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sundove88 · 10 months ago

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DBZ: Waves of Freedom AU (Birthday Present for @sugarbear2001)

“Sometimes, to be free, we must dive deep to find out who we truly are.”

So, ya see, I was just being my own busy self and decided that I would make a platonic merman AU for KakaVege. The title of the AU? Waves of Freedom.

To put it simply, Goku is a merman living with his family and friends beneath the waves, and one day, when he goes to the surface and shapeshifts into his human form (I got inspired by Luca for this, all merpeople can shapeshift their tail into legs to walk on land in this AU, their upper halves remain unchanged), he encounters Vegeta, a human businessman who longs for escape from his horrible working life at Empire Oil Drilling Corps (Which is run by Frieza, who is an absolute butthole of a CEO in the AU), so he comes up with a plan with Vegeta to help him escape and finally gain his freedom. Also, this fanfic is a loose retelling of The Little Mermaid (One of its BIGGEST influences). The best part? There’s actual chapters on the way!!

Synopsis: When Goku, a carefree orange tailed merman encounters Vegeta, a trapped young businessman working for the world’s biggest and most oppressive oil drilling company, their encounter sets off a series of events that could change their lives for better or worse.

Anyhoo, here are the character parallels in the fanfic:

Vegeta- Ariel

Goku- Eric

Goten and Gohan- Flounder

Krillin and Piccolo- Sebastian

Bulma- King Triton

Frieza- Ursula

Zarbon and Dodoria- Flotsam and Jetsam

Chi Chi- Carlotta

Master Roshi- Grimsby (Maybe More, Imagine)

Launch, Tien, and Yamcha- Scuttle

Ginyus- Chef Louis

Android 17, Android 18, Nappa, and Raditz- Ariel’s Sisters

Trunks and Marron- Max

Chapters Below, btw. Also, if you wanna insert your Oc or another DB character (Like Shallot) into the AU, they can either be a land dweller or a merperson (With a merman/mermaid form with any tail and a land form)!

(SPOILERS AHEAD)

Chapter 1: Where The Land Meets The Sea:

Goku decides to go up to the surface to get some stuff for his family (Waterproof books for Gohan included, don’t ask me about that one) and runs into Vegeta. Geets then witnesses his transformation and is all like, “Oh my god, merpeople are REAL!!” And they become friends and stuff like that. Goku tells Vegeta about his life beneath the waves and Vegeta tells Kakarot about how he longs for freedom and the ocean is his only escape.

Chapter 2: The Weight of Expectations:

After getting suspicious of why Vegeta isn’t showing up that much, Freezy Pop decides to give him longer shifts and more work, and that includes the very fact that Veggie has to look outside the window and see his coworkers enjoy their summer fun. As he makes his way down to the beach through the corridors, he decides what he really wants and that is to talk to Goku more. Talk about devotion! And foreshadowing since it shows Vegeta being cast in a blue light while in his monochrome suit (Spoiler alert- It’s his tail color).

Chapter 3: Making Waves:

It then shows Goku introducing Vegeta to some of his ocean dwelling friends and family, including but not limited to: Piccolo (Eel merman), Krillin (Weedy Seadragon merman), Tien (Koi merman), Yamcha (Octopus merman), Bulma (Who has her tail inspired by a Blue Tang and a single mom to Trunks in the AU), Chi Chi (Arowana mermaid), Gohan and Goten (Same Orange Disney style tail as their dad), Master Roshi (Conmon Dolphin) etc, etc. Anyhoo, there’s this work banquet later that night, and Vegeta decides to sneak out of it and get undressed so he can get changed into his swimwear, and then Goku and Vegeta have their first swim in the ocean together :)

Chapter 4: Out of The Cage:

Veggie’s all like, “I’ve officially made up my mind! I wanna become a merman and stay with you no matter what!”, and that’s where Bulma comes in- she gives Goku an artifact called a Crystal Shell that’s powerful enough to change Vegeta into a merman- but there’s a catch: The change is permanent, and the price for his freedom and fins is his life on land. Luckily, Vegeta is totally knowing what he’s getting into, and he goes along with the plan and decides to write a resignation letter to Frieza to let him know he’s not coming back- also, he packs up his shell collection and lets his new merpeople friends take it from there.

