#always fun when the not gokus get a spotlight

[rambling-procrastinator]

[shinjinsofthemultiverse]

Mirai Timeline Confusion

The more I think about the mirai timeline where every Supreme Kai in universe 7 died before the Goku Black arc, the more I realized how messed up it was for Super to introduce a character that literally erased Trunk's U7 (or an entire timeline) because Mr. Walking Time Aberration of a "protagonist" tried to use a "call god" card to fix a problem he caused.

And it backfired badly.

I don't fault new plot device characters like the Angels, Zen-oh, Hakishins, etc. for existing and being stronger than the protagonist. It's actually good to have characters that are meant to be stronger (Whis seemed to have no issues training two saiyans and it makes sense since he trained Beerus to get to where he is based off his caliber shown in anime,movie, and the manga even though I haven't read enough of Super Manga yet to make solid conclusion)

I just find it weird they try to act like time police but then you have a hakaishin unintentionally cause a split timeline to happen from trying to destroy a rogue kai er shinjin. I like dose of character flaws, don't get me wrong. Even like how Goku pulling the "getting a divine character's help" card just makes things worse instead of better.

But, it really goes to show how much damage it is to let a walking time aberration continue to be a protagonist, to a point where a support character had to be the one to save everyone in the tournament of power. Damn 17 proved how stupid the erasing ability is by being able to wish back character Zen-Oh erased with the Super Dragonballs.

I feel like DragonBall (Super) would've been simpler if they kept things at a creation and/or destruction level and not introduce "erase" as a concept altogether. Especially when a wish granting item can undo an "omnipotent character's" erases.

By the way, this is not a Goku bashing post. The character himself has shown times of accepting his death before, case in point cell games when he tried to move imperfect cell's self destruct body elsewhere and when he had no issues with trapping his brother, Raditz, in a hold and Piccolo dealing a finishing blow with Special Beam Cannon.

It's just Super makes it very clear that they really think Goku is the type to "call god" to fix problems vs Goku always tackling conflicts head on since a very young age in Dragon Ball.

I'm going to be blunt when I say this. The fun I enjoyed seeing in Super, was King kai, the angels, supreme kais, and hakaishins. Like those characters and the characters (17, 18, Krillin, Yamcha, etc.) that don't get much spotlight compared to the two Saiyans are fun to see. It would be nice to see the Angels, Hakaishin, and Supreme Kais again post tournament of power.

But, I know chances of that are pretty slim since focus goes back to U7 for obvious reasons. One day I'll try to catch up with Super content. But, current priority is budgeting and purchasing second-hand completed manga titles and immersifying in language learning that way.

[duhragonball]

Dragon Ball Z 023

I always forget that the Saibamen have a brief skirmish with the Z-Fighters before Tien and Yamcha show up.   Pretty sure it’s filler, but honestly, I’ve fallen so far behind on the manga that I’m not going to check.

Anyway, before the Saibamen really do anything serious, Tien and Chiaotzu arrive...

...And then Yamcha makes this grand entrance.

Now that there’s six enemies before him, Vegeta proposes they take turns fighting the six Saibamen in one-on-one matches.   Piccolo hates that idea, but Krillin reminds him that they need to play for time until Goku arrives.

The news crews get a little close to the battlefield again, so Nappa destroys on of their helicopters.  Pretty sure this is when Tien says he can see their parachutes in the Ocean dub, mostly because he’s actually here to say the line.

Meanwhile, Yajirobe is at some restaurant, telling anyone who will listen about the Saiyan invasion, and “his” team of guys, which includes Goku, Piccolo, and Tien.

Chi-Chi and Ox King arrive at Master Roshi’s looking for Gohan, and Roshi informs her that he’s currently with Piccolo fighting the Saiyans.   She faints.

To the Saiyans’ surprise, Tien defeats the first Saibaman with little difficulty, even though the Saibamen all have a power level of 1200, roughly the same as Raditz.   I want to talk about this for a minute.

This scene shows just how obsolete Raditz has become since he first appeared.   When he debuted, Raditz was shown to be stronger than every character who came before.   He fought Goku and Piccolo at the same time and overpowered them.    Now, when the current villains need to throw disposable henchmen at the heroes, they have to have power levels comparable to Raditz, in order to demonstrate that the heroes have advanced to at least some degree.   Tien trained for this fight, and even though he’s still out of his league, we have to show that he made some kind of gains.   So he gets a win on a Saibaman, showing that he could have beaten Raditz just as easily, if only Raditz had made it to this battle. 

It’s a little awkward though, because it makes it hard to justify a lot of Raditz’s bluster back in Episodes 1-5.   All of his talk about being an invincible, top-class warrior looks kind of ridiculous when Nappa literally carries six more in his pocket.   Then again, Vegeta himself gets similarly outclassed in the Namek Saga, so it just goes to show that the Saiyans were never as big a deal as they boasted. 

Anyway, Vegeta destroys the Saibaman who lost to Tien, because he ordered it to go all out, and yet it clearly didn’t fight with everything it had.  

Krillin plans to go next, but Yamcha insists on taking his place, since Krillin has died before, and can’t be wished back again.   He also declares that he plans to fight all five of the remaining Saibamen by himself, just to prove a point.

Back at Roshi’s place, everyone marks out for Yamcha, and for some reason Bulma’s all sweet on him again.   Honestly, this feels kind of manipulative.  Most of Bulma and Yamcha’s relationship is depicted as volatile at best, but whenever Yamcha is put in the spotlight, they try to do an about-face and play up Bulma as his best girl cheering him on.   That way, when something bad happens to him, it looks more tragic.  

Well this time, I’m just not feeling it.   If Yamcha crushed all five Saibamen, one-shotted the Saiyans, and beat Goku in a friendly match, he’d look like a million bucks, and then Bulma would get pissed at him all over again for some other reason.   If Yamcha lost this battle, but managed to escape in once piece, he’d probably go to Namek with the others, and Bulma would spend the whole trip reminding him that they’re still broken up, and she’s only putting up with him because it’s an emergency.

I’m not trying to make Bulma look like the bad guy in all of this.   On the contrary, I feel like the real problem is that Toriyama and Toei keep trying to romanticize the Bulma/Yamcha relationship only when it maximizes the drama.   That’s why it looks so phony and flimsy.   Goku and Chi-Chi are a long-term couple no matter what happens or where they happen to be at any given moment. 

So Yamcha fights a Saibaman, and much of the fight takes place as super-speed.   This is done so Gohan can get a lesson in using his ki to observe the battle instead of relying on just his eyesight.    So I guess Tien was moving a lot slower during his fight?

And Yamcha wins, quite handily.  I think this gets overlooked a lot, but I think it’s safe to say that Yamcha’s caught up to Tien by this point, and he’s surpassed Raditz by a comfortable margin.   But...

For all his fighting prowess, Yamcha took his eye off the ball, and the Saibaman manages to grab him and self-destruct. 

And here’s the iconic Dead Yamcha pose.    Like I was saying, this is such a well-known moment in DBZ that I think the context of the scene gets overlooked.   People make fun of Yamcha for being weak, but he beat this Saibaman.   The Saibaman exploded in his face, and his body is still in tact.   Yeah, he’s still dead, but it’s pretty impressive that Krillin’s first reaction is to run over and take a pulse, because there might be a chance that he survived.   No one’s checking the Saibaman’s pulse, is my point.

The problem with Yamcha is that he makes careless mistakes.    For all his talent, he gets cocky or sloppy, and when things don’t go his way, he gets desperate, which only makes him sloppier.  

To a certain extent, Yamcha’s carefree attitude is a strength.   He spent this whole arc looking forward to the challenge of fighting the Saiyans, and that positive energy kept him going through the past year.    I think it also boosted the morale of the others.   Yeah, the situation was grim, but Yamcha was in high spirits, and I think that rubbed off on the others.    There’s a reason his death in this episode hits everyone so hard.

