#gohan won the first one

[dailycupofcreativitea]

They're playing chess again!

[shannonsketches]

Why is the anime so weird, it's not even the same series dude?? It's like,

Anime:

GOKU: I have a great idea to bring peace to the universe, and my leadership and compassion alone will unite us all. I have No Flaws and am A True Relatable Everyman :)

VEGETA: NO! I AM THE BEST AND I WILL CAUSE PROBLEMS UNTIL I AM RECOGNIZED AS SUCH!!!!

Manga:

GOKU: Vegeta what's cornmeal made of? I know it's what the corn eats, but what's it made of? VEGETA: Hey Kakarot let's play the quiet game until one of us dies.

[vanderdyks]

We dont talk enough about the fact that Goku wasnt born strong. Gohan, Vegeta, Broly, Goten, Trunks... all born with innate strength. But Goku... Goku was weak. His entire life growing up, there was ALWAYS someone stronger than him.

For a saiyan to be outmatched by earthlings... ridiculous. But he was. Several times over. Every bit of strength Goku has, he had to work for, train relentlessly for. Its easy to forget because hes so strong now and continiously comes out ahead. But thats the POINT.

Vegeta grew up knowing he was the pride of the saiyan race, born strong, elite, a prodigy. He was hopelessly outmatched by frieza and some of his army, but for a saiyan, vegeta was the strongest (or so he believed).

Because the saiyans put so much belief into power you were born with, power you were destined to have. You either had strength or you didnt. And Goku didnt. So he was third class. His destiny wasnt power, it was weakness.

Its why Vegeta is so constantly thrown off by and therefore obsessed with Goku in the beginning. Because how could someone born so weak be THIS strong? It didnt make sense.

Then we have Gohan, born with incredible hidden reserves of power. Unlike Goku, Gohan was born with potential. His strength was always there. And sure, he had to work incredibly hard to unlock it but its a story arc we keep seeing repeated with gohan. Either its unlocked with anger or someone unlocks it for him (the grand elder, old kai, etc.)

And then Goten and Trunks, both super saiyan by the age of 7. Power came EASY to them. It was as natural as breathing. Goku, Vegeta, and even Gohan all struggled to reach super saiyan. It took a toll. But Trunks and Goten take that power from literal legend and make it a game.

No one has ever had to work as hard as Goku to achieve strength. And you can argue with me on this all day long if you want to. He didnt have hidden powers. There were no hidden reserves, no one to unlock his innate abilities. When he was a child, his unnatural strength compared to human made him special. But for a saiyan, goku was one of the lowest of their race.

Every bit of strength, every morsel of power in gokus body, was built through training. He didnt unlock hidden potentials, HE CREATED them. Its why Goku is the mortal who figures out how to unlock ultra instinct. Because he almost never won a battle purely based off a sheer power, no. Goku had to be smart, needed to be clever. He was forced to hone technique just as much as power, was taught by all his masters the importance of harnessing his mind as well as his body. He grew up meditating, sensing energy, learning not to rely on his eyes, but all his senses. He was training to filter out his own extra unnecessary movements all the way back when he first met Korin and then later again with Kami.

Goku lost fights a lot. All the time. But everytime he lost, he learned. Because he was forced too. Because when Goku lost, there was no backup. He was it. And so he would HAVE to come back stronger, have to find the way to win. Or everyone would be dead.

Maybe its just me but i just think theres something incredibly special about a saiyan labeled as "weak," a saiyan no one bothered to pay any mind to being the first to become legend. He avenged their entire race. That little boy with a tail, born with a power level of 2, became the strongest of them all.

[hard--headed--woman]

i'll never stop being angry about how Chichi and Videl stopped fighting and were reduced to housewives right after they got married to Gokū and Gohan. Chichi was a badass who liked to fight and was excellent at it, she took part in the Tenkaichi Budokai which is the biggest martial arts tournament attended by the strongest people on earth, she seemed to like going on adventures, she had an interesting personality, was interesting also in that that she ressembled Gokū in some ways (they were both innocent, pure hearted kids who were very strong and whose dad and grandad were friends and had been trained by Muten Roshi), she was brave and hard-headed, she had a strong personality, she was the first person to be able to sit on Kinto un with Gokū... and right after she got married they turned her into an angry housewife whose only role is to cook for her husband and yell at him all the time??? who suddenly hates martial arts and is ultra conservative in many ways??? that's terribly misogynistic and a horrible waste of potential. she derserved way better.

same goes for Videl. she used to be a badass, strong, amazing martial artist with a strong personality who loved to fight and help the police and won the Tenkaichi Budokai in the children's section... and now she's just a sweet housewife for Gohan. it's a shame.

and let's not forget N°18 too... things are a bit better for her because she still did one Tenkaichi Budokai after getting married and took part in the tournament in DBS (don't get me started on DBS lol) but apart from that, she fights way less than she should and has lost a lot of her strong personality. i was so mad when i heard her "it'll be good to have something to do other than taking care of kulilin and māron" in DBS... like what???? we're talking about n°18 for fuck's sake???

all of this is just so misogynistic. i wish they let female characters be strong and badass even after getting married. they all have so much potential, it's criminal to reduce them to housewives. it genuinely disgusts me.

[tobiasdrake]

How strong (in the manga) is Shin/East Supreme Kai? I remember hearing something about him or someone else stating he could have killed Frieza in a single attack, but I'm not sure if that's canon. As a side note, what led me to this was thinking about the Buu arc, and how it's interesting how (from what I know) the a big part of the first part of it is the gods (Shin and Kibito) realizing that Goku, Vegeta, and co. are far, far stronger than even Shin - the literal highest divine entity (according to canon at the time) in the universe. It acknowledges and points out how freakishly strong the protagonists have gotten, which I find interesting seeing as that's a common criticism I feel of Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Super - but here it is being pointed out as a big part of the story of the original manga!

Sorry it took me a bit to respond to this; Haven't done one of these in a while.

You remember correctly.

All five Kaioshins are so strong that they could oneshot Frieza. We only have East Kaioshin's word for that, but Frieza is kind of a big deal and well known among the gods.

Battle of Gods goes on to assert that even Beerus knows Frieza by name. As Strongest in the Universe by an unbelievable margin and head of Genocide Incorporated, he's important enough to ping all of the celestial radars. Everyone who is anyone in the heavenly realms has got eyes on him.

So I can believe Kaioshin when he makes this assessment. I don't think he's talking out of his ass.

Additionally, knowledge of his role as Kaioshin intimidates Piccolo into standing down.

Piccolo is so intimidated by the realization of Kaioshin's identity that he forfeits their match right at the outset.

This, however, is an ambiguous moment. Kaioshin's been keeping his ki to himself, so to speak. Prior to this match, he hadn't shown a hint of his power. Goku, Vegeta, and Piccolo could all tell that there was something about him, but no one knew what.

Piccolo wasn't reacting to the size of Kaioshin's ki signature here. He didn't sense Kaioshin's power and go "OH MY GOD HE'S SO STRONG."

Piccolo freaks out about Kaioshin's identity. He realizes that this man is so high up on the celestial hierarchy, and he doesn't dare. He's basically having an attack of propriety.

In fact, he's actually mistaken about who Kaioshin is. He's got the wrong guy.

He quit the fight because he thinks Shin is secretly this guy.

Daikaio, the Great World-King, or Grand Kai in the anime dub. That's who Piccolo thought he was scurrying away in intimidation of. Even right there in the ring, he had no idea who Shin truly was.

So we can't really make an assessment of how Piccolo compares to Kaioshin in fighting strength based on that. Piccolo forfeit due to presumptions of Kaioshin's Daikaio's reputation and cosmic importance.

When in actuality Kaioshin is a super-secret ultra-class of god whose existence is merely fabled even among gods.

That's why Piccolo thought he was Daikaio. Kaioshin is not supposed to be a real thing that exists.

This is all setup for when the other shoe drops: The revelation that actually we mere mortals left Kaioshin in the dust a ways back, and nobody - neither him nor us - initially realizes it.

Earth has gotten fucking weird in ways Kaioshin couldn't fathom. He was expecting Goku, Vegeta, and Gohan to back him up and be his sidekicks. He sorely underestimated them.

Goku compares Dabra to Cell, which gives us a bit of a yardstick to work with for Kaioshin. Because Kaioshin is freaked out by Dabra.

Kaioshin's reaction to seeing a Cell-tier force on the field is "Oh wow, we are fucked."

An assessment that Dabra agrees with.

In fact, when push comes to shove and Kaioshin does get the chance to fight Dabra, he decides he'll take the weaker foe, thank you very much.

Despite their differences, Kaioshin and Dabra are in agreement on one point: Kaioshin could not have won the Cell Games.

