Should Toriyama have called it quits sooner?
by Chris Anderson

Originally Posted: 3 April 2000

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Over 500 episodes. Multiple movies. Two TV specials. More than a few video games. Merchandise galore. Dragonball is absolutely huge in the volume of stuff it has produced. For over a decade, Dragonball has been fulfilling not only fans with its incredible story-line, but the pockets of those who own the series with its incredible marketing ability. Both have profited tremendously from it but at what price? Has greed and the endless desire of its fans made Dragonball into nothing more than endless repetition of battles that ultimately culminates with mass profit and satisfied business owners? Did the temptation of profit make Toriyama sacrifice his artistic values in favor of lining his own pockets? At what point did he finally just say, "Who gives a damn what happens to Dragonball? Lets just throw some bad guys out there, give Goku a new hairdo, and rake in the dough." Should he have gone with his first instinct and stopped the series at the Freezer saga or was his continuation of the series good for both the fans and the suits upstairs? Does the phrase 'Drag-on Ball Z' have any justification to it? Which way do you think?

Before you can argue one way or the other, you have think about the pros and cons of stopping earlier. This can really only be done from one spot: the end of the Freezer saga. What's good about the show not stopping there? What's bad? You must first consider this before you can decide.

What would have been good about the show stopping here? Well for starters, it provides a much more satisfying and dramatic ending than what happens at the end of the Majin Buu saga. The legendary Super Saiya-jin, the one which is supposed to have so much power that not even he himself can control it all, the one which is not even believed to exist, has come forth as Son Goku. Only, he can control the power! This is incredibly dramatic and from a literary standpoint, is much better than what happens afterwards. Here, there is only one Super Saiya-jin not many like later in the series. Son Goku, the main character of Dragonball and the most loved, does what no one else is capable of doing; he defeats Freezer, the greatest and most powerful being in the entire galaxy. And he does it alone and by his own power. Not even the Genki-Dama, the ultimate and most powerful technique there is, the one which only a fraction of its power was enough to nearly incapacitate Vegeta, not even this was enough to kill Freezer. But Goku, alone and without any special techniques, was able to do. He was stronger than the combined might of an entire world. And in the end, he must sacrifice his own life in order to make sure Freezer does not get off the planet. And then the Super Saiya-jin, the ultimate being of legend, dies again but this time out of the desire to save others and not because he can't control his own power. Goku here, is the strongest in the universe. He has no equal. This brings his character to a successful close. He is the best there is. His constant challenging of himself has finally resulted in him being the most powerful warrior ever. There is no where else for him to go and he dies in a way most befitting a warrior like him; in battle.

The end of the Freezer saga also presents a sorrowful but fulfilling ending for the rest of the characters. Nearly all the z-senshi are gone. Kurrurin, Yamcha, Tenshinhan, Chauzou, and Vegita are all dead. The only people still alive are those who are minor characters, such as Muten-Roshi, Lunch, Yajirobee, and two major characters: Bulma and Gohan. And the only warrior strong enough to actually protect people from any serious threat is Son Gohan, the last of the Saiya-jin race and the one who is the most unlike them; he is peaceful, which gives an ironic and satisfying ending to the Saiya-jin race. This also brings a successful close to the Dragonball world. The Dragonballs are no more. With Piccolo and Saichoru dead, both sets of balls are gone. No more wishes can be made, no one can be brought back to life, so there is really no more to do. Dragonball has been built around searching for the Dragonballs and fighting; with no more Dragonballs and the ultimate warrior dead, there is nothing else to do. The story has run its course.

(Note: I realize that during the course of the Freezer battle, Saichoru is brought back to life, Piccolo is not really dead, etc., etc., but these things would have never happened if Toriyama had decided to end the story. They were added in afterwards so that he could continue the story. What I have written is above is what would have happened if Toriyama had gone through with his original plans.)

Obviously, ending with the Freezer saga gives a more dramatic and fulfilling ending than where the series does end. You may be saying at this point, "Okay, so really no good comes of continuing the series. Toriyama messed up by going on." But there are cons to ending the series here too and to understand them, you must look at the pros of not stopping with the death of Freezer.

