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Dragon Ball Super: Doragon bôru cho (2015)
Regression of a franchise
Upon first watch, I knew this series had its issues, but I continued to watch because I love Dragon Ball and I wanted to see if it would get better, and sometimes it did, but it ultimately didn't matter because at the end of the day, the more I think about this show the more I hate what it did to the franchise.
There are so many reasons why I don't like the direction its making with everything, but some of the biggest examples are character flanderization/regression, the confused tone, the obligatory complaint about the inconsistent animation, the ugly plastic look to everything, massive powerscaling problems, and writing that makes fan fiction look stunning in comparison.
I think the biggest offender in this show is that it accomplishes nothing. How is the end of this show any different than the beginning? Okay, Goku is stronger, so what? Any changes at the end of the show are minor at best (oh hey, universe 11 is friendly now!!!!!111) so there ends up being so sense of progression. I hate to be a Z purist but at the end of Z, everyone is soooo much different, Gohan being the shining example, but even the "bad father" Goku has an arc and realized he was too distracted with getting stronger to protect his loved ones to see that he was neglecting them.
Speaking of which, Super Goku is an entirely different person. What an idiot. Goku being a bad father used to be a meme, now its reality. This man risked the life of his family and the collective multiverse to fight powerful opponents that didn't even know who he was...for what? Not only that, but this guy also never kissed his wife (yet had sex at least twice????), refuses to provide for his family to train (for what purpose?) and is constantly neglecting his own family...what a hero. Why are we supposed to like this guy again?
Even Vegeta, who went through a beautiful redemption arc in the Buu saga has returned to "I'lL SuRpAsS YoU CLoWN!!!11" just to give his character a reason to even be relevant.
Dragon Ball is so much more than beefy dudes punching each other in the face and powering up to Super Saiyan God Ultra Rainbow 8321. Its character growth through trial, fighting against the pain of death literally and psychologically, loving others no matter where they've been or what they've done, and the consequences that come with those things. Maybe I'm the only one that got that out of Z, maybe it really is just a dub thing (granted I got that out of Kai, not Z...), maybe I'm not really a DB fan, but all I know is this show has no idea what Dragon Ball truly is, and judging by its distracting focus on comedy its apparent that it doesn't really take its self seriously. What a waste. Or maybe not, since judging by the bad knock-off Frieza arc that was the tournament of power and its fan reaction, DB fans will eat up anything with bright colors and big laser beam fights (not to imply that this show even did that right). Don't get me wrong, I love those too, but if I don't have a reason to care about the big laser fights I'm not gonna like the show. The best parts of the show shouldn't be "OH BOY I SURE HOPE THIS TURNS INTO AN INTERESTING PLOT POINT", spoiler warning-- it won't. Its like the writers are dangling a good story in my face, and every time I try to grab it they yank it away. As much of a mess that GT was, at least they understood what DB was about. God knows whats next for this franchise. Even if they wise up I don't see things going back to the way they were. Why do I like this franchise again?
Dragon Ball Z: Super Senshi Gekiha!! Katsu No wa Ore da (1994)
Overhated
I have no idea why this movie is hated so much. Like okay, its not the greatest DBZ by any means, and it's not even a great movie in its own right, but worst Dragon Ball movie? Nah.
This movie has some good things going for it, well in terms of Dragon Ball things anyway, since the story is basically just the typical Dragon Ball formula schtick. First off, it primarily features characters that get little to no spotlight and allows them to save the day for once, those characters being Goten, Trunks, Krillin, 18, and Hercule. Unlike Second Coming, this movie actually features the kids fighting Broly in a non comedic way (ehhh...well at least in a way that isn't just running away the whole time...), and when it's just Bio Broly and the kids it's fairly enjoyable.
Another pro is the setting. This is a minor thing but just having the fight take place in a closed location is pretty cool. With that in mind, people are actually in danger and we actually get to see cool scenes like Goten stopping his fight with Broly despite having an advantage to save some scientists from the, uh...goo I guess. Again, not huge but nice little touch. The action in general in this movie is kinda cool. Not "WHOA UBER ACTION BRO" cool but like, cool enough to keep me interested. Better than Android 13's action anyway.
This is an unpopular opinion, but Bio Broly has a good, menacing design and I think it suits the movie well enough. I think the biggest problem with this movie is honestly the fact that it's a third Broly movie. If it was just some rando villain I'm guessing there's a good chance this movie would be liked a bit more.
This movie definitely has downsides too. Aside from the obligatory paper thin plot that comes packaged with nearly every old DBZ movie, the ending of this movie is pretty eh. Trunks finds out the goo stuff kills Broly so he shoots a ki blast at a pipe and it bursts, evaporating Broly. Then later, Broly rises out of the sea but hardens to rock. Pretty lame. The beginning aint too amazing either but at least it has some charm to it.
All in all, not a horrible horrible movie like everyone says it is. This movie is just simply an extension of the anime that lets you see the characters more. Mediocre, yeah. Worst DB movie? Far from it.