But the Saiyans are nothing to fool with.   Goku was the strongest man Yamcha knew, and he was the first one to die.    The Saibamen were a wildcard no one was counting on, and the one Tien fought could spray acid out of his head, so Yamcha never should have underestimated his opponent.   He definitely shouldn’t have been talking trash to Vegeta in such a crucial moment.  The sad thing is, I’m pretty sure Yamcha could have beaten the other four Saibamen pretty handily, and he might have been instrumental in the fight with Nappa.   But here we are.

Everyone takes the whole thing pretty hard.   I think Tien’s win over the first Saibaman kind of gave them all a sense of hope, and Yamcha’s death completely snuffed it out.   Even if the other fighters win, they’ve still paid a high price here.   Yeah, Yamcha can be wished back with the Dragon Balls, but Krillin and Chiaotzu can’t, which was why Yamcha wanted to fight in their place.   He can’t protect them anymore, and if the Saibamen can kill him, they can kill anyone else.

Krillin takes it especially hard because he feels like that explosion was meant for him.   

But Vegeta doesn’t care, and he demands that Yamcha’s corpse be cleared away so they can keep fighting.

Krillin gets super pissed about this, and he starts getting all fired up.    What’s he gonna do?   Well, we’ll have to wait until the next episode. 

[zealouslyzamasu]

Franco’s Top Five Future Trunks Arc Episodes

Since the Future Trunks Arc is officially over I decided what a fun way to end it is to give my top five favorite episodes of the arc.

Under a read more because it’s preeeeeeetty lengthy...

5. "I'd Like to See Goku, You See A Summons From Grand Zeno!” (Episode 55)

Ahh we start off this list with the episode where we get we get some insight into the mind of Zamasu and his learn a little more about about his views on justice and mortalkind. Now remember how I keep saying how his way of thinking has always been intriguing to me? When this is the episode and this very scene that kickstarted my insane fancination with him. The elegant way he speaks honestly has me under his spell during this scene.

4. "Worship Me! Give Praise Unto Me! The Explosive Birth of a Merged Zamasu!" (Episode 64)

Ok now I know what your thinking...as much as I talked about this episode how on Zamasu’s green earth can this episode can be this low on this list? Well I was heavily contemplating if I should put this episode in the top three because I loved it so much. That said, I realized there was only one moment from this episode that you may noticed I never shut up about:

Fusion Zamasu’s sexy as hell birth.

That among other small things in the episode that I took major enjoyment in (Such as the abundance of sexy smirks and we can’t forget his glorious panting) The rest of the episode wasn’t really that remeberable. Mainly the Goku Black side of the episode with Goku and Vegeta. Things doesn’t get super interesting until Zamasu confronts Bulma and she *sighs* tries to distract him by flirting with him.

3 "Final Judgement? The Ultimate Power of an Absolute God" (Episode 65)

Goddamn was Zamasu sexy as fuck in this episode!!

Uh...anyway...here is where we get our first glimpse of Fusion Zamasu and Oh. My. Gawwwwwwd!!! I couldn’t stop drooling over him through he entire episode!! He was just looking so damn delicious! This episode was the embodiment of how I say that he terrifies me and turns me on at the same time!! Ugh just take me Zamasu!!

Okay okay...enough fangirling (for now!) this episode was just action packed and a lot of fun to watch and I have to bring attention to how they did his voice with the echo effect.

Like...damn baby!! It made him sound more godly and terrifying and sexy and ugggggghhh I could go on and on for hours about that beautiful voice!

Let me move on before I get myself another thirst spell.

2 "A God with an Invincible Body The Advent of Zamasu” (Episode 57)

Well well well. Will you look at that? It’s the episode that started it all. Many of you may know by now that it was his very episode that made me fall in love with Zamasu to the extreme extent that I did. And for the longest time this was my number one episode. Those who have been following me from the beginning knows I talked about this episode nonstop. I made videos on it, and made gif sets dedicated to it. This episode is the sole reason why this blog even exists.

One of the reasons I love this episode dearly is because Zamasu gets a lot of the spotlight here and it’s Goku Black that takes the backseat at lets Zamasu soak in the attention. Plus this episode is home to one of my all time favorite Zamasu moments:

Zamasu revealing his invincible body to Trunks and says one of my favorite Zamasu quotes ever!

And for a while as much as I loved this episode with ever fiber of my being, I wanted an episode that could surpass it. Despite’s my doubts...an episode has did just that.

What is that episode? We’ll find about after hear for our Honorable Mentions!

******Honorable Mentions******

"Uncover Black's Identity! Off to the 10th Universe's World of the Kai's!" (Episode 53)

Alright look, I’d have to be some kind of fool not to include this episode at some point in the list. While the episode before this was Zamasu’s true first appearance. This episode will always be the his appearance where we actually hear him speak for the first time and it’s this episode that is the stepping stones for he rest of the arc. If you ask me, this episode is probably one of the most important ones in this arc.

Think about it: if this episode never happened...this entire arc would’ve never happened.

"Showdown! The Miraculous Power of Unyielding Warriors" (Episode 66)

One of things that was giving me life was how insane Zamasu becomes in this episode! Also half-Corruption Zamasu is hotter than I thought. But as much as I enjoyed that...I got to be honest...

The Vegito hype highkey killed the episode for me a little bit.

"Don't You Disgrace Saiyan Cells! Vegeta's Fierce Battle Commences!" (Episode 63)

To tell you the truth...half of the reason why this is even an honorable mention is because some of the angles Zamasu was in looked just so beautiful on him, especially during the part where he chases after Trunks.

The other half is because...of this...

Don’t judge me...

However...stepping away from Zamasu for a second...we need to talk about Vegeta in this episode.

Yeah....you heard right!

I was throughly impressed with him in how he basically exclaimed how much he respects Goku although he clearly doesn’t care for him. Vegeta, honestly is a character that frustrates me. But he does has he moments such as the one here (and in episode 65 with the Father-Son Galick Gun with Trunks...I have to admit that was cute.)

"Rematch With Goku Black! Super Saiyan Rosé Appears" (Episode 56)

What do you think of it? Quite the selection, huh?

As surprising at it may be to include an episode that doesn’t include much of Zamasu himself, to be fair I just included this episode mainly for the Super Saiyan Rosé transformation.

What? I think it’s a cool form.

And now the moment you all been waiting for! My favorite episode in the Future Trunks arc iiiiiiiiiisssss...

Oh who am I kidding? Y’all already know what it is, don’t you?

1. "Zamasu's Ambition The Storied "Project 0 Mortals" of Terror" (Episode 61)

Yeeeeeah....you all saw this one coming didn’t you?...but damn it I can’t help it! This episode was just perfection in my eyes.

Like where do I even begin with the gem of an episode?

Do we start with the compelling story of how Goku Black and Zamasu united as one? Which leads to the famous hug scene.

Or do we start on how in sync they were throughout this episode?

Maybe we can discuss about Trunks new “form”?

Oooooh ooooh I know!! We have to discussed my favorite scene in the whole episode and probably the entire arc!! The scene where Zamasu and Black tell Goku what they did to him and his family.

I.

LOVE.

THIS.

SCENE!!

From the chillingly sexy demeanor that Zamasu displays (the way he leans in on Goku...god if he did that to me~💦!!), to the powerful emotional scene from Goku. I was blown away from this scene. Hell this whole episode blew me away. I know I’ve watched that scene at least a hundred times and I still get goosebumps every time!

Every. Time.

I could gush about this episode all night long but his post is already long as it is.

Overall it was such a fun ride and there’s the reason why my hashtag exists.

#61istheone

Well that’s my list! Feel free to share with me some of yours I’d like to get a conversation going!

[recentanimenews]

The 14 Most Fabulous Foreheads in Anime

In a medium known for fantastical hair defying both gravity and humanity’s ability to produce pigments, one often overlooked facial feature is the humble brow, oft invisible behind multicolored curtains. This is a crime. The smooth expanse of skin is the workhorse of the head, acting as a necessary buffer between face and hair, criticized if it’s too small or large but rarely complimented on its own merits.

