Could Akira Toriyama have rode the wave longer?

[Fantastische Hure]

DragonBall unlike a-lot of other series went-out on top. Some series start-out popular and then fizzle-out, eventually getting cancelled. DragonBall is a rare case where it went-out as the top series. How much longer do you think he could have kept going? Could DragonBall have never stopped and still be on top (OK this is most likely a no)?

 

[Classic Adamas]

I think looking back Toyama could have continued for years and years if he wanted with a reasonably high level of success. Definitely wouldn't be as good, but yeah.

 

[Fantastische Hure]

I think looking back Toyama could have continued for years and years if he wanted with a reasonably high level of success. Definitely wouldn't be as good, but yeah.

Stays as the top series all through-out?

 

[DBZAOTA482]

Nah, his writing started to become wack during the Boo arc. Would have been even worse had he continued.

 

[Fantastische Hure]

Nah, his writing started to become wack during the Boo arc. Would have been even worse had he continued.

Yeah, but as seen with the Boo saga, bad writing didn't immediately equal less popularity. Besides AT went from someone who seemingly likes writing gag series to the Freeza saga and all, so if he has to or wants to he can change to more serious writing to.

 

[SSJ2]

I don't think much longer honestly. With his workload being so extreme for so many years and his motivation running low, I fail to see how he could have made more than maybe 1 more compelling arc at that rate.

 

[Fantastische Hure]

I don't think much longer honestly. With his workload being so extreme for so many years and his motivation running low, I fail to see how he could have made more than maybe 1 more compelling arc at that rate.

But putting aside the fact he might get tired (let’s say for this case he has infinite stamina & enthusiasm) would DragonBall reign on top or would something eventually dethrone?

 

[SSJ2]

If it remained the quality of peak DB then I could see it still going on today in some capacity. It would just depend on whether or not people get tired of the genre I suppose. Other good stories that have come out would still exist and probably steal a fair amount of thunder from DB. I doubt it would remain on top for that long.

 

[GreatSaiyaman123]

Quality would definitely drop, so sellings should fall sooner or later.

How well did the Boo Saga sell compared to others sagas?

 

[Yoshi]

He could have expanded upon Goku's time spent with Oob. That's about it.

 

[DBZAOTA482]

Yeah, but as seen with the Boo saga, bad writing didn't immediately equal less popularity. Besides AT went from someone who seemingly likes writing gag series to the Freeza saga and all, so if he has to or wants to he can change to more serious writing to.

Dragon Ball was declining in popularity during the Boo arc. Had it continued it would've fallen even further.

 

[Papasmurf]

AT openly said he'd run fresh out of ideas and could never have continued DB without the Hakaishin and SSJ God ideas, so definitely not. It'd possibly have been worse than what we got in Super, especially since the last 2 arcs of the manga were shit.

 

[Fantastische Hure]

Dragon Ball was declining in popularity during the Boo arc. Had it continued it would've fallen even further.

Do you have evidence, if you can show?

 

[DBZAOTA482]

Do you have evidence, if you can show?

The ratings for the anime was relatively low during the arc and I heard from a Japanese fan that a lot of people felt the series went downhill at that point.

 

[Fantastische Hure]

I know you aren't going to look, but...

1990年代

web.archive.org

 

[Fantastische Hure]

OK. Maybe you were right, that sales slightly decreased but the one pointing to 2.2 million is from another source than most of the other ones though but it seemed to decrease by the Boo saga.

https://web.archive.org/web/20190302210302/http://www.geocities.jp/wj_log/rank/rank0.html

 

[Papasmurf]

The episode with Goku and Vegeta discussing doing the Fusion Dance inside Boo was the lowest-rated episode in the entirety of Z. The post-Freeza portions of the manga saw a decline in popularity in general.