#goku is a complex character but so much of his complexity is like. not surface level so like

[gokubrain]

i’d noticed for a long time that fans have a tendency to infantilize goku and i never quite understood how so many people came to that conclusion,, because Z goku is silly but he’s also like rly masculine and brave to me 😭 but anyway now that i’m watching super i think i get where that trend came from lol.. goku is definitely so so silly in a different way than he was in Z, and i’m not saying that that’s a bad thing necessarily (i dont love it but also i have heavy bias lol) but i am saying that after seeing how he’s handled in super, it’s less surprising to me that people have a tendency to treat goku like he’s this weird totally innocent surface level guy .. do u guys get what im saying or am i crazy

[shannonsketches]

I'm just ranting about DBS' anime under the cut again don't mind me I'm having a Time

I was so confused about why Goku Black/Zamas is such a popular skin in Fortnite and then I learned that Toei once again missed the whole point of that arc. Both of them. One is Vegeta being inescapably confronted with how loved he is and how much he loves his family, which we knew Toei was never going to allow, but my god, Zamas??

The point of Zamas is that he's a wildly privileged chronically online 4chan fascist deciding an entire way of life which he does not participate in, has a surface-level understanding of, and is not personally affected by, is morally disgusting. Like, that's it that's his whole character. He's a young god with every possible comfort deciding that anything that is not like him is immoral and should not exist.

It has nothing to do with Trunks or anyone, it's solely because he's a shitty little Light Yagami kinnie in his extremely sheltered bubble of (perceived, not lived) experience. Dude is intolerable in the manga, and that's the point. His justice is not justice. His reasoning is outright fascism.

But they also missed the point of Trunks being Alone in the future (save for Mai) and Bulma not being there at all (her murder and subsequent absence in the future timeline is a vital component of the arc's emotional weight for Vegeta and Trunks, in fact, which of course they made about Goku instead :))) y'all really work so hard to pretend goku has any kind of social heirarchy and that scenario wouldn't play exactly the same way with anyone goku loved, but it's too late! we have the freeza saga on your own show to show you he would)

There's no militia, there's no resistance, there's no Help. Trunks is isolated and out of options, his Time Machine only has enough fuel for one trip and he has to take it without Mai. He didn't leave anyone behind, he thinks she's dead. He got out because he thought it was the only thing he could do. He didn't try to bring Goku and Vegeta back, he didn't think there would be a back. He was just keeping his promise to Live, for his mom.

Trunks has no one else in his Timeline. Just him and Mai against Zamas, who has murdered Bulma while she went out to do routine maintenance on their power supply. And Zamas isn't even actively trying to kill Trunks until that point. He's purposefully keeping him alive as a way to make himself stronger. He doesn't hop a ring and go to the AU. He's chillin at his cabin. He's enjoying the cat and mouse game, and is stoked when Goku and Vegeta show up for the same reason. Zamas is abusive and corrosive and DEEPLY self-obsessed (as most fascists are), he panics whenever he starts losing (as most supremacists do), and blames everyone but himself for his situation (as many extreme narcissists do).

And of course this arc wouldn't be complete without Toei's classic 'take everything that was about Vegeta and give it to Literally Anyone Else, just throw him under the bus and completely rewrite how his only time referring to himself as the prince of all saiyans was to goad and distract GB while Trunks healed Goku because Vegeta told him to heal Goku instead of himself for their best chance at winning,, Trunks has to ask Vegeta to go with him to fight Zamas?? Vegeta was like "I'm gonna beat this man to death" the second he found out he killed Bulma lmao be so fr rn!! so this can be about how Goku is morally righteous and a very normal person' but it's fine it's whatever why would I be mad that Vegeta and Trunks aren't doing the intense emotional bonding that losing Bulma would force them to do when we can have (checks notes) Yajirobe be a part of things, for some reason

like i don't--

And Toei just. Nah. We're gonna focus on his power ups and his being mean to Goku, Specifically, is what makes him a bad bad man. "His power is unstable he has complex emotions-"

No he doesn't.

No he absolutely does the fuck not.

He wants every mortal to die and he's having a breakdown that three mortals are standing in his shitty little way. That's it. Very simple emotions. He's behaving like a spoiled brat because he is one.

bruh they even changed it to Vegeta taking an unconscious Goku back to the Present, I'm aksjdkaj

That was fully Vegeta, who snapped at Goku for leaving Trunks behind. (And again, Bulma just??? Being mad at Everyone?? And going to the future?? When in the manga she's running support on the home front?? and then talking up Goku and Vegeta getting mad, despite Vegeta also being like 'i want this mf dead in my hands but Kakarot's our best shot' in the manga?? Adding to his whole motivation in Super of wanting to be strong enough to Not Have to Rely on Goku to protect his family, since his whole thing is consistently not being enough to beat the bbeg? And wtf Little Trunks being super jealous over tiny Mai even though that ALSO is not a thing? He's just "Tiny Boy Laments because his de-aged 42yo Crush has a crush on a 30yo Version of Him after showing No interest in child him because he is, in fact, A Child")

And then had it be Bulma, Trunks, and Mai's fault the seal didn't work when Goku did the ma-fu-ba and accidentally brought one of Roshi's Girlbar coupons instead of the seal?? God Toei's team is really allergic to anything being Goku's fault. Don't think I didn't see you skip over the part where Buu failed his written exam and Goku only barely passed with a 50% and then got mad at Vegeta for suggesting a written exam.

god everything I learn about the anime is the worst thing I've ever learned about the anime aksldjsal

First deciding that ALL of the Z-Fighters, including Gohan and Piccolo, would get their asses collectively beat by Ginyu, who has been a frog for a decade (a frog which was used for the sole purpose of him not being able to switch out of that body, mind), because apparently being a frog is way harder than idk fighting cell and majin buu and beerus, and despite the strongest guy in Freeza's army being Roughly as strong as Cell was, but okay -- just so they could rewrite Gohan's baller action scene of kicking ass and saving Piccolo into Picowo Dead Pls Daddy Save Me I'm Not Stwong Enough Despite Toei Deciding Piccolo Died in Front of Me and My Whole Thing is Rage-Induced Beating Everyone's Ass Syndrome U_U,

but also that Goku Black is doing this because ... Trunks? Upset the timelines? And that, of all the thousands of years of fuckery and 5+ rings from others doing the same shit and having watched a tournament in which one guy's whole thing is altering time, is what we're gonna use to try and drag out this fight and validate Zamas?

And then giving Kale lipstick and making her transformation about a Man? And not about Caulifa getting beat to shit by Freeza to have Kale go 'I thought you'd hate me if you found out I was strong' and Caulifa go 'yo that was fucking rad are you kidding me shine on you crazy diamond'??? Toei that shit was already Highly Lesbeans you didn't need to make it fucking weird and centered around Cabbe and Goku??? FUCKS sake, my man.

I remain so glad Toriyama took Daima away from those writers holy shit lmao Just rehauled the entire thing

and you know what even if I hate it I know it'll be better than whatever the fuck Super's writer's room was on in 2018.

[siflshonen]

Part 2 of An Entire Presentation about Bakugo Katsuki for your Discoursing Pleasure

Link to Part 1!

This is Part 2!

Gettin’ right back into it. I’ve written a lot about Bakugo’s visual presentation and obvious genre cues, so now we can start digging into the boy himself.

I could not possibly unpack all of honne and tatemae. In fact, I’d hazard a guess to say that, compared to the grand scheme of all Japanese media, the portrayal of it in BNHA ain’t even that deep or complex. But the fact that it exists at all and has bearing on these characters is worth noting. Actually, this concept is really important to understand when viewing or creating anything set in Japan.

In my opinion, the most important thing to understand about Bakugo as a character (and the greatest compliment I can give Horikoshi’s writing for many of his characters) is that he has more than one motive at any given time. He may not express them all well or completely (this is usually one part “he’s bad at communicating” and one part “he is upholding his tatemae” and sometimes another part “In order to discuss this he would be giving out sensitive information he’s been trusted not to share” and also sometimes one part “holy crap the other people involved in this situation are truly not ready to talk about it! Good luck navigating that, Bakugo!”)

Conflicts born from a character’s honne conflicting with their tatemae is a common theme in Japanese drama. I guess if I were to try watering it down to give an easy example, it’s kind of like when characters have to choose between themselves/what they love and some duty they must carry out.

If you ever think Bakugo is being completely honest on the surface, you’d best make sure he’s not putting on delinquent airs or smiling his most terrifying battle-ready smile. And even then, you’d best think about why he says what he says before you get a good picture. Tatemae, the delinquent thing, a literal hero mask... He has a lot of masks. He uses them all. But he’s consistent even when he switches between them or fails to articulate himself well. It’s interesting to analyze what’s true and what’s an assumption when it comes to other characters’ interpretations of him.