A forehead can be a point of charm or even lend a quiet dignity to those who carry it, so when an anime is brave enough to feature a character who leave it exposed, that is truly noteworthy. For this reason, I’ve compiled a list of the 14 most flattering foreheads in anime to finally give them some much-deserved love.

14. Rossiu - Gurren Lagann

It’s rare in an anime for us to be able to see such a wonderful forehead throughout its entire lifecycle, from the youthful roundness of a young boy when he’s first introduced to the dignified brow of an older gentleman in the epilogue. His forehead seems to have calmed with age, his uneven hairline giving the appearance of a plane barely contained within the perimeter of his follicles, fighting to break free and run wild over the entirety of his head.

13. Isidro - Berserk

Talent only gets you so far. It takes years of struggle to attain your dreams and cultivate your natural abilities. Isidro takes this to heart with his unusual foreland. Perhaps the least naturally gifted on the list, Isidro has made it work with his hairstyle, short and trimmed back around the temples so his hairline stops at the top of his ears, adds some significant width to his forehead which, when matched with his particularly spherical skull, makes for something that’s almost too big and broad to be called a forehead.

12. Tsuruya - The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi

Perhaps the most underappreciated forehead on this list. Tsuruya has a lot of personality and a ton of hair which, unfortunately, distract from her greatest features. While you may be drawn in by her fang and her charming way of talking, don’t forget that her knee-length hair seems incapable of putting any coverage over her impressive zenith, with even her shorter bangs seemingly suspended in the air without falling against her brow. Almost as if she had some sort of supernatural power…

11. Howard Marks - JOKER GAME

Just LOOK at it. Marks absolutely owns the forehead game when it comes to raw size. This guy could let his bangs hang and still dominate 90% of the competition, but he’s proud of his mass and keeps a smart cut to put it on display. It’s not every day you see a forehead that look like it starts at the corners of someone’s mouth. While it may not be the most aesthetically pleasing shape given the size of his face, Howard’s got the head shape of a man who always has a bright idea.

10. Alex Louis Armstrong - Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

Don’t try to convince me that male pattern baldness is at work here, because the only explanation for that head is a bold decision made by one of the most daring and stylish State Alchemists. Knowing he had a true treasure resting upon his head, Armstrong did away with his hairline to show the true majesty of his skull in its entirely, leaving only a single lock to highlight his particularly impressive dome. Armstrong’s obsession with bodybuilding would never allow him to overlook the container for his most impressive muscle... his brain.

9. Nico Robin - One Piece

Robin is a lady who likes to keep secrets, never letting on that, among her many charms, was a singularly magnificent forehead until two whole years after her introduction. Originally hidden behind an impressive set of bangs, Robin eventually settled into a new look, pinning them back with a smart set of shades. Almost like an important haircut, her new open embrace of life as a member of the Strawhats is mirrored in the space above her eyebrows. To think she might have been locked away and one of the greatest foreheads of our modern era hidden in the dark forever.

8. Eijiro Kirishima - My Hero Academia

An aspect of Kirishima’s quirk that may be overlooked in favor of its combat utilities is its ability to accessorize his personal precipice. His hair stands upright like a crown adorning his immaculate hairline in a manner that you’d have a hard sell telling anyone is natural without a lot of product or some evolutionary aid. The red is particularly striking, drawing the eye in toward the apex of his face. His hair is my hero for doing so much to show off one of the best foreheads in UA.

7. Takagi - KARAKAI JOZU NO TAKAGI-SAN

As with all things, Takagi-san is a tease. Her enigmatic, Mona Lisa-like smile is matched in mystery by the unknown geometry of her forehead. From even just the small glimpse we’re given, it’s obvious she’s been gifted with a rare cerebral expanse, but its outer perimeter is obscured by two curtains of hair. You have to watch her closely not only to avoid the inevitable prank, but catch the rare glimpse of her hairline.

6. Ushiyama Tatsuma - Golden Kamuy

This guys got both form and function that puts him head and shoulders, especially head, above the impressive competition in Golden Kamuy. Up against some impressive hairlines and even a one villain with an unfair forehead prosthesis. Although some may be shocked at its shape, all foreheads are beautiful and this one's uniqueness truly shines, even drawing attention from his pronounced judo ear! His large frontal bone is surprisingly symmetrical, adding some welcome new geometry to the forehead game, and can even deflect nails!

5. Charmy - Black Clover

The foremost magic knight under Yami is also the member of the Black Bulls with the foremost forehead. Only one word can accurately describe Charmy’s forehead, and that is “magical.” Her bangs fall naturally down either side of her sparkling expanse like a Victorian frame. You can actually see the mana creating a fine sheen upon her brown like the sun rising over the horizon. Such great skin must require a healthy diet.

4. Shima Tetsuo - Akira

With a dome like that, no wonder Tetsuo has overwhelming psychic power. Accentuated with a swept back hairstyle, Tetsuo’s considerable summit is one area where he’ll never fall short of Kaneda. Tetsuo's whole head seems designed to accentuate the area above his eyes, with low, thin eyebrows making his most significant feature even more immense. It looks like you could fit another face between his eyebrows and his hairline.

3. Haruno Sakura - Naruto / Boruto

In a series about redemption, perhaps none were so impressive as that of Sakura’s forehead. Originally a source of shame for Sakura, which she attempted to hide behind her hair. As she grew older she realized that it was nothing to be ashamed of and, nowadays, proudly shows off her brow, even adding an accent to draw the eye. Sakura’s forehead was always perfect, she just needed to discover its true beauty.

2. Vegeta - Dragon Ball Super

He may never become the strongest warrior in the universe(s) but Vegeta will always dominate when it comes to one field. Foreheads. It wouldn’t be Dragon Ball if there weren't broad competition. One of Krillin’s original techniques was blinding enemies with the shine off his sleek dome, the Android twins have immaculate planes framed by perfect hair, and SSJ3 Goku has the manliest brow since the neanderthals. All fall before his magnificent widow’s peak, nearly dividing everything above his eyes in two. It’s one limit that Goku shall never surpass.

1. Saikawa - Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid

A shining beacon of hope in our dark world, Saikawa’s forehead is a gift. It’s wonderful sheen acts as her own personal headlight, illuminating her path not unlike a certain reindeer. Brilliant as it is, her brow begs the question as to how blinding it may be once fully revealed. Even among a cast of magnificent dragons, her forehead remains unmatched. Most terrifying of all, Saikawa has yet to even fully grow into her own head. A mere elementary schooler, one can only wonder at her true upper ceiling.

Hope you had fun brow-sing this list. Who possesses your favorite forehead on the list? Is size, shape, or shine more important? Is there a forehead I’ve fore-gotten? Let us know in the comments below!

---

Peter Fobian is an Associate Features Editor for Crunchyroll, author of Monthly Mangaka Spotlight, writer for Anime Academy, and contributor at Anime Feminist. You can follow him on Twitter @PeterFobian.

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com

[blundergato]

Why do you think gohan is more well liked in japan then in the west?

I’m actually not sure if Gohan is more liked overall in Japan. I still want to say that Goku is the most popular character by the end of Z, but at the time of that poll, Gohan was the main hero of the show. He was right in the middle of fighting Cell and had just gone Super Saiyan 2 (or at least that poll was in the general time space where it was focused almost entirely on him). I think a character’s popularity in these polls usually has to do a lot with how prominent their role is at the time. If you had rewound and had that same poll a few chapters back when Goku was fighting Cell, he probably would have been at the top.

I’d have to look at all the other character popularity polls to see where he sits in a general sense. Gohan tends to get a lot of flack, at least in the west, because he’s ultimately a gentle soul who doesn’t like to fight. In a series that’s all about fighting and being powerful, people tend to really rally against that sort of personality.

