Current Events > It's a shame what Toriyama did to the OG dragon ball characters against Nappa

(+) Yeah! (+)

I wouldn't want to rewrite the whole thing. Nappa should have definitely triumphed over all of them, but he should have at least had some points in the fight where he was hurt, or at least had some possibility of losing. (krillin's destructo disk doesn't count)

I was okay with the way Yamcha died. He succumbed to his own hubris. It was a direct statement that the Z fighters cannot make one slip up against the Saiyans.

With Tien however. Tien should have had a better send off. Dude couldn't even land a single blow on Nappa and then gets his arm punched right off. Toriyama should have let him land at least one blow. Tien was one of the greatest martial artists on Earth. The difference in styles alone should have allowed Tien to land something on Nappa. I understand Nappa outclasses him in every way, but Tien's traditional martial arts style could have been his initial edge that Nappa adapts to.

Like Toriyama could have allowed this punch right here to land, and actually showed visible pain on Nappa indicating damage. At least he could have done that.
https://64.media.tumblr.com/2b171e339909fbbf0d85c58694b7f1f8/tumblr_inline_poaeswVdq71r15usg_1280.jpg

This is such a good scene here. Tien after having been battered by Nappa, and watching his best friend sacrifice himself for nothing erupts into rage; straight up ignoring Gohan's presence. He could have at least posed somewhat of a threat to Nappa with his blast. I understand that it could have killed Nappa had it not he blocked, but he did, and Tien's sacrifice ends with "I failed again". It should have been something.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wa8kHo97teo

I understand why Toriyama did it. As a kid, I was devastated watching them all get wrecked. I hadn't seen Dragon Ball, but I saw how hard all of these characters trained (and in the anime it's a shit ton of filler), and to see them all get completely outclassed, it was pretty heart-breaking. It made Goku's entrance that much grander when he finally did arrive, but Goku made that same entrance 3 more times in the show. They could have toned it back just a little, and let some of the Z fighters contribute somewhat against Nappa.

One of the reasons why so many people like the universal tournament arc in Super (even though it's complete nonsense) is that the side characters get an opportunity to show off and meaningfully contribute.

Power levels be damned, it was great seeing Roshi strut his stuff again.

Nah, they needed everyone to get absolutely wasted to show how dire things are versus Nappa, which in turn then puts Vegeta on a whole other level when he starts fighting.

The only difference they coulda done was have Nappa saw that the Kikoho actually hurt him in some way, but at the same time, Tenshinhan was horribly injured when he unleashed it.

It ultimately didnt matter.

I agree OP.

I actually thought they did just that. Nappa got battered a bit and while not seriously hurt he looked pretty scuffed by the time Goku arrived. I agree Tien should have held his own a little more though.

s0nicfan posted...

One of the reasons why so many people like the universal tournament arc in Super (even though it's complete nonsense) is that the side characters get an opportunity to show off and meaningfully contribute.

Power levels be damned, it was great seeing Roshi strut his stuff again.

Yeah, it was great, even if it could've definitely been better and made absolutely no sense when it comes to power levels. Roshi being able to dodge someone who should be 1000x faster because of "experience" lol.

Pow Pow Punishment posted...

I actually thought they did just that. Nappa got battered a bit and while not seriously hurt he looked pretty scuffed by the time Goku arrived. I agree Tien should have held his own a little more though.

it was visually there to a degree but there was no point where Nappa was ever really hurt. There was no point where I was like "yea they can maybe pull this off". Even as a kid I knew they were all doomed the longer the fight went on.

https://youtu.be/1fH18vY4wOE?t=37

this line by piccolo was really cool too. Gohan kept his eyes open the entire time when piccolo later sacrificed himself to save him. It's a shame chiaotzu's explosion did literally nothing. Didn't even scratch him.

It sucks but it makes a good point

Just because you try your hardest doesn't mean you have to succeed. You can't wish reality to bend. Nappa was a bear fighting chickens. They got a few scratches in but never posed a threat.