By now it is no surprise that Dragon Ball Super has become a main staple of Toei Animation, especially considering they were the ones that brought back the story of Goku, Vegeta, and Gohan back into the forefront of anime. For the most part, they have succeeded in the long run with the Goku Black arc, however they seem to be falling short in respects to how they portray Son Goku's personality and values. While it is often played out for jokes at times, other times it seems to be played straight as part of his reckless personality. However, is this really an accurate assessment of Goku's character at all? Is it perhaps possible that Toei is forgetting valuable details about Goku that should have translated into Dragon Ball Super instead of forgotten or neglected?
Son Goku as a character has been popular, important, and influential as an inspiration to many fans and works of anime. It's almost difficult to dip your toes in anime and not run into or at least hear mention of his name and Dragon Ball in the same sentence. However, compared to his portrayal from the first Dragon Ball all the way to Dragon Ball: Super people's perception and understanding of him has changed. Some for the better, and some for the worse. This also has applied to the animation studio responsible for the show, which is concerning considering most of their decision-making with Goku's personality and decision-making. Whether it's an accurate assessment or not depends on who you ask, but it bears digging further into understanding who Goku really is and why Toei may be forgetting important details.
The Gross Inaccuracies
One of many things that Toei seems to get wrong about Goku's character is usually related to his rather simple-minded personality, which while is true, is exaggerated for constant gags and jokes. From his insistence on starting fights that are not needed or unnecessarily rude, to being portrayed as an adult who doesn't even know the basics of being one at times. Of course, Toei also seems to be caught up in portraying Son Goku as a battle maniac who doesn't have any priorities other than fighting strong opponents. While most of these portrayals aren't necessarily founded or based on a fictional narrative, they are misunderstandings of what Goku is supposed to be, while also running contradictory to Goku's overall actions and personality as shown in Dragon Ball Z.
These inaccuracies range in a variety of ways, although the main component tying them together is seemingly out of a misconception of Goku's past actions from Toei. The idea that Goku is a battle-maniac is based on the fact that Goku enjoys battling, although many tend to forget or miss that he doesn't necessarily bring fights to himself, or constantly goes asking to fight individuals he shouldn't have much of a reason to fight against. As for his goofy attitude and oftentimes lackluster thinking skills, it is predicated on his humble background as well as his simple personality and outlook on life. However, this shouldn't be misconstrued as Goku being an imbecile by any means, let alone an individual who would forget basic details of life.
Why This Matters
Despite these details being miniscule and particularly not as impactful to the arcs or story as a whole, the reason this matters is a simple but deeply connected truth when it comes to fans of Dragon Ball. Goku, as an icon of anime, is deeply influential to shonen and many fans of the genre, and having him portrayed with inaccuracies by the company that seemingly revived Dragon Ball from years of being out of the public eye could come across to many fans as disrespectful or showing a weakness in the lack of care.
Even so, Goku has inspired many fans to be the best versions of themselves because of his actions during Dragon Ball Z as well as his engaging character when things become rather serious or even life-threatening. Goku being serious and thoughtful about his actions is a trait that was always seen as early as the Saiyan Saga, all the way to even the Tournament Of Power arc despite its flaws. An important part of his character that goes severely undercut in many episodes of Dragon Ball Super, as well as by Toei as a whole when considering his character into their animation; which severely underplays Goku's true character as a result.
Of course, many fans seem to agree with Toei's interpretation of Goku, some saying that despite being exaggerated it doesn't remove from Goku's more competent moments in the same anime as a whole. While there may be some merit to these observations, it doesn't ultimately change the fact that Toei Animation seems to be losing touch with Goku's character as the years go by. With Toyotaro Isomura and Akira Toriyama taking the reins when it comes to Dragon Ball Super with its Manga, many fans follow and also enjoy that interpretation of Goku's personality in the Manga.
Regardless, Son Goku as a character is still going strong in the eyes of the community as well as anime fans, and it is not likely for Toei to ruin Goku's character even with some of their inaccuracies in the future. Still, Dragon Ball Super as a show would benefit immensely with Toei Animation going back to understanding the core values of Goku's character moving forward so that way fans can garner a more satisfying experience when watching the series and seeing the Saiyan warrior improving himself.