It’s similar to the reason (and sexism, of course) that Chi Chi gets a lot of shit; because she didn’t want Gohan to be a fighter. She wanted him to study and become a scholar so he had a stable life, because neither she or Goku are educated. I personally LOVE Chi Chi because she just reminds me a lot of the immigrant parent experience here, in that she wanted better for her kid.

I think it’s also why characters like Vegeta are popular here. People talk about how “badass” Vegeta is even though most of his actions are straight up terrible. He’s a character who is overwhelmingly arrogant AND can’t back it up most of the time. His arrogance causes worse things to happen all the time, he and other people pay for it and other fighters have to clean up his mess.

Just look at the narrative between Goku and Vegeta when it comes to being fathers/husbands. People constantly talk about how bad of a father Goku is, but Vegeta rarely gets the same sort of heated criticism, despite being a far, FAR worse husband and father. He ignores his wife, is emotionally shut off from everyone, almost lets their baby die at one point, admits to never holding his 6-7 year old son, kills hundreds of people in order to goad Goku to fight him, lets a monster complete itself endangering the entire universe because he wants to fight it to prove himself and the list goes on. It wasn’t until Super came out that he actually started to develop as a hero.

So taking all of that into account, why is Vegeta so well loved? A character that accomplishes so little, despite talking so big and doing so many awful things? I crap on him a lot, but I do think his character is interesting because his redemption takes so long and even then, it’s almost a footnote and never developed.

Why do people think he deserves to be on par with Goku or have any sort of spotlight? I joked once that Vegeta is toxic masculinity, but I mean…

Gohan, on the other hand, gets criticized for not wanting to fight, not training all the time and, I shit you not, going off to be a father instead of becoming stronger (I literally read this today). He doesn’t like hurting people, is scared of his own anger and would vastly prefer not to have to seriously hurt/kill someone to stop them. He’s an incredibly sympathetic character who was forced into fighting when he was four years old. I remember that when I was younger and DBZ was just coming out here, Gohan got made fun of a lot for being a crybaby, despite literally being 5 when his first major fight happened. Imagine making fun of a 5 year old for not wanting to fight galactic, murderous overlords.

DBZ is the sort of series that has a fandom that values overwhelming strength and arrogance over…I dunno, being a human with doubts and feelings. It’s why a character like Broly is popular, despite having almost no personality other than “I’M REALLY STRONG” and characters like Kale, who is just Broly re-imagined with a personality are hated and said to not make much sense (though this one is also heavily rooted in sexism).

It’s why a majority of the fandom rewrites Goku’s personality to be kind of an uncaring, aloof dick, even though the actual series portrays him in the opposite way. It’s why characters like Yamcha and Krillin are endlessly made fun of, for being relatively weak and not battle hungry, but Tien is still popular over here, as a stoic dude who seems to always train, even though he’s weak.

Gohan is more of a Clark Kent/Superman sort of story, and he goes through quite a bit of development. But most of the fandom either don’t care or don’t want that from a show like Z.

And to go even a bit further, both the dub and the parody series, Abridged, have a good amount to do with why certain characters are loved and hated more than usual. I’ve seen people call Abridged the definitive/best Dragon Ball experience and if you really believe that, then you have an extremely warped view of the characters from the series.

[fantasytigeress]

what about goku?

Uh, everything about Goku, my dear!Send me a character, and I’ll list: (Doing these all day)

Favorite thing about them: He’s Goku? What kind of question-Okay, but one second he’s rolling around and talking with woodland creatures like a disney princess, another second Cooler’s punching him square in the abs and all he gets for his trouble is this face >:(. People want to tell me that Goku isn’t a layered character, then explain this please??

Least favorite thing about them: I have zero problems with Goku as a character, I accept him and all his flaws, but we all know Super’s emphasis on his naivety was a let down. I don’t think it’s near as bad as people claim it is, but it’s cringey to watch sometimes. 

Favorite line: “Power comes from a need, not a desire.” I know it’s not one of his funniest or most inspirational, but this one has kind of always stuck with me.

BrOTP: Turtle bros again, of course. But also he and Bulma have an awesome friendship, and they’ve been through everything. I love them!

OTP: I have several that I adore, but if I have to choose one, Kakavege ‘till the world burns. 

nOTP: …Frie*ku. But if you love it, that’s awesome and I hope you have fun with it!

Random headcanon: This one is for if they still had their tails, or when they get them back: I always imagined Goku being the first Saiyan to learn how to use it as a weapon instead of keeping it wrapped around his waist I mean, it’s an entire 5th prehensile limb, you can’t tell me that thing is useless in a fight! 

Unpopular opinion: I actually don’t mind that he constantly has the spotlight, and that that may never change

Song i associate with them: You guys are going to freaking laugh at me for this, but… https://youtu.be/gte3BoXKwP0 XD

Favorite picture of them: How can one man be this beautiful? (I’m actually crying because there’s so many I wanted to use… I cheated, I used more than one!)

[hohoz]

My biggest problem with Boku no Hero is called Izuku Midoriya

First of all, this is MY opinion, if you like Deku and you have absolutely no problem with him that is okay too. 

I don’t like Deku for a lot of reasons, but it was not always like this, but before I start, I want to show you a few things about Shounen anime (Old) I’ll use Dragon Ball as an example. 

Aired: Feb 26, 1986 to Apr 12, 1989 

Okay, here we have our squad, the main squad is: Goku, Kuririn, Bulma and Yamcha, but in this image we can see clearly who is the protagonist and who we have to like.

Why did I write “Who we have to like”

Because of the character design. 

This boy here has the best design, while some characters that the public isn’t suppose to like this much, doesnt have an great design, it’s simple. 

 Why does this happen ? 

Well, mostly because we enjoy things that we think they are cool, it’s really simple. 

The main villain in Dragon ball OG looks like this. 

Because he is going to be defeated, we dont want kids saying that they like the villain better than the hero of your story, but when you introduce characters like Vegeta, they start saying “Oh he is so cool, I want to play Dragon and be him” (an example) 

Now lemme show you Naruto’s class

We all know Naruto and Naruto has a LOT of characters to work with, and this can be bad or good, it depends on the writter, BNHA is different, it started with less characters, but better ones, to me Kirishima is by far the best one in 1A class. 

If you ask someone who has Rock Lee, Ino, Neji as his favorite if they are happy with the screentime of their favorite character they probably will say “It was okay, but they could’ve have more screentime”

My Hero Academia has a huge problem, (most of times) Deku is always there to steal the spotlight or sucking the time of another character that is fun to watch. 

But let’s list what I dont like about him 

1) I dont like Deku as the main sunshine character, there are more bright and fun to watch students

2)  According to Izuku's profile in Volume 1: He was deliberately designed to look plain. - I dont hate how he looks, but I don’t like his visuals. 

3) it’s kind boring to watch a character annoying as he is being so perfect, the only reason that he has a large fun base is because they relate to his low self esteem (its easy to relate to something like this)

4) The writter tries to push that he is so ‘likeable’ that Uraraka AND Toga likes him 

5) Turns out Deku’s real quirk was stealing ideas 

Even Iida seems pissed here. 

6) He has OFA why paint him as an underdog 

7) He is only in the top 5 because he the protagonist with most of screen time. 

8) When I thought to myself “Okay, Overhaul arc in finished, Deku saved the day Yohayyyyyyy, now can I get to see other characters please”

“Oh nice, an School festival, Im getting excited” 

“A Band ??? And Deku is not the singer ? WOW, I cant believe this”

“Im really enjoying to see other characters”

“WHY” 

“WHY CANT I ENJOY A SINGLE ARC without the PLOT going randomly towards Deku“

9) Bakugo ranked first in the last 3 character pool and he barely appears, he didnt fight a single strong villain - why is that ? Because the character that has the most screentime is not interesting enough. 

10) His development just kind of got linear, he was not my fav, but I liked him in the beginning of the show... and now I cant stand to see his face. 

