#(its mostly gogetas really)

[carnal-lnstinct]

Fic Author Self Rec

I know me and the moots have been delivering some beautiful writing since this first went around so we're bringing it back before the end of the year! Post 5 of your favorite fics you've written and share a little about it ♥♥♥

Tagging: @yeowangies @actuallysaiyan @dreadsuitsamus @beneathstarryskies @emmacornell @missnebulaa @vegeta-bananabluish + anyone else who writes and sees this please share and talk about your favorite things you have written

My five favorites from my own fics(of this year):

— Gogeta Soulmates Valentine

Plot-wise, this was definitely in the top three of my favorite vday requests and I really enjoyed writing the soulmate concept. Gogeta is still one of those characters that doesn't come as easy to me to write but when I get it, I get it! And he's always softer than what I intend for which I love.

— Bedtime Story

**JJK SPOILERS** I honestly ain't been the same since Toji's second death and what it reveals about him. First death? Well okay you died doing what you loved sweetie time to rest. Second death? Please sedate me I have not known a singular day of peace! 😭😭 But I needed a Toji fic that wasn't him just blowing out backs. So I just wrote him being a dad and husband, happy, existing in the same space at the same time as his wife and child while she tells a bedtime story to Megumi that becomes about them AND THEY ALL LIVE HAPPILY EVER AFTER. Wishing everybody but the Zenin clan and Mahito a very peaceful rest of the year.

— All My Soul Within Me, Burning.

Wrote this mostly for the Halloween season and Fn-f movie, also I weirdly had just noticed at the time majority of Gero's androids have the same blue eyes and wanted to do something with that. This is probably one of maybe two fics I wrote this year without any pairings or romance. With this AU, I toyed around with the idea of an angry spirit (a la fn-f lore style) being trapped inside his own body from his violent death, only now his body is this "bio-android prototype" shell and he represents Android 16 instead of canon 16. After Bulma fixes him, the spirit starts to regain some of his memory and fights against Gero's android programming. I wanted to continue this but of course SOTS took priority and now I think it's fine as a standalone one-shot for its little twist ♥

— Royal Pains

Praise to the only threesome I wrote this year! Virgin!Vegeta plot has to be the highlight of the year though, I love how involved everyone was with this concept and the many fics that were born from it. ♥♥♥♥ Consider this one a fave more for what the prompt inspired from a few of my favorite fic writers than what I wrote, but I'm always proud anytime I get to write a flustered Vegeta. It's the only way I know how to write him.

— Back At The Garden

Obviously ss4 Goku is in my faves. He is my king 😭♥ This one is just a plot bunny that got stuck in my head until I wrote it down. One thing about my TWYSILY fics, they're probably gonna get sequels nobody asked for and this is always a safe space for SS4. ♥

[came0dust]

i try to be a Little organized about how i post things, but honestly i am THINKING. i am looking respectfully. and i am also experimenting a lot with how i pick out colors and render things and im gonna be real i really think i kinda popped off here. elaboration under the cut bc i have a lot to say, but just in general, know that the six images under Angy Gogeta 1 are arranged, left to right, in the order that i did them. i had realizations.

OKAY. SO. i felt compelled to draw an ss4 goku bc i have been needing to learn how to draw muscles for a While (i dont remember How exactly they looked but i know i drew some beowulf art some years back and i Know i didnt really Get volume and mass and was basically just like “uh..... bigger shape??”) and i then went through my images after the fact and realized i basically redrew an image without thinking about it

this image, to be exact

i leaned colder for the colors and so i decided i would do an intentional loose redraw and try for a warmer look and this is the image i settled on

ive been trying to reconcile my artstyle with things i want my art to be able to convey, and now with dragon ball designs, for a while and the foreheads are really just throwing me around. inevitably i look at my own art or the characters and im like. “?????” anyways the reason why there are two of basically the same goku is because while i was working on vegeta, goku’s sketch mysteriously just vanished? i dont remember what happened but i do know i came back and was like “damn thats really not a lot of hair but at least i colored it enough that i could still comprehend it”, so i went back in and touched it up Just a little to satisfy my brain (but still this was after a fair chunk of the others, hence things only being arranged chronologically “in general”). both of them are here because i think its valuable context for the progression of things. anyways to actually talk about vegeta, i’ve decided to give him just a Bit of a heart motif. i’ve been making an effort to make his hairline and his general faceshape look like a heart because i thought about it once and was like “oh this needs to be real forever” and i decided to extend that to the fur for his ss4 form. but i choose to do that also because as someone watching dbz properly for the first time (as a kid i just kinda saw bits and pieces of kai and played budokai tenkaichi 3 but i basically had no context aside from the things i came across on my own or heard about) the sharp contrast between how unimposingly or even cutely vegeta can be drawn and who he is as a person is fascinating to me. like i myself, i’m straight up baby-faced and im kinda caught between trying to create an unnerving form of threatening with his design despite his stature and appearance or really emphasizing the “cute” aspect because i find the dichotomy really interesting, but i also have like. not even 20% of the series as actual context and i like to have a character’s... character. be a little alluded to by their design. im rambling, the point im getting to is that i know vegeta’s character changes over time and im ... okay genuinely i lost my train of thought lets just talk about the gogeta gauntlet

so honestly i don’t even really get it myself but gogeta like did something to my brain or something. i watched dragon ball (original series) last year to take a break from a different series (as you can tell, this quickly got out of hand) and somewhere like around then i was also like “... sir?? 😳” because the reason dragon ball was even on my mind was because i was watching dbfz and i saw him a decent amount of times and i was like. hm. hm. hmmmm. hmmmmmmmmmm... 🤔 and every now and then im like. “you know what? im normal now” and then im not. im a simp 😔. dude can only even exist for like 10 minutes. literally turns off my brain function. anyways i’ve been trying to also figure out how i want to handle fusions because i like to make my designs distinct, but have relations still evident where relevant (in other words, i don’t want gogeta to look too much like vegito or for either of them to look too similar to either of their components, but i still want to balance that with them sharing a likeness with both of them).

to be more specific about the actual art, i decided to try to go more saturated and mess around a bit with methods of shading, adding some extra flair in places. i ultimately decided against it, but in the sketch phase, especially around the tail, i was thinking about doing some lineart to see what i could do about creating a form of depth. i then remembered that the lines have betrayed me and that shapes are my only friend.

i think i then went to sleep? but i woke up and i had some kind of revelation and i was like “i could definitely add some beef. what if i did this?” and thus what was supposed to just be a silly pogchamp drawing so i could like reset my brain a bit became “oh my god im learning”. i aimed for an overall even brighter look and ive been really enjoying making gogeta’s hair look almost fiery. to further practice actually giving characters mass and try to break out of the sort of rut i’ve been in anatomically (and have something to compare with after doing some serious studies later) i was like “ill do one more, lets see where this goes” and then i had a whole fucking Character Arc after this

the painting that’s the first and last image in this set taught me so much but also i had to fight this thing with my bare hands. id come back to my tablet and be like “damn 😳 i did that? 😳 😳 ” genuinely my brainpower is leaving me as we speak this man literally broke me i dont know what it is but at least booba? anyways i went for a darker, more dramatic look. i imagine both the pogchamp and the like “your life ends three seconds from now” walk aren’t exactly in character but i did have fun learning but also. okay genuinely i do not remember what i wanted to say sadlfaejkdjfsdc. anyways ive been thinking, since like lore(?)-wise ss4 is a reconciliation of the great ape form with a sense of like. a good heart as well as a great amount of power, i thought itd be fun to point the ears some, give them fangs, and a glow to the irises (which is way more emphasized in the second version of the image to envelop the entire eye area). but thematically i think it’s also meant to be a bit transcendent? if there is indeed a theme to be had, i mean. i wanted to bring out just a little more of the great ape visually. i also like to make the eyeliner-ish markings(?) on the eyes a little different per character rather than just basically being a border around them.

[nimedhel09]

SDBH commentary - episode 32 (spoilers ahead!)

Well, it's a weird time to do it, but each episode is less than 10min so whatever.

As always, prepare for rants more than anything lol. And random commentary.

