DBZ (finally) returns as the main series brand for marketing as DBS brand is on it's death bed

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DBZ (finally) returns as the main series brand for marketing as DBS brand is on it's death bed

Post by Baggie_Saiyan » Sun Mar 05, 2023 5:46 am

Long time no see folks, this isn't really a come back of sorts for me on here I am still effectively done discussing Dragon Ball in any depth but figured I'd share some interesting information that people may find interesting and could potentially shed light on what the future may hold for DB

Now in case people aren't aware, I have been following DB's marketing since 2017, which as a result eventually made me become well involved with the Japanese fandom so I had noticed a shift amongst the Japanese fans when it came to DBS, since the show was off air and had been several years since Broly opened a lot of Japanese folks ended up showing interesting in original 3 series merch rather than DBS merch. And then last year I noticed a change in Bandai's marketing strategy before SUPER HERO opened...

For context during the peak of DBS, Bandai would slap the DBS logo EVERYWHERE I mean even on things not DBS related like this Saiyan arc Kuji then in February of last year (2022) they announced Android Kuji as you can see it had the DBZ logo not DBS, okay fine nothing to read into but then in March of that year (2022) Bandai released a UI Goku figure and it was one of the lowest ordered DB figures EVER to the point we haven't had another UI Goku figure since (we currently have figure schedules up to September 2023)

Then of course SUPER HERO opens in Japan and the box office is underwhelming, this is due to the shitshow that was a marketing campaign with the fact the DBS brand was slowly dying in Japan it needed a strong marketing push (ironically Broly didn't need that much marketing cuz DBS was still running on a high)

Now come 2023

Several marketing campaigns in Japan have started that are DBZ specific related as opposed to DBS, then it's been one year and counting since the last time Bandai released a non SH DBS related figure now this is where things get complicated they are treating SUPER HERO as a separate brand from DBS whereas for Broly they combined the film with the main DBS brand and now DBZ is taking priority over series branding in Japan, and as you can see DBS has been dropped completely too

Back in 2018 they couldn't wait to slap the DBS logo everywhere and now they are trying their best to ignore it as much as possible! Bandai Namco own shares in Toei Animation so I am sure they must be aware of what Toei have planned for the future and ask yourself would they and Toei happily allow the DBS brand to effectively die and allow DBZ to takeover if they had any imminent plans for a second season of DBS?

Final word, none of this is surprising, DBS was all hype. Since it's been off air it's made people realise that show was hollow and simply didn't have the staying power of the original 3 series (yes I include GT in that as I have seen a shift in the fandom where more and more people are starting to appreciate GT more cuz of how bad DBS was, for example twitter interactions for posts I make on GT are not met with animosity anymore)

As great as SUPER HERO was, it's effectively a stand alone movie which after a decade of modern DB sums up what a colossal waste of time this decade has been....

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Re: DBZ (finally) returns as the main series brand for marketing as DBS brand is on it's death bed

Post by ABED » Sun Mar 05, 2023 7:52 am

Baggie_Saiyan wrote: Sun Mar 05, 2023 5:46 am Final word, none of this is surprising, DBS was all hype. Since it's been off air it's made people realise that show was hollow and simply didn't have the staying power of the original 3 series (yes I include GT in that as I have seen a shift in the fandom where more and more people are starting to appreciate GT more cuz of how bad DBS was,
Twitter isn't indicative of anything. It's hardly a representative sample. If what you're saying is true about GT and people are embracing it now, I'm sure the same is true about Super. Just give it time. It happened with the Star Wars prequels.
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Re: DBZ (finally) returns as the main series brand for marketing as DBS brand is on it's death bed

Post by TobyS » Sun Mar 05, 2023 8:14 am

I just bought a Dragonball Super T-Shirt from a Portuguese Supermarket a week ago.

I think Z branding is used a lot still for anything that isn't super specific but I really don't see a big thing here. They rebranded heroes to have super stuff in it, I think SUPER is here to stay.

As a personal take, I hate "Z" it was a total arbitrary split in the storyline and it makes me cringe when I here it on youtube as it's usually indicative of a certain type of Usually US based vegeta loving DBZEEE is Hardcore never read the manga kind of fan that's irritating.

Call me a gate keeping snob but that's just how I feel.

Whereas Super was a weird revival and midequal it made sense to call it something different imo.
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Re: DBZ (finally) returns as the main series brand for marketing as DBS brand is on it's death bed

Post by Dragon Ball Ireland » Sun Mar 05, 2023 10:21 am

Granted its anecdotal, but from what I've seen "Dragon Ball Z" is and has been the commonly accepted brand name in public consciousness since it exploded in the early 90s. It's what the world came to know the franchise as, and its what has had a lasting influence.

We're often reminded about how Goku turning Ultra Instinct broke the Internet or how Vegeta turning Ultra Ego will if further manga Chapters are adapted, but those moments would likely have been matched or even surpassed by Goku's first Super Saiyan transformation or Gohan turning Super Saiyan 2 against Cell if the Internet was as developed in the 90s as it is today.

