DBZ Fan Service

[Let's Go Fearless!]

Since Super has been criticized for too much fan service and rightfully so. But what about DBZ? Post them!

 

[Captain Cadaver]

* Most of Piccolo's fights after the Saiyan Arc - In both his fight with 2nd form Freeza and 1st form Cell, he was given a power up to be the top dog only for his position to be quickly taken away and for him to accomplish nothing in the plot, with it just being there for a popular character to have a temporary spotlight.
* Any Super Saiyan form aside from SSJ and SS2 Gohan - The Grade forms offered nothing to the plot beyond a reason to master regular SSJ and SS3 was just a waste of time when it only prolonged fights and wasted stamina.
* Majin Vegeta - The rematch between Vegeta and Goku worked against the narrative when Vegeta's character up to that point had become at least somewhat more family oriented than before and his actions as Majin Vegeta throw that all away.
* Fusion - Combining two fighters for a contrived power up was just there to have a new strong character for the fans to marvel at rather than having characters do the more interesting option of using actual teamwork.

 

[withheldforprivacy]

Bulma going around in underwear for a whole episode.

 

[Let's Go Fearless!]

* Majin Vegeta - The rematch between Vegeta and Goku worked against the narrative when Vegeta's character up to that point had become at least somewhat more family oriented than before and his actions as Majin Vegeta throw that all away.

To be fair, Goku and Vegeta will have to fight sooner and later. That was Vegeta's main goal after all. It was inevitable.

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Bulma going around in underwear for a whole episode.

It was only a few pages in the manga and fit with her character.

If including anime extensions and filler, there's also the characters of Maron and Pizza in general, as well as the two nude Goku scenes.

To be fair, Goku and Vegeta will have to fight sooner and later. That was Vegeta's main goal after all. It was inevitable.

Not at the expense of innocent lives or his family's safety, not to mention it was hollow anyway when Goku held back SS3.

Something akin to DBO's version of them settling the score would've been far better.

 

[Let's Go Fearless!]

To be fair, Goku and Vegeta will have to fight sooner and later. That was Vegeta's main goal after all. It was inevitable.

Not at the expense of innocent lives or his family's safety, not to mention it was hollow anyway when Goku held back SS3.

Something akin to DBO's version of them settling the score would've been far better.

While I agree to some extent but if you look at the situation at that time Goku has just one day on Earth and also doesn't take Vegeta seriously once the topic of Boo came up so Vegeta had to do everything for Goku to take him seriously also with Goku being stronger than Kid Gohan really pissed him off the fact that he trained for 7 years and the gap between their strength remains as wide from Cell Games.

 

[Captain Cadaver]

He could've made his point in an understandable way by just threatening to kill Shin rather than killing innocent spectators in an area he knew his wife would be near. Also, by letting himself be controlled to receive a boost despite how much he prides himself on gaining power through his own means, Vegeta should consider it a hollow victory if he were to win. However you look at it, it's character regression regardless.

 

[Let's Go Fearless!]

Well, wasn't that when Goku called out Vegeta for allowing himself to get stronger via Babidi which is out of Vegeta's character?

Also wasn't that the point of the story? Vegeta wants to become his old self which mean character wise should regressed?

 

[GreatSaiyaman123]

* Most of Piccolo's fights after the Saiyan Arc - In both his fight with 2nd form Freeza and 1st form Cell, he was given a power up to be the top dog only for his position to be quickly taken away and for him to accomplish nothing in the plot, with it just being there for a popular character to have a temporary spotlight.
* Any Super Saiyan form aside from SSJ and SS2 Gohan - The Grade forms offered nothing to the plot beyond a reason to master regular SSJ and SS3 was just a waste of time when it only prolonged fights and wasted stamina.
* Majin Vegeta - The rematch between Vegeta and Goku worked against the narrative when Vegeta's character up to that point had become at least somewhat more family oriented than before and his actions as Majin Vegeta throw that all away.
* Fusion - Combining two fighters for a contrived power up was just there to have a new strong character for the fans to marvel at rather than having characters do the more interesting option of using actual teamwork.

The Grade forms actually had the purpose of showing the primitive ways of suparsing the SSJ wall.

And don't forget turning Boo into a weaker form so Goku can fight him but making the excuse of him being dangerous was a double fan service. They wanted to make Goku relevant but make Pure Boo sound op.

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Well, wasn't that when Goku called out Vegeta for allowing himself to get stronger via Babidi which is out of Vegeta's character?

Indeed, but Vegeta never acknowledged it as a mistake, thus being inconsistent with his character motivations.

Also wasn't that the point of the story? Vegeta wants to become his old self which mean character wise should regressed?

His old self would never have let someone weaker than himself control him in any way. Also, that line seemed to have been just added as a cheap excuse to justify it long after his actions had caused a major character regression/rewrite.

The Grade forms actually had the purpose of showing the primitive ways of suparsing the SSJ wall.

It was still unnecessary when Goku stating "Super Saiyan uses up a fair bit of Ki" would've sufficed when Grade 2's stamina/speed problems weren't even noticeable.

 

[Pocket-Gog~]

I think Bardock's inclusion in the manga counts

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Definitely. It comes completely out of nowhere and has no significance for either the plot or Freeza/Goku's character and dynamic.

 

[GreatSaiyaman123]

It was still unnecessary when Goku stating "Super Saiyan uses up a fair bit of Ki" would've sufficed when Grade 2's stamina/speed problems weren't even noticeable.
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I don't think that would make sense because SSJ hardly seemed strainful in the Android Arc.

I think it's more a matter of the flaws of the Grade forms being shown poorly. We never even see Grade III's stamina issues, just Goku's comment.