- Power scaling is weird in SDBH........ IN DBS. I mean, it made more sense in DBZ? (Can't remember if the Buu saga was a mess of power scaling or not, but I feel like it was)

- Show me more of my psychopathic legendary husbando, please. Even if the animation is poop. Even if they made his face all roundish. And the noses weird (Girl, I hate the DBS/SDBH noses soooo much)

- Fuu created his new universe! And it's a tiny ugly thing, lol.

- Angy Monke fusion.

- Fuu being obsessed with his experimentation process, lol. At least he stays in character throughout.

- Lol. Towa and Robel going kind of magical girl on us with their "demon god" transformation hahaha.

- Demigra makes a move!

- Also, I hate the fights. They're soooooo booooooring. They lack dynamism.

- 🎶'cuz I'm frooooooooooooozeeeeeen! 🎶 (SS4 Gogeta and Fuu lol)

- Vados and Whis! Destruction kittehs! (aka the only good thing to come out of DBS, the series. Still waiting for that Broly slice-of-life on Vampa or even him joining the Saiyan crew on shenanigans. I'm waiting Toei! You cowards).

- Goku is confused. I'm confused. Everyone is confused.

Ok. End of episode feelings.

I don't like the fights. I need dynamics other than "ki! bam! screen shaking to show us that they're powerful!" over and over and over again. Give us the martial arts, DAMMIT!

As a former martial artist (because I've not practiced in a decade, shame on me), one thing I've always loved in DB and DBZ (well, until it changed into a big ki fest, lol, mostly in the Buu saga, I think? Would have to rewatch the Cell games to really see if there's fight-fight to go along the ki-fight) is the way that the moves were depicted in such a beautiful and dynamic manner. Look at the Garlic jr. film with baby Gohan, when Goku comes in and begins to fight the baddies. Gorgeous. Perfection. Magnificent.

What we've got in SDBH? Bleh. Uninteresting. For a series built on martial arts, the martial arts are kind of absent in most of the current material (DBS: Broly, once again, shows its superiority over anything done in the series until then, lol. The beauty of the animation and the MOOOOOVES. Damn, the fights were orgasmic in that film), which is a pity.

We barely saw my sadistic monke husbando, which is always sad. He's so beautiful, even with the horrendous noses and animation of whatever the hell this is (can you feel the salt?).

Still confused on what the heck Demigra is doing here.

Fuu is best boi. I think I like him so much 80% because of the original voice acting. It's perfect.

The plot is, as always, confusing or really badly exploited. Like, I get the anime is a small little promotional thing and that the animators and all the people working on it are paid nothing and put under lots of pressure, but it's tiring as a fan too. Toei, instead of greedily milking that cow till its death and giving us bad quality content should let the creators have the time they need to make a proper animation, build a proper story, pay them fairly and finally have the fans being as happy as they can be. Am I asking for too much? I don't think I am.

Another criticism that I will never shut about because I WON'T and I NEED: BLOOD. I need blood in this franchise. It's not made for children. It's not made for children. Ok, it's a shonen, its target audience is early-teen/pre-teen boys. SO. WHERE. IS. THE. FREAKING. BLOOD!!!!

Finally, WHERE THE HELL ARE MY CHILDREN????????? Again. the Xeno crew outside of (*le big sigh*) Veggie and Goku is left on the side because it's not enough to fan service or whatever the heck it is that they always give us Goku and Veggie. NO! Now they have to give us TWO Gokus and TWO Veggies. And, yes, I love the Xeno crew in its entirety. Xeno Goku acts way less dumb than main Goku (as he should, Goku is not dumb. Goku is silly and 100000% has ADHD, but he IS. NOT. DUMB. - another reason I hate 95% of DBS outside of the Broly film, lol) and the wholes Xeno crew is stunning. And I NEED MORE PAPA GOHAN AND PANNY, pleaaaaaaaaaaaaase, for the love of all that is good in this world!

Anyways. I think next time I'm watching an episode, it's going to be with a glass of wine. Need to buy more white wine though, because we only have red left, and I HATE red wine (urk).

[risingsouls]

[Consider this your Chrimbus gift from me, @fusiioneternal! I got this dumb idea in my head and couldn’t get it out, so it got turned into your Christmas gift drabble. It’s pretty cute so I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Also, I hope there aren’t too many typos; I got too excited and wanted to post it RIGHT NOW and didn’t really edit :’D]

He didn't feel particularly obligated to celebrate the season outside of finding a gift or two for Trunks and Goten. It was another day to him otherwise, his daily routine unbroken while others exchanged gifts, spent time with family and friends, held parties, and made a big deal out of joy and goodwill toward men until the clock struck midnight and they returned to their usual, less jolly demeanors.

Still, it surprised him when Nabooru reached out to him with a request to bake festive cookies together. Coming from an entirely different culture herself and with barely a mention of the holiday, he assumed she would treat the season like any other and continue her usual routine. When asked point blank why she was bothering with any kind of celebration when she didn't particularly have reason or care to celebrate the holiday herself, she replied that she wanted to make his first Christmas special, even if in a small way like the tradition of baking cookies. That she knew he liked to cook, and this was far simpler and more appealing than a party and dealing with a bunch of likely drunk people or worrying about getting each other gifts. Her logic sound enough, he ultimately agreed.

When the Gerudo opened the door of her modest desert home, he was relieved to see she hadn't gone overboard, both for his sake and her own. She wore her normal brand of clothing--a long, quartz-colored skirt that clung to her legs and a simple white cropped tank top--and mostly gold jewelry, and the decor of the house remained the same as he usually saw it. It meant he didn't feel underdressed or not holly jolly enough in his simple but comfortable navy, three-quarter-sleeved v-neck, khakis, and sneakers. The scent of sugary confections wafted out the door and to his nose. Nothing burned yet, it seemed.

"Started without me, huh?" he asked, stepping inside when beckoned by her hand, currently covered by an oven mitt with the likeness of a green lizard. Its pink tongue stuck out between the thumb and the rest of the mitten, and the glass bead eyes stared off to either side. "I didn't take you for the type to like cheesy oven mitts like that, either."

"I wanted to try the first batch on my own. Lila gave me the recipe and said it was one you would probably like better since it's not as overly sweet as most and that even I couldn't mess up. So I decided to see if she was right," she stated, closing the door behind them. "As for my oven mitt, I think it's adorable. It reminds me of the Lizalfos from my home planet."

"Lizalfos?"

Gogeta started to follow her back to the kitchen, but before he could enter, Nabooru turned back around to block him. "Nuh uh. I only have one more tray to shape and cook and I don't want you hovering over my shoulder trying to correct me." She gave him a gentle push back toward the living room before slipping into the kitchen. "You can help me decorate the ones I've already finished, too, but not until I'm done."

Gogeta considered ignoring her or at least seating himself at the island bar separating the kitchen and living room, but settled on behaving and plopped down on the couch instead. He watched her pull a tray of cookies from the oven and replace it with another before returning to finishing up the supposed final batch of the batter she had already made. From his angle, he couldn't see past the lip of the counter.

"As for Lizalfos," she began, rolling out the dough with a rolling pin, "they're like lizard people. They wore armor and knew how to use swords, spears, and even bows. Smart in that way, but typically pretty dumb. But in an endearing way as long as they weren't trying to kill you."

The fusion snorted. "Was there anything on your home planet that didn't want to kill you?"

"Yes, but they were far rarer than the creatures that did," she responded with a grin. "Especially in the desert. If the landscape and weather itself wasn't out to kill you, the animals and monsters out there would. Why else do you think I'm so tough?"

Gogeta chuckled, knowing her could give her a plethora of other reasons for that, but he decided most of them could threaten the good mood. Instead, he watched her slice into her rolled out dough with a little person-shaped cookie cutter. 

"Did you find anything for Goten and Trunks yet?"

Gogeta blew his bang out of his face and crossed one leg over the other. He stretched his arms out along the length of the back of the couch. "No, not yet," he admitted dismally, staring at the blank TV screen as if it might offer some insight to his plight. "It's hard to think of anything for a kid who has everything or could have whatever he wants at the drop of a hat and the other whose mother insists I only get him books. No toys and no woodland creatures for pets. Basically, nothing fun."