Basically, he’s childish, clever, and tricky, but he’s consistent.

Honne and tatemae are complicated. Obviously. But what Bakugo’s play with these concepts and his delinquent shonen protagonist self-portrayal have in common are their use as tools to express individuality simultaneous to defending and obscuring the self from others. It’s a paradox.

If you are an individual who has ever tried to “pass” in your current life or former life, you probably understand the paradoxical nature of doing such a thing. If you don’t, that’s completely fine. Bakugo is a cruddy teen boy with authority problems who is trying to figure himself out. That’s all you need to know.

However, speaking specifically to the LGBTQIA audience: there sure is a HECK of a lot of correlation between all these factors.

To western readers in the pertinent weeb community, it’s a well-known observation that Goku-esque shonen protagonist types come off as being somewhere on the grey/ace spectrum. This isn’t definitive for any of these characters, but is just something to keep in mind about how certain demographics perceive these characters.

In Bakugo’s case, he is absolutely and completely uninterested in romance or girls, and not even in the “ew cooties” or “that would be embarrassing!” way. His antipathy and boredom with the concept seems sincere. (And if he’s even so much as emotionally interested in anyone, it’s a specific selection of other guys in his class.)

There’s not a lot of representation in media that the asexual and aromantic communities can turn to, so it may as well be found in characters like Bakugo.

While this demographic is not interested in connecting with a queer or queer-coded character because they relate to that experience, Bakugo’s, um, canon relationship with characters like Deku or Kirishima endear him to fujoshi. It’s important to note that fujoshi often (but not always! Not always! The fujoshi community is huge and wildly different in different countries) are homophobic in real life but enjoy the fantasy of two dudes in love for their consumption. The fujoshi view and appeal drawn from the idea of Bakugo potentially being in love with another male character is completely different from folks who are actually part of the community!

Anyway, that’s enough about all that gay shit for now. Back to the questions that really matter.

If you are still calling Bakugo “the Vegeta”, I must repeat: PLEASE call him “the Tetsuo Shima” instead! Please! I love Vegeta, but please let him rest! He has enough associated inspiration and discourse around him!

If you’re still calling Bakugo “the Sasuke” at this point in the presentation, however, you imply I have permission to hunt you for sport. :)

What is victory? What is success? What is a Hero? What makes someone heroic? What does it mean to be the best? What the heck does Bakugo actually want?! Motives are really important when connecting with a character!

So much. He wants so much and yet so little at the same time. I pray he one day receives validation in a way that actually matters.

For those that see through Bakugo’s facades quickly, his motive is heartwarming (and kind of cheesy but in a way I love to see.) For those that may not see through his facades so quickly, it’s fun to try and puzzle it out.

And even then, he can do so with about as much sophistication as a kindergartner writing their name. He’s good at lots of things, but communicating is not one of them.

It’s about the journey, you know? Bakugo’s emotional maturation takes us on a journey.

“IT WASN’T SUPPOSED TO BE LIKE THIS!”

The ending of the Sports Festival - and every ham-fisted “I should be your rival!” overture he makes towards Todoroki for the duration of the arc - will forever be my favorite showcase of how Bakugo always has more than one motive that he can’t express AND how bad he is at communicating in a general sense. Props again to Horikoshi - the BNHA Sports Festival arc may be my favorite shonen  tournament saga ever. Bakugo’s antics in and out of the ring are a major reason why. I think even people who hate Bakugo’s guts could probably agree that his involvement sets the stakes and keeps the energy and drama of the whole thing moving forward.

We love a boy who catalyzes all conflict and causes the other characters to shine by being placed his opposite.

Anyway.

Being able to articulate such a thing is a victory in and of itself! You can do it, Katsuki Bakugo! You can adjust to your society! You can make friends! You can communicate with Deku! You can surpass All Might - whatever that means!

“Is Bakugo gonna win?” Talk about embarrassing if he doesn’t!

Characters in Japanese works often have meaningful names. It’s like a label of what they do or a big ol’ flag over their head signalling to the reader exactly what they are about. While a character’s name can be given to them ironically, Bakugo’s is not. But on its face, it’s a comically blunt name for a guy initially introduced to us as obsessed with being the best to the point of self-detriment. It’s a massive expectation and obligation for him to carry.

The family name Bakugo (large explosion/huge boom/big bomb) isn’t that deep, either. Bakugo is a boy who blows stuff up. Shocker. His given name is the point of interest.

Japanese given names (in real life, in fact) often draw from the names of the parents. Bakugo’s father is named Masaru (which means victory - I’m not going to get into the weeds about why it’s pronounced differently in this context) and his mother is named Mitsuki.

If you put the last character of Mitsuki’s name on the back of Masaru’s, you get “Katsuki”.

 His name is yet another clue that he’s a character with a journey for self-improvement.

For the purposes of this discussion, Bakugo’s concept of “self” can also be “the self as molded by the society of which one is part of.”

His personal social obstacles aren’t only about his relationships with others. He is also grappling with his relationship with himself.

Bakugo will get over himself! You take that little hand, Bakugo! Grab it and never let go! That’s the ultimate victory here, apparently.

At a pivotal point in the series, Deku refers to Bakugo as “someone closer to me than All Might”. For Bakugo to regain that standing and maintain it is an abstract but legitimate way to “surpass All Might.” I’m not saying this is THE singular way to interpret the goal (in fact, I can guarantee that it isn’t), it’s something to think about.

Bakugo authentically wants to be worthy in the eyes of the people that admire him and he authentically wants to atone for everything he’s done wrong.

Speaking of what he’s done wrong.

BNHA does us the service of casting some shades of grey over the reality of Bakugo and Deku’s situation. Cancelling Bakugo over bullying Deku without acknowledging the series’ point that the motive for “evil” and pressures that inspire it are bigger than just one person is, well, reductive.

Besides, Bakugo is more entertaining as a character in part because he is legitimately nasty upon his introduction. Who wants a toothless first-act nemesis that isn’t a threat? That’s boring. That’s so boring. I’m bored.

Also, this presentation won’t go into too much detail about it, but Bakugo and Deku’s status as childhood friends/osananajimi with an early falling out is interesting. It’s an interesting take on the osananajimi trope in anime - particularly in how it alters the understood interpersonal boundaries between Bakugo and Deku as bully-and-victim. Here’s a Reddit thread discussing osananajimi in Japanese media to give you more to think about.

Manga readers’ mileage may vary when it comes to when exactly they believe Bakugo first wanted to apologize to Deku for bullying him, but he definitely wants to do so earlier than when it actually happens in the manga. It’s an interesting internal chemistry to watch him grapple with even if he doesn’t deliver entire soliloquies about it. 

Audience anticipation regarding Bakugo’s apology (and the constant denial of it) is a major source of the narrative tension. Horikoshi does a great job of making the audience care about this moment by making us care about Bakugo and the hoops he goes through to tell Deku that he’s sorry.

Also? Deku shares some responsibility in why he and Bakugo could not communicate for years. Bakugo’s faults are glaringly obvious, but Deku is not innocent, either. Deku is also prone to feeling authentically guilty for inconveniencing others or making them feel lesser. He doesn’t realize he’s done this to Bakugo (he never meant to do so! Deku is naive to many things including the thoughts of others and their perception of him!) and thus it’s Bakugo’s challenge to even start this conversation without making Deku feel bad about it.

Making the wronged party feel guilty is not the best way to deliver an apology.

In fact, Bakugo does the most legwork between them when it comes to communicating. Bakugo leads the way on the emotional development and goes out of his way to support Deku whenever he can without overstepping the tentative boundaries between them. To tie this back to the honne and tatemae discussion: sometimes (only sometimes. Not all the time! Sometimes he is just a shit in sincerity) Bakugo’s bad attitude is a security blanket for them both!

Bakugo is “that one character who is angry all the time”, but manga readers know why! There’s a lot going on to motivate that anger for a lot of different reasons!

I’ve heard fans call this character Katsuki “malicious compliance” Bakugo in discussions before. It makes me smile every time.

I touched on it indirectly during the discussion of Bakugo’s individualism presentation and involvement with Best Jeanist, but he really is invalidated at pretty much every turn in the story with a handful of notable exceptions (and when he is validated and praised, he has a lot of trouble accepting it.) It’s just more fuel to the fire. He doesn’t do the nasty stuff he does in a vacuum.

This is a little bit of high-level abstract talk, but I think the association isn’t an unfounded or unique one among genre fans. BNHA explores the idea of people acting as symbols more than once (All Might as a symbol, Shigaraki as a symbol of peace, Bakugo as Deku’s personal symbol of victory, etc) so it’s not too bonkers to apply his character change as an allegory of change for the things he represents (those things being shonen as a monolith and the "base state” of BNHA society.)