Chapter 5: Ebb And Flow:

Vegeta finally decides to deliver the letter to Frieza, and he reads it and is ABSOLUTELY LIVID. Then while nobody is looking; Goku and Vegeta immediately swim off to some secret undisclosed cove from any human eyes so that Kakarot can transform his best buddy into a merman form with the crystal shell. Cue something akin to Ariel’s transformation from The Little Mermaid (But reversed and with elements of Melody’s transformation from Little Mermaid 2 and Brother Bear from when Kenai becomes a Bear) and Vegeta becomes a merman with a gorgeous royal blue Disney style merman tail! And then they swim off to explore the ocean, but not before sharing a hug like the best buds they are. Yaaaay! :D

Happy b day anyways! (Also, I may have spoiled the plot point at the end where Vegeta becomes a merman)

@jorongbak (I hope you find this AU idea interesting)!

#my art #digital art #DBZ #dragon ball z #DBS #dragon ball super #Goku #Vegeta #Kakavege #platonic #merman AU #AU #merman #long post #waves of freedom

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lunarsilkscreen · 11 months ago

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Super Saiyan Sillyness

There's a small plot point in DBS that is really important as to the direction the series is going, but if I acknowledge it; it would be extreme spoiler content. So instead; I'm going to talk about how Super Saiyan works.

In the DragonBall series Ki is a metaphysical concept that can be used to increase your own endurance and kinetic power, without increasing your mass.

Originally, this was a small thing used by characters to shoot out magical bursts like a firearm, without a weapon. Allowing a Martial Artists to develop ranged attacks without weaponry.

As we get to DBZ however; this Ki energy becomes a way to increase your physical strength and endurance. Initially by increasing your muscle mass, and later without the forced muscle expansion that causes body degradation and extreme exhaustion.

This culminates in the Battle of Goku vs Frieza, where along with his innate spaceman genetics; Goku figures out how to use this Ki, along with his anger to transform into a super Saiyan.

What this is, is a focused version of abilities before this, developed by Roshi and King Kai. King Kai's variant being the most recognizable; Kaio Ken.

Kaio Ken, however; like the bulking Ki causes extreme wear and tear on the body. And so the Super Saiyans rarely use it after learning how to become super Saiyan.

Now, SS isn't the only type of super transformation available to denizens of Akira Toriyama's world. Frieza species seems to be able to "Go Gold" as well. Which is a full body transformation.

Similar to Super Saiyan 4 in the DBGT series, which explored the vastness of space after turning Goku into a child.

Saiyans also have a kind of werewolf transformation during the full moon, where they can't control their emotions.

This however is shown to be destructive, and akin to the muscle expansion techniques as it increases Mass equivalent to the energy gained.

The Namekians have a similar transformation showcases by Lord Slug and Orange Piccolo, which has all the same drawbacks.

What this means; is because Saiyans and Namekians and Frezians share these similar transformations and Ki generation; that these techniques should be available to every race and species.

It's just that some cultures are more ingrained with wanting to learn how to fight gooder. Or are Frieza and just Tyrants.

Vegeta and Frieza show a disdain for species that they previously believed were "inferior races". Frieza towards all Saiyans, and Vegeta to his Half-blood nephew: Gohan. Who display a completely different form of Saiyan transformation that isn't SSJ2 but is similar in power level. Dubbed Mystic Saiyan due to its creation by the influence from Supreme Kai's Magic.

But here's where it's interesting to me. As we get to Super Saiyan God mode, which is what the *real* SS legend is based on, and the Saiyan race had become extremely weak in comparison to their former abilities before the Friezers turned them into a caste of warrior conquerer slaves. Meaning they had forgotten nearly all of their *real* combat techniques that they thought made them a "superior race."

But this Super Saiyan God mode, which then can be focused into what's known as Super Saiyan Blue; demonstrates the use of Ki and it's reflection on tbe visible light spectrum.

Ki can be used raw to empower a person, but because it's non focused it will cause the body to undergo a temporary extreme physical transformation.

This is alleviated somewhat with the Kaio-Ken technique which focuses the ki to a sharper point, and allows for an exponential increase in comparison to the regular Ki power up, but has the *same* draw backs at higher levels.

Then we get to a kind of Middle point. Frieza has several forms before Gold, but they seem to be more able to limit their physical transformation to use the power gain more effectively.

In fact; Friezas stay in their supposed final form after entering permanently, and then have more forms to go, and Unlike Uzaro Form and Super Namekian form, retain a standard small humanoid size.

And here's where it gets interesting; these different forms and techniques can be combined or used interchangeably to achieve the same or similar results .

In DB:GT; Super Saiyan 4 is achieved by entering Uzaro Form, Mastering it, Turning Super while in that form, and then supressing the Ki and physical transformation to bring the user back to typical humanoid size.

