More than two decades have passed since Goku said goodbye to fans forever, and there are still many questions about this galactic adventure that generated so much controversy. The idea of a continuation of the saga without Akira Toriyama was not very satisfying for the fans who, received “Dragon Ball GT” with some skepticism and a constant comparison with the golden age of mangaka. This caused all 64 episodes of the new series to be heavily criticized, smearing the name of the franchise. “Dragon Ball Super” He seems to be fixed many of these bugsbut there is still a significant problem in the air with this anime,
One of the aspects that caught the most attention when “Dragon Ball GT” landed on Japanese television in February 1996 was the change the protagonist had undergone. After several events that many describe as “two ex machina”, Goku has become a child again as in his first adventures. The abuse of magic balls resulted in a kind of karma for the Saiyan that changed his appearance to try to attract new generations to the saga. This event would mark the course of events, and would be one of the greatest ballasts for the producers. However, why was this decision made?
In 2005, the producer Kōzō Morishita (via kazenshuu) had the opportunity to reveal how the idea of “Dragon Ball GT” and Toriyama’s involvement in the process. Apparently the father of the work gave only very general ideas of what to dogiving “Simple storylines at Toei Animation like ‘they travel to these kind of planets'”. The cartoonist was also involved in the most controversial part of the series. “He drew drafts of new characters, and Illustrations of Kid Goku, Pan, Trunks, the spaceship and other main characters“revealed the producer.
It was precisely Goku’s new design that would give Goku the most headaches. Toei when creating the new adventure. “Dragon Ball GT” was raised as a completely independent continuation of everything that came before, and had to make way for new generations, but the commercial weight of the Saiyan was too great. “The protagonist of “Dragon Ball” is Goku. Characters like Piccolo, Vegeta or Trunks can also be popular, but After all, the series is Goku“.
All of Goku’s experiences and incredible power made him a difficult piece to fit into the new puzzle he put together. “Dragon Ball GT”That’s why a solution was sought so that he could accompany Pan and the other generation of children without attracting attention. “That’s when I thought about making Goku a kid.“Morishita confessed. “When ‘Dragon Ball Z’ ended, it had pushed story development to its limit, and it would have been very difficult to introduce battles against stronger enemies“.
In effect, Goku reconnects with his childhood for business reasons. The continuation of the saga was complicated without its protagonist, but the new story required changes. For the scriptwriters it was very difficult to reintegrate the Saiyan without conditioning the plot, and this pushed them to make a child of it. “And that’s how it ended up being a space travel adventure“.