strongly indicates that he was aware of the criticisms regarding the previous film, to the point where he wouldn't have emphasized that its sequel would have more action scenes if that weren't the case. Also it implies his editor liked the action stuff, not the thing as whole.

But back to my point, anyone can see that just as it was suggested for Toriyama to not only create a character resembling Broly (Kale) because he's popular, but also a film about him that would fit into his story, it's not difficult to deduce that the same was done regarding the sequel to Battle of Gods. It was suggested to him to make a film with more action since the last one had very little.

It's hard for me because my IQ is -21 celsius , But anyway, you said he couldn't handle the criticism he got because of the lack of action, were does it say that in this interview? were does it say that he felt he got pressed by the fans and made the movie have more combat because of it? it could also be because he watch the movie again and realised that the next movie needed more action, but we don't know, so interpreting somthing and pass it on as truth without concrete proof is misinformation imo.

And Toriyama himself said that the CONCEPT of the movie was inspired by the song.

The “F” stands for “Freeza”.

This is because it’s an idea that came to me in a flash after I listened to a song called “F” by Maximum the Hormone, whom I had been introduced to by a friend, back when I was fretting over what to do about the story for the next movie.

“F” is a song that sings about Freeza in a vulgar-yet-cool way.

I remembered how, back then, they told me, “Sorry, but we went ahead and sang about Freeza without asking”.

Aha! So that’s what I could do!

With that in mind, I was immediately able to write up a story where Freeza is revived.

V-Jump January 2015 Issue (21 November 2014)

[Noah]

I think one of the biggest problems with this franchise is that Toriyama is the main head, He can still write good stories, I think Super Hero was good, but the problem is that Toriyama is very forgetful and on top of that he doesn't care about details or continuity as he should, and without anyone stepping up and telling him things like "this contradicts this", "that creates a plot hole", "thats not how this character is right now", etc, we are going to always get character regressions, plot holes, and inconsistencies.Toriyama needs someone that knows about Dragon Ball and knows when to tell him he should not write something "that way" or maybe tell him to change it a bit to make it make more sense.
But we have got this problem for years and Dragon Ball still is successful as ever, so I really dont think any of the heads of this franchise even remotely cares if things like these keep happening.

That's my whole point and you explain well why there isn't someone like that currently, since the franchise basically profits from anything. So why bother with quality or at least a coherent story? Sometimes I think that the person questioning Toriyama or reminding him of story details he himself forgot could be Toyotaro, but I don't see him having the guts to question the man about anything or suggest something different from an idea he already has, unfortunately.

It's hard for me because my IQ is -21 celsius , But anyway, you said he couldn't handle the criticism he got because of the lack of action, were does it say that in this interview? were does it say that he felt he got pressed by the fans and made the movie have more combat because of it? it could also be because he watch the movie again and realised that the next movie needed more action, but we don't know, so interpreting somthing and pass it on as truth without concrete proof is misinformation imo.

And Toriyama himself said that the CONCEPT of the movie was inspired by the song.

Spoiler:

The “F” stands for “Freeza”.

This is because it’s an idea that came to me in a flash after I listened to a song called “F” by Maximum the Hormone, whom I had been introduced to by a friend, back when I was fretting over what to do about the story for the next movie.

“F” is a song that sings about Freeza in a vulgar-yet-cool way.

I remembered how, back then, they told me, “Sorry, but we went ahead and sang about Freeza without asking”.

Aha! So that’s what I could do!

With that in mind, I was immediately able to write up a story where Freeza is revived.

V-Jump January 2015 Issue (21 November 2014)

Oh, I didn't remember that excerpt from the interview. Thank you for clarifying it for me. Anyway, you took me too literally. I didn't mean to say that Toriyama simply looked in Twitter (which is highly unlikely) and saw fans complaining about the lack of action in BoG and decided to produce a sequel with more action for that reason. Rather, it was basically a chain effect: Toei heard the criticisms about the previous film and suggested that Toriyama write a new script for the next one containing more action than the last.

[MCDaveG]

The idea of Gohan being main protagonist, well that's thanks to the beginning of the Buu arc... We Gotta Power opening is pretty straightforward about it, but I can agree with others, that as Toriyama found that Gohan doesn't work, it is weird to force him into the latest movie with drastic power-up, because it happened many times already, with his Buu arc last time to shine ending in being absorbed and Goku returned back from being dead to save everyone.

Let the guy study if he does not enjoy fighting. But this schtick with Gohan having hidden power that outshines everyone when he gets harrased and forced enough. It was kinda on edge during the Cell arc already and it doesn't make him compelling character in the long run of all the shows.

I have same problem with Goten and Trunks, they were in the same position and many characters including Piccolo said things like: "You are sons of your fathers, it's in your blood to get strong and surpass your fathers...", so the usually end up as a cannon fodder for Gotenks to fail again and again... even tho, Gotenks was over the top fun character, that went to SSJ3.
This is one of those arguments, where it is indeed crucial to have a good writing and develop compelling characters, as clearly power levels and powerscalling doesn't really work here (or anywhere else for that matter). But to service the story with shortcuts, because hey, we have this character sitting here, doing nothing, doesn't enjoy the fighting, but he has this hidden power, so we will make him mad and obliterate everyone...

But I have this problem with most of the movies and tv shows recently. Fortunatelly, Super Hero was actually a fun movie and the story wasn't bad, I did enjoy Piccolo and Pan a lot, so I can give them slack for Gohan. But yeah, he doesn't work for me at all in the long run.
Gohan for me works when he is in his scholar/family mode and his interaction with others from that standpoint (besides like somebody mentioned, when everyone is mocking him for it, which doesn't really makes sense except maybe for Vegeta ) and gags.
When he steps in to fight seriously with out of the butt power-ups, I am thinking OK, but why did you "kill" this character as a warrior in the first place? At least, Super series tried hard to rectify him and they basically shoehorned him back into his Ultimate Buu arc mode. But I am not sure that it really works in the bigger world

[kemuri07]

The problem with Gohan is pretty much the same problem with nearly every single character in the franchise: his character arc pretty much completed basically 30 years ago. There's nothing that can be done with the character other than give him another power up.

With that said. I actualy did like the dynamic between Piccolo and Gohan (and Pan) as its a nice breather from the "Goku and Vegeta show." But if you're expecting anything more than that--you haven't been watching Super long enough.