Fun Power Fantasy and Establishing Limits and Consequences

[Cure Dragon 255]

Since that other thread got a bit heated and once again dominated by a poster I decided to make this one. I like GT even if not as much as I did before but I am starting to see a concerning trend against the more "sugary" and "Unreal" elements in Dragon Ball which to me, like Duhrahgon Ball says is missing the point of Dragon Ball.

I will quote them here.

namek07 has asked:
With the Dragon Balls around, any mistake can be undone. In extreme circumstances, even people who have died can come back to life. Up until this point, it was repeatedly treated as a given. Unfortunately, however, such a useful tool doesn’t actually exist. They are clearly tools like something out of a dream, but what's need to achieve that dream is ultimately the strength of people so the people who gave rise to those corruptions take responsibility for them one by one, That's what I'm saying.

To which they answer:

What's your point? The Dragon Balls shouldn't be in Dragon Ball because they're not real?

Ki blasts aren't real either!

King Furry isn't real!

Saiyans aren't real!

Hoi Poi Capsules aren't real!

All that noise about how overusing the Dragon Balls is dangerous? That's not real either!

It's a fantasy story! The whole point is that there are ways to do miraculous things that wouldn't be possible in real life.

This right here is the big sin committed by Dragon Ball GT. It took a big, rich fantasy world, and started arbitrarily forbidding cool stuff for no reason. Dragon Balls? "Those are bad, m'kay?" Super Saiyan 1, 2, and 3? "Oh, we have to nerf those to the point where they barely matter." Gotenks? "No, we can't have that!" Pan and Bulla win some fights? "That's crazy talk, everyone knows girls can't do anything!"
And for what? Realism? There's an episode where Goku breathes underwater, for cripes' sake!

Which I agree its fair...


...but its not like the Establishing Limits and Consequences side is full of hot air. Too much "fun" and "escapism" can not only be harmful and dangerous ...but worse than that its BORING when there literally are very little consequences or weight to anything.


So I made this thread for a polite discussion on this issue.

[ABED]

What fun has been lost by placing a limit on the Dragon Balls or establishing a consequence to their overuse? What's been forbidden?

I don't see how a fun rich fantasy world and rules are antithetical. My issues with rules in fantasy worlds isn't they limit anything, it's usually that they're so detailed that it feels like homework to keep track of them.

[Cure Dragon 255]

What fun has been lost by placing a limit on the Dragon Balls or establishing a consequence to their overuse? What's been forbidden?

I don't see how a fun rich fantasy world and rules are antithetical. My issues with rules in fantasy worlds isn't they limit anything, it's usually that they're so detailed that it feels like homework to keep track of them.

I didnt mean the rules are bad. I meant more that its sometimes a bit misguided to want realism out of something whimsy, magical and fun. What I DO agree with you on is that rules ARE NOT agaisnt the fun and whimsy and can work with it.