This is not proof of weakness on his part but proof of incredible strength on the others' parts, however. To put this in perspective, let's remember that Frieza was the most powerful mortal in the universe by a factor of 1000x over the second-most. It took a freak 1-in-a-trillion mutation to make him that strong, and that's beyond the other freak 1-in-a-trillion mutations.

Cell, meanwhile is a fart on the winds of time. On the cosmic scale, he was barely a blink of an eye. He existed for four years on one planet where he accomplished nothing of note and then died. He was a big deal to that one trash-tier scrub world but nobody outside of Earth has ever heard of him.

That this nobody Earthling who did nothing and died immediately was so unbelievably powerful that he dwarfed even Frieza - and pushed others of that world to become unbelievably powerful too - is a weird footnote in the history of the universe.

So we get this odd dynamic where Frieza is the yardstick by which Kaioshin measures mortal strength.

Literally name-dropping Frieza to try and convey to Vegeta just how powerful Buu is, as if that's a name we're still meant to be impressed by.

But Cell is the yardstick that Hipster Goku uses.

"Yeah, I'm over Frieza. I'm really into this new guy called Cell. He's pretty obscure; You've probably never heard of him."

So that's where Kaioshin lies, and the crux of the bitter irony at the start of the Buu arc. By mortal standards, Kaioshin should be beyond anything they could possibly imagine. And Dabra is terrifying beyond even him.

But here on Earth we had this little thing called the Cell Games where we had to fight a dude that was in Dabra's league so we got fucking jacked. And then kept going afterward and got even more jacked.

The result is a god who is unfathamable by mortal standards, yet thoroughly outclassed by these specific mortals and their exceptional circumstances.

[danthepest]

You know what, no, I'm gonna ramble about this some more. Piccolo is my favourite character in Dragon Ball. Always has been since I first watched Dragon Ball as a kid and saw the fight between him and Goku.

When I found out he becomes one of the good guys in Z, I was really expecting him to be Goku's equal, not just another guy in the background twidling his thumbs waiting for Goku to arrive and save the day. I was expecting him to go full beast mode on the villains, even if he doesn't finish them off. This guy was evil incarnate at the time. He and Goku brutalized each other to the point where neither could stand anymore. Goku won on a technicality.

Like, imagine when Freeza was brutalizing Gohan and Piccolo showed up, instead of doing the whole I'm-the-stoic-warrior-here-to-stall-for-time, he went berserk like he did during his fight with Goku.

Imagine him going like this at Freeza for hurting Gohan

Scaring him and reminding the audience that he's Piccolo fucking Daimao. You can still have Freeza get his dumb transformations out of the way and have Piccolo put up a good fight before Goku shows up to take over because Piccolo is tired or injured or whatever. Have Freeza worry about the two teaming up like they did against Raditz. Have Piccolo's presence mean something beyond just another shocked and worried face in the crowd. That kind of temper he had doesn't just go away without going out of your way to work on it.

Piccolo had so much potential in Z. His relationship with Gohan is such a great part of his character, but really underutilized in the grand scheme of thing, both in and out of battles. Him charging at Cell during his and Gohan's Kamehameha struggle was such a great moment that I wish we saw more of that stuff throughout. The fact that Toriyama didn't think to write something like that in the manga is a crime.

Bleh. I'm in a mood about my green alien demon boy.

[altoblt5]

There's something just inherently tragic about Goku going Super Saiyan for the first time and Gohan going Super Saiyan 2 for the first time.

When Goku defeats Freeza, he looks back with the most constrained, sad look on his face. Goku has no problem with killing, but he does have a preference for sparing his enemies. Because if he was truly strong, then there would be no way for them to come back and threaten him or his loved ones.

He clearly outmatched Freeza at peak power, he posed no threat to him and he wanted to spare him. But when Freeza attacks and Goku has to defend himself, he literally CAN'T hold back anymore. He completely annihilates Freeza in a fit of rage with a simple blast of energy. What must be the equivalent to a flick for him. He's not allowed to hold back anymore, even if he wanted to.

Goku was a 4 year old boy who accidentally killed his Grandpa because of his Saiyan heritage. He couldn't hold back or restrain the wild power inside of him at that moment, but he never knew that until he was an adult. Now he DOES have that knowledge and is purposely drawing upon that heritage for the power. When he was a kid he wasn't conscious of that loss of control, but now he IS conscious of it. And it's slipping. He wasn't strong enough to control himself as a child, and now he's barely strong enough to do it now.

He must be feeling so much at that moment, grief, guilt, pity, and shame for not being able to control himself- martial arts is all about controlling your strength. In that moment he failed as a martial artist-- even if he had no other choice but to he SHOULD have been strong enough to keep it in.

But he has no time for that. He has to get off Namek. He unfortunately won.

Then with Gohan it's a similar story. The scene where he first goes Super Saiyan 2 he's crying, but the aura of ki literally burns away his tears. He's grieving, partially grieving at the loss of himself. He's forced to fight this monstrous opponent by becoming a monster himself, and even if he wants to cry and scream-- if he wants to feel emotion-- he's no longer allowed to. He's grown so monstrously strong that his own power has stripped him of the right to grieve.

This isn't a martial artist being torn up for loss of control, this is a child barred from ever being one ever again. He can no longer be a crybaby, he can no longer sit on the sidelines, he has to take action.

I dunno it just HITS different you know?

[tumblingxelian]

When should a work focus on side characters? That's something of a weird discourse I bump into a lot in Fandom and I'm wondering if this happened to you before.

Oooh this is a fun question and while broadly the answer is "Whatever works best for the story" I feel a more precise answer would be:

"Whenever your story advertises itself as an ensemble cast, a team series or as giving focus to secondary characters it should follow through."

A great example of having done this and then forgotten how is Dragon Ball.

The first storyline is very much a steadily expanding team up, IE:

Bulma brings the techno brains, Goku brings the brawn and the good heart, Oolong brings shape shifting & sneakiness. & while not team members till near the end, Yamcha is a blend of smart and strong, IE he knows a helluva lot more than anyone else in the team about various lore & locations.

Puar's really the only one without much to do save bounce exposition off, but overall pretty solid. It even ends up being Oolong who saves the world, technically. But everyone contributes a decent amount at different times.

Compare that to say, the Fortune Teller Baba fights & you see a shift.

Cos yes, Oopa and Puar defeat Fangs & Yamcha takes down the Invisible Man & at least put up a fight against Mummy Man, but ultimately...

Goku could have solo-ed the entire rung of fighters with no sweat, literally the only challenge was his own grandfather who none of the team could have fought anyway.

This trend continues with other fighters basically existing to stall and or fail so Goku (& one time Gohan) can be more impressive when they show up to deal with the current villain.

Despite this, it still advertised itself as having or needing a team.

IE, yes Goku is the MC, but its Son Goku & his Friends, getting big splash pages & set up as the one's fighting off threats.

Honestly a big part of the reason for this problem is Goku was never really allowed to genuinely lose. He won the first Budokai "In spirit" by eating the prize money, only lost on technicality in the second. Then after that they had to concoct reasons to keep him out of the way until Cell, then brought him right back for Buu. A series where the MC always has to win is always going to struggle with making its secondary characters feel relevant.

This shouldn't have become a Dragon Ball Diatribe but its a useful reference point being a sequential series one can track the evolution of compared to say, Miraculous Ladybug. IE, a series that could never decide if it was the Ladybug show, the Ladybug & Chat Noir show or a team show.

Ultimately, I feel my first answer holds up, with an added caveat, so in answer to your question:

When should a series focus on its secondary characters?

Answer: Whenever it advertises itself as intending to and it serves the story.

[imperfectercell]

DBZ Babygirl Poll RESULTS: ROUND 5

WHOOPS I was in the middle of a game of breakers and am a few minutes late. But hey folks. That's right.

KRILLIN HAS WON THE TUMBLR BABY GIRL POLL!

CONGRATS TO #KRILLINSWEEP !

Through many trials and tribulations, much has gone about, but this short king has done his best to become NUMBER 1 BABY GIRL! I would say specifically Eighteens babygirl, but he could be yours, too.

And with that, all is well in the world...

but... wait, what is that? On the wings of a blue bird, its...

GOGETA, THE WINNER OF THE TWITTER BABYGIRL POLL?!?!?!

AND GOHAN, THE WINNER OF THE FIRST TWITTER BABYGIRL POLL?!?!?!

That's right, there is one last round of voting! Though Krillin may be the King Babygirl of Tumblr, there are other far off lands to battle! In one last vote, just to see the results... May the Most Babygirl WIN!

[odycal-pbarnes]

Gochi week - napping

ChiChi had learned very early on in their marriage, that as much as her husband loved to be active, traversing even the most remote parts of Mount Paozu to find the best hunting and fishing spots, or training with seemingly reckless abandon, Goku was an absolute stickler for proper rest time.