But yeah! Bakugo is grappling with a lot and he’s our primary and most self-critical lens of these factors.

Sometimes, in a story, it’s not about what you do but how you do it. Horikoshi has done a great job in portraying this character!

(Also, Lord forgive me for using his given name outside of the necessary example slides about his given name’s meaning. I’m not changing this slide.)

For context, that guy in the corner screaming “YOU MEAN HE’S GOTTEN CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT?!” is, in fact, talking about Bakugo. That’s Neito Monoma, a character who embodies collectivism much like Bakugo embodies individualism, and they hate each other’s guts.

As an older reader, I appreciate that not every little thing is spoon-fed to me. I gotta use my own eyes to read the visual information like the chosen values placement, composition, expressions, and panel placement as well as the text. These compliments extend beyond Bakugo, but Bakugo’s scenes are often places where Horikoshi really shines when it comes to character acting.

You thought I’d already described all of Bakugo’s facades? Nope!

Hi, Asuka Langley Soryu from Neon Genesis Evangelion. I'm so pleased you could join us today for this discussion about aggressive, egotistical tsundere characters who wear red-orange and have complicated feelings about the main character of their series.

Bakugo is annoying. As a sincere fan, I’m telling you that he is annoying. Somehow, he makes it work. It’s part of the package. While he’s not as bad as a moe-style tsundere squealing “it’s not like I like you or anything!” the trope is the same. 

As subtle as some of his storytelling can be, just as much of it is comically unsubtle. Ochako Uraraka seeing right through him and eliciting that look of panic on his face is a personal favorite bit of content.

If you didn’t look into that Reddit thread about osananajimi/childhood friends I linked earlier, here it is again for your convenience.

Before I start with this, I want to point out that there are non-romantic osananajimi relationships between same sex characters in lots of media. There’s also plenty of platonic opposite sex osananajimi portrayals. They follow their own set of similar tropes, but what’s interesting about Bakugo is that he incorporates these tropes as well as the (love interest) girl osananajimi tropes.

Osananajimi relationships are often used to evoke security and safety as well as an idyllic past. Depending on the thesis of the work, the main character generally either ends up in a relationship with the (traditionally Japanese in appearance) osananajimi as a representation of maintaining tradition and honoring the past or they end up with the (foreign-looking, exciting, and contentious, and often a tsundere) girl who challenges the main character and represents the future and the outside world.

Bakugo is an osananajimi figure, but he is also a loud, blonde tsundere who is a catalyst for change and mystery for the main character. In conclusion: BAKUGO IS BEST GIRL!

Speaking of the ladies.

The biggest success of this “girl power moment” is that it has a nice execution, isn’t cloyingly preachy (because let’s be real - Aizawa gives a full sermon over to the audience over this), and doesn’t come off as insincere.

What else? Oh, right.

The translated pages I pulled are some of the most unflattering to Bakugo’s speech, but I’ll be honest: I kinda prefer this part to be translated in such a way.

Go cry me a river, asshole. But only if you build me a bridge and then get over it.

I’m goint to note that Bakugo never refused to save people at any point in the story. The main point of this is that saving people was never his primary route to “winning” against a threat. It’s more that saving people was an afterthought and a functional solution to getting people out of the way for him to kick some ass.

He entered UA High School with the assumption that he was going to be a combat Hero, but learned to be a rescue Hero instead.

Thats’s what it’s all about! Victory over the self!

What, the rude exterior too much for you? Are you still falling into the trap that everything he does on the surface doesn’t have a deeper motive and intentional use behind it?

God bless Kirishima Eijiro for figuring out Bakugo’s tics. God bless Todoroki Shouto for enduring them. God bless Toshinori for, like, recognizing that Bakugo isn’t evil but is instead a stupid teen boy who cares a lot but screws up a lot.

My personal favorite Bakugo manga face is on the top left corner.

I don’t spell this out in the slides, but part of Bakugo’s popularity stems from the fact that he has some of the best background gags. I don’t find him as funny in the anime, but in the manga he consistently makes me smile.

I included some well-known anime shots in here, too. If you don’t appreciate him at his, y’know, all of this, you don’t deserve him on the bottom left. It is my pleasure to mean it from the bottom of my heart when I say, “HE IS THE UGLIEST AND NASTIEST BOY IN THE WORLD AND HE SUCKS!” and then be completely serious when I turn around and scream, “HE IS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL BOY IN THE WHOLE WORLD!” to anyone who says any different. I’m not even referring to his appearance, but his general demeanor. I strongly believe this is always how one should feel about their favorites. This is the correct amount to care about one’s favorite fictional character.

I adore his hero name and I will fight anyone who doesn’t. It’s stupid and self-aggrandizing, gives Best Jeanist the middle finger, and is also points out the fact that he realizes he has “reached enlightenment” after figuratively dying and has ascended to godhood.

Also, his Hero name announcement provides comic relief and an in-story morale boost in the middle of a horrific battle - all while he’s bleeding out on the ground. If that doesn’t exemplify Bakugo’s penchant for redirecting the mood, I don’t know what does. He could’ve just said “I’m still alive!” but instead made the choice to pull a stupid stunt.

Thank you for your time!

[risingsouls]

[Alright I'm about to jump on my bullshit, so strap in. This might get long.

So I've said it before but I really hate how simplified Vegeta's character ends up when he ABSOLUTELY was set up to be an extremely interesting and nuanced character (and this is honestly A LOT of characters in the franchise but the post I saw got me cheesed off about Vegeta so you get to listen to my shit), but instead we get the basic, he bad > still kinda bad but fighting with the heroes > gets married and becomes a family man > "redeemed." And like...maybe MAYBE they're moving in an interesting direction with his arc in more recent stuff, but I'm so over the Super manga at this point that I'm not holding my breath they'll do anything actually interesting with him. And I absolutely fault fans as much as the writers for this because, again. Zero accountability and they eat it up, Vegeta Stans constantly tout Vegeta as the best written character in anime. Which is absolutely cap because, as I said, while he absolutely has the makings of being a fascinating character with almost the same set up as a character that is SUPER WELL WRITTEN like Prince Zuko in ATLA (which i know people argue isnt anime but just besr with me ok), Vegeta's arc is incredibly basic and boring, poorly written, and, because of that last one, a lot of times doesn't even feel like it fits his character. A lot of it is making him a plot device to furtherthe narrative which does not equal development, Vegeta Stans.

That said, the post in question that got me back on this bullshit was about how each Saiyan achieved Super Saiyan. Vegeta's was, "So he wouldn't get left behind." And while that may be true to a small degree, I HATE how simplified of an explanation it is. It is only one tiny part of it I feel, and a very surface level reading of that moment and time period for Vegeta. His position at that time is very complex, both in the physical sense of being displaced from the life he lived and only one he really knew working under Frieza so long to having no allegiance to anyone but himself and really having no solid direction (until he settles on revenge and surpassing Goku) and, more importantly, in the emotional/mental sense of his understanding of himself, where he stands, and his cultural identity being absolutely shattered and/or greatly challenged.

Why is that important? What does that have to do with him transforming the first time? For Saiyans, and especially Vegeta, much of their identity is wrapped up in their fighting ability. Their power and their status as warriors. It is what ends up defining them their entire life for better or worse. Tack on Vegeta being royalty, born with an incredibly high power level (the highest barring Broly), being a fighting prodigy from a young age, and all the promises of greatness and praise that came from his father and other Saiyans and you have a recipe for not only someone who thinks a lot of himself (and, arguably, for a LONG WHILE could back that up), but also for someone, who is absolutely going to cling to that, especially in the wake of the life he was MEANT to have being forcibly stripped from him. In some ways, especially after Frieza's defeat, those last shreds of his Saiyan identity and pride were all he had left. And, after all the defeats he faced, especially with someone he sees as beneath him defeating and surpassing him, I think that highly jeopardized his understanding of himself. His identity and pretty much quite literally all he had left post Namek.

Thus, Vegeta's ascension was far more than a temper tantrum or not wanting to be left behind. In my opinion, it was, to some (dramaticish, mostly metaphorical) degree life or death for him. It was transform or lose the last sense of his self and identity (which we kind of see happen after Cell is defeated and is FASCINATING but they do NOTHING with it). What had made up the biggest part of his personal and cultural identity was hanging in the balance, the last thing he had left to cling to along with defeating Goku. It was transform and make that a reality or suffer the emotional and mental consequences that, potentially, could become very physical ones in the most drastic of senses.

