Dragon Ball has always changed and art in general changes, so I don't see how this is an issue at all.
We can criticize how Dragon Ball handles its character relationships. We can hope for things to improve. Dragon Ball isn't incapable of changing and improving.
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Maybe I'm just over looking something, but I've never noticed any sort of real change in Dragon Ball. Or at last nothing that is so outside of what it's been doing for a very long time.
We've had tonal shifts in the King Piccolo and Cell arcs.
At the very basics of what's being discussed, is for one of the supporting characters to show their personal, romantic life. That's not nothing new. The series got it's start because one of the main characters wanted a boyfriend, and another main character wanted a girlfriend. Most romantic stuff in the earlier, gag stuff was used for laughs. Like Yamcha and Chichi. I'm going to also say that Goku and Chi-chi's reunion was also for laughs. (I do wonder how far Chi-chi would have gotten if the brackets were different.) Nothing was ever really covered when it came to Yamcha and Bulma. Trunks disclosed that Vegeta and Bulma were his parents, and we never got much info on how any of that worked. I think the most info we get on any romantic relationship has to be Krillin and 18, Gohan and Videl, and Trunks and Mai, and each of those are barebones. But we do see hints at actual romantic feelings on each person.
At best, I can see a photograph of a significant other, or a offhand mention of a boyfriend. Maybe a shot of Jiren leaving home to go to work and there's the boyfriend, or something that looks like a boy.
I know what year it. And the various reasons why this would be done, for Jiren or any other character. Do you even care that this could potentially be a marketing/PR move if done? Heck, do we even have any black supporting characters in this show, yet?
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/not mad
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