Taking Gohan with him when he’d leave to go fishing or to spar when their boy had hit a wall in his studies; even Piccolo hadn’t been safe from his watch while he stayed with them while they were preparing for the androids. The Namekian would often find himself being dragged back to their home whether he was conscious or not after an exhaustive training session. 

She'd lost count of how many times he'd literally swept her off her feet only to plop her down somewhere comfortable to take a break whenever he noticed she was overworking herself again.

So, even after he’d been gone for those seven years, she was only mildly surprised when she suddenly found herself cradled against his chest as he carried her to the living room and gently deposited her onto the couch before pressing the remote into her hand.

“All these years and you’re still the same, ya gotta learn how to take a break Chi.” Goku chided lightly, a hint of amusement in his voice and pressed a quick kiss to her lips before she had a chance to argue and straightened, heading back into the kitchen where he’d found her, finishing her task of clearing the table and counters before he started on the pile of dishes in the sink.

She was still tempted to argue with him, to insist she was fine, that she was used to the work, but this was one of the few things that he put his foot down over and knew from experience that he had no issue returning her to where he put her as many times as it took for her to eventually give up.

With no choice but to admit defeat, she huffed and called out a thank you, a small laugh escaping her when he flashed her that beaming smile of his when he knew that he’d won before turning back to his task.

Finding the sight of her husband far more interesting than whatever was on the tv at this time of day, ChiChi readjusted herself to a more comfortable position, watching him contently as he rocked from side to side, humming the theme song of a cartoon that Goten was currently obsessed with as he worked, almost entranced by the way his muscles bunched and relaxed under the thin material of his shirt.

He’d been back for weeks now and it still seemed so surreal to see him here, living and breathing, looking just as he did the morning he and Gohan had left to battle Cell. 

It hadn’t been seamless of course, seven years was a long time to be away after all; but somehow he’d managed to slot himself back into their lives almost naturally, making moments like these feel like he’d never been gone in the first place.

A sense of peace washed over her, the feeling reminiscent of their first five years together before all the chaos that Raditz’ arrival had triggered and felt her eyes begin to droop; the running water, soft clinking of china and Goku’s soft baritone more potent than any lullabye.    

Goku smiled softly as he felt ChiChi’s ki settle and even out, stifling a laugh when he peeked behind him to find her asleep, her head resting in the crook of her arm, leaning over the arm of the couch, the remote still hanging loosely from her other hand. He decided to let her sleep as long as she needed, knowing the adjustment to keep not only their boys fed, but now him as well was taking its toll on her, no matter how much she tried to deny it. 

He quickly finished what was left and turned off the faucet, flicking the excess water from his hands before drying them and padded over to her, admiring his wife for a moment before gently scooping her up into his arms and settled himself onto the couch, repositioning her on his chest, taking care not to wake her.

He hummed his contentment as ChiChi snuggled into him further after he’d draped a blanket over them, the weight of her on him reminding him of just how much he had missed this while he was in Other World. 

While he had stuck with his decision to stay among the dead, adamant to keep his family and friends safe, he’d regretted it so many times over the course of those seven years. Training and fighting in the Other World tournament had been fun and welcome distractions, but ChiChi and Gohan would always be on his mind whenever he’d had time to himself. 

He’d always wonder how big Gohan was getting, if he was happy, how he was doing with his studies; he missed hearing about all the things he’d learned, his sweet boy excitedly spouting facts about some cool bug they’d found while out on a hike and him listening along eagerly, despite not knowing any of the terminology he’d used.

And then there was ChiChi; thinking about her had always been hard. She had been hurting so much the last few years before he’d died the second time, crisis after crisis popping up, always tied to him in one way or another and he realized not for the first time how lucky he had been that she’d decided to stay with him through all of it.

He knew she’d be angry and heartbroken when she learned of his death, but often wondered if she’d also been relieved when he’d decided to stay away. 

Wondered if maybe she’d even found someone else who could give her the kind of life she’d wanted; a life of peace and safety, a life that despite his best efforts, he hadn’t been able to provide while alive.

The thought of her moving on had always brought a tightness to his chest that made it hard to breathe despite not having the need to do so. It wasn’t that he hadn’t wanted her to find happiness after his passing, nothing could be further from the truth; but the thought of another man holding her in his arms, being intimate with her in a way that only he’d known and her returning those affections drove his instincts haywire. 

He couldn’t help the rush of emotion that coursed through him when he showed up at the tournament and there she was, just as beautiful as the morning he’d kissed her goodbye for the last time, teary eyed and happy to see him, making a point to tell him that she’d missed him. 

And Gohan, his sweet, smart, amazing little boy, who was now just shy of being a man and nearly as tall as he was had quite literally thrown himself into his arms with a force that could’ve easily sent a lesser man flying, strong arms and legs curling around him in a bone crushing hug that was returned in equal fervor, no words needed in that moment as he held his boy, relieved that he hadn’t grown to hate him for his choice. 

That relief had been short lived however, only to be replaced with guilt and regret after he’d put Gohan back down on his feet and caught the gaze of a tinier version of himself peeking at him from just behind ChiChi, his little hand gripping the fabric of her pants before he’d shyly ducked behind her legs.

He’d felt like his head was underwater, the excited ramblings from everyone around him  suddenly muffled, his knees going weak as the realization slammed into him harder than any opponent ever could. 

She’d given him another son and he’d never known; never got to hold him in his first moments after he came into the world, never heard him say his first words, never seen him take his first steps, didn’t know his name, what he liked to do for fun, his favorite food, his favorite color, what he wanted to be when he grew up, or any of the other important things that a dad should know about his little boy.

When Goten had rushed into his arms after they’d introduced each other, he’d barely been able to keep the tears prickling in his eyes at bay as he scooped him up eagerly, overjoyed that his little boy had accepted him and wished that he’d had more time to be with his family than just the twenty four hours Baba was able to allow him. 

In the aftermath of their fight with Buu, after the dust had settled and the adrenaline had faded, the realization that he’d been given another chance at life had finally started to sink in. He was eternally grateful for the Old Kai’s sacrifice, especially after ChiChi had quite literally sobbed with joy at the news that he was coming back for good, his boys clinging to him for dear life, tears in their eyes while they excitedly chattered over one another, telling him about all the things they wanted to show him.

“Honey? Wha’s wrong, you okay?” ChiChi asked, her head popping up from his chest after she’d felt the uptick in his heartbeat, her voice thick with sleep and laced with concern.

“I’m fine Chi, just thinkin’, go back to sleep.” He reassured sheepishly with a smile and ran his fingers through her hair that she’d tied back into a low ponytail, reminding him of when they were younger.

“Ya sure?” She prodded gently, knowing he had the habit of keeping his feelings hidden behind that goofy smile of his.

“I know ya say tha'cha ain't good at readin' ki, but I’m thinkin’ ya got a natural talent for it.” He praised in an attempt to distract her, delighting in the soft blush that dusted over her cheeks as she scootched herself further up his chest and met her halfway when she leaned in for a kiss.

“Or maybe, I’ve been wit'cha long enough to be able to read ya; now what’s on your mind?” She teased lightly when they parted and tapped him on the nose with her finger, looking at him expectantly and waited patiently when he sighed and his eyes softened.

“Just thinkin’ ‘bou'cha an' the boys an’ how much I missed out on; musta been hard raisin’ our boys all on your own for so long, ‘specially with them bein’ half Saiyan to boot. I shoulda come back when I had the chance and been there for ya.” Goku answered after another heavy sigh and let his head fall back against the arm of the couch, his eyes tracing invisible patterns into the ceiling. 

“Hey,” ChiChi called out to him softly, her hand coming up to rest on his cheek, waiting to continue until he lifted his head to meet her eyes again. “I already told ya that I forgave ya when we talked after ya came home, an’ I meant it. Ya did what ya felt ya had to do in order to keep us safe. Now you’re back and have the opportunity to make up for lost time, ya shouldn’t waste it by getting stuck in the past and dwelling on what coulda been.” She reassured, tracing her fingertips over the lines of his face, her lips turning up into a smile after he’d given her a genuine smile this time.

“I love ya.” He said, catching her hand to press a kiss to her fingers.

“Love ya too; now, ya gonna tell me how long I’ve been asleep for?” She replied playfully, pressing a quick kiss to his lips.

“Not that long, maybe an hour?” He answered, humming thoughtfully after taking a look at the clock on the wall.

“An hour?! Goku you shoulda woke me up instead of comin’ to lay down with me! I’ve got cleanin’ to do and lunch an’ dinner to prep, and we still gotta meet with Old Mr.Taro about gettin’ that tractor; I’m gonna be so far behi-” ChiChi listed off worriedly, nearly scrambling to get off the couch when Goku’s arm wrapped around her securely, pulling her back into his lap as he sat up. 