Nabooru hummed and began laying out her dough people on another cookie sheet. "Mm, that does sound tough." She dropped one of her unbaked cookies with a string of curses in her native tongue. She ducked below the counter and picked it up, tossing the soiled dough into the trash bin. "Maybe you could just spend a whole day with them or something? Take them to the amusement park or zoo or maybe even fishing? I know Bulma and ChiChi haven't been exactly...accommodating, but surely this time of year they'd be a little easier to work with."

"Maybe. I'm not really optimistic about it, but stranger things have happened." Just thinking about the kids' mothers and their less than stellar treatment of him since his formation threatened to sour his mood. While they didn't outright bar him from seeing or spending time with the boys, they didn't make it easy on him to. Or comfortable. "I suppose I could just do whatever I want for them no matter what they say."

"That's the spirit," Nabooru agreed with a laugh. She had picked up a piping bag filled with white icing. She bent low over the counter and began squeezing the icing onto a cookie. "It's basically your job to spoil them now. Or spoil them more when it comes to Trunks."

"What a good influence you are."

"Never claimed to be one." She observed her handiwork for a moment then nodded. "I'd say that's almost perfect."

She transferred it over to a plate, sprinkled something on it, then carried it over to him. She held the plate with both hands down at eye level for him, beaming. "I made you!"

The Saiyan peered down at the plate and quickly found her grin to be a contagious one. Sure enough, surrounded by blue and yellow sprinkles was a miniature, cookie version of himself. She added extra dough to make his spiky hair and add a little more dimension to his pants and vest. The icing polished off the details from adding color to the otherwise colorless cookie with his black hair and the yellow and blue details of his vest and belt and giving him a little smirk and side-eye expression.

"I think you captured my likeness pretty well. I almost hate to eat it." He took the plate from her. "Thanks, Nabooru."

"Of course! And we'll pretend I got it looking that nice on the first try and I haven't eaten at least four failed attempts already."

"Your secret's are safe with me."

"Good because I sent it to Lila and told her it was my first try." Nabooru laughed and held her hands out to him. "Okay, you can come help me put icing on the rest of these that are done. I tried to make them into different shapes but...well, you'll get to tap into your creativity to figure out what I was trying to make."

He set the plate aside and grasped her hands, allowing her to help him to his feet and lead him to the kitchen. Nabooru slid a large plate piled with unfrosted cookies toward him. Gogeta selected one and observed it, twisting it around in his fingers as he tried to surmise what she meant to shape the cookie into. He thought he could make out four legs coming off a lumpy body and maybe a head.

"Is this a cow, Nabs?" he asked, chuckling softly and holding it up.

She glanced over at it. "That one was supposed to be a cat…" Nose scrunched and lip poked out in a pout, she huffed. "It's not as easy as it looks! I'd like to see you do better when we make the next batch of dough."

Gogeta grinned and grabbed the black and white icing. "And if I do better than you, that means I get the title of best baker outside of East City, then?"

"Yeah, if." The timer on the oven dinged, and she slid her oven mitt back on. "I've gotten pretty good since I made that cat."

"You mean cow." She glared over her shoulder as she pulled the cookies from the oven and set them aside to cool, only amusing him more. He began piping white icing onto the cookie. "But I guess I can't doubt you on that though. You made cookie me look like me, so maybe you'll offer a challenge."

Nabooru slid the new tray into the oven and set the timer. "Whoever makes the nicest looking cookies with the new batch wins title of best cookie baker that isn't Lila. Deal?"

Gogeta finished piping the black spots and a pink snout onto his cookie before setting it aside. "You're on."

[duhragonball]

Dragon Ball Z Movie 12: Fusion Reborn (6/6)

One of the criticisms I’ve seen about this movie (From Team Four Star, because they seem to be the only ones still sleeping on how cool Movie 12 is), is that the Veku vs. Janemba part takes up too much of the film.   I find this absurd for a couple of reasons.

First, it illustrates the immense risk involved with the Fusion Technique.  If you screw it up, you may end up worse off than when you started.   As far as I can tell, Veku has greater power and stamina than Fat Gotenks, and he lasted a lot longer against Janemba than Goku or Vegeta did individually, but he’s still in deep trouble, and things could have gone even worse depending on how badly our heroes botched the pose.   

I think the presumption here is that Goku and Vegeta should have pulled it off on their first try, allowing time for an epic fifteen-minute brawl with Janemba to close the movie.    But that’s not how Fusion works in this franchise.    It’s a high-risk/high-reward manuever.   If you get it wrong, it’s a disaster, but if it works, you can overwhelm an opponent in minutes, if not seconds. 

The second objection I have is that every gorram one of these movies wastes a bunch of time on goofy stuff.   Movies 3 blows like a third of its runtime on a camping trip that has nothing to do with Turles or anything else.   And then Movie 5 goes on another camping trip,because I guess they still had camping stuff they hadn’t used the first time around.   Movies 1 and 2 had friggin’ musical interludes.  

The only exception I can think of is “Mystical Adventure”, which has a frantic pace very similar to “Fusion Reborn”, but I feel like that whole part set in Penguin Village was kind of a weird diversion, even if it did function as the climactic battle of the movie.      The point is that even if Veku was a big waste of storytelling time, it’s well inside the bounds for these movies.  And it’s not a waste of time, because this is part of the effort to master fusion.  

Anyway, when we last left Veku, he had fled Janemba to hide in what’s left of the Needle Mountain in Hell.  But now Janemba’s tracked him down.    To attack him, Big J uses a spike from the mountain and somehow transforms it with his weird powers, making it extend towards Veku like a spear.

It’s kind of hard to get this across with just screencaps, but you can tell by the look on Veku’s face that he’s in deep trouble. 

But then at the last possible instant, Veku’s fusion expires, and he splits into Goku and Vegeta, avoiding the impact.   

Janemba is shocked.      Maybe he didn’t realize Veku was his previous two opponents fused together?   Before he can figure this out, Goku and Geets sucker punch him and fly away,

I don’t know how smart Janemba is supposed to be, but by now he’s probably figured out that Goku and Vegeta are trying to combine together to keep fighting him.

As they run away, Vegeta is livid.   He didn;t like the idea of fusing with Goku in the first place, and that was when he thought it might actually work.  Then he goes through with it, and it ends up making them weaker.

Then King Kai contacts Goku telepathically, and explains how Vegeta screwed up the last part of the pose by not extending his fingers.   Goku’s all smiles, because now that they know what went wrong, they just need to try it again and it’ll work perfectly.

But Vegeta’s outraged that he would even suggest doing all of that a second time.   Bad enough that he had to do it once, and it nearly got them killed.  Well, they’re already dead, but you know what I mean.  Don’t you?   Look, Janemba’s not trying to tickle these two, that’s all that matters.

But they have to do it again, because this is still their only hope of winning.   They just need to get the pose right this time, because now there’s no margin of error.   

Trouble is, Janemba’s onto them now, and they can’t do the fusion dance because he keeps shooting ki blasts at them.   WIthout the element of surprise, or a decent place to hide, they won’t have time to fuse, properly or otherwise.

But then...!

Fuck yeah, Pikkon’s here!   I guess he sensed all the trouble they were having, or maybe the Kais asked him to run interference for Goku and Vegeta.  Yeah, that must be it, since he already knows what Goku is trying to do.

So Goku’s all grateful to Pikkon, and he thanks him as they move to a safe distance.

And I love this dirty look Vegeta gives Pikkon before he leaves.  “Look, I don’t know who you are, but you stay away from my rival, thot.”

So now it’s Pikkon vs. Janemba, and you’d think he’s screwed, right?  I mean, he got clobbered by Janemba’s first form earlier in the movie, so what good can he do against this red version?

Ah, but Pikkon knows exactly how to keep this guy off-balance, because he’s been dealing with Janemba’s barrier all this time, and so...

I’m pretty sure “mental defective” isn’t quite what Pikkon called him in Japanese, but verbal abuse is verbal abuse, and it works!  Janemba’s skin cracks up just like that barrier did.

I’m not quite sure what to make of this image.   Is this just shadow, or is the idea that Janemba is hollow on the inside, like a Faberge Egg?   I like that idea, even if it’s not what they had in mind.  Janemba’s made of the spiritual waste of a buttload of wicked souls.  For all his power, he’s just a shell of a person.   Maybe that’s why he’s vulnerable to harsh words.  He can’t stand being called out for what he is.

