I like the Pilaf Gang being there, but I don't like them just being there for no reason. It's emblematic of Super's general problem of wanting to have its cake and eat it to, playing characters just for the moment and then leaving them around half-finished (Son "gets the same identical plot on repeat three times throughout the series" Gohan is the other big example). The bit where they kidnap Pan and the scene where they tag along in Trunks' math class are my favorite scenes with them, because it both gives them a fun in to the characters' present world and in the later case shows they have potential to do fun things with the current characters.
If they're going to be plotting to take over the world but constantly failing while the characters don't even notice, that's funny. Don't just one-and-done it, do it. If they're going to be Satellite Characters for Trunks and Goten, that's interesting, do it (but give Goten more scenes first). Whether they're mentally old enemies in kids' bodies or kids with old enemy memories, give us some establishment, play with it a little. If Trunks and Mai are going to be a thing, sure it's a pill to swallow, but fans are likely more squicked because its constantly tossed at us in the form of coy hints while awkwardly avoiding the elephant in the room rather than just following through already. If Pilaf and the Gang are going go be a part of the plot, have them be a part of the plot. So what if they're too weak to be involved when fighting gods. That's the joke. It worked for Hercule. It's funny. Do something!
Super gets a lot of flak for not executing its ideas that well, but in the Pilaf Gang's case they're not really being executed at all. They're just... there. And that's a bit of a rant, for which I apologize, but again I see the Pilaf Gang as being a very quintessential example of where Super's flaws lie and where I hope the franchise improves in the future. There's just so much half-assing there.
There's almost a sense that Super introduced a whole grouping of character around Trunks in the first half of the series (and Goten, debatably) that they never had any intention of doing anything with.
Edited by KnownUnknown on Oct 11th 2018 at 10:13:14 AM
I could be wrong, and maybe I'm imagining it because of bias or missing something or whatever, but actually, looking through the manga. I can't quite tell when precisely it stops being a gag manga? And I think part of it is that it never really stopped on a structural level? The jokes started getting replaced with dramatic moments and fight scenes, but the basic narrative structure and storybeats and pacing of set-ups to punchlines stayed mostly the same.
It's probably why the Writing by the Seat of Your Pants and changing who the main villain and who the main hero were supposed to be so many times in a row basically worked. There was a fundamental irreverence to the story structure that never really left.
Yeah. There was still a lot of humour in the battles.
Though I'd say it's the Piccolo arc where the jokes really started getting pushed back, but even past that, the humour didn't die out (one arc later, we have all the stuff with Shen / Hiro / Kami, and also the return of Chi-chi.
But yeah, I definitely agree with unnoun that Toriyama never really left that Gag manga mentality. We've all stated he's a Gag Manga writer at heart, and it's even been pointed out that he is very particular about the jokes and puts them ahead of most other things.
How good is that? That depends on how you feel about certain things.
Edited by HandsomeRob on Oct 12th 2018 at 10:54:16 AM
One Strip! One Strip!![]()
I'll have to take your word for it, because the only other Gag Manga I know much about is Dr. Slump, and that's pretty over the top with its jokes...also from what little I've seen.
One Strip! One Strip!Yajirobe died in the Anime bad future, looks like Toei forgot about that.
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There was that one good episode of the Future Trunks arc that gave both Pilaf and Shu some much-needed Hidden Depths. Pilaf was revealed to be a coding master, which kind of explains his robots in the original series. Shu recognized Trunks' Image Training and knew to leave him alone out of respect, which does more to inform us of him being a legitimate ninja than all of his screentime wearing a ninja uniform ever did.
Edited by PushoverMediaCritic on Oct 11th 2018 at 7:18:40 AM