And yeah that's sounds super dramatic, but when you consider what he's gone through and who he is, what he's built himself up to be, along with the glimpse we get of this mental shattering ACTUALLY HAPPENING after Cell's defeat, his transformation to Super Saiyan for the first time is DEFINITELY a lot more complex than he didn't want to be left behind. Just as Goku tells Gohan: for Vegeta, too, ascending to Super Saiyan was actually when it became a NEED not a WANT.]

[aotopmha]

I saw Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero. (Spoilers!)

I think the little details made the movie as much as they sometimes frustrated me.

As always with DB for me, out of all things, it's not the transformations or introduced retcons that annoyed me (these are actually pretty shallow things if they are surface level stuff that can be easily ignored, which most of the new stuff in this movie is, like the blood relations to Gero or the forms Gohan and Piccolo get or even the strengthening of Shen Long), but the character stuff.

Out of all of scenes, Vegeta basically complaining that Goku can't focus on the mind in his training is the most annoying because such a huge part of Goku's training was about him learning to focus on the mind. He already learned that lesson a long time ago, but out of all of the details the movie lovingly remembers, that's not one.

But on the other hand, I love how much of a contrast this movie serves for Piccolo's growth as a character.

He's even referred to as Demon King several times, but in the end, aside from the Gammas, he's probably the most selfless character in the movie.

I especially love what is done with his sacrifice. It's not even specifically for Gohan, as it has been for so many times. It's for the world.

He's not the Demon King or God. He's just someone who has grown to love the world and wants to protect it with all his might.

I love what is done with Gohan, too. Yes, the whole "Gohan stopped training" trope has now, in my eyes, been done so (too) many times. But what I really like about it in this movie is how it parallels Goku.

Gohan really loves being a biologist (and it's really nice the movie finally fully clarifies what kind of researcher he is) just as much Goku loves fighting.

Oh no, he's becoming his dad.

But both also really do love their family.

This movie clarifies as clearly as it at this point can, what Gohan's character arc is about, which is stepping up when he needs to (which he already learned), but it also adds the new element of responsibility to his character where he (and also Videl, actually) had grown to neglect Pan because of what they love.

If Gohan completely slacks off, everyone he loves will be in danger, which we know, but if he only focuses on studying he will also end up neglecting Pan.

But as we learn at the end of the movie, he at least had been training the Makankosappo in secret.

Finally, the third notable party in the movie are the Gammas and Dr. Hedo and I think they're up on the top tier with Beerus because they're the second group to have a little more gray motives than usual. Hedo is the antagonist because he accepts a shady deal for creating something he cares about, but at the same time admiring heroes, so not out of bad will.

And the Gammas are just following orders. They even always somewhat felt it was wrong, but were told what was right or wrong and followed those orders. But in the course of the movie what they believe in is questioned and they end up choosing the path that felt right in the first place because that's how they were created – as heroes. It's something pretty complex for usually a very simple story and some really solid character writing.

But the big points out of the way, I spoke about how small details make the movie as much as they are a source of frustration, here's why they make the movie:

-I like the little gradual arc Pan ends up having where the little bit of action she gets leads to her learning how to fly.

-Gamma 2 creates the sound effects as holograms.

-Broly's and Lemo's increasing investment in Goku's and Vegeta's fight was fun.

-Gohan's eyesight is a problem in his normal form.

-Similarly Krillin has a little mini moment where he is cowardly, but as always, he pulls it together and ends up stepping up.

-I think this is the first time where I truly found Gotenks antics funny. It never quite landed in the original story, as "fun" as it was for a little bit.

-It's nice Goten and Trunks grew up and I'm really happy they brought up their nature as Saiyans. I've been saying this for a while now. It's loose, but I absolutely say it makes sense.

-As said, I really like that they elaborated on what kind of researcher Gohan was.

-I like how Gohan kept it together with his new transformation.

-I like how Piccolo used his giant form and stretchy abilities.

-And I like some of the neat settings for battles.

Finally, I'll comment on the animation: it was for the most part, fantastic.

The texturing always wasn't, but the movement itself was really full of personality and the bits of 2D animation in there were always great.

I think this one can go on the Saturday morning cartoon fun list.

[regrettablewritings]

Podcasts, Youtubes, and TV Shows to Distract Yourself With Because Why Not, and Also Because I Wanna Blab About Some of These

Since I can’t go to work and horrify my coworkers/make them realize I’m a mess and/or nerd by telling them about the type of media I’m into, I’m foisting my recommendations on all of y’all who choose to read this. I frankly do not care how many people have actually heard of these things because I’m also sure there’s plenty of people who, like me, are very slow and oblivious to entertainment, or who have heard of the property but were never that convinced.

Kipo and the Age of the Wonderbeasts

Type: TV series

200 years after a mysterious yet earth-shattering event, much of humanity has taken to living beneath the surface in communities called burrows, wherein life goes on, if effected somewhat by the bizarre fauna that exists above them (referred to as “mutes”, short for “mutant”). One burrow girl, Kipo, founds her world turned almost literally inside-out when she finds herself not only separated from her father and the only world she’s ever known, but on the surface, no less. What ensues is her trying to find her way back home with the help of a stony-faced little girl with a massive chip on her shoulder; a music enthusiast and his literal gadfly friend; and some . . . unusual allies that only an oblivious optimist like Kipo could make. All to a kickass soundtrack, a beautiful backdrop of art, and a world where animals have basically evolved into gangs under a looming threat known as Scarlemagne. If you can’t already tell, I love this series to bits and now is the perfect time for people to get into it and encourage another season of it. Just . . . don’t think too hard that whatever happened to cause the Event in the show happened in October 2020 . . .

Available on: Netflix

My Dad Wrote a Porno

Type: Podcast

This should go without saying, but this podcast is definitely meant for more mature audiences. Or somebody with a strong stomach. Not that it’ll always be easy to tell with the type of content this series gives. When Jamie Morton’s father handed him his manuscripts for his self-published books, he had no idea he was being given a pinnacle of a polished turd: It was erotica. Really, really, really bad erotica. But the ear’s trash is the heart’s pleasure with this bad girl, as Jamie enlists the company of friends Alice and James to provide commentary on “Rocky Flintstone”’s series Belinda Blinked, a drama chronicling the sexcapades of Belinda Blumenthal as she climbs the ladders (and men and women) both in and out of the cut-throat world of pots and pans sales. What follows is a goldmine of awkward metaphors, strange bedmates, and just an overall stampede of whiplashing events that somehow exceed expectations. Listen in if you dare . . . And make sure you’re in good company for it. Fun Fact, though: Daisy Ridley, Ben Barnes, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Michael Sheen, Mara Wilson, Elijah Wood are but a few well-known fans of this series! Nobody is safe . . .

Available on: Wherever podcasts can be found

Lore

Type: Podcast

Sometimes, truth is stranger than fiction. And what better way to be reminded of that, then to have the dulcet tones of Aaron Mahnke tell you about the lighthouse incident that the 2016 movie The Lighthouse was loosely inspired by? Suffice to say, this podcast could also be interpreted with some advised discretion, but definitely in a way that’s different from My Dad Wrote a Porno. In the centuries humankind has existed, we’ve managed to create a menagerie of beasts, both fictional and in ourselves. Lore explores all the many different kinds of events and persons and creatures we have to offer. In any given episode, we could be talking about anything from the bizarre story of a lady who convinced 18th century physicians that she was giving birth to rabbits, to something more disturbing like the life of H.H. Holmes. Or something as relatively innocuous as the relationship between gremlins and flight. Regardless of the subject, however, you’ll definitely walk away knowing something new, if bizarre. And perhaps slightly terrifying.

Available on: Wherever podcasts can be found

The Amelia Project

Type: Podcast

Congratulations: You have been made aware of The Amelia Project. If you’re not interested in this, exit the page. Now. If you continue, there’s no unhearing it. Good choice! A new interest awaits. If you don’t enjoy it, please consider the whole thing a hoax. Okay but in all seriousness, there’s no way to do The Amelia Project justice in just a simple description. The plot sounds quite simple, really: People want to disappear and start a new life, The Amelia Project is there to help – with a price. And that’s if you can actually get a hold of them! What really makes the show, however, are the people and the writing, and I’m not just talking about the almost childlike Interviewer with an obsession for hot cocoa. I’m talking about the clientele: I’m talking about the macabre-obsessed theme park owner who’s out for revenge; the cult leader who’s in way over his head; a Santa impersonator stuck in a miserable marriage with his own manager; an actual podcast character trying to outrun his creators. And obviously this would all be nowhere without the spectacular writing! I really can explain this series without blabbing on and potentially spoiling things; The Amelia Project is an experience!