Then Pikkon shoots ki blasts at him, and I don’t understand that at all, because that didn’t do anything to the barrier, so why even try it on Janemba himself?  The insults were working, buddy.    Just call him a tiny-handed idiot and tell him his red trucker hat makes him look like an even bigger jackass than that stupid combover on his scalp.  Tell him that he’ll go down in history as a total joke, and he’ll rank among world leaders somewhere between the Roman Emperor who married his horse and the other Roman Emperor who clubbed amputees to death while pretending to be a gladiator.   Sorry, I got distracted there for a minute.

But Pikkon doesn’t do any of that, and I guess his harsh words are only effective enough to surprise Janemba, and maybe only hurt him a little bit.   Like the barrier around Yemma, Janemba seems able to withstand it to some degree, so he does the disassemble-y relocation trick, reappears behind Pikkon...

And boxes his ears!  Owwwwwww!  

But meanwhile! 

OH YOU DIDN’T KNOW?

Janemba would probably finish Pikkon off right here, except he’s seen that blinding light before, which means....

.... This thing!   What is it?  What does it mean?   I dunno! 

But then we see this badass mofo right here.    Who be bad now, Janemba?   WHO BE BAD NOW?

Pikkon looks over and sees that the fusion worked, and he breathes a sigh of relief as he passes out.  

So they did it.    Vegeta didn’t want to do this, but it worked.   Now he can defeat Janemba, but as part of Gogeta, not as himself.   There’s something kind of bittersweet about this, because there were no options for Vegeta to retain himself in this.  In death, he was doomed to lose his identity as a disembodied soul.   Restored as he was by Janemba’s tampering, he was too weak to fight Janemba on his own, which was the only thing that would have given his temporary resurrection any meaning.   He could have run away, or even helped Janemba to preserve his own existence, but doing that would betray his principles, and that would erase his identity too. 

The Saiyans are extinct.   Goku and Vegeta were the only ones left, and they’re both dead in this movie.   They’ve been dead for a while now, as far as I can tell.  But what they stood for, their ferocious martial skill and their boundless courage, will live on.   That’s what this is about for Vegeta.  He’s already gone, but he can at least see to it that someone can rise up to defeat a monster like Janemba.   If that warrior doesn’t exist, then he can at least fuse with Goku and create him. 

And when this is over, that’ll be it for Vegeta.     He’ll go back to hell, and eventually be reincarnated as a dolphin or something.    Eventually, even the legacy of Vegeta will fade from living memory, and no one will remember who and what he once was.   This moment can stand as a coda to his fleeting time in the universe.    Z stands for the end.  

But not yet.    Not yet.

Somehow, Goten and Trunks can sense their dead father’s fusion and it inspires them to do their own fusion.  I’m not sure why they didn’t just do this in the first place.  Given the crisis on Earth, maybe they didn’t want to risk using fusion early, in case they might be too tired to do it later.  

I also don’t understand why the boys need to go to these lengths to beat Hitler and his army of zombie Nazis, but they did it anyway.  Well now you got Gotenks, dummy.   Shoulda just stayed in the bunker.

Gogeta only gets a few lines in this movie.  Really, he doesn’t get a whole lot to say anywhere, because he has so few appearances.   This is his debut, of course, and then Toei brought him back for the fuck-finish of Dragon Ball GT.   Then he came back in 2018′s Dragon Ball Super: Broly, where he got a lot more time to shine, but it was after a 21-year drought.

Anyway, Janemba seems to know this is serious business, because he takes one look at Gogeta and powers up.

So other than promising to avenge Pikkon, all Gogeta has to say in the original script is this: I am neither Goku nor Vegeta!  I am the one who will destroy you!”  That’s how it was worded in Budokai 3, anyway.  

In the dub, Gogeta’s lines are a little different.   First he says “I am not Goku or Vegeta! I am Gogeta!   It’s over, Janemba. I’ve come for you!”   Then he says in this shot: “Every force you create has an echo.   Your own bad energy will be your undoing.”

I dunno, the lines are memorable enough that I managed to quote them without looking, but I would have preferred they stuck to the Japanese script more, mostly because Schemmel and Sabat sounded so cool playing Gogeta in Budokai 3.  That was the problem I had with the later Funimation dubs.   By 2004 I was playing video games that covered movies and GT episodes I hadn’t seen yet, and when Funi! finally adapted those scenes, they never seemed to hold up to the video game performances.  

In any event, I feel like there was a push at Funi! to have Gogeta a) identify himself for the audience, and b) provide some sort of explanation for what was about to happen next.   I’m not sure this was necessary.    Does it really matter if Gogeta says his own name?  Lobot was never identified in Empire Strikes Back, but I still know who he is.   As for the rest...

Well, these streaks of light jump from Gogeta and hit Janemba in the chest, leaving craters in his body.   At the same time, Gogeta slides forward, moving behind Janemba.

Then he just turns around and drives his knee into the back of his neck, twice.  Janemba manages to turn around, but he just eats a kick to the face for his trouble.

Then he raises his hand, and turns around to stare at Janemba, who doesn’t get it until...

Gogeta makes a glowy, sparkly ball with his hand.   Actually, Janemba seemed to sense this before it happened, so I guess he has some idea what’s going on here.

Now maybe this is some variation of the Spirit Bomb, perhaps combined with some technique of Vegeta’s.    All I know is that this ki ball shrinks and disappears, and then Gogeta closes his empty fist.    But there’s light coming out of the fist, so yeah. 

Anyway, it scares the hell out of Janemba, so he knows something’s up.

So he charges Gogeta, who throws his attack, but it just looks like harmless sparkles, and Janemba doesn’t even slow down once it hits him.

But you can see how nettled Janemba is.   He’s clearly afraid of Gogeta, for one reason or another.

When he closes the distance, he throws a punch, and it looks like it connects.    Gogeta doesn’t block it, and he doesn’t flinch.   Dude doesn’t even move. 

And for a moment, it looks like Janemba’s doing okay, and then he suddenly looks shocked, and his whole body begins to sparkle.

Then his back explodes.   Ouch.

In the games, this movie is called the Stardust Breaker, which I never totally understood until now.    The glowing orb always distracted me from the fact that the attack itself looks like stardust, and stardust explodes out of Janemba’s wound, and Janemba himself seems to dissolve into stardust.   The breaker part speaks for itself, though.

This shot confuses me, because it makes it look like Janemba’s fist never actually made contact with Gogeta’s face, although the previous screencap suggests otherwise.  Maybe Big J took a step backward after the attack got to him.   In any case, Gogeta ain’t hurt, and Janemba’s body is disintigrating.

All he can do is scream as he fades away.  

And Gogeta just watched like he knows exactly what’s going on.  

And then the Tank Clerk reappears.   Did Gogeta plan all of this, or is it just a lucky break?

Anyway, the Tank Clerk takes one look at Gogeta and runs in terror.   We can see from the scenery that things are already returning to normal.   All those jellybean things are gone.

And Gogeta seems amused by the Tank Clerk’s panic. The kid has no idea what just happened, and maybe that’s for the best.   So it’s a weird fight, and very short, but I think that’s what makes it so captivating.   We didn’t need a long martial arts clinic to put Janemba away.  The whole idea of this movie is that Janemba is this anomaly in creation, and that it would take something more than just a powerful warrior to beat him.   If punching were enough, Goku could have handled this on his own. 

This is why I’ve never been a big fan of Gogeta vs. Broly as a scenario, because no matter how strong Broly is, he’s still one Saiyan, so having Goku and Vegeta combine into this otherworldly character to beat one Saiyan kind of cheapens the concept.    It should be reserved for villains like Janemba, Omega Shenron, and Majin Buu, who demonstrate bizarre powers that defy reality. 

This is also why I’m not crazy about the dub’s effort to explain the Gogeta/Janemba fight.   It sort of defies explanation.  What makes Gogeta look so awesome here is that he not only beat Janemba in a few seconds, but he seemed to know exactly what he was doing the entire time.  It’s like his fused mind could sense exactly where and how to strike.   Why did he bother kicking Janemba in the neck?   Was that somehow part of his offensive, or was he just getting his measure?   We’ll never know.    That’s what makes it so cool.  Gogeta’s a man of mystery.   In thirty minutes, he won’t even exist anymore.