“Hey, hey, take it easy Chi! There’s no rush; I’ll help ya with the food, the house is already clean enough, it don’t need to be spotless an’ we don’t gotta meet with Mr. Taro ‘til the boys are almost outta school, we got plenty of time.” Goku countered, his tone filled with reassurance, his hand running up and down her back soothingly, easily coaxing her to relax back against him.

“But-” she tried to resist and went to push herself away from his chest when he cut her off, much to her annoyance.

“No buts, ya promised me that you’d stop gettin’ all worked up over the small things; you’re gonna end up givin’ yourself a heart attack from all that stress, an’ speakin’ from experience, it ain’t fun.” He argued lightly and pointed her with a look that made her deflate and lean back against him with a sigh.

“I’m sorry.” She apologized, her voice small as she tucked her head under his chin, feeling guilty; so far Goku had been holding up the promises he’d made and yet she was still struggling with keeping up just the one he’d asked of her.

“S’okay, I forgive ya. It’s gonna take practice, but I know you’ll get it eventually.” He encouraged, a slight teasing air to his voice and pulled her back just far enough to press his lips to her hairline, breathing in her scent deeply, humming contentedly as she calmed.

“Promise?” ChiChi asked, her voice lilting with affection as she rested back against his chest and wrapped one arm around him as much as she was able while her other hand traced patterns against his chest.

“Promise.” Goku answered, humming his pleasure when she kissed just above the collar of his shirt after he’d wrapped his arms around her, giving her an affectionate pat on the bottom before rubbing circles into her back until her weight once again sank against him fully.

He didn't bother to resist when he felt the need to yawn and scooted himself a bit lower so he wouldn't have to worry about having a crick in his neck when the alarm Chichi had set would eventually go off and let sleep claim him.

[duhragonball]

Dragon Ball Super Movie 2: Super Hero (5/5)

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAA EXISTENCE IS TORMENT RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Okay, so we're now at the last leg of this movie, where everybody teams up to defeat Cell Max. Once Piccolo turned orange and convinced the Gammas that Magenta was evil, the Red Ribbon Army collapsed on the spot. Magenta went to activate Cell Max as a desperate counterattack, but he was killed by Dr. Hedo. However, Magenta still managed to get Cell Max started up before he died, and the first thing Cell Max does is smash up whatever's left of the Red Ribbon base.

It's not clear to me what happened to the rest of the bad guys in this movie. A lot of them probably fled when the battle turned against them, but it's a pretty big facility, and I doubt they all could have evacuated in time. Like, Carmine was knocked unconscious a few minutes ago, and I doubt anyone went to the trouble of getting him to safety before Cell Max showed up. I suppose he could have survived this, but it seems pretty unlikely.

So let's talk about Cell Max. Apparently when Dr. Gero came up with the idea of Cell, he forwarded all of his notes and design specifications to Magenta at Red Pharmaceutical Company. RPC tried to make use of the data after Gero's death, but they couldn't figure it out, probably because the real breakthroughs in Cell's creation were accomplished by Gero's computer in an alternate future. But Magenta knew the Original Cell could get the job done, so he wanted one of his own, and when he learned of Dr. Hedo he thought he finally had the man to make Cell Max a reality.

And Hedo delivered... mostly. Cell Max's body was completed first, but it was going to take a lot longer to develop his brain, and Hedo wasn't particularly eager to work on Cell Max because he liked the superheroic Gammas better. He warned Magenta not to use Cell Max, because he would just run wild and destroy the world Magenta wanted to conquer.

And you know, it's poetic that Magenta's last act was to release this mindless engine of destruction, because that's really all the Red Ribbon Army ever was. Magenta mocked Dr. Hedo's fixation on super heroes, but Magenta's fixation was on the Red Ribbon Army, a failed mercenary group brought down by its idiotic leader.

Red's story ended with his army destroyed, and then Black went on a lunatic rampage on what was left of the Red Ribbon base. Dr. Gero's story ended with his own androids turning on him, and then Cell activates and nearly destroys the world with little concern for Gero's agenda. And now Magenta lies dead in his own stronghold, while Cell Max goes on a rampage.

It always turns out the same way, but with Magenta, we shouldn't be too surprised, because he admired Red and Gero so much. He saw their spectacular failures and convinced himself that they almost won, and if he just gave it one more try, he could get it right this time. But instead, Magenta just wound up sharing their fate, because this is the only way it could ever end. The Red Ribbon Army isn't some noble cause. It's just a bunch of goons who push around innocent people. And the problem with the whole 'might-makes-right' philosophy is that sooner or later you run into someone mightier who pushes back. Commander Red ran into Goku. Dr. Gero ran into Vegeta and his own creations. Cell ran into Gohan.

And I guess Magenta's failure to understand that is what led him to idolize the original Cell so much. I mean, it's kind of ridiculous that he would have asked Dr. Hedo to make a new one. Hedo was a kid when Cell threatened to destroy the Earth, but Magenta ought to have remembered that broadcast. He must have understood that Cell wasn't loyal to the Red Ribbon cause. When he announced the Cell Games, he didn't say anything about sparing the RPC. But I think Magenta never considered any of this. He just knew that Cell was powerful and he wanted one. For men like Magenta, the power is the point. Whether or not you can control the power is a minor detail. It was probably more important to Magenta that he was the one who got to push the button, regardless of the consequences.

Okay, so I kind of got off-track. What is Cell Max, exactly? Well, Hedo's a much better scientist than Gero was, so he managed to take Gero's incomplete "recipe" and make a bigger, even more powerful version of Cell. The downside is that this version is dumb as a bag of hammers. He just stomps around and screams a lot. He seems to have a canny fighting skill behind all that bestial rage, but that's it. You won't find any of the smarmy taunting or mindgames that we used to see from the original Cell. This version might be more powerful, but it's not perfect.

To put it another way, Cell Max absolutely sucks, and I mean that as a compliment. This movie kind of needed a final boss to offset the morally conflicted Hedo and Gammas, and Cell Max makes a good choice for that role. We don't need a cunning, invincible super villain for the last 20 minutes of this movie. There just isn't time for that. What we need is a doomsday weapon unleashed by Magenta in a final act of spite. Magenta probably thought he was getting revenge with this last strike, but this is the good guys' chance to do the classic superhero bit where they have a misunderstanding, fight, and then team up to tackle the real threat.

Also, as a fan of Cell, I just like this novel way of bringing him back in the Dragon Ball Super era. We've already seen Frieza revived and Broly revamped for the canon. Bringing back Cell seemed like a very obvious play, except it's a really dumb idea. Cell was a failure. He took on the whole world and lost, dying alone in a barren waste. Most of the world had no idea who he was or where he came from, and he didn't have flunkies who would wish him back to life the way Sorbet brought back Frieza. It makes much, much more sense that a character like Magenta would rather build a new Cell than bother with the original. And this only emphasizes Cell's inhumanity. He's not a villain, he's a weapon, to be discarded and replaced when he becomes obsolete. Is the new model better? That all depends on how many targets it can hit.

Broadly speaking, Cell Max loos like Semiperfect Cell from DBZ. The same bulky proportions, the same fish lips, etc. The difference is that Cell Max still has wings, which were curiously absent from Semiperfect Cell. Also, Cell Max is unique for his naughty red color, and his tail comes out of his butt like Frieza's, instead of sticking out from between his shoulder blades. Oh, and his feet look like hiking boots.

Also, the end of his tail isn't a stinger. It's like this club-looking thing that can shoot hot pink lasers. I've seen fans draw Cell Max in a "perfect form", which mostly looks like the Original Cell with Cell Max's red and green colorations, and it's interesting to look at, but it kind of misses the point. Cell Max isn't designed to absorb something else and achieve a completed form. This is as good as it gets for Cell Max. I mean, Dr. Hedo seemed to think he would be smarter and easier to control with time, but we really have no way to be sure of that, do we?

All right, let me try to get on with the plot here. The Gammas immediately attack Cell Max, not only because of their heroic natures, but because they know how dangerous Cell Max is. Piccolo leads the Z-Fighters to help out, and the Gammas explain that they need to aim for Max's head, because Dr. Hedo added a weak spot there. If you blast through his cranium, it'll trigger an explosion powerful enough to destroy Max's cells, but even the "weak spot" is still pretty damn strong. Also Cell Max is quite the artful dodger, so it takes a while for anyone to land a blow. Piccolo manages to pull it off, but the attack isn't powerful enough to be effective.

"RAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH EVERYTHING HURTS SO MUCH! WHAT AM I? WHY AM I? AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

As Cell Max destroys more of the base, the ground starts to give way under Pan's feet, and she can't make it to the safety of Bulma's airship. Krillin tells her to fly, but we know she can't do that yet. But she tries really hard and finally learns to fly! I guess she just needed the right motivation. Piccolo reminded her of her Saiyan blood at the start of the movie, and he was trying to reassure her, but Saiyan power isn't just a blessing, it's something you earn through turmoil and hardship. Maybe Pan had to be in deadly peril for her to make this next leap forward. It's like how Gohan was when he clobbered Raditz.

Back at the fight, everyone realizes they need to attack with greater intensity to stop Cell Max, so Goten and Trunks do a Fusion. But they fuck it up and turn into Fat Gotenks. He can't even turn Super Saiyan, but Gotenks is no quitter, so he charges in anyway, and manages to headbutt Cell hard enough to crack his exoskeleton. I guess they're doing chip damage to his head? Like Piccolo hit him pretty damn hard earlier, and now this, so they must be making some progress, right? Anyway, Piccolo praises this moment as the first time a failed Fusion actually does something useful.

Speaking of this, remember how Goten and Trunks had two different opportunities to use Fusion in GT, and they just... didn't do it for no good reason, even though it would have been awesome and cool? Remember how GT had no idea what to do with Piccolo, so they just killed him off and made him live in Hell? Remember how GT fucking sucked, and this movie does the opposite of those things and it's hella rad? I don't know, I just thought I should point that out.

At this point, Gamma 2 decides to go for broke, and he asks everyone else to keep Cell busy while he readies a strike onto his noggin, basically what Gotenks did, only with more power behind it. Gamma 1 is upset about this, but 2 tells him he needs to protect Dr. Hedo, who's still alive in the rubble. "Now who's being sloppy?" 2 asks 1. Because he didn't check his sensors to make sure Hedo was okay, you see.

So they all fight, but then 18 almost gets hit, when...

Kienzan, motherfucker! First rule of being a Cell, dipshit, you're gonna have to go through Krillin.

Solar Flare! Oh! Ohhhhhhhh! Krillin is the MVP once again!

So this sets up Cell Max perfectly for Gamma 2's attack, and he comes straight down... into Max's left forearm, because he managed to block it just in time. But to 2's credit, he keeps pushing, and seems to smash through anyway...

But it's no good. Cell Max's left arm falls off, and it looks like much of his body has been turned to ash, but he's still alive. Enraged, he tries to stomp on Gamma 2, but Piccolo won't have it and he ORANGES UP. As he pushes back on Max's foot, Krillin shows up to help, and tells Piccolo to grow his body, just like he did when he fought Goku at the 23rd World Tournament. I love how Krillin doesn't just tell him this, he helps push back on Max's foot while he talks. Krillin's the real superhero here.

Piccolo's like "Oh yeah, I forgot I can do that," which annoyed some fans. I get it, it's kind of silly that he would forget a thing like this, but it was a long time ago, and it didn't work on Goku at all, so I can understand how he might have forgotten about this ability. Also, it's pretty sweet how Piccolo has so many cool powers that even he has trouble keeping them straight. He's forgotten more about being awesome than we'll ever know.

And while this does give him some much-needed leverage against Cell Max, getting big like this doesn't make him stronger, so they're not much better off than they were before. Piccolo still has plan though. he gives Gohan the senzu bean he brought with him and tells Gohan to eat it. He means to keep Cell Max busy and hopefully Gohan will get enough power built up to deliver a killing blow.

So for a while, they have a good old fashion Big Boy Wrassle, but the tide quickly shifts in favor of Cell Max. Gohan still isn't ready, so Krillin leads a desperate charge to distract Max and give Piccolo a chance. But they all get taken out, and it ends up being all in Piccolo's hands again. He refuses to quit, and does everything he can to hold Max down.

And when it looks like Piccolo is finally beaten, something snaps in Gohan, and we get....

Gohan Beast! Well, they don't call it that in this movie, but that's the name for it, apparently. I remember when the movie premiered in Japan, and I kept seeing trending tags on Twitter for "Orange Piccolo", "Cell Max" and "Gohan Blanco", and thinking "What the hell happens in this movie?"

So... Gohan Beast. Basically it's like the moment where he went SSJ2 for the first time, stacked on top of Mystic Gohan. At least, that's how I see it. Remember, Goku's plan at the Cell Games was to get Gohan as powerful as he could possibly get as a Super Saiyan, so that whenever Gohan tapped into his "hidden power", it would push him into some higher form. Back then, it was SSJ2, but now, he's at his current maximum level, then he sees a good friend in dire straights, and it's pushed him into some new level. And it looks a lot like his SSJ2 form from when he was a kid, but with white or silver hair this time, and red lightning, I guess. Anyway, some people hate this form, but I don't mind it one bit. If Gohan's snapping and kicking ass, I don't care what he looks like. If he turned into a rodeo clown in this scene, I'd still be marking out.

Cell Max punches Gohan and he's like "Naw. Naw." Then he kicks the shit out of Max and starts preparing his attack. Max does his own big energy move, but Gohan doesn't give a fuck because he's in his edgy mode now. Blast that Linkin Park music, because we're doin' it.

Of course, Gohan still needs to get a clear shot, but Piccolo's not out of this yet. He just remembered another cool power he has: Stretchy Arms! Get fucked, Cell Max!

And how will Gohan capitalize on this moment? Three words: Special Beam Cannon! Hell yeah! No wonder Gohan transformed. He had to build up a lot of power just to set up this technique, so seeing Piccolo get wrecked during the charge-up must have really put him over the edge.

And that's it. Cell Max explodes, everyone gets clear of the blast, and the good guys win. Piccolo asks Gohan how he learned to do the Special Beam Cannon, and Gohan explains that he trained on it in secret. A ha! You see, Piccolo? You thought Gohan was slacking off in his training, but he was actually working on things you didn't even know about!

And this sums up the Piccolo's character arc in this movie. Piccolo tries so hard to get someone else to take the lead in this film. When he can't raise Goku or Vegeta, he starts scheming to traumatize Gohan and make him fired up enough to become the big hero. And yet, in the end, Piccolo was the big hero of this movie. He was so busy trying to get someone else to handle things that he couldn't see it. But he was the one who infiltrated the enemy base, he was the one who got the cool new power up, he was the one who flipped the Gammas, and he came up with the plan to beat Cell Max. Sure, his plan was to get Gohan to fire the kill shot, but what was that kill shot? Piccolo's signature techique, which Gohan learned on his own, simply because Piccolo was such a great role model and mentor to him over all these years.

Unfortunately, Gamma 2 died in his attack on Cell Max. He used up all his energy in that move, which apparently causes his entire body to disintegrate. Piccolo consoles Hedo by observing that 2's stunt significantly weakened Cell Max's attacks, making it possible for the rest of them to finish what Gamma 2 started. "He was a real superhero", Piccolo says, which is probably as great an honor as Gamma 2 could have hoped for.

Hedo admits that he basically knew what Magenta was all about, but he played along anyway in order to get the money for his research. But with Gamma 2's death, he now realizes the error of his ways. Gamma 2 didn't do anything wrong, but he was the one who paid for Hedo's reckless alliance with the Red Ribbon. He offers to turn himself in to the authorities, but Krillin objects to this, saying the authorities can't handle someone like Hedo. Remember, this movie opened with him getting out of prison, and everyone was relieved to see him go.

Instead, Piccolo suggests they all overlook this incident, and Hedo asks Bulma if he can work for her now. She's impressed with his bulletproof skin treatment, and thinks she can find a place for him in their cosmetics business. And Gamma 1 can be some sort of security guard. Fair enough.

So that about wraps things up, except for one last bit of business. Pan pulls Piccolo aside to show off how she learned to fly during the battle. She swoops around and everything, and Piccolo proudly tells her that she'll begin the next phase of her training tomorrow. Hooray!

Then we get a post-credits scene where it turns out Goku and Vegeta have been fighting this entire time, and they're finally at the end of their evenly-matched bout. They're so exhausted that they can barely move, but Vegeta manages to kind of gently shove Goku with his fist, knocking him over and earning the victory. Then he falls over as he celebrates. Goku's fine with it because he's a class act, naturally.

As for the spectators, Beerus fell asleep during the fight, and Whis almost forgot he was supposed to be officiating. Cheelai sat through the whole thing, but she was bored the whole time. She looks to Broly for solidarity, but he and Lemo were moved to manly tears at this epic combat spectacle. "Men!" Cheelai says. Look, if you and Broly are gonna be a thing, Cheelai, you have to respect his interests. I'm just glad Broly has something like this to get passionate about. In the last movie he was so repressed and timid. It's great that Whis put on this no-transforming no-ki-blast fight specifically for Broly's benefit, and he seems to have gotten a lot out of it. And it's kind of cute how Cheelai couldn't care less, but she's way off the mark. This was great.