Available on: Wherever podcasts can be found

LegalEagle

Type: Youtube channel

To be frank, I just like learning for the sake of learning, even if I may not always necessarily understand the topic or have any plans to use it in the foreseeable future. The big difference here being that at least this channel makes learning about the law fun and breaks it down. Headed by a certified lawyer (because what an age we live in, where professionals actually take time out of their lives to teach us common folk), there’s a multitude of series D.J. Stone uses to help break down the complex world of law, from reviewing the realism of procedural favorites (Law & Order, The Good Wife, HTGAWM, etc), to analyzing real-life situations, to even watching childhood media that has nothing to do with the law and determining how much money, say, Willy Wonka would owe in a lawsuit. In short, it is one of my worst subjects done in one of my favorite ways to learn! Plus, Stone hates business students and is perfectly willing to poke fun at law students so it’s all fun, frankly.

Available on: Youtube

Nando v Movies

Type: Youtube channel

Sometimes, movies are bad. Sometimes, they’re good. And sometimes, they could use a few adjustments in hindsight. Especially the nerdier movies where the directors may or may not have tried way too hard or way too little. And that’s where Nando comes in: Whether it’s explaining why a different villain might have worked better for a hero’s origin story movie, or analyzing how one seemingly small adjustment could’ve potentially made more sense in explaining characterization, this channel is always providing a new perspective on a movie or show you’ve probably seen and maybe weren’t necessarily too pleased with. (Or maybe you were – I enjoyed Justice League okay but I love the version he rewrote more.) Oh, yeah: Sometimes he does rewrites of movies or even series. So if you’re anything like me and you’re way into that, this is a channel you don’t want to miss out on.

Available on: Youtube

DEATH BATTLE!

Type: Youtube channel

Does anyone remember Deadliest Warrior? No? . . . How about that one time during lunch where you and your friend got into it over who would win in a death match between Superman and Goku? Good news: A buncha geeks did the math for you and have come out with the results! Specifically, hosts Wiz and Boomstick have analyzed the weapons, armor, and skills of each combatant in every episode, resulting in an ongoing series of absolute nonsense and satiation of bloodshed. The description is admittedly nothing crazy, but the amount of detail applied is honestly where it’s at: From calculating how loud Black Canary’s screams are to approximating Scrooge McDuck’s speed (I’m not kidding you), there’s actual thought put into the characters being assembled and how they might fair with their respective combatant. And it all comes together for an actual fight, often animated but always amazing. So if you’ve ever wondered if Thor could beat Wonder Woman, or if McGruff the Crime Dog stands a chance against Smokey the Bear (I’m…I’m being honest), then this is the show for you!

Available on: Youtube

Sideways

Type: Youtube channel

If there is music in that movie or show, it will be analyzed to a degree that, unless you’ve been trained in music, you would’ve probably never thought about. There isn’t necessarily much rhyme or reason to Sideways’ videos in terms of themes beyond music, but really, must they? Is it not enough that this man is screaming to the internet these wack and awesome trends he’s noticed in certain pieces associated with movies and musicals and the genius behind them? Could life not just be him explaining the symbolism of the instruments associated with the Crystal Gems of Steven Universe, or breaking down the cultures explored by way of the Black Panther soundtrack? Also, here’s a fun drinking game: Take a shot every time he mentions leitmotifs or the Dies Irae.

Available on: Youtube

Craig of the Creek

Type: TV show

In the woods of suburban Maryland, there exists a kid’s utopia: A place where horse girls are free to roam the fields, where a boy can be a king of garbage, and where children travel the sewers completely unsupervised. That is, until the dinner horn rings; then they have to go home until the next time they can return to The Creek. The show focuses on one specific trio (Craig, JP, and Kelsey) as every day, The Creek (and their own childish naivete) brings them new hijinks to experience. There’s a blissful lightheartedness to the show, in addition to a lot of creativity that feels like it was ripped straight out of your own imagination as a child (robots made from cardboard boxes, building portals using lights, etc). But beneath it all, there’s something just plain wild brewing. I don’t want to spoil anything, but CotC has some G-rated GOT shit going on the further along the series goes and I can’t wait to see how it all unfolds!

Available on: CN app, wcostream.com

And that’s probably enough for now, I think. Lemme know if you want any other suggestions, or how you’re findin’ ‘em if you take any of them up! Stay safe, stay healthy my dudes!

[seyaryminamoto]

While I most certainly don’t see Azula as any sort of angel, I find it pretty laughable when people put her on the same end of the evilness spectrum as guys like Frieza or Palpatine. Not only is it inaccurate towards her, it’s a disservice to the other guys too. In what universe would Palpatine mentally break down over losing an ally.... that man would fry them with force lighting or chop their head off with his lightsaber. Or am I just taking crazy pills?

Well, can’t say you’re not taking crazy pills :’D but in a sense, you’re not wrong.

People often claim Azula is the greatest villain on TV, and I personally have no problem agreeing with that, but I guess the definition of what makes a quality villain really fluctuates for people. Some want villains who are complex, nuanced, with good motivations to be who they are, with potential for development, with good storylines that not only explore them properly but also hint at much more than there is on the surface.

And some people just want villains to be bad. That’s literally it. Nothing more to it.

Either thing is fine by me, there’s no need to get tyrannical about what people should consider a quality villain, but I obviously prefer the first thing. Another point I’d add for what makes a quality villain is what I’ve expanded on in other asks and posts: villains have to feel like they’re genuine threats, like they really can defeat the good guys. Azula actually won in Book 2′s finale, and while it was easy to predict she wouldn’t pull that off a second time, when she did that everyone was floored because that’s not how you expect things to go for the heroes. I mean, sure, it’s been done before, but you still don’t see it coming. And she’s, to date, the only Avatar villain who ever did something like that.

Freezer was a very threatening bad guy, he’s the entire reason the Saiyans were wiped out, and watching him fight against Goku was incredibly tense because of the stakes involved (the fight was excessively long, too, I don’t even know how many episodes that lasted and I’m kind of afraid to ask…). He didn’t need Azula’s complexities to be a satisfactory villain, he just needed to represent a genuine threat and he did. 

The same can be said for Palpatine, he’s controversial as a villain and constantly upstaged by Vader (truthfully, Azula is more of a Vader than a Palpatine, not because she was a good cutiepie once and got corrupted or anything like that, but because Vader was the one fighting the heroes on every film while Palpatine was the guy on the throne, and Ozai is the guy on the throne throughout the show, Azula is the one fighting the heroes from Book 2 onwards). But regardless of opinions on his character, Palpatine achieved more or less the same things Freezer and Azula did: he beat the good guys and virtually destroyed their hopes, forcing them to fall back, gather their strength and try again (and in Palpatine’s case, it took around two decades for the rebellion to defeat him, so that’s one hell of a punch he dealt to the forces of goodness).

The magnitude of their crimes, of course, is different. I have no idea just how many sick things Palpatine commanded to do, how many people he got killed other than the majority of the Jedi Order, but it’s easy to imagine how bad he could get; and Freezer went about his life destroying races and planets. Azula… she was certainly acting on the behalf of a conquering nation, but as I’ve pointed out soooo many times, she never really killed anyone even if she triumphed in Ba Sing Se. She still won, of course, but she didn’t win by wiping out the entire city (which she really could have done, the Fire Nation army came to occupy Ba Sing Se later on, we were shown as much, so she really could’ve commanded them to make some gruesome purge of Ba Sing Se and massacre their people… then, maybe, she would be on par with the other two in some way).

But anyways… basically, we’re talking about two completely different types of characters whose achievements were, in some ways, similar. Ultimately, Azula shatters because she is human, and she’s fourteen-years-old, and the weight of her failures and loneliness end up destroying her. Freezer and Palpatine? They were never designed to be “humanized villains”, to put it in some way. They were designed to be the ambitious villains who want power and to destroy everything that tries to stand in their path (or everything they have no use of). They weren’t supposed to care about anything other than themselves and their lust for power, whereas Azula, against her upbringing and wishes, did. And thus… Azula shattered.

Is it a disservice to Palpatine and Freezer to be compared to a fourteen-year-old girl? Eh, you could think that. I, personally, think it’s much more interesting when a villain has reasonable motives to be who they are, rather than just wanting UNLIMITED POWAAAH!, but that’s a matter of tastes and, well, experiences. Evil people like Palpatine are real, they exist: without going too far, quite a lot of those kinds of people are currently governing my country. Might be why I’m so much more interested in villains who have motivations beyond wanting power or money or what-have-you. But the point is…

Yeah, it’s pretty ridiculous to compare Azula to those guys. As usual, it’s short-sighted and a very blatant attempt to dehumanize her when the show actually very strongly implied otherwise (hell, the showrunners and creators all have spoken about Azula not being completely evil, so it’s not only true within the show but outside it too). And indeed, it’s relatively insulting to say Palpatine and Freezer were on the same level as a fourteen-year-old who shattered when things in her life stopped being exactly what she wanted them to be. But fandoms will be fandoms, eh? They see whatever they want to see.