I think a lot of Gogeta’s mystique was calculated as a response to Gotenks.  When Goku first spoke of Fusion in the main story, he seemed confident that if he could fuse with Gohan or Vegeta, they would beat Majin Buu easily.  But that would be a fusion of adult Super Saiyans.   Gotenks is a kid, and the results haven’t been as great.   So this movie sort of shows what Goku originally had in mind.   With greater experience, Gotenks could eventually reach the same heights...

But as a kid, he’s limited to bizarre techniques based on whatever he thinks is cool.    Which is why he’s doing the Super Ghost Kamikaze Attack again, only this time with 100 ghosts instead of one or ten.

And it works.  The ghosts blow up all the bad guys, but it’s only a hint of the incredible things Gogeta is capable of. 

Thirty minutes later, the fusion expires, and hell looks like it’s back to normal, right down to the bloody pond.   Vegeta smiles at Goku and tells him he never wants to do that again, but somehow you can tell he doesn’t quite mean that.   It reminds me of his farewell to Future Trunks in Dragon Ball Super, where he says he never wants to see him again.   It’s not that he hates the guy, it’s more that he wants Trunks to become strong enough to handle his own problems without having to use the time machine to get help.    Likewise, in this movie, the only way Vegeta could ever return to fuse with Goku is if another Janemba popped up, and he doesn’t want that to happen.

Goku says he’ll see Vegeta “later”.   I don’t know if that’s supposed to be ironic or if Goku’s just not thinking, or maybe he’s got some faint hope that Vegeta will return somehow and Goku will meet him again somehow, some way.

Anyway, Vegeta fades out, which is kind of sad, but the smile on his face is a nice consolation.

And all the dead people on Earth fade out the same way.    So that takes care of that.

King Yemma’s back in business, and all is right with the universe once again.

Videl and the boys head back after a long day of punching the undead.   They don’t know what happened or why, but at least it’s over.   But Goten and Trunks claim to know who saved the day.   I guess they figure their fathers fixed things in Otherworld, since they could sense them fusing.

But they won’t tell, I guess just to mess with Gohan and Videl.   So why couldn’t Gohan sense Gogeta’s ki if Goten and Trunks could?   Oh, right, he was making out with Videl the whole time.  

Anyway, Gohan chases the boys, anxious to learn their secret, and Videl gets flustered because they’re leaving her behind.   This background is gorgeous.  

Oh my gosh this is such a good movie.This scene doesn’t even matter and it’s still beautiful.

So that wraps things up, right?    Wrong.   There’s just one last piece of business...

No one made any wishes, so Shenron’s still waiting patiently in Bulma’s front yard.  D’oh!

And then the credits roll, including this shot of Goku from Movie 8, for some reason.

I posted caps from the credits earlier, but hot damn I like these.   And the ending theme is just magnificent.   This is such a good-ass movie.   No wasted motion, villain shows up in the first ten minutes, and there’s tons of stuff going on that’s all tied into the main plot, so the supporting characters can get their hero moments in without getting in the way of the main players.   There’s tons of action, plenty of comedy, and the visuals are gorgeous from start to finish.   

The only complaint I could possibly have is that it’s too short.  A story like this could have easily been expanded into a 90 minute film, or even longer.  You could have Goku and Vegeta botch a second fusion attempt, or just pad out the fights that are already in the story, or add some other characters running around dealing with the dead villains.    Piccolo and Krillin fight Dr. Gero or something.   Dabura and Broly try to gang up on Gohan and he gets some bloody satisfaction.  Shoot, have Videl beat up some Red Ribbon Army guys.   By now she’s probably strong enough to take most of them.    And of course, Tiencha vs. Perfect Cell.  

But you know, as a 50-minute affair, this thing rocks.   I’ve sat through movies three times as long that weren’t even a third as good.    It’s just so good.    Ahhh...

Bravo.

[saiyanhajime]

DBS: Broly - Review

I was excited to see “Dragon Ball Super: Broly”, obviously… It’s Dragon Ball! But I wasn’t expecting to be as blown away by it as I have been, to fall in love with it. For me, Dragon Ball has always been more about the fandom than the official media. When I first formed a love for the franchise, it was elusive and unattainable, so I had to get my kicks elsewhere.

I think DBS Broly might be my favourite piece of DB media, ever. It’s everything I ever wanted and everything I didn’t realise I needed from this franchise. I haven’t loved a piece of media like this in a long, loooong time.

Worth noting that, at the time of writing, I have only seen the English dub. I’ll wait for home release to see the subtitled Japanese audio version as I struggle to keep up with text and visuals at the same time!

The Cinema Experience

My first viewing was a small, packed screen on opening night here in the UK. The audience seemed to be mostly around 25-30 year olds, almost entirely fellow guys (my friend was one of maybe 5 women - seriously, where are you all??). But the ethnic diversity of Dragon Ball’s audience is something most movies could only dream of attracting. It was a great time, with people audibly laughing out loud and clapping at the end. The movie is genuinely so brilliantly funny, a surprise in itself.

My second viewing, the following night, alone, was a larger screening. Roughly the same audience demographics, but this time, the audience erupted into cheering with each transformation… It was so fucking incredible to be a part of. I was grinning the entire time. It’s hard to overstate just how important the social aspect of enjoying this movie in the cinema was.

It’s incredible to finally be living Dragon Ball “up to date” like this and the excitement shows.

Spoilers incoming...

Story Isn’t King

That's coming from someone who has always wished for more depth to DB, but what I've realised recently is that the level of storytelling the community plugs into this franchise is not something that belongs in the official media. We do it better, because we do it free of constraints the official releases require to be Dragon Ball, that it requires to be so widely popular. The official text is a framework, not a rulebook. I think one of the things that contributes to Dragon Ball’s insane popularity and ability to speak to so many people in so many cultures is how vague it can be. The snippets of depth are there for us to draw our own conclusions. DB doesn’t need canon absolutes in backstory.

Overall, I prefer the old “Bardock - The Father of Goku” telling of the prequel events that set up the Broly movie, though man it's been an age since I saw that. I wonder how much of my preference is just nostalgia? How much is knowing that Bardock: Father of Goku wasn’t “canon”, and so didn’t really matter? That is liberating. Now Dragon Ball Minus and DBS: Broly seem to demand that this is the way it actually happened with no room for headcanon and I feel a little turned off. There is plenty to like with this retelling. Gine is a delight, more of the saiyan homeworld is welcomed and just look at small details like Bardock actually moving his tail in this scene rather than it constantly being wrapped around their waists ready for combat. Ideally, I would like a perfect blend of the best elements from both tellings. And ya know what? That's the beauty of fandom... I can have that.

It is so obvious that huge chunks of story are missing here, yet it already drags for me a little... I’m not sure what the solution is, really. I’ve seen people suggesting it should have been two movies, but I’m not sure I agree.

Once the movie skips forward to present day, the storytelling revolving around the discovery of Broly, Paragus and their recruiting into the Freeza force is entertaining and I’m way more invested. So maybe it is just apathy for a prequel story retold a slightly different way…

But when the insane 30-40 minute non-stop action starts in the latter half, that’s when the movie comes into its own for me. This is Dragon Ball.

Overall, the narrative does something new for the series. It sets up, foreshadows and references back in a more conventional pattern than ever before. It feels, I dunno. It feels… Westernised? It feels, both narratively and in overall quality, more like a movie and not just a tacked on side-story. There’s no unnecessary inclusion of side characters irrelevant to the plot making cameos. Everyone is here for a reason.

Character Personalities

The characters behave like themselves again, and not just through exposition dumping monologues the series is famous for, but through visual storytelling! There is so much not said, so much told through the fight, through their expressions and movements.