Well, I made this post to hear your opnion and because I was mad, I think that BNHA would be way better without him, but that is it

[aotopmha]

Julystorms replied:

I don’t even go here anymore, but I know I’d agree with you on this matter 100%. DB/Z fandom has always been pretty misogynistic, *especially* outside of f/m (and f/f? there really wasn’t any) shippers. Like I remember the disdain Videl got when she appeared in Z, and I remember people trying to write her “into her place” and shit, like dude…why are you like this? Why isn’t it okay for a female character to be unapologetically strong?

I mean, obviously she couldn’t be Gohan (she’s just a human), but there were a too-large amount of people that thought it was hilarious that she fought in the tournament and almost died against Spopovitch. To this day the way people talked about it on forums and stuff repulses me. Like she was getting her comeuppance, like she was just a “dumb overconfident bitch who deserved to be put in her place.” I’ve never understood that attitude.Maybe I was just desperate for a female character to exist in the series and mean something for an arc? ChiChi, 18–they kind of fell out of the spotlight after their arcs. Yeah, 18 could have kicked Hercule’s ass, but…she’s…an android so that’s to be expected. Once her arc was over she stopped mattering except as a mother/kinda comedy relief. Don’t get me wrong, I like her character, but I got tired of that happening to Z’s female characters, while the male characters like Goku keeeept coming back and hogging the spotlight. Like you, I really enjoyed Gohan’s passive attitude/hate of fighting.

It not only made a nice foil to Videl, but I thought his little Saiyaman arc was pretty cute. The guy just wants to help with the little things, not have the world on his shoulders. And that’s okay! I don’t think Gohan needed or wanted the spotlight, and the pressure would have eventually really gotten him down. DB/Z isn’t really a great series to get heavily meta about because it skews pretty goofy most of the time (and it feels like your efforts to make sense of/explain things are just wasted), but as far as the female characters go, this series has a serious history of misogyny, not only the series itself (I can still enjoy it despite this, I’ll just heavily criticize it every chance I get), but the fans, too. Not a surprise when so many fans are men, though. I wish fans would just let female characters be. They’re always fine when their male faves do some ridiculous asspull power move but the second a girl does it it’s somehow unrealistic, they’re a Mary Sue, et cetera and so on. It makes me wish for death. Sorry for the rant. I guess I’ve been annoyed with DB/Z fandom for years, now. LOL.   

Oh good, I wasn’t as active on forums or such in the mid-2000s, but good to know the overwhelming grossness isn’t just a result of the times changing.

Super has been pretty kind towards the women compared to Z and DB. The Master Roshi jokes and general perverted jokes are still present, but Bulma is relevant and helpful (she’s responsible for keeping them all alive), 18 has been kicking ass the whole tournament - her character was completely rerailed, she has her tough personality - she’s smart and takes none of your bullshit, but is just a tad bit kinder.

Videl had her spunk back in a Saiyaman double episode by verbally trashing a creepy film actor trying to hit on her and trying to frame Gohan.

Baby Pan is super cute and they actually acknowedge she could be able to turn Super Sayan.

Caulifla and Kale might even actually be gay for each other, but if not there’s a very sweet relatonship between them.

Future Mai is absolutely a badass normal human for taking protecton of the people in the future into her hands while Trunks is gone and surviving against Black for as long as she did. 

Ribrianne is a really fun character because her character makes fun of magical girl tropes, like the transformations, which s very relevant for DB, too, so the joke works several fold.

Vados is such a fun character n terms of personality - her trashtalking Champa is really entertaining.

It’s not perfect, obviously, but women are being more relevant!

Obviously the question is how long some of them are going to stay relevant. Bulma and Future Mai were important for the FT arc, but Bulma is sitting out this one and I doubt we’ll see Future Mai again soon considering the Future timeline stuff that went down, but 18 and the U6 Saiyans are relevant here. 

But geez, I’m so grateful for the story to at least try and do somethng with the women and try to make more female characters relevant. Right now, Kale and Caulifla are U6′s trump cards and some of the strongest fighters.

I’m sad Chichi hasn’t gotten some of that love. Toriyama has said that he just doesn’t like her character, so I guess that’s just that.  

[thatalfredpennyworth]

The Signs as DBZ Characters

Aries: Vegeta- Obnoxious hot heads that are competitive as hell but are also some of the most loyal people around, even if they are aloof

Taurus: Gohan- Sweet and loving people that can be a bit cowardly at times but will rise to the occasion when they know they have to

Gemini: Goku- Fun loving and free spirited, no one can hold them down, can be naive and immature but they mean well

Cancer: Videl- Loves to know they are loved and gets aggravated when they are unsure of how others feel about them

Leo: Bulma- Also hot heads but not to the degree of an Aries, confident and sassy, love to be in the spotlight and strong willed

Virgo: Piccolo-Honest and direct to a fault, they don’t sugar coat and always tell it like it is. Aloof and quiet but will never turn their back on you

Libra: Oolong- Love to be in balance and gets very flustered when chaos comes their way, they are good listeners, are even tempered 

Scorpio: Chi Chi- The nag. They care and mean well but are controlling and bossy, can be manipulative at times but over all good natured

Sagittarius: Beerus- Bold, free and fun loving, they enjoy life to the fullest and are very eccentric, just don’t piss them off

Capricorn: Tien- Serious, studious and diligent. Hard working and dedicated to whatever their job is

Aquarius: Roshi- Unconventional witty and entertaining. Strongly against injustice and love to do things their own way

Pisces: Kale- Sensitive and quiet, not to be underestimated though, they can hold some serious grudges and can be incredibly stubborn

[remotecontrolchuck]

Toonami Night Review: Space is the Place, Welcome Back Outlaw Star.

Man, last Saturday night was a blast! Action, comedy, adventure, emotional moments, moments of suspense, and lots and lots of lewdness. But of course the biggest spotlight from last night was the return of Outlaw Star, and having seen the first episode for the first time, I’m totally hooked!

So far I’m loving the action, the humor, the babes, and of course the bad ass protagonists that I’m sure will be fun to watch and follow in the coming episodes. I could go on about my first reactions to it, but I think I already did that with my live blog. So with that said, here’s the rundown of last week’s run before the recap of each show’s episodes.

As always we began with Dragon Ball power hour that was both funny and awesome, followed by the bizarre ride that was Stardust Crusaders. After that, we caught up with the Anteiku crew on Tokyo Ghoul, before watching Gon and Killua go through serious Nen training under Lady Bisky.

We then had a fun but sad horror episode on Lupin the Third, before going back to old school Naruto filler on Shippuden. Outlaw Star began its run on the block, bringing back the good old 90′s anime that we love, especially in space! And then we ended the night with some horror survival on Attack on Titan.

Alrighty then, onto the episodes recap!

Dragon Ball Super: While finding fighters among their friends to join in on the dimensional martial arts tournament, we get a bit of 4th wall breaking with Goku interrupting the narrator, who’s trying to explain to Krillin what happened in last couple of episodes. Now they have to get a new narrator, after Goku annoyed the last one into quitting.

DBZ Kai: As Majin Buu continues his comical but murderous rampage across the land, Goku and the gang discuss the idea of fusion, and teaching the technique to Goten and Trunks.

Stardust Crusaders: After their flight to Egypt gets cut short by an old man and his murderous fly stand, JoJo and the gang arrive in Hong Kong, where they plan on getting to their destination by sea. But before they can help themselves to a nice meal, they’re soon interrupted by another stand user, Jean Pierre Polnareff, and his stand, the Silver Chariot!

Tokyo Ghoul: While Hinami worries about Kaneki, her favorite author Sen Takatsuki comes by Anteiku, and the two have a chat. Later, Sen visits the CCG to ask Shinohara some strange questions about ghouls for her next novel, before then telling him about a “rumor” about a cafe in the 20th Ward.