[glux2]

Musing: fictional power pissing contests

you know, we all see all the time people doing that whole “who would win” between fictional characters power level bullshit.

But, like, has anybody ever acknowledged how no fictional character possibly could hold a candle against a human being, ANY human being, from the “Foster’s Home for Imaginary friends” universe?

Like, im serious here, we’re talking about a world where every single human being is a fucking GOD who can create matter and life with just a thought, even babies can create life before they even learn how to talk, life complex enough to be able to handle simple tasks, a baby in the Foster’s universe can create a a scribble with an intelligence more advanced than a Real Life domestic robot.

And that’s just scratching the surface, here is a list of canon things in the Foster’s universe:

-Creating an imaginary friend indistinguishable from a real human being -Creating an imaginary friend based on an actual real human being -Creating an imaginary friend who herself has the ability to create unlimited very real useful items -Creating imaginary friends that are literal real life versions of tv characters -Creating imaginary beings with super powers  -Creating imaginary beasts of untold destructive power -Creating an imaginary friend that is literally AN ENTIRE FUCKING UNIVERSE

So, what chance does any fictional character have against this world?

Goku comes in looking for a fight, boom, some weeaboo kid already made an imaginary friend that is like a fusion of goku and vegeta and naruto or some shit and thus a bajillion times much more powerful than vanilla goku.

No matter who comes down looking for trouble they’d be messing with a world where any invading character could be easily defeated by a 14 year old girl who made an imaginary friend based on her all powerful mary sue harry potter + dr. who + homestuck fanfiction self insert.

And like, imagine, if the show is a parallel earth (which its implied given that in universe the powerpuff girls exist as a tv show) it’d mean all the creators of the fictional characters exist there and their imaginary friends probably are already their characters, so if goku or whoever showed up, like, Foster’s universe toriyama could show up with his own goku and be like, “yo man! position already filled, beat it!”

So, like, at this point we might as well give up them power levels piss contents.

Someone call screw attack and tell them deathbattle is over forever.

[bluephoenixdruidicprincess]

My #1 All-Time Favorite Character

Today, I got notified by Tumblr that today, my blog – Imagination is Everything, turned one-year-old. It honestly doesn’t feel like it was a year ago when I first decided to start blogging on Tumblr. It feels like only a couple of months ago but no, it’s been an entire year. And wow! What an incredible year it’s been. I’ve had some good memories and some not so good memories. I’ve met some great people who have some really great opinions on my discussions and also met some downright horrible people who have unleashed a mountain of hate on me in an attempt to get me to shut up and not broadcast my opinions. It happens mostly with Shadowhunters posts. No surprise there. And I don’t feel the least bit bad about calling out Shadowhunters on this. The fandom deserves to be shamed. But either way, my time with this blog has allowed me to continue to learn more about myself and the kind of blogger I wish to be. It feels insane that over a year ago, I was talking about all of these things on my facebook page. Maintaining an actual blog is so much more satisfying. In honor of this first milestone of Tumblr blogging, I am going to reveal to you my #1 All Time Favorite Character. I’m fairly certain none of you are going to be able to guess who this wonderful character is.

This is a character that I have loved since I was thirteen-years-old. I have loved this character for well over a decade. Time has not been able to break my complete 100% adoration for this character. This person has survived in my heart through the various entertainment outlets I subscribe to. This means that out of every movie, tv series, book and book series I have been exposed to (and trust me, there has been A LOT), this is my favorite character EVER and I doubt I will ever come across a character I care about more than this one. This person is a pacifist but has the potential to be this total bad-ass if they were so inclined (but they’re not so inclined which is part of why I like this character). They don’t like to fight but they choose to fight because they feel they have to. This person has a heart of gold. They’re completely selfless, pure-hearted, brave, loyal, a fantastic friend, but with all of those things in mind, this person is also an ultra-nerd and a little bit of a dork. Don’t get me wrong. I know I painted this person as a near perfect being but this person also has plenty of flaws, as well. Their most notable flaw being their complete lack of self-confidence. This character does not believe they have the power to be truly great. That they could actually be the most powerful person in that story universe even though everyone else around this character believes it. It may be a character flaw but it also endears me to the character even more. This character is just so adorable and lovable and complex and I will forever only want the best for this person. That character is…

Son Gohan from Dragon Ball Z.

You guys are totally surprised, right? You thought I was going to say Alec Lightwood from The Mortal Instruments/Shadowhunters, didn’t you? Don’t get me wrong. Alec is HIGH on my list of all time favorite characters but even he can’t hold a candle to how much I care about Gohan. I just love his story in Dragon Ball Z so freaking much. He is so beautifully developed and I just can’t understand how there are people that don’t like him as a character. 

I bet you’re really surprised that my favorite character actually comes from a manga/anime. It may come as a shock to some of you as I haven’t really broadcasted it that much in this blog, but I am a huge anime/manga lover. Now, when I say that Gohan is my favorite character, I am not saying that Dragon Ball is my favorite anime/manga series of all time. I find great enjoyment in the series but I’m well aware of its imperfections. The material has a lot of plot and character inconsistencies. Akira Toriyama has done things with the series that I do question from a story-telling perspective. I will be the first to admit that Dragonball, Dragon Ball Z, Dragonball GT are not perfect. I’m not even going to lump Dragonball Super in there. I haven’t seen any of it yet but I’ve heard plenty about it and it kind of makes me not want to watch it. I don’t want Super to taint what I know and love from Dragon Ball Z and from what I understand, Super is throwing Dragonball Z canon straight out the window. I just wanted to say that so everyone can understand that whereas Gohan is my favorite character of all time, it does not mean that the Dragonball series is my favorite anime/manga of all time. There are bits and pieces of the Dragonball series that I love – but the series, as a whole, I do have issues with, things that irritate and bother me. Gohan’s story is one of those bits and pieces of the series that I love. The way Gohan’s character and story developed is what I loved the absolute most from Dragonball Z. Out of everything I have ever been exposed to, Gohan’s story is what tugs on my hearstrings the most. I’m not going to say his character and story development was flawless. It very nearly was but there was one moment towards the end of Z in the Buu saga that I did not like and I was very disappointed in how Akira Toriyama chose to write Gohan.

I first started watching this series when I was thirteen-years-old and I immediately clung onto Gohan as a character. As a pre-teen, I loved how that this small, little kid could just rise up and beat the crap out of these villains whenever he got angry enough. And that this power just comes out of nowhere is just epic and awesome. The power disappears almost as quickly as it surfaces, much like Gohan’s own rage. He’s not a particularly angry person but when that anger does come out, you don’t want to be on the receiving side of it. This is probably also part of the reason why Gohan was such a popular character in the beginning of Dragon Ball Z. If you’re writing a show to appeal to a child audience, that kid needs to save the day at least once. Kids like seeing kids saving the day. And honestly, as far as shonen anime goes, Gohan is a prime example on how you absolutely should write child characters. He’s important to the story to affect the overall plot but not so important that he overshadows the protagonist. It also helps that Gohan is a surprisingly realistic character for a show like this. In this show where the characters are pitted against all of these life or death challenges on a daily basis, a show with super-powered kung fu, Gohan responds in a very realistic way that you would expect a child (or even an ordinary person) to respond. He’s extremely relatable throughout most of the series in a way that child Goku from Dragonball never really was. He learns how to fight but ultimately runs away when he’s put into his first battle situation. I would expect any five-year-old to behave like that and most ordinary people for that matter. And as he continues being put into these situations, he learns more and more about himself and the person he wants to be. I absolutely adored Gohan throughout his arc in Dragonball Z as a pre-teen watching him and I still enjoy watching his story arc now that I’m an adult. Although, I enjoy him now more as a well-rounded, complex character rather than a child I was projecting my power fantasies onto.

Here are some of my basic reasons for why I love Gohan so much.

1) Gohan is a character in a show about fighting and he’s a total pacifist. Think about it. A pacifist in a show about kick-ass fighting who despite his very pacifistic nature still manages to be a complete and total bad-ass.

2) He’s a total nerd, socially awkward, and can be a total dork at times – I can relate A LOT.

3) The way Gohan starts out in Dragonball Z is some of the strangest but yet most realistic writing I’ve seen come out of a shonen series about super-powered fighting. He starts off as this 4-year-old kid and acts like it. He’s completely inept at taking care of himself and when he eventually learns to fight, he runs away from his first battle (he’s 5 at the time—don’t be too hard on the kid). Really, Gohan is exactly what would happen if you threw a child or even an ordinary person into a battle. They wouldn’t be ready to go all in right from the get-go. They would be afraid. And as a result of this moment of cowardice, Gohan witnesses terrible things that ultimately spurs him to throw his fears to the side and realize why he needs to fight. Gohan’s character arc, particularly in the beginning of Dragonball Z, is just such a refreshing breath of realism and I love it so much.