And that's it for Super Hero. I was worried I'd run out of image space for this post, but somehow I managed to get it all in under 30 images. Let me see how many I have left...

Yeah, this was a cool shot of Gohan Beast, or Beast Gohan, or whatever you want to call it.

Nice simultaneous punch with Cell Max and Piccolo. The eternal struggle between red and orange.

Yeah, I forgot to talk about 18's yoga pants and shorter haircut. Some people hate this look, but this is peak 18 in my book. Krillin's a lucky man, I tell you what.

D'awwwww...

"RAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH SOMEONE PLEASE LET ME DIE RAAAAAAAHHHHHHH--Oh! Oh, that's much better. Thank you. Well, I'd better start exploding then. Raaah."

Wow I had a lot of image space left, didn't I? I thought this was going to be a lot tougher than it was.

Well, anyway, this was a fantastic movie. It was so great that I was kind of stressing out about how to cover it properly, but now that it's over I feel pretty good about the whole thing. I don't know if they'll make another Dragon Ball movie. It makes sense, considering how much money this one made, but you never can tell. All I know is that I'm pretty excited for whatever they do next.

And yeah, that's all I've got for this movie, but we're not done with Super Hero just yet. No, now I need to cover the manga adaptation of this movie, and if my calculations are correct, that should be wrapping up next week, so that's some excellent timing there. I will see you then!

[lisutarid-a]

[Gakuen K] Yatogami Kuroh Route Translation

Hanetsuki

LIST OF CHAPTERS

[Translation under the cut]

Neko: Ahhh, I'm beaten!

Saya: Kuro-kun wins 4th time in a row…You're good at Hanetsuki (japanese badminton).

Kuroh: Hanetsuki is not the only thing I'm good at.

Neko: Shiro, you have to defeat Kurosuke!

Shiro: I wish I could, but I got defeated in the first round. What should I do…?

Shiro: Oh, right. How about me, you, and Neko vs. Kuro?

Kuroh: Three vs. one? That won't be fair.

Shiro: B-Because if I don't get a handicap like that, I won't be able to win.

Saya: I think Kuro-kun would win even if it is 3 vs. 1.

Neko: That's not true! Wagahai is invincible with Shiro and Gohan!

Kuroh: Oi…There will be three of you…

Neko: Kurosuke~, are you scared? Are you afraid of losing to the Wagahai and the others after all you said?

Kuroh: …There is no way I would lose. Alright, challenge accepted. Watch my Hanetsuki's skills!

Kuroh: Damn it…!

Saya: Woo-hoo, I got one point!

Neko: Nice, Gohan! Kurosuke is not cool~!

Kuroh: Agh, I haven't lost yet!

Shiro: Sorry, but the game is over. Good job, everyone~!

Saya: I see. This is now our 10th win out of 10 rounds…so I guess we won!

Kuroh: Agh…That's not fair…

Neko: Sorry to keep you waiting! I brought the equipment for the punishment game!

Saya: Punishment game?

Kuroh: I didn't get the memo.

Neko: Of course, I didn't mention it.

Kuroh: Don't say that so proud.

Shiro: Well-well. It looks interesting, so why not?

Saya: Brush, ink… You want him to do kakizome (Japanese traditional first writing of the year)?

Neko: That's not it, Wagahai and the others will draw. On Krosuke's face!

Kuroh: What…!

Kuroh: The loser of Hanetsuki gets their face scribbled with ink as punishment! Get ready, Krosuke!

Shiro: Sounds like fun, I am in!

Saya: Neko-chan, Shiro-kun stop. I'll feel sorry for Kuro-kun if you both draw on him. Here…

Choice: [Let Shiro to draw] ❤

Saya: How about leave it to Shiro-kun?

Kuroh: …I don't agree. Why leave it to Shiro?

Kuroh: Why am I being punished in the first place?

Saya: I don't know either. Those two are unstoppable…

Saya: I don't think Shiro-kun would do anything more crazy than Neko.

Shiro: What are you two talking about?

Kuroh: Nothing. …I'm ready. Get on with it.

Shiro: Oka-ay.

Shiro: Here it is, let's see…Oh, I made a mistake.

Kuroh: You made a mistake!?

Shiro: Ah, it's okay, it's okay. It's just a figure of speech, it's acceptable…I think.

Kuroh: …

Shiro: …Alright, it's done!

Saya: Shiro-kun, are you finished already? That was quick--.

Saya: …

Kuroh: What's wrong?

Saya: I-I think…it's artistic…!

Shiro: Right? It's a masterpiece!

Kuroh: Oi, do you have a mirror?

Saya: Uhm… Here.

Kuroh: Thank you.

Shiro: How is it, Kuro? You're a beautiful wom-Whoa!

Kuroh: Shiro…I gonna stab you with the hagoita (a rectangular wooden paddle used to play hanetsuki), you bastard!

Shiro: W-Why~! It's a masterpi-iece~!

Saya: …They run away.

Neko: Wagahai is hungry! I want to eat mochi!

Saya: Right, well, let's go back to the clubroom.

Choice: [Let Neko to draw]

Saya: Neko-chan is the one who propose it, so let's have Neko-chan to draw.

Kuroh: How come?

Neko: Yaaay, drawing-drawing! Wagahai is the artist! Leave it to me!

Kuroh: You don't even know what an artist means…

Kuroh: …That's enough.

Neko: Not yet!

Kuroh: … … ….Let me go already.

Neko: It's still not ready! Krosuke, stay still! If you move, it'll never be finished!

Kuroh: Agh…Hurry up.

Saya: (Ah, looks like it's finished)

Kuroh: …How did it come out?

Saya: Y-you know…It suits you very well…Fufu.

Kuroh: Why are you laughing?

Saya: I-I'm not laughing.

Kuroh: No. You seem to be holding back, but couldn't resist it. …Is that so funny?

Saya: W-Who knows…I'll lend you a mirror.

Kuroh: This is…Neko!

Neko: Wah! I need to run away~!

Saya: …They run away.

Shiro: Moreover, with such a face. When someone sees him, Kuro will be embarrassed.

Shiro: Whew, it's getting kinda cold. Shall we go back to my room and make oshiruko (sweet red-bean soup)?

Saya: What with Kuro-kun and the others?

Shiro: They'll be back soon. Come on, let's go!

[Prev chapter][Next chapter]

[ultraericthered]

Why DB's story peaked at the Cell Saga

Inspired by another recent Tumblr post on the Cell Saga.

A lot of times when I've seen talk online about where fans believe the late Akira Toriyama should've ended the original run of Dragon Ball, thus the original Dragon Ball narrative (and this is a question at all because very few fans were really satisfied with where it actually did end, with a weird ass final saga and a really weak epilogue/ending), by far the most common refrain seemed to be that "it should've ended at the Freeza Saga." Not hard to see why this is, as that was easily the most iconic saga of the entire series in Japan, with Son Goku's transformation into a Super Saiyan and domination of Freeza (hyped up as the most powerful villain Goku could ever face and also the one responsible for wiping out Goku's people and why he was on Earth to begin with) in the fight that followed being considered the high point of Goku's entire story, thus of the series on the whole. Many who loved the saga took umbrage at the arrival of Trunks proceeding to completely undermine both the threat of Freeza and the significant uniqueness of the legendary Super Saiyan, which is cause for them to say this is when the series began to go downhill.

To me, of course, this is nonsense.

The argument that the Freeza Saga was laid out to be the perfect possible finale for Dragon Ball is one that requires tunnel vision in order to make. Specifically, tunnel vision on a single character - Son Goku himself. The Freeza Saga being a climactic one for the story of Dragon Ball and where Goku's character peaked is undeniable, as there's not that many more avenues you could explore with Goku's character following him becoming a Super Saiyan and fulfilling his destiny of avenging his race against the genocidal tyrant Freeza. But...what about everyone and everything else? Though Dragon Ball was always Goku's series, its setting and events always concerned much, much, much more than just Goku, and features a wide cast of characters that has many who are just as valuable. So where would the Freeza Saga leave them off were it to end the whole thing?

Gohan just returns to his studies while waiting for daddy to come back home, his own power and hidden potential never receiving any major payoff. Piccolo is back alive but stays on Earth rather than rejoin his people, leaving him seemingly aimless since he no longer desires to dominate Earth nor does he wish to re-merge with Kami. Vegeta is back alive and on Earth (which, if the Freeza Saga was to be the final saga, would not happen) and now wants to become a Super Saiyan to surpass Goku, Krillin's wished back to life but still hasn't found a girlfriend, and other characters like Bulma, Master Roshi, Kami, King Kai and the rest get absolutely nothing, after having had precious little to work with the whole time in this saga.

