Dragon Ball Finally Addresses Its Women Issue

Dragon Ball still has a big issue with women’s representation, but Mai’s words in chapter #90 of Dragon Ball Super are a good sign for the future.

Warning: SPOILERS for chapter #90 of Dragon Ball SuperDragon Ball Super takes a shot at one of the franchise’s most controversial issues: its depiction of women. It is well-known among fans that, in Dragon Ball, women are relegated to support roles while the men are fighting and monopolizing all the action. One female character in Dragon Ball Super finally has something to say about it.

Chapter #90 of Dragon Ball Super concludes Goten and Trunks’ prequel story arc, as the heroes finally capture Dr. Hedo and his androids. Thanks to Mai’s cunning, Hedo is lured to a dance at the boys’ school, using his passion for the fictional superhero Cleangod as bait. Mai’s resolution to capture Hedo surprises Goten, who suggests she leaves the job to himself and Trunks. However, Mai answers that she is sick of being “the damsel in distress“, and shows up at the dance fully equipped with armor and weapons.

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Mai Finally Points Out The Issue With Dragon Ball‘s Female Characters

The Dragon Ball franchise has many interesting and memorable female characters, such as Bulma. Chi-Chi, or Videl. However, they are not warriors and, as such, they never take the stage in a series that is mostly about fighting and training. When they are in danger, they inevitably have to be rescued by the male characters. The only female fighter in Dragon Ball is Android 18, but she was also quickly relegated to the role of wife and mother. Dragon Ball Super has introduced a bunch of new powerful female characters, but the only time that 18 could shine as a warrior was during the Tournament of Power, and then briefly during the battle against Moro.

Mai, on the other hand, made her debut in Goku’s earliest adventures, but she only became an important character in Dragon Ball Super. After being rejuvenated by a wish made by Pilaf to the Dragon Balls, Mai has been living at Capsule Corps, where Trunks controversially fell in love with her. The character has shown a lot of growth over the past few chapters, bringing Mai closer to her version from Future Trunks’ dystopian future. While Goten and Trunks were busy playing superheroes, she is the one who realized that Hedo was spying on them and came up with a plan to catch him. As she confesses to Trunks at the dance, Mai can’t stand being the one who always needs saving, which, coming from a Dragon Ball female character, sounds very unusual and progressive.

Dragon Ball has been around for almost forty years, but it should be remembered that the original run of the manga ended in 1995, at a time when issues like women’s representation were not prominent. The big gap between the ending of Dragon Ball Z and the start of Super allowed the series to try to evolve and adapt to the times. In terms of women’s representation, Dragon Ball still has a long way to go, but Mai‘s words in chapter #90 of Dragon Ball Super are certainly a good sign for the future.

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The latest chapter of Dragon Ball Super is available from Viz Media.