4) Gohan’s hidden power – this is really more of wish fulfillment/power fantasy kind of thing and I’m not ashamed to admit that part of the reason why I love him are his power-ups. I just love that this sweet, pacifistic person has all of this hidden power inside his body but by the nature of his personality, he can never unleash it to any sort of consistent degree. Even though it’s debatable within the Dragonball fandom, but Gohan could very possibly be the strongest person within that universe if he could just learn to believe in his own power, believe that he is good enough, and just “let go” -- as 16 once told Gohan.

5) Besides, who doesn’t love it when the villain is thrown off guard by the little kid who they perceived as a non-threat. Kids love seeing kids kick ass. Who in the Dragonball fandom doesn’t like the moments when Gohan headbuts Raditz in the chest and cracks his armor, or in the Dead Zone movie when Gohan pretty much saves everyone and pushes Garlic Jr into the black hole, or when Gohan decides to take Frieza on. Then, of course, there was the whole Cell thing. Anger is not a normal state for Gohan but if you do unleash his anger: BEWARE. 

6) It is a personality flaw but his self-confidence issues. When you couple it with his pacifistic nature, when Gohan does decide to fight, he takes it very hard when he does fail. Like the moment after he got injured saving Vegeta’s life. He wasn’t able to defeat Cell when he had the chance, his dad is dead, Trunks is dead and with one of his arms injured (and possibly half of his power gone), he’s staring at Cell and realizes that after everything he accomplished, he’s still a failure and seriously considers just giving up. Again, relatable for me, as well. I don’t do failure well, either. Throughout his character arc, he does have these moments of inadequacy. Because the people he’s fighting with are adults, he forces himself to hold himself to those standards and takes it very hard when in his eyes, he can’t be as good as them. Even though when these adults were Gohan’s age, they couldn’t fathom being as strong as he is. He thinks that something is actually wrong with him and that it’s his fault when things go bad. Gohan’s really harsh with himself and I do enjoy this aspect of his personality as weird as they might seem. It just adds to his realism.

7) I just love that throughout everything, despite the all of the trauma he goes through, he still manages to hold on to his innocence. He never really loses it, even as an adult. He still just as pure-hearted as he was on the day we first met him when he was crying in the forest. When you think about everything he went through as a child, you realize just how emotionally strong he is. I couldn’t even imagine being even somewhat okay after witnessing the things he has. And even better, it always feels very organic to his character.

All in all, Gohan lacks self-confidence, can’t always control his abilities, is a complete pacifist but still has the potential to be the strongest person in the Dragonball universe. How can you not be engaged with a character like that?

What’s really great about Dragonball Z is that it’s not just a continuation of Goku’s story arc with fighting for truth and justice and saving the world and all that jazz; it’s also a coming-of-age story for Gohan, as well, which I really enjoy. We really get to see Gohan grow up and mature over the course of the entire series. With each arc he’s involved in, he learns more and more about himself. I started off a little older than Gohan when I started watching the series but I still feel like I kind of grew up right along with him. 

What I also really like about Gohan is that yes, he was primarily created to be a replacement for kid Goku but he is also nothing like Goku which was really interesting. Akira Toriyama created Gohan to be the new eye level for the child audience and it would have been so easy to make him a carbon copy of Goku. But he didn’t. He tossed that particular anime trope out on its ass. I have seen so many animes and read so many mangas where when a main hero/protagonist character has a son, that son is pretty much exactly like their father. But Akira Toriyama spends a surprising amount of time in the beginning of the manga and in the beginning of the show establishing that Gohan is Goku’s complete opposite. He is absolutely nothing like his father which I found so fresh and so interesting. Goku is part of an alien race known as the Saiyans who are basically warriors for hire. And as a result of this bloodline, Goku thrives on battle. He needs the fight and the challenge that comes with fighting to live a fulfilled life. Fighting excites him. Gohan is half-saiyan and so has the talent for fighting and the power but he doesn’t necessarily crave battle. Gohan is very gentle and kind-hearted and ultimately doesn’t want to be a fighter. Gohan wants to be a scholar. He wants to learn things. That’s where his real passion lies. While Gohan is gentle and kind-hearted, he’s also extremely loyal and responsible. He’s willing to fight if it becomes necessary but ultimately the thrill of battle and competition is not what drives him to fight. He fights to protect those he loves and he feels a sense of responsibility to do it but being the strongest and fighting for the challenge is not what he wants. Gohan, to a certain extent, is aware of his destructive capabilities and he’s aware of the damage he could cause. He doesn’t like to cause pain unnecessarily. Throughout the series, we get all of these hints that Gohan has this immense, limitless power bottled up in him but he can never really reach his true potential because he doesn’t have an innate desire to fight which I really like. Because he doesn’t have that true desire to fight, he can only tap into that hidden power when he’s in a fit of true rage. Gohan ultimately will never choose to fight just because he can. For him, to fight is based off of a responsibility that he feels. It’s quite the conundrum and really interesting that Akira Toriyama chose to give the hidden power to Gohan. Of all the characters he could’ve given the hidden power to, he gave it to the one character who won’t really use it to its full potential because he doesn’t have the heart for it and I really like that idea. The idea that Gohan has all of this power but that the nature of his personality actively works against it. It would’ve been so easy to go the Bleach route and give the hidden power to someone who is a fighter and just have constant power-ups but I think Akira Toriyama realized that by doing that, he could’ve made the character rather static and I’m happy that he went the way he did. As much as I do like Ichigo as a hero character, I also can’t deny that he gets boring over time with his constant power-ups and he was starting to become a very static protagonist. I actually dropped Bleach a few years ago because it felt like the series was just stagnating. I don’t know. Maybe it’s gotten better since. I might pick it back up later. I think it’s really noble that Gohan chooses to fight not because he feels a desire for battle and competition but because he feels a responsibility to do it.

Don’t get me wrong. Goku is also incredibly noble and I love him as a main character. So Goku lovers, don’t hate me. It’s just interesting for me to see a character like Gohan out there. Even though he is Goku’s son, his reasons for fighting are completely different than his father’s. And let’s be real here. Goku does some seriously selfish, dumb shit because of his love for battle and competition. It’s hard for me to get 100% behind a character when I have to ask, “Why?” I just relate more to Gohan than I do to Goku. There’s nothing necessarily wrong with the way Goku behaves and how his personality is, I just relate more to Gohan. 

People who don’t necessarily know about Gohan’s abilities immediately discount him as a fighter because they can’t believe that someone who appears as gentle as him could be any significant threat which is a character trait I adore. Gohan, himself, sometimes even discounts himself. He’s very gentle but is also capable of great destruction and to a certain extent, I think he’s a little afraid of that part of him. He’s even warned opponents before that if they push him too far and force him to tap into that hidden ability, he’s not going to be able to control what happens. He also doesn’t necessarily believe in his abilities either. He does suffer from a lot of self-esteem issues and when your father is Goku, can you really blame him? Goku is this crazy strong, world-hero. Of course Gohan is going to compare himself and believe that he’s not good enough. Right up until the Cell saga, Gohan can’t even remember what he did after his rage boost kicks in. If he can’t really remember what happened and certainly can’t control it, how is he supposed to believe in that ability?

Another aspect I really found myself enjoying about Gohan is his nerdiness and dorkiness. We see this a lot through the Great Saiyaman arc which is just an awesome time in Gohan’s story. I know I’m in the minority on that one. A lot of people think Gohan was at his best in the Cell Games and that the Great Saiyaman was out of character. I vehemently disagree. Even as a child, Gohan was a huge, socially awkward nerd and always had these aspirations to find a way to use his abilities to help everyone and that’s where the Great Saiyaman comes from. I honestly can’t even fathom how there are Gohan fans that dislike the Great Saiyaman arc. Gohan is just so exuberant and happy about what he’s doing. You will never see Gohan this happy in the series as he is in this particular story arc. It is so contagious. I love it so much. For the first time in Gohan’s life, he’s actively making a decision to do something not just because he feels a responsibility or someone’s telling him to do it but because he genuinely wants to do it. No one is influencing him in any way to do it. He’s just doing it on his own and he’s loving it. Although, to be fair, I think what a lot of fans don’t like about the Great Saiyaman arc is that it’s revealed that Gohan isn’t training anymore. I’m personally not bothered by that because it makes sense. Gohan doesn’t want to be a fighter. It’s never what he’s wanted for himself. If there isn’t an enemy out there that he needs to fight to his full potential, why on earth would he train? Why would he worry about a threat that may not even exist? He’s not a fighter. He doesn’t have this compulsion to surpass his own limits or be the strongest like Vegeta and Goku do. He just wants to live a happy life, fulfill his dreams to become a scholar, and help as many people as he can along the way. If anything, as a child, he was more a victim of circumstance. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time which spurred him into having to learn how to fight and keep on fighting as more bad situations kept on arising. Gohan has had a very traumatizing childhood when you really look at it despite being so well-adjusted. After all the loss he has experienced, he just wants a sense of normalcy. The “fighting” lifestyle had caused him so much torment that I can understand why he would turn his back on it for a while and not really actively train. He just wants to live a life where he doesn’t have to watch the people he cares about die. It’s perfectly understandable. Besides, when you look at the previous arcs, Gohan never trained just for the fun of it. He always trained because there was some villain out there he knew he might have to fight. After Gohan defeats Cell, there are no more villains for him to fight. He can finally just do what he wants now. He can finally start to be a kid. Why would you fault him for finally being a kid? As I’ve said before, I love this character so much and I will defend him until the very end.