Meanwhile, Kaneki suddenly appears at Anteiku to talk with Yoshimura, and Hinami quickly leaves to let Touka know about it. Touka catches up to Kaneki at a bridge, who explains to her his reasons why he joined Aogiri. Calling bullshit, Touka proceeds to punch the young man in the face, and then beats the crap out of him before leaving him.

Back at the Anteiku, Shinohara and his partner Juuzou are having coffee while questioning Yoshimura about Kaneki. The manager does his best to answer the investigator’s questions without revealing the truth, and the two Doves thank him before leaving the cafe. Once outside, Shinohara plans to return, still having suspicions about the place.

Hunter x Hunter: Gon and Killua begin extreme Nen training under Nen Master Biscuit Krueger, a.k.a. Bisky or Lady Bisky. Their first challenge is to deal with Binolt, a hunter/killer armed with scissors. After dealing with him, she then has the two start digging a tunnel from nowhere to a town in the distance. At first the task was grueling, but once they discovered that they could extend their Nen into their shovels, it soon becomes a piece of cake.

Lupin the Third: Lupin takes Jigen to a supposedly haunted castle turned hotel that may hold hidden treasure. During the night Jigen gets spooked by what he thought was ghosts, but later figures out it’s the hotel’s owner and his daughter, and gives them a good scare as well. Meanwhile, Lupin manages to find hidden passageways throughout the old castle, and begins searching for the treasure.

While searching, Lupin encounters a little girl named Carla, who helps the thief navigate through the traps. They also deal with an old woman thief and her two bumbling cronies, who have a grudge against the Lupin. After that, Lupin manages to climb up to the highest tower, and finally discovers the hidden treasure. But, he also finds something else as well, Carla’s corpse.

Apparently Carla was the ghost all along, and had been protecting the treasure until her sister came back. Saddened by her death, Lupin kindly tells her that she doesn’t have to guard her sister’s treasure anymore, and that he’ll tell her sister that it’s safe and sound. Carla tearfully thanks Lupin before departing to the afterlife, her spirit now reunited with her sister and at peace.

Soon after Carla’s spirit passing on, Lupin gives Carla a proper burial next to her sister, giving his respects before leaving with Jigen on their next adventure.

Naruto Shippuden: We’re back to filler, as young Naruto goes on a adventure to find the 4th Hokage’s legacy, with all the other young ninjas getting in on it as well.

Outlaw Star: We’re introduced to the gunman protagonist Gene Starwind and his young business partner James “Jim” Hawking. One day they’re hired by a lady named Rachel to act as her bodyguards and escorts. However, she turns out to be more than trouble when Kei Pirates come after her. It’s then revealed that “Rachel” is actually “Hot Ice” Hilda, a outlaw looking for treasure.

After dealing with the pirates, they arrive at her hideout, where Hilda shoots him. As she orders Jim to open a case, Gene gets back up and holds her at gunpoint. Wanting to see what in the case as well, he also asks his partner to open it. After Jim unlocks it, its contents is soon revealed to be an unconscious naked girl.

Attack on Titan: After their superiors are eaten and the tower is completely surrounded by titans, Ymir decides she has no choice but to transform into a titan to safe Historia and the others, much to their shock.

Well that’s it for recap. So far I’m loving the new lineup, but it might be changing again soon, as there’s only five episodes left of Tokyo Ghoul’s second season. While it remains to be seen if it will replace Attack on Titan on the 3:00 am slot, the bigger question will be what will replace Tokyo Ghoul once its run is over.

That concludes the Toonami Night Review. I look forward to seeing live blog community again this Saturday night for another wonderful run of Toonami. Until then, have a good week and Stay Gold.

[craveanimeblog-blog]

Dragon Ball Super Cameo Fans Is Thinking Back to Kid Buu

Dragon Ball Super is currently airing its English dub on Adult Swim during the Toonami programming block on Saturday evenings. It is also available to stream on Funimation and Amazon Video. The Japanese language release of the series is complete and available to stream on Funimation, VRV and Crunchyroll.

Dragon Ball Super chapter 50 sees a pivotal turn in the battle between Goku, Vegeta, Buu and ancient evil sorcerer, Moro. After teasing fans for months, it turns out that Moro's secret third wish with the Namekian Dragon Balls was for a massive jailbreak at the Galactic Patrol prison, with an entire gang of powerful criminals unleashed on the cosmos!

Akira Toriyama and Toyotaro deliver the chapter 50 jailbreak sequence in truly thrilling fashion, and fans have been spending some extra time carefully surveying the artwork from the issue. Some careful examination of the various convicts featured in the Galactic Patrol jailbreak sequence has turned up some fun Easter eggs, including one that has Dragon Ball Z fans thinking they've spotted Kid Buu!

The chapter does not show Buu in person, but fans are happy to know the alien is awake. After all, he has been out of it for quite awhile, leaving many unsure when he would wake up. Buu was wide awake for most of Dragon Ball Super’s run up until the Tournament of Power. At first, the alien was meant to take part in the event, but Buu was replaced by Freeza when he fell asleep. As it turned out, it was time for Buu to enter hibernation for a set period of time, so he has missed quite a lot since he first conked out.

This page of Dragon Ball Super 50 has several panels that depict the various alien convicts in the Galactic Patrol prison. As you can see above, a couple of images have fans seeing Kid Buu amongst the prisoners in lock up.

Later panels show that this alien convict is pretty much just that: a faceless henchman that is featured as part of Moro's new gang of convicts. That evil sorcerer always intended to set his fellow Galactic Patrol prisoners free, in exchange for their service while he terrorizes the galaxy at his whim. The convicts all show up to New Namek and get their formidable powers enhanced by Moro's magic, creating a super gang that quickly overrun Goku, Vegeta, Buu, and the Galactic Patrol agents.

The crew who greets Merus upon landing agree, and one of them reveals the once-sleeping alien is now in the mess hall.

“Majin Buu is ravaging our food supplies!”

It's not just random coincidence that Dragon Ball fans are spotting Kid Buu in the mix: the events of the current "Galactic Patrol Prisoner" arc have already put Kid Buu back in the spotlight. In the previous chapter of Dragon Ball Super, we revisited Kid Buu in his climatic battle with Goku, during Dragon Ball Z. The current version of Buu realizes that when Goku destroyed Kid Buu, he also destroyed the godly ki that Kid Buu had absorbed from the Grand Kai he had been fused with. It raises questions about Buu's reincarnation into human form, Uub, and his potential godly power when he eventually shows up after the events of the current Dragon Ball Super saga.

Even though this alien character is in no way Kid Buu, you have to figure that Toyotaro had to know what he was doing with these pieces of artwork. As stated, the Galactic Patrol prison break sequence has several fun Easter eggs; in addition to a Kid Buu look alike, we also get Universe 7 mirrors for Botamo and Magetta, two of the fighters from Universe 6 in the Tournament of Power. There's probably even more fun stuff to find, if you care to do the digging.

