Manga/Dragon Ball

Oh, I thought the Hooligans thing was funny. That wasn't what I was protesting.

I protest that Bulma will spend all her time looking after Bra, that's what Trunks is for.

Trunks is like 8 or 9 now, he's in no position to look after a baby.

This is Japan, though. After what they did with Videl, I don't trust them with female characters anymore. If Bra is born, Bulma's entire character is going to shift to be "I must look after my baby because that is what a mother must do and I must never do anything else important again. Because I've had my babies."

I mean, Bulma was pretty active with Baby Trunks in the Cell Saga, but...I doubt that's going to happen again. Dragon Ball is not trying to push boundaries anymore. It's playing it ridiculously safe.

This is Bulma, though, it's a bit different. Her character still has a degree of relevance even after her importance has dwindled down.

This is true. Bulma is still playing a role in the story despite having a child.

Though she's always been more of a main character then Chi-chi or any of the others, so maybe that's not so much of a shock.

So...Let me just say that I hate the Videl has totally given up being a fighter and now devoted herself to home-maker. However, I suddenly had a thought on it that might be more than because she's a woman as an explanation for giving up being a fighter.

I mean, looking back, it seemed like Videl was fighting because of the influence of her dad. He's the world champ. He goes out and—supposedly—defeats Cell, and becomes a big hero.

So now here's Videl. Maybe she was already fighting before, or maybe she took it up after the thing with Cell, but it's possible that she was doing Martial Arts not because she necessarily enjoyed it, but rather because she felt that, as the daughter of the man who saved the entire planet, she was obligated too. You know, the way any child of a famous parent might feel obligated to take up their parent's occupation.

So she gave up fighting, not just because of just getting married, but also because she didn't really like fighting as much as she felt she had to fight.

Of course, there's no way it's anything this complicated. We all know the real reason is bullshit now you're married, so Stay in the Kitchen logic, but still, I kinda like this idea.

edited 15th Feb '16 7:08:26 PM by HandsomeRob

She's rich and she doesn't care about her kids, she has people to do that for her.

Speaking of ages of Pan and Bra, why are Goten and Trunks still not allowed to grow up? Like I know it was a thing for Goku back in the day, but Gohan went through physical changes in his design as he got older.

Trunks seems a little taller.

Saiyan growth spurts are weird.

...Gohan was still pretty small at 11. 12. Whatever. Time chamber.

edited 15th Feb '16 7:10:45 PM by unnoun

Because if they got older, we'd get closer to the epilogue, and they aren't gonna let that happen.

I always thought it was so the target audience still had kid characters to relate to. But Goten and Trunks aren't even doing anything in this arc, so...beats me.

Gohan was 9 during the Cell Games, even factoring in his almost-year in the HTC. Bra barely appeared in the original ending but, based on her design, I could easily see her as being a 3-year-old and younger than Pan.

This isn't Heroes, but now we have yet another character who's getting Super Saiyan for the card games. ...I think.

I'm sorry. I think you mean Super Satan.

If Super Satan's in ICCarddass, he's gotta be in Heroes next.

Along with Beebus, of course.

edited 15th Feb '16 10:38:43 PM by Rinsankajugin

8x

Then again, Goku didn't grow until his mid/late teens.

Anyway, i doubt we have to worry about Bulma written off, she's major part of the show and will more than likely be part of the hunt for the last Super Dragon Ball.

Still before Pan.

Gohan's name.

Ouch.

edited 16th Feb '16 5:18:14 AM by unnoun

Not quite, Gohan's name is pronounced the same way but spelled differently. Or maybe it's the other way around? The point is, that's not the literal meaning of his name, but a pun.

I think the "han" part of his name literally means "rice" and the word "gohan" for rice in Japanese and Gohan's name still have that "han" part but the "go" part in the word is different from the "Go" part of his name.

I think the "Go" part in his name means "understanding" or "enlightened" or something.

Goku's name means "understanding the sky" and Goten's means "understanding heaven".

...Or maybe the other way around?

So Gohan's name would be "understanding rice".

Either way, Gohan's name is a pun on rice.

I like that fanfic/analysis because it's just so mean.

edited 16th Feb '16 5:32:12 AM by unnoun

Looking for opinions. I'm having a disagreement with another troper on the wiki as to whether the Piccolo Daimao saga qualifies as a Bittersweet Ending. It all depends on where you actually consider the arc to end.

After defeating Piccolo, Goku is healed by Yajirobe with a Senzu and returns to Karin's Tower. Karin comes up with the idea for Goku to meet God and sends him out to grab the Nyoi-bo. Goku gets a new Kintoun, flies to Kame House, grabs his Nyoi-bo, and climbs up to the Lookout where, after a brief meeting with Popo, he meets God.

God agrees to recreate the Dragon Balls because of Goku's integrity, but only on the grounds that Goku remains on the Lookout to train with him. Goku accepts this offer, everyone is brought back to life. This all appears to happen in the space of, like, an afternoon. And then time flashes forward to the start of the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai.

What would you consider to be the point where the Piccolo Daimao arc ends and the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai begins? The point of Piccolo's death or the timeskip?

The time skip. Everything between Daimaou's death and it is just the denouement.

Wanted to add, in the official anime release the King Piccolo Saga and the next story arc, Piccolo Jr Saga, are considered two different story arcs. By the end of the King Piccolo Saga, all the people who are killed by Piccolo are still dead and the Dragon Balls destroyed. These things are not corrected officially until the next saga, even if it only counts for a day. I don't know how the manga does it, but these are the official saga titles from Funi.

It is true that Funimation classifies the Piccolo Jr. arc as beginning immediately after Piccolo's death. The manga, meanwhile, puts the end of the volume that concludes the Piccolo Daimao arc during the tournament itself. The first issue of the volume is Piccolo swearing to get serious in his fight with Goku and the final issue is the drawing of lots for the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai.

The original Japanese releases of both manga (via Shonen Jump) and anime makes no distinction at all and just continues sequentially from Piccolo Daimao to Tenkaichi Budokai with no break whatsoever, because Dragon Ball wasn't created with the idea of "seasons" in mind.

edited 16th Feb '16 9:23:21 AM by TobiasDrake

The only old manga that I can actually recall was made with seasons/parts in mind was JJBA and that's more "Time to timeskip and switch protagonist since the villains are defeated". Unlike DB the manga is still ongoing and we're up to the 8th protagonist.

I consider the Demon King Piccolo arc to be over right before the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai time-skip.

Well, you just have to think of it like it were a movie.

If the movie had ended with Piccolo's defeat and just stopped there, would it make any sense? That's what I thought. Everything up to the timeskip is basically the epilogue, and from the timeskip forward it's the sequel.

It's not just the final arc that has an epilogue, after all.