From the moment Vegeta’s playful spar with Goku ends at Bulma’s vacation house, you get a very different Vegeta to the one we’ve seen through Super. His turn to listen to Goku and Whis's conversation is full of character. He's so on edge about something. And proceeds to tell us why with a humorous but genuinely livid jab at Goku for wishing Freeza back to life. Vegeta is worried. In the scene where Bulma is reviewing the CCTV footage of the Dragon Ball theft, Vegeta double takes and glares at Goku when it becomes obvious the thieves are Freeza’s men. They say nothing. It’s all character acting. It tells us so much.

Vegeta's anxiety continues on, affecting his fight with Broly… He barely has a chance to enjoy the fight at all. We get so little cocky Vegeta enjoying a battle and instead a very serious Vegeta who feels the need to to end this threat right now. What I take from all this is an example of quality character development - instead of Vegeta simply becoming more friendly, his personality that we all love is still there, but his morals have changed. His entertainment isn’t as important as protecting his family. And having witnessed Goku’ recklessly endanger their friends and families in throughout DB Super, Vegeta is not prepared to take any chances here, attempting to deliver a finishing blow very early on.

And Goku, who’s characterisation in Super felt so utterly insulting at times, is back on form here. His idiotic moments don’t feel so absurdly stupid that they’re unbelievable, but instead come across as cute and heartwarming. Moments like his talk with Broly mid fight, with Piccolo when he’s lying on the ground battered and bruised and when he’s simply watching Broly transform into a super saiyan for the first time convey Goku’s ability to be serious and regretful. It was so refreshing to see Goku back on form. The first half of his fight with Broly is incredible - going from excitement, to confidence that he could talk Broly round, to being put firmly in his place, on the ground. People who criticise the series for having no stakes fail to understand that the stakes are truly nestled in the characters personalities and their pride. The stakes are whether they will be able to overcome their flaws, both metaphorically through transformations, and literally.

Voice Acting (Dub)

Whilst on the subject of the characters, the voice acting is unbelievably good… Chris Ayres as Freeza steals the show, but the others are brilliant also.The line delivery is one thing, the ability to so brilliantly match that to the mouth flaps another, but the writing for a Western, English speaking audience is just superb. I cannot wait to see what differs in the original Japanese - I’ve heard that Freeza’s “Hello Monkeys!” line was a dub change from “Greetings!” for example, which in my opinion is so appropriate and elicits an uncomfortable, awkward laugh from the aforementioned ethnically diverse audience in the west in a such good way. Freeza as a tyrannical, racist, piece of shit, is an important character trait to a Western audience. The jokes that ride on line delivery alone are so numerous - one personal highlight for me is Whis’ ever-so-gay coded “Oh my…” when Gogeta bursts in. Took the words right out of my mouth, Whis. The voice acting is on a whole different level to anything before now from the American team. The scene I’ve already mentioned where Goku is contacted by Piccolo, Schemmel really sells the pain Goku’s in. And lets not forget Broly himself, played by Vic Mignogna, whose line delivery really conveys him as this Tarzan-like character in his sane scenes… But really shines in moments of mania when he’s flailing, yelling, crying as a cornered, manic, rabid ape who cannot control his emotions or immense strength. The scene where he’s just making noises at Goku, copying his fighting stance before he launches at him - wow. Even new side characters like Lemo have an outstanding quality to their voice acting that blows any previous English speaking Dragon Ball performance so far out of the water it’s insane.

Broly

Having a Dragon Ball story focus on so many characters who aren’t Goku is refreshing for a franchise that’s been so heavily criticised for being The Goku Show… For years we’ve wanted to see other characters step into the limelight. I still haven’t forgiven the last movie, Resurrection F, for stealing the win out from under Vegeta.

Vegeta still doesn’t get the long awaited limelight here… But this “new” saiyan, Broly, is something rather special. I wasn’t a fan of the original Broly. Loved the idea, but never liked the execution. His visual design I found personally off-putting, but more importantly it failed to convey his character very well. He looked so prestigious?  And the idea of being so affected by Goku crying as a baby next to him, that it sent him into uncontrollable rage whenever he heard the same “Kakarot” is so laughably stupid. I’m glad that’s not here.

The cool concept of the legendary super saiyan, though... I think most people dig that. Here that’s kind of gone too - but the idea of a freakishly strong saiyan from birth who is the embodiment of their animalistic heritage and rage-induced potential is beautifully executed. The great ape form, or rather Broly having found a way of accessing that power without transforming, is referenced more than once throughout the story. There’s this sense that the way Goku and Vegeta have learnt to control themselves has perhaps potentially hindered them. That maybe the ultra-instinct forms Whis has foreshadowed for so long is related, or could be used to tap into the natural potential of saiyans. Huh.

With a visually pleasing design to boot, Broly is absolutely awesome as the star in his own movie as a tragic menace. So much is done to sell this as Broly’s movie, from his sheer amount of screen time and characterisation in both his placid and manic states, to that awesome first person perspective part of his fight - incredible.

Animation and Aesthetics

You don’t need me to tell you this film looks gorgeous and I’ve already mentioned some scenes where the characters convey so much through movement alone. This looks like Dragon Ball never has. It feels nostalgic, but refreshing. It’s stylistically so unique and fluid and choreographed and magical. Impacts hit with such full-force conviction, the characters gracefully zooming around each other in dueling harmony, the electrifying ki beams piercing through the bleak environments with their vibrant colour and form. For once you really believe just how powerful and fast these superhumans are… Perhaps one of the reasons why the first half of the film is so much weaker for me is simply because there's less of this beautiful action. But the entire film is steeped in impressively bold and emotive colour pallets that sell the mood of each location so well.

But there’s a great big elephant in the room… The cgi.

It would seem I have a different opinion to most on this subject. I don’t mind the environmental cgi, but the character animation is jarring and I hate it. It is a blemish on an otherwise gorgeous piece of art. Now, I’m really funny about “bad” cgi. I also don’t know dick about animation. I just know when something looks really, really wrong. It’s as if the cgi characters have no squash and stretch applied that keeps them fluid. They’re stiff. There’s no elasticity, no umph. They move like someone just put strobe lights on. Their joints like that of action figures. I’ve seen so many people say it’s not bad or they even like these parts and I’m really glad it didn’t ruin it for most people, but my god does it ruin those scenes for me. Just look at the awkward mouth flaps and dead eyes, especially on Goky, in the Kamehameha/Galick Gun combo scene. Yuck.

Soundtrack

I love the score.

Before I saw the movie, I heard a lot of people talking about the chanting and how weird it was - but the second it started my first thought was how much it reminded me of Akira. And yeah, it’s kinda weird. And I love it. It hypes up this epic match and I don’t find it cheesy at all. I love it both in context and even when listened to in isolation.

The entire score is all over the place yet manages to feel whole as it attempts, and succeeds, to convey the atmosphere and emotion of each location, narrative beat and every swing of a fist or blast of ki. The only track I’m not keen on is the rendition of Chala Head Chala. I think it’s a pretty pants rendition of the song and is immensely distracting in an otherwise moving soundtrack. The movie totally needs a rendition of Head Chala right there, but not this rendition. I just don’t like it. The weird boingy sound is awful.

Final Thoughts

The success of Dragon Ball Super: Broly, especially in the west, is a joyful reminder what this 30 year old franchise means to so many people. Very few non-fans are going to have set foot in a cinema to see this movie, and yet the current total earnings at the time of writing on January 29th 2019 is $98,584,176 according to Box Office Mojo.

That is truly insane.

It feels like this movie was made especially for me and for that I am eternally grateful. Speaking to fellow fans and reading their reviews, it’s so clear that everyone has different things to love about this movie. There’s so much content here for every fan to find something they love. I cannot wait to get hold of a home release and I cannot wait to see what’s to come, ho-ly shit! What a time to be a Dragon Ball fan.