There are a number of positive things that came out of Dragoball's continuance. The first are some of the fabulous characters that evolved from it. Had Toriyama stopped at the Freezer saga we would have never met Mirai no Trunks, easily one of the most popular characters ever. Goten and Chibi Trunks, whose friendship and interaction presents some of the best moments in Dragonball, would have never been seen. Mr. Satan, Cell, Majin Buu, Dr. Gero, Videl, Kaioushin; none would have ever been met. The characters personalities would have never evolved to the points to which we see them. We get to see Kurrurin, the man who seems to get shafted at every point, finally get a wife. We see Gohan's maturity, the evolution of his emotions, and his understanding of the necessity to fight for justice. We see Bulma change to exactly what she always hated, a tied-down housewife. The love that Vegita learns to express towards his son and wife, his final sacrifice and the emotional last words that accompanies it: we would have seen none of it.

And the characters are only part of the pros of continuing the series. The story-line also gets incredibly interesting and unpredictable beyond the Freezer saga. The son of Vegita and Bulma traveling back in time to save Son Goku's life from a mysterious illness so he may save the Earth from androids that were created by his childhood enemy; but this in turn leads to a disruption in time that causes different robots to fight the z-senshi. A being from a different time-line than either the present one or Trunks' who causes Gohan to go beyond his father in power. The involvement of the Gods who represent not just a planet but entire sections of the universe, mystical Gohan, fusion: the list goes on and on. Each plot twist lends a new dimension to DB and introduces the viewer to more of Toriyama's world. It fleshes it out.

But not everything is great in the Cell and Majin Buu sagas. For one thing, Toriyama had to come up with reasons why some things didn't happen and these can be somewhat lame at times. One is the reason why Saichoru could be resurrected: that Freezer gave him stress problems which led to a slightly pre-mature death. Another is that Piccolo just didn't die from Freezer's beam, he was only severely wounded. These just don't sound real convincing and it looks like he was just scrambling for any reason for the series to continue and to make more money.

Another problem is that Toriyama seemed to get so bored at times that he just started making things happen without a whole lot of story to them. This is most evident with the later characters achieving the Super Saiya-jin stages. Goten and Chibi Trunks just achieve this powerful level with no explanation and its treated as no big deal. Goku and Gohan had to go through severe emotional battles before they reached it but they just seem to have it. The Super Saiya-jin 3 stage is also another problem because it is so easily reached compared to the others; you just have to train a lot and boom; your level 3. Levels 1 and 2 are not reached as easily as this (not counting of course, Goten and Chibi Trunks). Plus, Gohan trains even harder than Goku and Gotenks (with Kaioushin and the Zet sword) but he doesn't reach this level. Here, Toriyama bowed down to the fans rather than what he wanted and would have made more sense, and basically ditched Gohan in favor of everyone's favorite super hero, Goku. This is the ultimate form of selling out.

The ending of the series also leaves much to be desired. Goku defeats Majin Buu, everyone's brought back to life, and then he goes off to train with Uubu; and that's it. It's like a happily-ever-after ending but with no tie in. Ending it with the Freezer saga successfully ends the story, no Dragonballs, no Goku, no more enemies, it's all over. With the end of the Majin Buu saga, there's no satisfaction with the ending. Things continue as they always do except that Toriyama isn't writing about it. This open ending is too open and needs something to fill it.

Enter Dragonball GT which is so incredibly crappy it shouldn't even bear the name Dragonball. It is obviously nothing more than a shameless attempt to continue cashing in on Dragonball's success but it contains nothing of the emotions or storytelling that made the series' before it so popular. About the only thing it does do is complete the story, the Dragonballs are gone and Goku is dead, but Toriyama didn't write and therefor, it didn't happen. It is nothing more than a fan-fic and this leaves the us with the empty ending of the Majin Buu saga. There is no real ending to the series.

So what am I getting at here? Well I am simply asking this: does Dragonball have any sort of value to it or is it nothing more than a clever merchandising scheme designed to create big profits for its owners? The series was obviously supposed to end with the Freezer saga but went on due to pressure from fans and business owners. Was what resulted true to the original spirit or crap that Toriyama made to make money? Did he stop caring after a while and just do whatever he could to satisfy fans and therefor make profits or does his love and devotion shine all the way through? Is the series too long and is the end of it just mechanical battles designed to appease hardcore fans? Or does it remain interesting right up to the final credits? Does Dragonball have any sort of value to it or is any value it might have too submerged under cheesy merchandising and unethical reasons for development? The answer:

What do you think?

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