[arts4ndcrafts2-blog]

Relatively Dragon Ball Z Assessment

Super Dragon Ball Z Review

Super Saiyan 2 Gohan There are those that will are grateful that often the Dragon Ball Z sequence continues to continue, as well as those that wonder just how the heck it can easily continue since it does not seem to evolve. Generally there really is no need to speculate anymore my friend. Given that the first group I actually talked about continues to buy the continued collection, the particular series will always go on. How many more Dragon Ball Z games are we able to expect in the upcoming? To be continuing... Dragon Ball Super Those that do appreciate Very Dragon Ball Z don't need any excuses. They may be a diehard bunch that won't be satisfied with simply any old battling sport. Even if they normally are not into the whole cartoons issue, Super Dragon Golf ball Z . is built about a solid preventing podium that few games can easily match. It doesn't have all of the bells and also whistles such as a lot of different modes and unlockables that a lot involving games rely on, nevertheless fans appreciate this game for what it features and that is apparently fine enough for them. Is actually not ample for me personally however and while I will appreciate the responsive regulates plus the depth of fight, the adventure lacks magic. I want more a fighting game, in fact , I require more. Dragon Soccer ball had been already established as a good fighting game years ago nevertheless little possesses changed with the line since the start connected with the millennium. You could possibly pretty much say that some points have regressed with this title. There is not as a lot combat depth while was seen in some associated with the previous titles, possibly though this type is usually taking a slightly brand new course and focusing delve into close-range combat. You might count on more moves with such a format but movements for instance counters and reversals are the exception and certainly not the guideline. In most there are 18 characters. A dozen of these people have been ported by the arcade version in addition to six are exclusive towards the console version. Goku along with Gohan are back, naturally , and you can furthermore expect the androids, however no specific character holds out in terms involving individuality or ability. The actual ability problem I can understand because you could update each character much like a RPG, yet the lack of persona is unforgivable. Did often the developers think that all of us are by now too familiar using the character types and that will anything further would be over kill? Imagine overkill in a very Kavalerist Ball Z video game. Silly, I know. Using typically the main of a specific character you can upgrade him by buying moves together with points that you're awarded in combat. This may give you actually some flexibility with the character types but you can stop up with the exact same result regardless of which usually personality that you begin with. The moves are basic and the excellent moves are relatively easy in order to off. The combos demand some quick button designs which gives the combat considerably more depth as compared to your regular button masher. With the pattern towards more close-range combat an individual will spend less moment in the air accomplishing aerial combat, and typically the 2 main combatants will be inside striking yardage of each various other therefore there will be more a spotlight on fists and legs than long-ranged energy supports. You also refuses to see a wide range of typically the dramatic, special assault toon that has been some sort of staple of the video game and animation series. Relatively Dragon Soccer ball Z tries to long distance itself coming from the cartoon through having to pay homage to the witty book style which will be a a bit more mature, which often means it's fewer multi-colored and over-the-top. Often the THREE-DIMENSIONAL environments can be employed intentionally for cover. These people are fun and destructible and add some other way of measuring to the gameplay as they add multiple levels that you may jump up to as well as straight down from. The impact discovery system however would make things a bit messy. You will arised the particular odd invisible wall membrane that hinders your actions and also occasionally you'll get cornered between these planes and find that you can't episode your opponent even even though they can attack a person. Regarding the AI inside the single-player mode, you won't be disappointed by means of how convincingly they can be developed. They put up a good fight that is organic and also best of almost all, unpredictable. Each identity features some special attribute that is definitely exploited. It's not plenty of to offer them a nuanced style; they become any stereotype, or perhaps caricature involving a character. The particular two-player mode is more as compared to only the icing on often the cake, it is the main substance. The single-player mode will be just a prelude into the multi-player mode, but if only you can find the worth enemy. Playing against someone that is deficient in the particular passion will be a great distressing experience. You'll find yourself wishing for often the challenge of the single-player mode. The music is an intermixture of remixed old and new tracks. The sound side effects are usually decent but absolutely nothing unique. The voiceovers are usually practical but do tiny in order to further the plot or perhaps define the characters. General Super Dragon Ball Z . would be best described as "slightly different" when compared with "new and improved. inch Not anyone will concur that this is a waste involving money but be certain to purchase it first if you have any doubts.

[recentanimenews]

Chris Sabat on Vegeta's Fear, Goku's Selfishness, and Talking to Himself

Editor's Note: This is a republication of a feature by Nate Ming that originally appeared on Crunchyroll News on 9/12/18.

---

A few years ago, I had the privilege of speaking with voice actor Christopher Sabat. I guess the interview was supposed to be about the then-upcoming Dragon Ball Xenoverse, but I mostly spent that interview talking to him about his favorite moments voice acting, missed opportunities, and farting around with Bill Zoeker.

  Now, with three classic Dragon Ball Z movies returning to theaters, I was able to get on the phone with Chris Sabat and not only discuss his time with them, but how it feels having Dragon Ball back in the spotlight and bigger than ever before. From scriptwriting to carrying on conversations with himself, from the early days of DBZ's English dub to the upcoming Dragon Ball Super: Broly, Chris had plenty to share.

  Thanks for doing this interview! First off, how've you been? How are things?

  CHRISTOPHER SABAT: Oh my god. It's been such an insane year. Adding these movies into the already-crazy Dragon Ball year I'm having right now... dude. I cannot explain to you how much I fantasize about taking a time machine back to 1999 armed with all the knowledge I have now, all of Dragon Ball Z, because all those fans from 1999 are somehow twenty years older, and it's just... bonkers.

  Yeah, we've talked about that before, right before Resurrection F came out, how the people who watched Dragon Ball Z when it first came to the US as kids now have kids of their own. I mean, when I went and saw it in theaters, there was like a bunch of adult fans there, and they brought their kids with them to see it, and they were having the time of their lives--it was like a spiritual experience for me.

  It's really funny you mention that, because this morning I got a call from Sean Schemmel (Goku's voice actor), and--okay. Sean calls me, and he leaves these really long messages, and I rarely listen to them. So I just end up calling him back, 'cause I hate listening to voicemail, 'cause why wouldn't you just send a text? So anyway, he calls me and it sounds like he was telling me this right before he went to sleep, and he goes:

  "Chris... it just dawned on me... there's... people. There's... kids. And they watch Dragon Ball Super, like right now! They're watching it on TV! Which means... twenty years! THEY'RE GONNA BE ADULTS AGAIN! WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO DO THIS ALL OVER AGAIN!"

  It's true, though!

You're here forever.

  Yeah, it's never going away.

    So, I wanted to bring up the special-event Dragon Ball Z movies--well, two movies and one TV special--that are coming to theaters. Starting with that TV special, Bardock: The Father of Goku, you did a lot more than just voices. In this special (and the other TV special, The History of Trunks), you did voice direction, and then for the first Broly movie, you adapted the script for the dub. Can you tell us a bit about what it's like being on both sides of the mic, some of the challenges you faced?

  Well, I definitely learned the hard way on Broly: The Legendary Super Saiyan, just how hard it is to write. There are so many people in this business--actors, directors, engineers and so forth--who are like "it can't be that hard to write these scripts!" I was certainly in that category when I took on the job of adapting The Legendary Super Saiyan, and I'll be honest, I got about halfway into that script, and realized: (long sigh) you have to do these things, you have to write these things, on your computer. Your computer is connected to the internet. The internet has way more interesting stuff on it than what you're doing, and so it's impossible to stay focused!

  Like, it was really hard for me to focus myself and write that movie, and I just put it together. Dedicated writers have a special skill: it's called "being able to get things done." [I type this as I check Twitter for the tenth time in ten minutes.] It was hard, man. I think I wrote probably 60% of it and then I had to ask Eric Vale (Trunks), who was also one of the writers at the time, and went "hey dude, can you help me out with this? I don't think I'm gonna finish it."

  So there's a lot of things to writing that you don't initially realize, it's like you're uncovering these layers upon layers. It's kinda like reading a story and doing a sudoku puzzle at the same time, it's a mystery how some of these parts get put together because you'll just see a line and you understand what it means and what its place is in the story, but then the biggest drag is having to script all of the reactions: any time someone turns their head or opens their mouth, or they're scared or screaming or punches or fights you have to script that out and laboriously write out every single detail. I kinda realized that directing is more my thing compared to writing, that was a serious lesson I learned.

  Regarding the movies, what were your favorite projects to work on?

  I'd say The History of Trunks and Broly: The Legendary Super Saiyan were definitely my favorites. History of Trunks because I'm a huge Trunks fan--they coulda made ten Future Trunks movies and I would have loved them all, there's just so much in that universe to tell stories with, so many paths you could have explored. I want to know more of what it was like for Trunks growing up, the epic struggles and battles he went through.

      Broly: The Legendary Super Saiyan was great because, I mean, like I said it was my first foray into writing, but specifically because it's the first time you ever really get to see Vegeta lose his shit. At that point in time, when we were dubbing that, aside from when he lost to Frieza, there was never a moment when Vegeta didn't have total confidence going into something. This was a case, though, where everything is going on around him and he's just all "what? who? what's going on? no! why?! he's too strong!" It wasn't in his personality, and those were some key moments for me while working on the movies.

