The Problems with a DBZ Continuation

[p123]

So the more I think about it, the more I feel that Toriyama really wrote himself into a corner and there's really no way to write himself out without it being completely obvious... We've seen every single continuation struggle with this... Let's discuss.

1) The Power Scaling

Ultimate Gohan > Super Saiyan 3 Gotenks > Super Saiyan Gotenks > Super Saiyan 3 Goku

Vegeta and Goku are now completely useless in terms of power. Any enemy that can threaten Goku and Vegeta can be easily handled by Gohan or Gotenks. This destroys the idea that the villain can be a real threat. Also, if the enemy is a handful for Gohan/Gotenks, Goku/Vegeta are completely helpless to do anything. They can't offer any sort of resistance. Gogeta or Vegetto would be necessary, which wouldn't be a bad thing, but the idea of Gokan also being waiting in the wings does destroy the fantasy of Vegetto being so powerful as well. We never can get the most powerful person to fight the most powerful enemy. That's why the Buu Saga falls flat in the end. It really should have probably been Vegetto to finish Buu I guess. Or perhaps Gohan could have..

It's tough, if you are going to make Gohan this powerful, it's awfully difficult to dismiss him in the next arc. Cell Game to Buu Saga was a great way to reduce Gohan's role, because it was within reason. This stuff right here though, I don't know if anyone can do it.


2) The Limits of Power

Let's not forget that Gohan's power up seems to be at the limit of Saiyan potential and beyond. It doesn't appear that Goku or Vegeta can train their way up to that level. Gohan is just too damn beastly. And the Old Kai power up was too final. The only way you can get Goku/Vegeta back in the game is with a new transformation. A transformation that Gohan can't or doesn't want to access. Which really sucks the air out of the room. There's really no way around it. Whatever Goku/Vegeta can do, Gohan should be able to do. Even if you kill Gohan off, people will always think, man, what if Gohan was around and attained that form, they'd have no trouble. DBZ lost it's innocence and believability when Old Kai stated he can bring someone far beyond their limits and actually meant it. Also, the rapid scaling of Gohan's power in the Buu Saga was unnecessary if you were just going to throw him by the way side. If all of that power for Gohan was merely to just be irrelevant again in 2 minutes, I absolutely would not destroy every freaking thing related to power scaling for it. It just wasn't worth the sacrifice. Not at all. Ultimate Gohan is a freaking God and the kind of power AT gave him, Goku/Vegeta should be bowing down to him. Which no one wants to see. We like Gohan having his moments, but it's clear, we do not want him as the #1 guy. That is the role for Goku and Goku alone. Boosting Gohan to these levels completely erases the realistic chance of Goku ever attaining his role back...


3) The Limits of Power Part 2

The level is so high all around surrounding Majin Buu that it just doesn't seem realistic to find anyone that is beyond that level. Freeza was the strongest in the universe, Cell was created by genetics of all of the strongest and Majin Buu was the strongest of all time. Badibi went all over the universe to get strong warriors even enslaving the King of the Demon Realm and he still couldn't surpass Cell's maximum power. It's clear that we have definitely tapped out the power of this universe. To make something believable, you are going to need a character like a Broly or Beerus or something like that. It's not going to be easy. But it's clear, the next step is the Multiverse and probably not only Multiverse but the strongest people in all of time. Like a Beyonder type of power coming to hold a tournament that can pick the strongest from every era. How to make Goku the top dog here is really hard to get into as well. Point being, it would never feel like original DB/DBZ with Goku being able to take the lead.


Solutions

I think you really need to retcon a lot of the Buu Saga to be able to ever hope to continue it. Gohan's power is wayyyy too extreme. Gotenks was overdone and he was a hated character too. Perhaps fusion should have never been introduced. It really cheapens everything.

But if you do have to do fusion, which is probably not a good concept as it always destroys the suspense of the next villain, you have to make it Super Saiyan Gotenks vs Super Buu, Super Saiyan 3 makes everything a nightmare in terms of power scaling...

I just... I don't know. The Buu Saga was just done so poorly, there's no hope to ever continue it. You would need to completely rewrite the Buu Saga to ever hope to have any sort of continuation.

 

[Captain Cadaver]

The only way to effectively do a continuation of the series is for it to be a soft reboot akin to DBO, taking place in a completely different time period. Power creep has been a problem ever since the Freeza Arc with how quickly characters were breaking established limits of power through contrived means during and after the arc and despite the later arcs finding ways to make the villains threatening beyond power inflation such as energy absorption or magic, it quickly became irrelevant if they lacked the power to back it up. Hell, you could say it was a problem ever since after the Piccolo Daimao Arc considering the Choshinsui was supposed to unlock Goku's hidden potential and Daimao using his full power was so great using it shortened his lifespan. With the Cell and Boo Arcs making things even worse through the introduction of the Rosat, Elder Kaioshin and both main methods of Fusion, there's no real way to continue adventures with the same characters without DBS level asspulls. Resetting the bar entirely is the only real way to do things.
On top of that, most of the cast were either whole or stale by the end of the manga. Characters such as Kuririn, Vegeta, Piccolo,Gohan and Mr. Satan had developed to their logical conclusion and had little left to offer in terms of personal growth, whereas characters such as Yamcha, Tenshinhan or Chaozu had been ruined and pushed into irrelevancy far too much to ever be made great again or for any introspection into their character to be worthwhile. Bringing in a new cast or having the remaining cast be put in a position where they can't participate actively in the plot such as old age or a villain's unique ability.

 

[p123]

Well that's on a wider scale. All in all, I don't have problems with the power ass pulls. That is what Dragonball Z is about and has always been about.

The problem imo is that Gotenks and Gohan far surpassing Goku and Vegeta.

It's one thing for Gohan at the Cell Game, but fans determined that we didn't want Gohan as the lead. The Great Saiyaman Arc is perhaps the worst part of the series.

They intelligently found a way to make Gohan weaker and probably should have kept him there. The boys being Mastered Super Saiyans is even excusable as much of a stretch that is.

There's gotta be a way for Goku's Super Saiyan 3 to be the savior, but it's really hard to rewrite it.

Super Saiyan 3 Goku vs Fat Buu was fine. After that is when we get into the mess.

 

[Pyro]

Alter the intended result of Elder Kaioshin's ritual. Instead of it bringing someone beyond their limits, make it a magical power-up that gives the person a big boost but doesn't tower over everything.

And remove Fusion. It's too cheap and removes suspense. Every enemy that's too great for the individual heroes will simply have fans asking why they don't just fuse, and then you have to find a reason for why they don't every time. Avoid it altogether by removing the blatant plot device, or tweaking it so that it's purely addition.

 

[Let's Go Fearless!]

Gotenks as a SSjin is fine but to make him SS3 is what that annoyed me for most. Goku should be surpass only by Gohan just like from Cell Games IMO.

 

[p123]

Yeah if Gotenks was only a Super Saiyan, Gohan could be like 2x Goku and that wouldn't be horrible at all.

 

[Let's Go Fearless!]

Also just make Super Boo equal to Fat Boo but with a good fighting body and intelligence. Gohan being stronger than Goku at least makes the manga consistent.

 

[Pocket-Gog~]

Just get rid of Goku and Vegeta, you can't do anything more with them at this point. There's no need to rewrite the Boo saga.