#nothing-here-90

[sweetescapeartist]

I just wanted to ask. How did you get into Dragonball?

When I was a kid (maybe 4 or 5), my older cousin mentioned DBZ to my big brother & myself. So, one evening, we turned the channel to Toonami to watch this "Dragon Ball Z." And it just happened to be that our first episode was DBZ EP 18; the episode where Chaozu blows up & Tien gets his arm punched off... Yeah. Seeing that as a kid was terrifying because I never saw a cool looking cartoon be so bloody and scary.

My brother & I called anime "cool looking cartoons" back then because we didn't know what they were called lol. So, Pokémon, Digimon, Monster Rancher, ect were all "cool looking cartoons."

This was the first time we ever saw blood and death and dismemberment in a show. We were scared to watch more, but... we just had to know what happened to the tall green guy, the short bald guy, & the short kid! And was this Goku guy going to get to his friends in time?! Was he strong enough?!

So we began watching from there! Krillin, Piccolo, & Gohan all became some of my favorite characters. I liked Piccolo because I love the color green. I liked Gohan because he was a kid like me. And I liked Krillin because he was short like me and he was just a human who was not as strong as the aliens, but he kept fighting anyways (which was like me trying to keep up with the big kids and kids more talented than me). Krillin quickly became my favorite because I felt an instant connection to him. Krillin made me want to try harder, train more, and do my best (along with Miles "Tails" Prower, Bruce Lee, & Michael Jackson being a similarly positive motivations for me). I always had my hair shaved back then too, so I thought it was cool to see a bald hero lol. 😅

Its a memory I really cherish. Bonded more with my big brother, found my favorite DB character & my brother found his in Goku & Gohan, found my first DB chrush with Chi-Chi, and found a series that got me deeper into anime!

Thanks for the ask! Had me take a trip down memory lane. 😄

[dragon-ball-meta]

Honesty week question: Do you think Dragonball would have the same impact if the series came out now as opposed to the 1980’s?

I do.You gotta keep in mind, the Shonen landscape was a very different place when DB came out, and think about all the series since that have taken cues from it. Without DB, there’s no One Piece. There’s no Naruto. A lot of different series that have become popular and even shaped the landscape themselves simply would not have existed, certainly not as we know them now.But even today, the impact can still be felt. Even today, people young and old still flock to it. When Super was airing, the numbers were rivaling and beating One Piece. The fact that DB can still have the legs it does in this day and age, despite being as old as it is, says a lot, imo.

[theultradork]

So I guess a timid girl that goes Hulk because of her mentor dismissing her and snapping is generic, but having someone you care about being beaten and snapping in response is refreshing for the series. _/(‘-‘)\_

Yeah, it’s not like that’s how Goku went Super Saiyan. or Gohan went Super Saiyan 2. Or how Vegeta had his little asspull power-up when he fought Beerus. Or when Gohan snapped and hit SSJ2 again seeing Videl get hurt during the Tournament. Or...

[dragon-ball-meta]

This just popped into my head but I got to ask: what makes Freeza work so effectively? You mentioned that Goku is a character that has more of a flat character arc and that he’s about influencing those around him. You also mentioned why that makes Freeza a good counter to Goku. I was wondering if you could elaborate on why narratively, and from a personality standpoint,Freeza plays off Goku so well.

Well, because Freeza’s arc is also a flat character arc. He doesn’t really change much himself, but rather affects the people and events around him in a way that’s the direct opposite of Goku; whereas Goku typically has a positive impact upon the people in his life, Freeza has the opposite.Both are characters who cling to their “truth”, their dream. Goku’s is simply to push himself to be the absolute best he can be, someone in love with the martial arts and seeking to master them completely. Freeza’s goal is similar, but rather he wants to bend the world around him to be the best it can be for him and his goals. He seeks to become stronger not to better himself, but to bring down those who oppose his view of an ideal universe with himself at the center of it.Goku’s a happy-go-lucky guy who loves his friends and wants people to do whatever makes them happy so long as it doesn’t hurt anyone else. Freeza is someone who thinks the universe needs to bend to his every whim, as he’s most fit to decide what’s best, with what’s ‘best’ being ‘what’s best for him’.Their arcs compliment each other very well in that sense, and these conflicting worldviews of people who are utterly steadfast and unwavering in them are bound to collide. Natural nemesis to one another.It’s a bit hard for me to put to words properly, but I hope that helps somewhat. lol

[dragon-ball-meta]

I was a big fan of Jiren throughout the Universal Survival saga. Liked his design, and the tidbits of character that we saw. I look back on it now and I feel as if Jiren is just missing some oomf. I like the parallel that they have between Goku and Jiren and that Jiren is about forgoing everything for the sake of strength, but it just lacks something. I guess my question is, what did you think they did right? Where they went wrong with Jiren?

Imma be real with you, I really don’t think they really “went wrong” with Jiren. There’s not a whole lot more you can do with him in the context of that arc as it stands. Spend too much time on backstory, you derail the tournament. Make him more sinister, and you kinda kill the emotional weight behind everything by making the last dude standing a traditional “bad guy”.I think he warrants further exploration, to be sure, but in the context of that arc they did a pretty good job of making him a threat and a bit of a “scary” reflection of Goku if he really didn’t care about anything but getting stronger (oh look more meta fuel for addressing the fandom’s perception of Goku) as it stands while still avoiding the “villain” pitfall.

[dragon-ball-meta]

Be honest, the anime is responsible for the fundamental misunderstanding of Vegeta as a character isn’t it? Creating this sympathetic portrayal of Vegeta with him being “forced” into servitude.

Not the anime really so much as a combination of the anime and the old dub. The dub altered a LOT for Vegeta and Goku both, really.

[dragon-ball-meta]

What is your favorite Piccolo moment?

Every moment he had to deal with Gotenks.

[dragon-ball-meta]

I’m curious, since Vegeta orbits around Goku on a fundamental level, is there a way to shrink down his prominence in modern Dragonball? Really just asking if it’s even possible at this point.

Not without severe backlash and losing a good chunk of your base now, sadly.Couple that with the attempts at focusing on human characters seeming to enrage half the fans over here and... well, let’s just say there’s a chance we may not see that too much anymore.