  It's funny how you naturally ended up on my next question. In the first Broly movie and in Fusion Reborn, we get to see Vegeta kicked around--physically, of course, but I mostly mean emotionally and mentally. You generally don't see real fear take over for Vegeta, like real, paralyzing fear. How does it feel getting to portray so many sides of this character, who usually presents as this toxic tough guy but has a whole lot buried underneath?

  Dude, that has been the biggest gift of all characters, is to play Vegeta. This guy who you think is gonna be this one-sided, sniveling kinda one-note villain character, who ends up becoming--I think--the most endearing character in the show. There's a reason you always see Vegeta paired up with Goku, because I just don't think Goku is as fun without Vegeta. Goku's just--I think--a rather unrealistic character, he's a bizarre "hero" in a lot of ways, especially when you start analyzing how he really was versus the way we were kind of instructed how to rewrite Goku back in the earliest days of Dragon Ball Z. When you dip into what Goku is, what his real character is, he's absolutely not a traditional "hero" type, he's a very selfish and kind of thoughtless character.

  "Yeah, let's have a tournament!" "Goku, trillions of people could die." "Yeah, but it'll be fun!"

  Exactly! And I think that's one of the few times--I mean, I love Super, and I especially love that moment in Super where you finally get a picture of how Goku's selfish behavior can really can affect people. Yeah, it always works out, luckily, but he's never afraid to let his friends and family suffer for what he wants.

  But anyway, Vegeta, you see so much about him over the series and the movies, and he's just the best character to play. He's sarcastic and gets to say mean things, which is really fun to do as an actor, because Vegeta is like that friend that you have who says the things that you really wish you could say, but are kind of afraid to, y'know? The friend of yours who kind of embarrasses you, but you're kinda happy to have him around when you really need to get something done? But then he becomes a family man, and proves that he can be a good father and a good husband and a good man, and what a remarkable shift we've had after all this time with him.

  Cartoon characters rarely do that, y'know? The Hulk's always gonna be the Hulk, and Captain America's gonna be Captain America, but Vegeta's a really interesting guy, and we get to see all sides of him.

  In Broly: The Legendary Super Saiyan, Piccolo and Vegeta have some great, very intense back-and-forth. Now, you voice both those characters--how did you approach that? Did you just record a conversation with yourself all at once, or record all of each characters' lines individually?

  For the sake of the characters, I had to make sure they stay consistent. I always record one, then the other. I usually started with Piccolo, then Vegeta, and then would go back to make adjustments on specific lines after it was all done. I love getting to do this--when you're talking to yourself, you can craft some of the best, most natural-sounding dialogue because you know what's coming next, you know what the "other person" is going to say. I'm harder on myself, I work harder with myself when I'm working with myself as opposed to working with other actors.

    It sounds simple, but it's not, and I second-guess all my decisions and thank goodness I have Rawly Pickens, he's been working at Okratron 5000 with me for a billion years, and he's actually directing most of Dragon Ball Super with us and he and I have worked together forever. It's gotten to the point where there's so many things happening, so many games and so many series and all this promotion we have to do all at once. Small things to check, "what do you want to call Vegeta's new form" and the like.

  When I started out as a director, I really wanted something to be mine. I wanted ownership--I didn't mind sharing it, but I really wanted to do as much as I could myself. As I've matured, I realize that when doing everything at once, all those individual pieces start to suffer, so I'm grateful to have someone else working on Super making sure it's as good as possible.

  Oh no, I totally get that, I'm kind of a control freak myself. But as you spend more time doing your job, you have to let a few things go, and actually trust the people around you to do just as good a job with the tasks you can't, if not better. It's still tough.

  Yeah, especially on the other side of the mic. I mean, I've voiced so many Dragon Ball characters over the years, and now I've got people asking me if I'm gonna voice anyone else in the Universe Survival Arc, and I'm like "well, no, man!" There's so many great people working now, they have so many options. Back when we were first dubbing DBZ we just needed anyone who could read English at all, but now we have this massive acting pool, and that's been my life these days, is just casting the Universe Survival Arc, tons of new characters and we're just trying to get them all mapped out.

  Back in the day you voiced like, Piccolo and Vegeta and a couple members of the Ginyu Force and even Yamcha way back when, so you're doing all these characters and all these voices, and now you're actually able to get everybody in there and not, y'know... kill anybody.

  Oh for sure! Like I said, back then we just needed anybody who could read a script and people who were getting paid barely anything for their time, and now I can afford to use Jason Douglas (Beerus) and Monica Rial (Bulma) and all these really experienced voice people! At this point with Super, we're really just casting and letting these people know what's been going on with their characters so they can just jump in and kick ass.

  Dude, yeah. On that subject, Chris Ayres (Frieza) is a champ, just recovering and jumping right back into things!

  The thing is, we are on a mysterious time clock with him. So, they haven't finished animating Dragon Ball Super: Broly yet, we haven't finished getting all the materials yet, and I haven't seen the film yet. He's still waiting on transplants. So at any time, we could literally be in the middle of recording for the show and they call and say "there's a donor ready," he'll have to get up and go.

  That's rough. Like, I know he has all of you there to support him, but it still must be really scary for his family. All the best for him, man.

  Oh, I'll definitely let him know. He's a freakin' champion, he's just--I loved Linda Young, she was an amazing Frieza back in the day. But once we got into Dragon Ball Z Kai and we got to hear Frieza's newer voice, and we tried to bring Linda in, but the character just talked too fast and she chose to step down. Chris was the only one we saw who was able to read those lines that fast and with that much power. I was so happy to see Frieza in the new feature, it's good to see him in the trailer and see him still as part of the... well, "extended" family.

  The release is still a ways away, and now that I know that you haven't seen too much material for it, what are you most excited to see in Dragon Ball Super: Broly?

    Oh god, the animation of the fight sequences, man. I want to see this gorgeous, beautiful, theatrical fight to the finish. I hope Vegeta gets a real chance to shine, maybe a Fusion? It just looks freakin' amazing. I think I'm most excited to see what Akira Toriyama's vision for Broly is, that this is the true telling of Broly's backstory and purpose, where he's from and why he's here, how he came to be. I'm fascinated. The old movies will still exist and you can enjoy them, but they're a nice way to prepare you for what the real story will be.

  The trailer shows off these little glimpses of life on Planet Vegeta, maybe on the day it was destroyed or even before that--I'm excited to see that. We don't know too much about Saiyan culture, so I'm excited to see more there.

  Yeah, I'm definitely interested to see how this whole thing unfolds. I wish I had anything in front of me to see what it's like, I'm gonna be scrapping as soon as the thing comes in to see what it looks like.

  Okay, last one: so far, what has been the most hype moment for you while recording for Dragon Ball Super?

  Hmm. Most... hype. I mean, this technically counts: the most hype moment for me was finding out there were gonna be this new movie, Battle of Gods, that was such a huge and welcome surprise to have a new story and a new adventure after only working on the original stuff for so long.

  But my favorite recent thing... probably watching Resurrection F in the theater with people. Vegeta's scene at the end where he tells Frieza "don't you ever resurrect again," even though he ended up getting robbed right after. Every time I watch it, in Japanese or English, it's just so impactful.

  One more! Last time I looked online, like eleven or twelve million people had watched the Dragon Ball Super: Broly trailer that we launched at SDCC, and the hype is so incredibly real.

  Alright, and that's everything! Thank you for your time, Chris, and I'll see you around!

  My next questions go out to you all! What are your favorite moments from the Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z movies? What are you most excited to see in Dragon Ball Super: Broly? And what are your most hype moments ever as Dragon Ball fans? Sound off in the comments and let us know!

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You can follow Nate Ming on Twitter at @NateMing.

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com