[garlic-gun]

i just wanted to go to sleep after posting this so heres a little bit of my thoughts behind the scenes now that i'm awake

for fusions, i want there to be a different feeling than the components, but working with features and concepts present in either or both of them. early on (like, months ago early) i was thinking about making there be some kind of like.. for lack of a better word i was sort of "budgeting" out specific traits for each fusion which i guess is Sort of still happening, but im being a bit more methodical about it in a way i'm not really sure is apparent but that felt fulfilling for me.

starting with gogeta, although my vegeta is Still just kind of There, there are concepts about him that im trying to bring out here, with more angular shapes. my goku has a bit of a soft, squared face for lack of a better way to phrase it, while vegeta has a very sharp face and features, so for gogeta i made his face look a little harder in terms of shape, if that makes sense.

in terms of hair, i gave him a more subdued version of vegeta's hairline and i came to that decision Semi-independently, as in i was like "hm... it needs something" and did that and then looked at a reference i had of him to find that he actually straight up Has vegeta's hairline as is, but only sometimes? convergent evolution but only a little bit. what i actually want to talk about is the process of actually figuring out what i want to do with his hair visually.

if youve been looking closely, you might notice that for goku i put down 2 to 3 shapes as a guide (1 to each side, and occasionally one more to define how the extra, kinda fluffed up part will look), and for vegeta, whom i think ive drawn like.. maybe 4 times on this blog comparatively, i only use one (basically a cone). for gogeta i needed to experiment a bit to find something that felt right. vegeta's hair is much more vertical, while i make goku's more horizontal and i want that sort of middle-ground to be handled in different ways in how i construct gogeta and vegito's hair.

originally i just gave him a wider and sort of flat shape but i struggled to make it either interesting in shape or like. make some kind of sense to me dimensionally

but im also proud of myself for this one honestly bc it took me 4 minutes to get to this point in the drawing and i felt kinda cool about it. younger me would absolutely lose their shit. im bringing this up now bc it then took me 14 minutes to try to do like. Something else with his hair

i came up with this and (highlighted in blue bc im not sure its really clear without the context of my brain) decided on the hair being Similarly vertical when compared with vegeta, but spread into three parts along the length of his head instead of just kind of vaguely trying to "fan it out"

it also ended up being taller and mostly no longer fitting the canvas but my thinking is basically, while vegeta's hair has a very distinct peak to it, gogeta's would have a less dramatic like... variance in height

i dont know how apparent the actual shape and construction connection is in practice to an observer, but its really more a mental thing on the backend. you may have seen how when i gave goku's face ye olde Circle Upon Which Everything Else Is Built head construction starter to try to be more exact about things, i kind of lost the ability to draw the shape the way i have been for the most part. it's like that. if i start something a certain way, even if ultimately the starting shapes are pretty much going to be obscured, it changes the way i approach it and it shows. and speaking of that, i also went about the process of drawing gogeta's face much more like how i would goku's. i guess more than anything its kind of a matter of muscle memory and if i worked enough at it i could probably make either approach more flexible but. who knows really. all in due time i guess

in terms of specific Additions to his design, rather than me just kinda doing things that better fit my artstyle and thought process, in order to give a little bit more distinct emphasis to fusions, i've decided that i want them to have white pupils to reflect a sort of magical nature to their existence. and also just bc i think it's fun. ive also wanted to make the metamoran clothing be a little distinct just to not necessarily be drawing the exact same clothes for every fusion dance fusion and ive had an idea for gotenks for a while, but aside from changing the tone of the colors (which is often more of a decision i make for the given piece im doing than one i make specifically as a part of the design) i didnt really have any sort of strong ideas about if i wanted to do anything for gogeta or what it would even be (as i've seen the inside of the vest be shown as yellow once and i Absolutely intend on doing that for gotenks but it felt kinda too loud for gogeta) until now. i didnt really notice how messy i left the yellow padding until looking at this while Not being ready to sleep, but that's inspired me to give him a subtle pattern of some kind, so that might be something i do with more intention and direction in a rendered piece?

thinking about how to handle him

[interesting-blog-name]

Denzel Curry MEGAREVIEW (ZUU/13LOOD IN + 13LOOD OUT MIXX/ UNLOCKED [w/ Kenny Beats])

Denzel Curry is a rapper I’ve known about since I started listening to the genre back in 2017, and one I’ve always enjoyed for the consistent energy he brought to every song he made. TABOO was one of the first records I listened to in its entirety (I wasn’t the type to go out of my way to listen to an album), and looking back at it, it was very ambitious, energetic, well-assembled, but did have its flaws and weaker moments. The production and Denzel’s voice were definitely highlights, but the lyrics and subject matter were sometimes lost in the midst of all the focused chaos of the album, even if more conceptual and deep tracks were to be found, such as the introductory title track, BLACK BALLOONS immediately after, one of my favorites, and THE BLACKEST BALLOON.

My younger ears were very fond of the grimy, bass-heavy music scene Denzel was closely related to as well, Florida rap’s punk-influenced, aggressive Soundcloud wave, which brought artists like XXXTENTACION, Lil Pump and the subject of this review to the spotlight. I was extremely drawn to the raw violence in the sound, and part of me still really enjoys it, a style very present in Denzel’s short but blunt and potent EP, 13. This familiarity and appreciation I had with his music were what brought me to listen to these three very short projects that I’d been holding back for quite a while.

 ZUU

Starting up with Denzel’s ode to his land, ZUU is definitely a change of pace to TABOO; the Florida native mixes his unmatched essence, flows and deliveries, masterful production and the traditional song topics and sometimes structures and samples from his homeland, into a tight, creative and, above all, fun project. Anyone can represent where they’re from in a rap song, but few could do it as creatively and interestingly as Denzel.

The production in this album is definitely a highlight: mostly handled by Australian duo FnZ, famous for working with A$AP Rocky in many occasions, Finatik and Zac, alongside familiar names such as Ronny J, Charlie Heat and Tay Keith, add a fresh, dynamic beat for every song they produce in ZUU, while still possessing an unmistakable texture and style to their production. The album is most definitely focused in its intended sound, ranging from the boiling title track, BIRDZ, or P.A.T. (probably one of Denzel’s most aggressive tracks ever), to the blissful WISH, or the less bombastic, but insanely catchy gospel-like SPEEDBOAT.

The only problem I have with the beats is they sometimes seem to be mixed weirdly; the higher decibels feel like they are mixed too loud on CARLOMART and SHAKE 88, which leads to some ear-piercing moments. Nothing that can’t be tolerated though.

The lyrics, again, are not a highpoint in the project. With the production and delivery present, they’d barely even have space to be so amazing or cutting edge. While Denzel deals with loss, overcoming his broke days, and even pays a very nice homage to his family in RICKY, the punchlines are not exactly groundbreaking, and they’ll let out a chuckle from the listener at best, and at worst, form a track like SHAKE 88, dwelling into the complex subject matter of twerking. I understand the why for a track like this, but it’s not like it’s executed well, as the beat is easily the most forgettable in here, and Denzel’s lyrics are way too oversimplified. But when Denzel has to deliver catchy and banging hooks and witty one-liners, he mostly delivers, and that’s what matters.

Still, you can tell Denzel’s song topics come from the heart when rapping about his upbringing and the environment he grew up in, such as in the second verse of AUTOMATIC. The features he brings are all from his state, from the legendary Rick Ross to upcomers PlayThatBoiZay and Kiddo Marv, and the features are some of the strongest parts of the album, as Denzel has such a nice chemistry with all of them that adds a lot to the songs, from Ice Billion Berg’s banging chorus (although it does become a little annoying when his vocals are pitched up) to PlayThatBoiZay’s raging verse, to even Rick Ross’ surprisingly fitting rapping, adding a smooth veteran touch to the very young, wild and free BIRDZ.

A very nice surprise in this album was Denzel’s singing and his hooks, as both has blatantly improved over time. While he’s no stranger to delivering a few chorus melodies in tracks such as Sick & Tired off of Imperial, the vocals don’t come close to those in the title track and WISH, and the hooks in both of the mentioned tracks, BIRDZ and SPEEDBOAT are phenomenal.

ZUU is a nice, clean and raw portrait of Florida, and that is exactly what it aims to be. While the album does get weaker at its second half, with skits that take up just a little too much time on a very short project and weaker tracks when compared to the insanity that was the first half, it is still very enjoyable for what it is: an explosive tape filled with bangers.

 FAVORITE TRACKS: ZUU, BIRDZ, RICKY, WISH, P.A.T.

LEAST FAVORITE TRACK: SHAKE 88  

 7.9/10

“That was back in Carol City, yeah, when I was just a jit, with the all-black faded Dickie with the raider fit. That was it, we was lit, y’all wasn’t even shit yet. We was Three 6, Wu-Tang mixed with Dipset.”