In one of my previous jobs there was a middle aged woman who wasn't aware of what "Dragon Ball" was but then I said "Dragon Ball Z" and it rang a bell.

Also, when I was coming out of a screening of Super Hero last year there was a child with his mother who saw the poster in the cinema hallway and said "look mam, it's Dragon Ball Z", and said show isn't airing or streaming in Ireland, conversely Super is on Pop.

I'm sure we will still see Super branding where possible, but considering how much of a cultural phenomenon and influential property the "Dragon Ball Z" name was I would be surprised if we see Super having the same effect years down the line, even if the current generation will have fond memories of it to an extent.
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Re: DBZ (finally) returns as the main series brand for marketing as DBS brand is on it's death bed

Post by Jord » Mon Mar 06, 2023 9:22 am

Even during Super's heyday they avoided the using the brand name in video games. FighterZ was obviously Z-branded, with the inclusion of some Super and GT characters.

Kakarot was focused on telling the DBZ story, including using the Z-era BGM. DLC was also Z focused.

Marketing wise, with figurines and such it makes sense as well. While GT had unique looking forms and transformations for the heroes, Super only had slight deviations in colors such as a new hair color for Goku every number of episodes. I would argue that the original SSG looked more unique due to the slender build but that form was forgotten very very fast after introducing it.

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Re: DBZ (finally) returns as the main series brand for marketing as DBS brand is on it's death bed

Post by Jord » Tue Mar 07, 2023 4:39 am

The newly announced Budokai Tenkaichi game also uses the Z-branding.

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Re: DBZ (finally) returns as the main series brand for marketing as DBS brand is on it's death bed

Post by SupremeKai25 » Tue Mar 07, 2023 7:22 am

The message I got from OP is that they should just bring back the weekly Super anime, I concur.

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Re: DBZ (finally) returns as the main series brand for marketing as DBS brand is on it's death bed

Post by Thanos » Tue Mar 14, 2023 10:09 pm

Jord wrote: Tue Mar 07, 2023 4:39 am The newly announced Budokai Tenkaichi game also uses the Z-branding.
To be fair, the game's title has not been confirmed. They could very well drop the "Z" branding from the game for all anyone knows.
TobyS wrote: Sun Mar 05, 2023 8:14 am IAs a personal take, I hate "Z" it was a total arbitrary split in the storyline and it makes me cringe when I here it on youtube as it's usually indicative of a certain type of Usually US based vegeta loving DBZEEE is Hardcore never read the manga kind of fan that's irritating.
Well, that goes to a larger point. I don't know why the metaseries isn't just referred to in branding as what it is... "Dragon Ball", rather than the schizophrenic flipflopping of branding that's been happening over the years. If you release a line of merchandise with characters that appeared in the "Z" series and simply label it "Dragon Ball", no one will be confused.
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Re: DBZ (finally) returns as the main series brand for marketing as DBS brand is on it's death bed

Post by Skar » Thu Mar 16, 2023 10:12 am

I guess it's not really a surprise. I always assumed DBS was a temporary revival and the franchise would revert back to the more well known general Dragon Ball or DBZ branding. Most of the recent games focused on DBZ and had a DBZ form in the cover despite having some GT and DBS characters. There's also Jump Force and only included DBZ villains. It's not like DBS will disappear since GT characters and forms are still included in games and have some merchandise.
ABED wrote: Sun Mar 05, 2023 7:52 amTwitter isn't indicative of anything. It's hardly a representative sample. If what you're saying is true about GT and people are embracing it now, I'm sure the same is true about Super. Just give it time. It happened with the Star Wars prequels.
I'm not sure if it's necessarily fans are only now embracing GT and the prequels and it might be that enough time passed so only fans of them would still talk about them. Anyone who didn't like GT or prequels probably had gotten everything off their chest and wouldn't have much to say about them at this point. I know some people might reevaluate them years later so that could also apply. There's some ideas I appreciated about GT compared to DBS and the prequels compared to the sequels but my overall opinion hasn't really changed in an attempt to rewatch them.

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Re: DBZ (finally) returns as the main series brand for marketing as DBS brand is on it's death bed

Post by Dragon Ball Ireland » Thu Mar 16, 2023 10:28 am

The real question now would be could we see future movies carry the "Dragon Ball Z" branding as Broly and Super Hero have shown "Dragon Ball Super" can not just hold its own but outperform all the other movies.
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Re: DBZ (finally) returns as the main series brand for marketing as DBS brand is on it's death bed

Post by Desassina » Sun Mar 19, 2023 5:04 am

The real question is: if Dragon Ball Super was so bad, then how does a change in brand improve the series production, when the same mistakes could taint DBZ otherwise? We already had two Dragon Ball Z movies, not better than Broly and Super Hero, in my opinion, which paved the way for Super, and the nineties production isn't returning. I think that it's better to continue the current series instead of appealing to an old seal of quality and to let it live by its own merits.

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