With their body showcasing red fur growth over their body.

This indicates that Super Uzaro, Namek, and Frieza all use a similar method in order to achieve levels that are past Super Saiyan 3 levels.

SS3 is a unique form, because while still being Super Saiyan, it amps up the physical form of the user. It still increases the physical mass. Not only appearing to lengthen the hair follicles (which is probably just run-off ki, as the user returns to normal after use)

But bulking up as with the previous forms drawbacks.

Which means that this Bulking is the habit that most life forms exhibit when they increase their key until they figure out how to shift better.

Basically, SS3 is the Roshi Technique combined with SS transformation. And SS2 focuses the energy of SS1 better, because it doesn't exhibit the bulking drawback.

This bulking drawback is visible when Vegeta and Trunks attain their own post Super Saiyan forms as well. Vegeta commenting; "You're still using that bulky form?" At one point indicating to Trunks that he is doing it wrong.

Their SS2 forms included the bulking drawback that Goku's didn't exhibit.

So when we get to SS:God form; this looks similar to Kaio Ken, with it's red glow. Indicated a compressed form of energy, that can then be compressed into Super Saiyan Blue.

Vegeta demonstrated this with his Super Saiyan Prince form. As his eyes sparkle along the colored light spectrum indicating the varying power levels not visible in the hair.

This is different but similar to the SS4 shown in GT. Instead of the Ki run off coming from the tops of their heads as in the gold super Saiyan forms, the red ki comes out of the hair follicles across their body and from their regrown Saiyan monkey tails.

This is a strange transformation as it looks like a form similar to Ultra Instinct combined with a red variant of super Saiyan.

More on this; Ultra Instinct looks like base form. Because there is no bulking, there is no visible Ki generation at the hair follicles. Just a black-light aura.

This is because the Ki is focused to a point where it is no longer emitting from the visible light spectrum.

The drawbacks with UI seem similar to Uzaro and Kaio Ken form however. As UI takes an extreme toll on the body, and nearly loses concious control. Any less control, and it's conceivable Goku could become a mindless destructive force like Uzaro or Brolly.

Brolly is a Super Saiyan who can't control his super Saiyan powers due to extreme neglect and trauma induced by the former Saiyan culture and lifestyle. Which indicates a connection between Super Saiyan Brolly, UI, and Uzaro. SS Brolly forms (also shared by Kefla from Uni6) also showcases a greenish aura.

Demonstrating that there are different ways that different people can utilize the SS transformation and these other techniques.

What this means is that Uni7 UI Goku has potentially become stronger than DB:GT(unnumbered uni) Goku. Because he doesn't have Color inconsistencies. SS4 Goku and Vegeta in comparison, while having black hair, emit the Red Ki from their body hair, and red from their eyes, similar to Vegeta's Super Princess. SSJ4 also includes slight bulking.

However, UI has that extreme Drawback where once you've used up your energy, that's it until you take a long rest.

UI also seems different from Super Forms as you can't harness your emotional state, as one is often shown doing when they initially enter that state.

And Uni6 Saiyans, with the exceot of Vegeta's protege, entering it at will without emotion.

Hinting that the emotional burst is good to learn how to control larger amounts of Ki, but not good at focusing it down to the single point required of UI.

The SS4 Saiyan's also have a "Limit Breaker" similar to that of entering SS:God Mode. which enables them to use their transformation at will, unlike before which required becoming Uzaro, loosing control, regaining control, become super Uzaro, and then sustaining that. And maintaining it longer than 5 minutes.

Which suggests the forms are not unique to the method of transformation.

With Videl standing in for an extra Saiyan (Despite being Preggers) this also suggests that you simply need multiple people whose combined energy exceeds a certain amount, and isn't generically limited to Saiyan's.

This correlates with the other [Super Transformations] shown in the series as a whole.

What they tend to forget, is that despite being Human, Videl is one of the strongest Humans on Earth. Rivaling only Krillin, who isn't as strong as Goku simply because he doesn't have a single mind focused on becoming stronger. Also, unlike Goku, who inherited land and money from King Yama, actually needs to work for a living.

Goku isn't the strongest because he's a Saiyan either. Even Vegeta believed for a while that Goku was a low-tier saiyan incapable of meeting, much less exceeding the power level of a prince like himself.

He's the strongest because he's Goku.

This brings me to the end of this with one final observation; Goku and Trunks in Uni7. Who become Super Saiyan at will naturally. Without training, without really knowing what it is.