Now let's contrast with where things go in the Cell Saga:

GOKU, even after hitting his peak as a Super Saiyan, is presented with three new ideas and developments that actually challenge him. First is the idea that for all his strength and for all the fights he's won, he could end up passing away and unable to save the Earth from a new threat due to a simple heart virus, a disease that does end up attacking him and nearly costing him in the present. Next is the idea that there exists a level of power even beyond a Super Saiyan, which he has to put in a maximum amount of effort to ascent to. And finally, the idea of knowing when to walk out from a fight and pass the baton to someone else he knows can be depended on, in this case, his son Gohan. And even with that last one, how dependable Gohan actually is is called into question more than once, and so it takes Goku sacrificing his own life, dying a second, supposedly permanent death and lending his faith and fighting spirit to Gohan from the afterlife, for the fruits of his labors to be realized. Then, to spare his son any further dangers and fights for the Earth's safety, Goku opts to stay dead, leaving everything in the hands of the next generation from his son on down. To me, that's the most ideal end to Goku as the hero, and it would've sent him off with more dignity and heart than later entries like GT and Super would allow him.

GOHAN not only becomes a Super Saiyan himself, but his hidden potential is fully realized when he is the first to make the full, proper ascendence from Super Saiyan into a Super Saiyan 2. When his dad gives up his life to save everyone from something that was partially Gohan's own fault, it humbles him and almost breaks his resolve to fight back and protect the Earth from destruction at Cell's hands, but with encouragement from his father's spirit, he is able to, with only one functional hand, launch a Kamehameha Wave to counter and overpower Cell's, ultimately destroying the malevolent lifeform. It truly felt like a passing of the torch moment, so that even if Dragon Ball proper ended here, Gohan would be set to be the first new main protagonist in any future sequel and spin-off installments.

PICCOLO is finally able to recognize that in order to combat a threat to the world he's come to love as his home and protect the people he now cares for, he needs to re-merge with the Namekian his original self had split off from, Kami Sama. We were first introduced to Kami and Piccolo as two halves of what used to be a whole Namekian, so how poetic is it that Piccolo's arc be completed with him returning to Kami and Kami agreeing to give up his own existence to make Piccolo a whole Namekian once again? And Piccolo tellingly never got much in the way of character development following this saga.

VEGETA is able to become a Super Saiyan, then he becomes an Ascended Super Saiyan, he has a son with Bulma who even has a version of him who time traveled from the future playing a big part in this story, he shows he's able to care about others and fight in the Earth's defense in spite of remaining unrepentantly evil and prideful for most of the saga, and he gets a big redemptive moment at the very end before resigning himself to retire from a life of combat. Yes, he still has a lot more character growth and strides towards full rehabilitation of his character still to go, but for the initial Dragon Ball story, this still would've been a fitting place to end his character arc.

KRILLIN, from the start, got into martial arts partially to impress the ladies and get himself a girlfriend, but for years he was never able to find love. In this saga, he finally does. He and Android 18 don't quite make Official Couple status by the end, but he clearly loves her enough to think of her needs ahead of his own wants, and she's become pretty tsundere for him to, so the implication is still there.

MASTER ROSHI gets a small moment of reflection at one point here, about how he used to be considered the world's strongest man but now he's old, not of much use, and watching the current generation of fighters AND the generation after it leaving him behind, tying into the theme of torch-passing from the past to the future.

BULMA & CAPSULE CORP have a hugely pivotal part to play here, as Bulma is the mother of Trunks, the child she had with Vegeta, and played the Sarah Connor role to Future Trunks in the timeline he hails from. Her company's services and technology are also constantly used, all hands on deck from start to finish, right down to fixing up Android 16 (and removing the bomb inside him, regrettably so). Even the very final scenes of the saga take place outside Capsule Corp, and I can't stress enough how much sense it makes that Trunks exists and takes things in this direction. The series literally all began with Goku and Bulma, so now it (almost) ends with their offsprings - Goku's son mentoring Bulma's son in the future but dying in that world where Trunks eventually ends up killing Cell, and then Bulma's son allying with Goku's son in the present but he dies in that world where Gohan ends up killing Cell (though unlike Future Gohan, he gets wished back to life). It's poetry, it rhymes, it's perfect!

TIEN, after getting a bad deal in the Vegeta Saga and then being all but ignored, gets to have one last big moment where he stands up to Semi-Perfect Cell and hammers him with Tri Beam attacks over and over again so that Androids 16 and 18 can flee, almost losing his life in the process. It's a fittingly badass and noble deed from the guy.

KING KAI, having lost his relevance after the Freeza Saga, returns for the third act of this one...and he ends up dying for it when Goku transports himself and the self-destructing Cell to his home world!

The SUPER SAIYAN transformation peaked here. Goku, Vegeta, Gohan, and Future Trunks are the limit to how many Super Saiyans we needed to see, all of them end up ascending to a higher level of the form, and only one attains the Super Saiyan 2 form in the end. It made sense, did not feel too cheap or inorganic, and was used in moderation and applied to the right characters in the right situations. Post-Cell Saga is when these transformations got out of hand.

The VILLAINS in this saga tied all the way back to the first real "Big Bad" villain(s) in Dragon Ball, the Red Ribbon Army. That alone was enough to give off a "full circle" feeling, but the obvious problem was that 5 different evil androids still just were not convincingly as great and worthy villains as a single Freeza had been. So we got the curveball of the saga's actual Big Bad, Cell, an artificially engineered lifeform made from the cells of all the strongest, most major fighters seen in the series up to this point, Freeza included, knowing all of their techniques, exhibiting many of their traits, and having a unique character progression that made him feel like the worst of all the past villains put together. His very existence marks this saga as the grand crescendo of everything Dragon Ball had been building itself up as during this time, his concept practically screaming that this is a "final boss"-worthy villain if there ever was one. And the final face-off with him did not disappoint of underwhelm, being grand enough to put Goku VS Freeza to shame (and no "longest 5 minutes ever" here!)

The STAKES felt even more personal compared to the preceding sagas. In the previous saga's climax, after everyone was revived and wished off of Namek with the Dragon Balls, the stakes centered entirely around Goku on a distant planet that was already doomed to explode. Whereas here, the stakes are for everyone on Earth, as the villain does not wish to rule over it like Piccolo or to exterminate its life and sell it like the Saiyans, but to blow it up, and in addition we get the threat of him being able to terrorize the rest of the universe so that countless other worlds would meet the same fate! The was more of a need to see this menace stopped than there'd ever been before.

The CALLBACKS that got made to just about all previous ones, right down to resurrecting the World's Martial Arts Tournament concept. Can't even begin to list them all here, but it's just very The Rise of Skywalker-esque in this regard (and it's even the 9th saga, too!)

The ENDING, as I said before, is outside Capsule Corp, and just look how it visually caps off the stories of Trunks and Gohan, and by that extension, of Bulma and Goku:

Those matching faces on Goku and Gohan. Simply beautiful.

Thus the case is made for why the original Dragon Ball ought to have ended at the Cell Saga. And when it did continue into one last saga afterwards, I will never forgive Master Roshi for selling me false hope

Fuck you, old man!

[dballzposting]

okay this is gonna sound maybe kinda wild but i need you to bear with me here. on account of i just had this thought but i have hit post limit and you're the only person i can trust with this

videl is a whiskey drinker. you know this, i know this, everyone knows this. it doesn't affect her. she's been sneaking a little bit ever since she was big enough to reach the bottle, bc Dad said it was a Real Man's Drink and she had something to prove.

Videl does not drink to excess, but even drunk videl is not that much different from normal videl. maybe a little floppier. maybe a little less testy. whatever.

but gohan?

gohan starts with wine. it's a low alcohol content. it's refined, it's classy, it fits the image of the future he wants. and, most importantly, he wouldn't feel embarrassed if his mom found out he had a glass of wine. She wouldn't be happy about him drinking alcohol, but she would Understand.

wrong fucking move.

he has one glass. He hates the way it makes him feel. The control he's fought so hard for slips away. he melts into Dionysus' bestial embrace.

all of a sudden his instincts kick in and he's fighting for control silently in his own mind. Stone-faced and wild-eyed, he sits alone in his dark bedroom. And when Videl opens the door, he makes unblinking eye contact. For several moments, her heart freezes and she understands that her husband is truly half-alien; something wretched from beyond the stars lurks in his chest.

he says, with no emotion expressed, 'we're alive, you and I.'

and her heart resumes

she walks up to the bed and sits on her knees next to gohan. she softly touches his face, and he gently, reverently, takes her forearm in his mouth like a dog.

she strokes his hair with her other hand, and he lets go. he looks up at her with sad, sad eyes. he speaks again

'I want to hunt a rabbit. not like a man, with guns and traps and ki, but like a quick and clever creature. the claws on my hands and the teeth in my mouth.'

and then, in the dim light of the hallway, videl looks at the nightstand and sees a cup and a bottle with just enough wine missing to deduce he has had one (1) glass of Sauvignon Blanc.

and after cooking up the steak she was saving for after she won the poker tournament tomorrow to sate gohan's bloodhunger, she puts him to bed and calls up Chi-Chi.