 13LOOD 1N + 13LOOD OUT MIXX

Between these three, this was actually the first tape I listened to, and it is definitely the most aggressive Denzel’s been in a while. The mix is made in such a way to merge every song together into one big collection, so there’s not much of an option to listen to tracks by themselves, unless you don’t mind the abrupt beginnings and endings in every track.

Overall, this is obviously much more of a simple compilation, meant to showcase previously unreleased material, than an actual tape, as CHARLIE SHEEN, for example, was recorded back in 2018. Thus, the project isn’t meant to be taken as seriously, and isn’t even on Spotify, but I’ll still review it.

The most glaring problem I have with 13LOOD 1N + 13LOOD OUT is the fact that every single track is lo-fi, and it isn’t pleasing to me. I don’t know why the people behind the project would make the decision to tone every aspect of the production down and have it sound like the music is coming from an old phone’s speaker, but if you ask me, it surely takes away more than it offers.

The problem with toning the sound down is that the tracks could have been SO much harder if only the volume and mixing was normal. CHARLIE SHEEN’s chorus is seriously insane, Ghostemane’s feature doesn’t disappoint, EVIL TWIN has a very nice dark vibe to it and ZillaKami unsurprisingly fits the track perfectly, and WELCOME TO THE FUTURE has some of Denzel’s nicest singing ever, with what seems to be two different-pitch vocals stacked on top of one another, creating this very eerie but mellow melody; however, all of these tracks suffer from being mixed too low, especially EVIL TWIN: the track sounds like an Instagram snippet.

The other tracks in the project aren’t as memorable due to the fact that, without spicy features, Denzel’s solo work aren’t much more than appetizers, snippets that happened to find their way into here. NO PEN NO PAD has a very nice, unique beat, but that’s about it for the three tracks where Denzel raps alone. GOGETA is a track that wouldn’t be out of place in Act 3 of TABOO, the AK feature is nice, but Denzel isn’t super crazy on this one.

To me, it serves as a nice darker, more compact project by Denzel, with strong production and deliveries all around, not much in lyrical content - although I’ll say he has more freedom than in ZUU for wilder, meaner punchlines, as this project doesn’t focus as much on hooks and repetitions -and the features tie up the mix in a very nice way, but after the last project, what we’re left with is not as purely explosive and exciting, even if not lacking in creativity and vision.

The project’s highlights are the first three proper tracks, and after that, the listener just glides through a few impressive, but very barebones tracks until coming to a close with a relatively hard track, but unfortunately, as complained before, the mixing is not on 13LOOD 1N + 13LOOD OUT’s side.

 FAVORITE TRACKS: CHARLIE SHEEN, WELCOME TO THE FUTURE

LEAST FAVORITE TRACK: PXSH6XD SHXT

 6.66/10

“All you niggas green, I don’t make a scene. Boy you half a man, I should’ve called you Charlie Sheen.”

 UNLOCKED (w/ Kenny Beats)

Kenny Beats has had a very successful run as a producer in rap for the past 2 or 3 years, rising to popularity working alongside artists like Rico Nasty, JPEGMAFIA, Vince Staples, and many other bubbling names. His style of production is glitchy, often aggressive, but also versatile and catchy, so a collab album with Denzel was bound to be something to look forward to.

UNLOCKED was released along with a 20-minute long music video that obviously isn’t the main focus of this review, but I’ll talk about it anyway. It portrays a very light-hearted, simple but colorful narrative of the duo voyaging into Kenny’s laptop to recover the leaked songs from the album, going through a different landscape for each track, with different art-styles and themes along the way. I will say the sequence for ‘Cosmic’.m4a is easily the most intense and is very well animated, but I also liked the clips for Track 01, Take_it_Back_v2, and Pyro (leak 2019). It’s a bunch of nice little visuals to accompany and give somewhat of a background and concept for the tape.

The tape and tracks themselves, in my opinion, are enjoyable, but nothing crazy. Kenny Beats’ production is solid throughout, but it is very fortunate this album is only 18 minutes, because it ends up sounding too one-dimensional when paired with Denzel’s verses. Don’t get me wrong, they are all great performances and I fully respect the decision to go purely with a more lyrical-focused, boom bap direction, but to me, it isn’t a style that can hold up for long without any experimentation or change in tone/beat.

Every track here has Denzel nonstop rapping throughout the whole tracks, without one melodic detour like became common in his last two studio albums; the hooks are still a strong central point in all songs except for Pyro, with the most notable ones in the tracks Lay_Up.m4a, DIET_ and So.Incredible.pkg. On the other songs, the chorus sounds just like the rest of the bars Denzel spits in his verses, except repeated like two times. On one hand it is a very focused and to-the-face project, while on the other, just a little bit of variety would have been more than welcome, especially since it’s a Denzel album, and I know he isn’t a stranger to it. The black sheep of the beats in the album is definitely its biggest song, DIET_, with its bongo, jungle percussion that is reflected in its music video. The headliner to this track, though, is Denzel’s DMX-inspired inflictions in the chorus, as he utilizes his recognizable raspy, growling voice, which isn’t used nearly enough in this album, him opting for a cleaner, more precise delivery.

The instrumentals in the project are very glitchy and creative with their use of sampling vocal clips, which bring a sense of cohesion and a boom bap, MF DOOM aura to the songs, but unlike many modern trap hits, they cannot carry the rapper, as unique and wild as they are; they need to work with the artist and unite to form a memorable, hard track. Luckily, Curry just so happens to be one of the best new-school rappers for the task that is bringing life to Kenny’s beats.

Truly, the main focus of UNLOCKED is Denzel’s bars and lyricism. The first few listens, I failed to grasp the fact that this was the main attraction to the album, and almost discarded the lyrics: “It isn’t anything conceptual, it doesn’t feel like Curry is trying to say anything of value in the songs, and the beats and infliction aren’t overly hard to compensate like in ZUU, so why bother?”, I thought, not in these exact words obviously. Listening again, watching Denzel and Kenny explain the creative process in Genius, and paying way more attention to the lyrics, I realized that I’m kinda dumb. Because yes, Curry might be rapping about the same things every rapper raps about: murder, money, threats, where he comes from, whatever, but it’s the way he says it that is captivating. Not every rapstar can mention Bubba Sparxxx, Rosa Parks and the second-best Indiana Jones movie in a chorus and make it sound as good as Denzel does, nor drop pop culture references quite like he does (“Turn your crib into a game of Fallout”). I failed to notice how colorful and lively Denzel’s bars were, as opposed to the sterile, empty threats and tired “Balling like [insert basketball player here]”, “Fast car, Nascar”, “Chase the money, don’t chase bitches” lines many other rappers employ in their rhymes, or even the lyrical miracle spiritual individual wack similes that conscious rappers try and fail to drop in their songs. And even when Denzel says something you can easily picture another rapper saying, the decisiveness and bravado with which he says so is intoxicating (“I don’t write rhymes nigga, I write checks”).

The aggressiveness is almost omnipresent, but when it isn’t, it is pretty noticeable. So.Incredible.pkg is the least interesting track by far, as the rhymes don’t stand out much, and the beat is definitely the deadest of the album. Meanwhile, tracks like the aforementioned DIET_, ‘Cosmic’.m4a and to some extent Take_it_Back_v2 are ruthless, with beat and lyricism teaming up to create the best this project has to offer.

The tempo of the tracks is fast and entertaining, the wordplay is mostly at Denzel’s best, and it seems Kenny can work with any artist’s specific style and improve it a ton, a little more subtly in Curry’s case. While it isn’t as flexible and full of surprises as some other Denzel projects, it makes up for it in how raw and centered it is. The album took a while to grow on me, but now that it has, I can see how unique in its influences it is. A very nice, bright creative effort by the duo.

 FAVORITE TRACKS: DIET_, Lay_Up.m4a, Take_it_Back_v2, ‘Cosmic’.m4a

LEAST FAVORITE TRACK: So.Incredible.pkg

 7.35/10

“It’s the man of the hour. Super confident and the clothes yell it louder, and if it don’t compute then I gots to reroute ya. Dressed in all black like a motherfucking bouncer.”

[michale10050958-blog]

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