I wouldn't call the females in Dragon Ball "walking uterus's". I think that's going a bit too far. I mean the female characters of the show play as big as a role as the plot will allow them:
- Bulma: Super rich, super genius, capable of building anything, in one timeline she essentially saves the world by building freakin time machine and if you count GT, she was directly responsible for making Vegeta a Super Saiyan 4
- Chi Chi: The strongest pure blooded female on the planet, trained Goten in martial arts and is very capable marital artist of her own.
- Android 18: The strongest female character in all Dragon Ball. Kicked two Super Saiyans assess effortlessly and in one timeline, along with her brother, murder every major Z-Fighter and brings upon the End of the World as We Know It.
- Videl: Could give Chi Chi a serious run for her money in fight and is a world renowned crime fighter and later become superhero
All of them eventually get married, have children and settle down to live peaceful and normal... to some extent.
And, call me old fashioned, but the testosterone fueled, constantly doomed world that is Dragon Ball, isn't that what most women would want.
Dragon Ball does have a weak female cast, there's now denying. But I've said it before and I'll say it again, women always get dealt a lousy hand if they're are a character in a Shonen anime or manga. Naruto is probably the all-time worst example of how piss poorly you can manage your female characters. Literally every female character in Naruto is canon fodder.
And as far the role that a Saiyan would have to play it that Saiyan can't fight? If anything, Gine got off easy. Remember Tarble? That pacifistic bastard essentially got kicked of his own planet and sent to some God-forsaken planet in the galaxy, purely because he lacked aggression and couldn't fight.
edited 4th Jun '14 12:55:11 PM by FireShadow
Both Online and BoG are vocally confirmed, non-contradictory canon. GT is vocally confirmed non-canon.
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You've got a point. But it's still a pretty bad coincidence considering that other than the now-retconned Fasha, she's the only female saiyan we've seen.
I wouldn't've minded the chef thing if it came with some kind of ability other than that, especially considering the notoriety of saiyan appetites. But did he really have to outright say she sucked at fighting?
edited 1st Jun '14 8:37:00 PM by BaffleBlend
"It's liberating, realizing you never need to be competent." — Ultimatepheer
Didn't Toriyama state the the Saiyans in general are essentially assholes? What happened with Gine and Tarble pretty much backs it up.
If you're a female Saiyan and you suck at fighting, you become a Lunch Lady.
If you're a male Saiyan and you suck at fighting, you get kicked off the planet.
This is why if the Dragon Ball Universe was real and I could choose my race, I'd be a Majin.
This is 100% untrue. Nothing has been vocally confirmed canon or non-canon by anyone in any official capacity for the series.
Ranfan fought at the 21st Budokai Tenkaichi against Nam and Chi Chi battled Goku at the 23rd Budokai Tenkaichi... both of them lost pretty easily, but they put a good fight for whats its worth.
But the list of female characters in Shonen anime and manga that don't become Out of Focus, Cannon Fodder, Can't Catch Up, don't become a Broken Aesop and aren't Mary Sues isn't particularly long. But honestly it's a double standard because male characters get hit just as hard with those tropes as women do.
edited 2nd Jun '14 2:34:47 PM by FireShadow
This is true.
Especially in this story.
Hell, when you think about it, Pan in GT shows that even a weak Saiyan will get more screen time then the strongest human.
One Strip! One Strip!Yeah. After all the discussions we've had about Z, I long ago realized that I think I like the simplicity of the original series better.
One Strip! One Strip!If any part of Dragon Ball truly deserved a HD remake it certainly would be the original adventures of Dragon Ball. It had so much hilarity, charm, originality and feeling of adventure and mystique about it... then Krillin died and King Piccolo debuted... And. Shit. Got. Real.
edited 2nd Jun '14 5:26:01 PM by FireShadow
I'd love to see a HD Version of King Piccolo. That arc was amazing and dark.
The tournament that came after it was good too, everyone got a cool moment there. That is why I like the Cell Arc when it comes to DBZ because it has more of an ensemble cast than the rest. Even with all its flaws like Toriyama coming up with new villains every five seconds.
I need to rewatch the King Piccolo arc. I only saw it all the way through once, on Toonami.
Until then, Mercenary Tao is still my favorite Curb-Stomp Battle.
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Really? What about the 22nd Budokai did you like? For me, I only really liked Chaozu vs Kuririn. I feel Ten's development is just too rushed, so the Piccolo Daimao arc is when Dragon Ball starts getting good for me.
So I mostly agree, just differ by a single arc.
edited 3rd Jun '14 2:45:40 AM by Saiga
Tien development rushed? I don't think it is anymore rushed compared to Krillin or Piccolo. The fights feel more hardcore starting from the arc, like if someone gets beaten up, they are really getting beaten up. Jackie Chun/Goku is a close fight, but Chun is really his mentor, so you know there is no real stakes.
You know what I'm sick of? The implication of "non-canon" meaning "irredeemably horrible and could not feasibly happen in any reality", because that's what it usually means especially in this fandom. Just my two cents.
"It's liberating, realizing you never need to be competent." — UltimatepheerAnd this is why i will continue to recommend Inuyasha
no matter what some people say. Kagome was great, Sango was great, Kagura was great, Kikyo was...well she was there.
She and Bra also showed that being a woman means you get to be the only post-Namek Saiyans to not become a Super Saiyan.
In Bra's defense, she displayed no interest in anything that may result in becoming a Super Saiyan, but Pan just got straight-up snubbed.
edited 3rd Jun '14 9:31:44 AM by TobiasDrake
My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.![]()
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Agreed. Okay, so parts of the anime weren't Toriyama's story. But dammit, the anime team's story had some great moments too. First things that come to mind are the solid Garlic Jr. saga (which made Frieza's return much less abrupt, if nothing else), as well as the dead Z-Fighters taking on the Ginyu Force (which actually allowed them to show a degree of improvement in Z).
edited 3rd Jun '14 10:21:31 AM by DoctorDiabolical
Toriyama didn't make GT. Someone else made the decision that no woman can be a Super Saiyan, and that makes it worse.
My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.

I wouldn't have as much of a problem with her if it wasn't already established that saiyans aren't docile, period. I mean... you could at least say she fought ofscreen or something instead of just outright saying "she can't fight, Stay in the Kitchen". Literally, she's just a lunchlady remember.
edited 1st Jun '14 6:08:49 PM by BaffleBlend
"It's liberating, realizing you never need to be competent." — Ultimatepheer