(I don't have an ending for this i just think that most aliens in dbz, saiyans especially, have a really low alcohol tolerance for reasons that would take forever to explain, and that gohan especially would be weird bc he has had so much training specifically to deal with his instincts and emotions, and that alcohol would interfere with the execution of that training but not the understanding of it)

thank you if you took the time to read this!

thank you if you took the time to read this!

Hey I think I need to answer this now like right now becos it was sent tonight and there is no way that this will be permissible tomorrow.

OK WElll let's see here let's break this down. Have no fear audience members we will get throuhg thsi

OK first of all

im sleepy let me think about this one.

You Have Hit Post Limit Yet Again.

Videl drinks whiskey the same way she smokes cigars ok got it. She's always been able to detect on some level the vacancy in her father where his spine should be so she's always known that titles like "Real Man" were empty aesthetics and that she herself captured the REAL ideals without having to boast it. But at some point she has to say something to give people something to listen to when their eyes fail them. She drinks that whiskey and she doesn't need to but she's damn good at it

Wine "fits the image of the future [Gohan] wants" ... It's a future that has the luxury to build itself on levels of social games like aesthetics and class and propriety ... it has the luxury of peace. Plus it's a fun fruity color. Lol.

THE IDEA THAT ONE (1) GLASS OF WINE JUST COMPLETELY FUCKING UNDOES HIM ?

He's had to fight for control and this control just puts its hat on and walks out the frontal cortex at the slightest flavor of alcohol. Like Ok I'm out. Bye

OK like actually everything about Gohan & Videl's relationship and interactions is completely the notion of Wearing Class on top of Beastliness. A dapper hat and bloody fangs. Vampires in the city. Complex mammalian social interactions being the most phylogenetically recent adaption to the nervous system and it necessarily has communications with the "lower" systems and making sense of the whole system is what makes us human. In my earlier post today I almost said something about Videl marrying the knives of intellect with the force of shadows but i coudnt figure out how to phrase it. I still can't. My point is that I think that this ask will cohere going forward but let's find out

He would sit there stone faced in the dark willing the moment to pass that is so Goahn ...

She literally would understand perfectly and she would give him her arm. He's an alien and something beyond the stars lurks unarticulated yet thriving in his being and she would see that and duely freeze as a human ought but she would feel like "FINALLY something that fucking MAKES SENSE" like she would get it

Because she KNOOOWS that she's gonna win the poker tournamnet. Gonna be honest. I think that it's gonna be Krillin's lucky night. Unless it's a woman-only tournament. Then I'm thinking that Bulma almost wins until A18 smoothly takes over at the last second. But Videl wins the other times. We just can't all be winners allof the time....

She's cooking the steak and he's pacing like a sad dog miserably musing that "it's not gonna be enough" and she has to be like "Look how red it is. Look how warm. Pretend it's fresh-killed." and Gohan remebers when he was a little boy when he was surviving in the wild, there was this dickhead dinosaur who always tried to get at him and Gohan would slice off a bit of its tail and eat it every time he won the fight. And the dinosaur kept trying. And Gohan almsot felt bad about it but now he's understasnding more than ever that winning or losing are just the outcomes of the NECESSARY NEED TO HUNT, it was righteous and essential that he and that dinosaur continuously engaged with each other and the dinosaur had no choice by nature. so he doesnt feel bad anymore in fact he feels thrilled at having partaken. And he feels big for winning. And he eats the steak and Videl offers that red wine goes good with red meat and he says NO PLEASE NO GOD. NO

OK like yes in the dragon ball that we see on screen it would track for Videl to call Chichi on the phone and garner a light commiseration re: Alien Husbands without actually disclosing any details at all, and even gather some productive insight or info. BUT The Chichi that I know is like "Laura" by Billy Joel and everything is about her feelings and so we honestly wanna keep her as far from the genuine lived experience of others as possible.

I'll believe you about the alcohol thign.

Also I'm gonna interject and say that Feeling your Feelings w/o judgement and w/o needing to take action about them is so imporatant and I wish that Gohan wouldnt fight himself down so much.

But I get it like he's more than an animal he's an alien and there's nothing more primal than being the improbable lovechild of a human and an alien and he will never know if what he is feeling is "acceptable" or "alien and fucked up" and he fears it all same

EVERYBIODY SLEEP TIGHT or WAKE UP !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[casliveblog]

I like that this is the first 'if we fight we'll just get in the way' instance in the series and the one that subverts it the hardest since Goku wouldn't have won without Krillin, Gohan and even Yajirobe's help, this was before everyone besides Goku was worthless against the main villain

[tobiasdrake]

How strong is Mr. Mark "Hercule" Satan in the manga? From what I know, in the anime we see him either vanish or use the afterimage technique (forget which) and I think dodge bullets - is that in the manga too, or he is just meant to be at the peak of real-life human ability (like the guys Kid Goku and Krillin fight in the preliminaries of the World Tournament)?

Peak of human ability. Within human limits, Mr. Satan is the world's greatest martial artist.

Right off the bat, he's identified by martial arts lore guy Yamcha as the martial arts champion of the world. The Cell Games reporter, known in the dub as Jimmy Firecracker, corroborates this statement at the tournament.

The anime hypes him up by pulling multiple buses and ripping phone books in half. However, in the manga, the Cell Games start like right after Mr. Satan steps out on-panel for the first time and gives his speech. Goku and the others have one chapter to wrap up the revival of Shenron and then it's off to the tournament.

The first we see of what he can really do is when he steps into the ring, bringing with him a tremendous demonstration of his power.

Jimmy's right. This is very impressive.

Uh. Within human limits.

It's just that we're a bit beyond that baseline by this point.

Incidentally, a common misconception for Mr. Satan is that he won the 24th Tenkaichi Budokai leading up to the Cell Games. He did not. The Tenkaichi Budokai was cancelled after Piccolo nuked the island it was held on, and wouldn't be revived until after the Cell Games.

That said, he did compete in it after the Cell Games, and he did win the gold.

This is a very easily confused plot point, so much so that even the Daizenshuu gets it wrong and pegs the 24th as having just happened five days before the Androids activated.

But although Mr. Satan was the world champion, he was not the champion of that tournament. Not yet.

All indications seem to be that Mr. Satan won the 24th legitimately. No tricks, no shenanigans, no fooling around. The punch machine records Satan at 137 points of... whatever measurement they're using.

It's just a couple points under the all-time record set at the 24th, also by Mr. Satan.

This slightly lower reading is probably due to the, uh, changes in his workout regimen since the 24th.

We never get to see this tournament, but we get a glimpse of it and its structure through its contestants. A few of the contestants at the 25th are veterans from the 24th, coming back to try and take another crack at the champ.

Satan is the leader of this pack, having won his championship belt in a stunning final bout against Jewel that left the announcer underwhelmed and disappointed.

Goku and his rivals have absolutely ruined this man for standard human-level martial arts. They've raised the bar so high, Mr. Satan couldn't possibly compare.

Though, by Gohan's estimation, Videl's outgrown him too.

Had the 25th not had all these aliens and gods and warlocks cluttering it up, there's a real chance this tournament would have ended in Videl dethroning her father in the finals. Something I would dearly pay to see.

As far as dodging bullets, I think the closest he comes to that is when these two idiots attack Buu.

When he scurries out of the way of this RPG they fire at Majin Buu. Though we don't see how far he got, as he momentarily vanishes from the manga following this blast. Perspective remains on the attackers reloading and firing on Buu some more while Satan makes his way to their position under cover of tunnel vision.

The actual gun that's shot at him in this fight hits its mark. But also it was a shot from behind so he couldn't have dodged it even if he could dodge bullets.

So I'm gonna call that "inconclusive" on whether he can dodge bullets. By battleboard logic, I'm sure escaping the RPG is an incredible feat. Mr. Satan is only peak human but, like, so is Batman. He's within human limits, but "human limits" can be extremely flexible in animation.

This is the same kind of thing as when cartoon characters dodge lasers.

And that's Mr. Satan's career in a nutshell. He's the biggest fish of a small pond (except for his daughter who's outgrown him). Talented and formidable in his own right, supremely impressive within his weight class, but woefully out of his league.