The Dragonball fandom is very weird with Gohan as a character. There’s always this big huge debate on which version of Gohan is your favorite. Do you like Kid Gohan (Saiyan/Frieza Sagas)? Do you like Teen Gohan -- who isn’t really a teen -- (Cell Games)? Do you like Adult Gohan -- who’s actually a teen -- (Buu Saga)? Do you like Actual Adult Gohan (Super/GT)? For whatever reason, fans want to try and compartmentalize Gohan in his development as if he were four or five separate people. Except he’s not four or five separate people. He’s the same person just at different stages of his development. You can’t have one part without the other and I couldn’t even imagine Gohan without any of the others. For the most part, I think his personality is pretty consistent throughout all of those stages of development. And that’s saying something considering Dragonball Z is kind of notorious for its inconsistencies. The creator just kind of made stuff up as he went when writing the story and retroactively implemented ideas that weren’t always there. From what I can gather, the majority of Gohan fans are only fans of Gohan during the tail-end of the Cell Games when Gohan is just unleashing hell on Cell in his SSJ2 form. And whereas I’ll admit Gohan has never been cooler, that’s not the only reason I like him. I like him at all stages of his development because it all aids him into becoming this wonderful, well-rounded, complex character, excluding that one moment in the Buu saga that I don’t like and I’m going to have a completely separate post talking about that. Suffice to say, a lot of people like Ultimate/Mystic Gohan but I personally don’t and I’ll talk about those reasons in that post. 

Now, I’m going to address the big elephant in the room whenever people start talking about Gohan as a character within the Dragonball fandom. What is Gohan really supposed to be? Does he like to fight? Does he prefer being a scholar? Well, here’s my take on it. Why can’t he be both to a certain extent? Gohan’s desire to fight and to study always has fans at odds with him and it could be so easily avoided if you just understand this term – it’s complicated. Does Gohan like to fight 100% or does he like to study 100%? Neither. It’s not that simple. Part of why I enjoy Gohan is that there are complexities to his character. As with most real life people, Gohan is complicated. So stop trying to simplify him, Dragonball Fandom, because you’re never going to be able to come to an agreeable consensus. He’s just not a simple character. 

I get it. There are a lot of moments within the series that kind of lean towards Gohan appearing to be a fighter and then saying, “no, he’s not a fighter” and then there’s moments where Gohan is enjoying studying and then saying, “I don’t want to study.” But think about it this way. I’ve been a total book worm since the day I learned to read. I loved school as a child. But there were times when, as much as I loved school, I didn’t necessarily want to study all of the time or go to school. Does that suddenly mean I’m no longer a nerd and that I should go all in as a fighter? No, absolutely not. I still like to learn and to read and to study. Just because Gohan doesn’t want to study 24/7 doesn’t necessarily mean that Gohan isn’t a scholar deep down. He’s just being a kid who wants to do kid things. I shirked on some of my study time just because I wanted to go out and play and I was never labeled as a slacker in my education for it. Why is Gohan behaving like a typical kid being seen as this big character inconsistency? It isn’t…or at least it isn’t in my book. Maybe there are nerds who, as children, did want to study 24/7? If there are, I haven’t met any but I guess that doesn’t mean they don’t exist. With Gohan being a fighter or not being a fighter – again, it’s not that simple. To a certain extent, I do believe Gohan enjoys fighting. He treasures the life lessons Piccolo taught him when he was being trained as a small child. And again, Gohan likes to learn. That follows through in fighting. I don’t think it’s that big of a stretch to interpret Gohan as enjoying learning how to fight. Just because he has enjoyed fighting to a certain extent, doesn’t necessarily make him a true fighter, though. Gohan likes to fight but what he does not enjoy is using his abilities to hurt someone if the situation can be avoided. Gohan doesn’t want to fight pointless fights. Gohan didn’t have a problem with fighting the Ginyu Force or fighting Frieza because he knew their motivations. There was no way for the fight to be avoided. In Gohan’s eyes, there was no reason for the Cell Games to even be happening which is why he tried to talk down Cell. He didn’t understand why this tournament needed to take place. Gohan doesn’t really understand things like, “knowing your own power”, “overcoming your own limits, or “being stronger than everyone else” – which is what the Cell Games was for Cell, Goku, and Vegeta. For Gohan, he doesn’t care about those things. He just wants to go back to his life. He saw the fight with Cell as a big, fat waste of time. Earth’s continued survival was being threatened for no reason in his eyes. Cell had already reached his “perfect” form. There really was no particular reasoning for destroying Earth other than some programming he had. And we’ve seen before that the androids could ignore their programming. It stands to reason that Gohan felt that he could talk Cell out of the fight. I got a little off-track but as far as Gohan being labeled a fighter, I’ve always felt it was very clear that whereas he might enjoy fighting, he doesn’t possess a fighter’s heart. He doesn’t want to be an active fighter. He is a pacifist to a certain extent. He wants something different out of his life. He just wants peace. I enjoy watching crime-procedural shows. Does that mean I want to go out and become a detective? No, not really. Gohan enjoys fighting, he enjoys adventure, he enjoys heroics but he also enjoys learning and wants to continue on learning. What he doesn’t enjoy is the destruction that comes with his abilities. He doesn’t understand the desire to surpass his own fighting limits like Goku does. He doesn’t understand fighting for pride and being the strongest like Vegeta does. In that respect, you can’t really call Gohan a fighter because the only time he’s an actual fighter is when he feels a responsibility to become one. Ultimately, when it comes right down to it, Gohan fights because 1) he always feels a responsibility to do it and 2) learning is part of who he is. It doesn’t matter if he’s hitting the books or sparring with his dad or Piccolo, he just wants to learn. I believe that’s all he really gets out of it. The fandom needs to stop trying to push Gohan all the way right or all the way left because that’s not how his character is. He’s somewhere in the middle. Like us real life people, he’s complex which only adds to his relatability and makes me care about him that much more. And another interesting thing about Gohan’s complexities and it’s not really touched upon a whole lot in the series is that to a certain extent, I think that just as the fandom is constantly at war with who they think Gohan is supposed to be, I think Gohan, himself, is also at war with who he’s supposed to be. It’s most likely due to the clash of his two bloodlines. His human blood is making him be something of a pacifist but his saiyan blood is also influencing him to fight as well. That power of his wants to be unleashed. We’re having problems identifying who Gohan really is while he’s also having problems identifying with who he really is. He can’t really find that balance. It’s an interesting notion and I kind of hope Dragonball Super touches on it a little. It’s really more of my own head-canon at the moment as far as I know.

Well, there you have it. Gohan is my #1 favorite character of all time. Gohan is a line-up of contradictions which makes him feel the most human and relatable of pretty much all of the characters in Dragonball. He’s a nerd but also fights if he needs to. He has great hidden power but he doesn’t want to unleash it out of fear of what may happen. He’s responsible, brave, loyal, a nerd, powerful but doesn’t believe he is. What’s not to love about him? He’s a wonderful, complex, well-rounded character and is very deserving of my #1 All-Time Favorite Character spot. I’m also planning on going through his character development arc-by-arc in later posts simply because I just enjoy talking about Gohan and I’ll take any excuse to do it. Clearly, I love talking about him because this post is 7 pages long. I didn’t want to go arc-by-arc here because this post would’ve turned out to be 30 pages long. So I’d love to hear if there are any other Gohan fans out there. Do you agree with what I said about him? Do you disagree? Remember, this is how I interpret him. If you interpret him differently, I’d love to hear it. Just, as always, be respectful. I will not respond to anyone who is rude and is trying to belittle mine or anyone else’s opinions.