They're not just expanded power level from epigenetics, they have expanded powers because of the same technique that gives Goku and Vegeta SS:God powers.

Because it's the same technique showcased by Korin, Kami, Guru, and the Kai's, in "unlocking a person's potential".

Just a weaker form since a single person would only be able emit so much energy. Achieving SS:God and SS4:LB and the [Ki Expansion] technique most therefore be the same, becoming stronger the more Ki you pump into the recipient.

Ergo; Trunks and Goten have high power levels because of... Well... All that energy and training happening during the Buu saga...

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arbuthnotblob · 1 year ago

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Two proud, fierce, spiky-haired warriors face each other across a rocky chasm… but why do they both feel so strangely familiar to the other?! A battle for honour is surely about to begin!

Through Dragonball, Chrono Trigger and Dragon Quest, Akira Toriyama had a massive influence on my childhood. I think it’s also pretty fair to say that Pokemon, and especially Lance, would not be the same without his stylistic influence on Ken Sugimori’s early work. So, for all the thrills and inspiration, both to myself and many others, thank you so much Toriyama-san, and rest in peace.

I had so much fun designing a Toriyama-style DBZ design for Lance, putting in a bit of flavour from both his Gen 1 red biker and Gen 2 pointed armour looks. The dramatic cape flourish also pulls a bit from his HGSS art pose, just for fun (and flair)

I learnt a lot picking apart and studying different Dragonball panels and colour spreads to make this crossover tribute, but perhaps the most striking thing was re-reading chunks of DBZ and realising just how good at weekly pulp adventure story pacing Toriyama was.

I already knew he had perhaps the best grasp of dynamic, crystal clear action panelling in the business, but his ability to pace out a weekly story and always have some new twist or wrinkle while maintaining a solid, driving central narrative really stood out to me this time. And that’s not even mentioning all the ad-libbing!

One of the greatest to ever do it in so very many different ways - I am sure his work will continue to inspire not just artists in our current generation, but many young artists in the future as well.

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thefortressofscience · 1 year ago

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Akira Toriyama's work is the very reason I started drawing. As a child I watched and loved Dragonball Z. It was the show me and my friends would all obsess over! One day I saw Chrono from Chrono Trigger on some boxart while walking by a local mom n' pop video game store. I recognized the style right away and that moment is what drove me to design my very first OC, a red haired Chrono rip off with a giant sword.

Toriyama's work was a huge influence for me growing up, and knowing he's gone has affected me more than any other celebrity death I've ever heard about. His impact on Latin American communities both among diaspora in the US and in their countries cannot be overstated. I remeber visiting the Dominican Republic as a child and everyone would rush to watch Dragonball when it was on. No one even called it by it's title, instead choosing to excitedly point out that Goku was on TV. When you spoke with your friends about DBZ there, you would be asked if you watched Goku last night.

I don't really know where I'm going with this, except that I really appreciated the man's work. He really was the GOAT.

#Akira Toriyama #cw death mention

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dragimalsdaydreams · 9 months ago

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Saiyan biology headcanons. I GUESS.

@cuddlesomeone is a fiend and the only reason I ever think abt DBZ, and I like my thoughts enough to write them down, so here we go

DISCLAIMER: I've barely seen any DB, I only know secondhand info from my dear friend up there, sorry if I misremember/misinterpret some canon info

also to be clear, I'm aware that many of these points aren't that important, considering what Dragon Ball is. it's not biological, it's just a "rule-of-cool" fighty show. yacht-sized mega-beasts are fun for big fights (if DB ever USED THEM..), cross-species kids are fun, etc. I don't actually care that much abt it, this isn't a 'critique' of the show or anything. I just like specevo, and have fun considering what my personal take on it would be 👍

1) Freeza's influence

Saiyans have several traits that don't make much sense as having naturally evolved, and I rather like the idea of these traits being forcibly induced over time. namely, I think Freeza purposely warped Saiyans over several generations, using both biological means and social propaganda to influence their bodies and cultures.

test-tube incubation (nursing pods?) is the most likely avenue for Freeza's direct involvement, and an obvious example of something that Saiyans prolly didn't start doing on their own. it would give Freeza intimate control over Saiyan population size, bodily autonomy, and direct physiological influence on the developing baby.

2) mindless violence

one of my biggest gripes abt Saiyans is their level of apparent bloodlust, sometimes to the point of extreme stupidity and selfishness. the Oozaru form emphasizes how this isn't simply a personal choice or cultural influence, but a biological imperative of the species.

and honestly, I'm just so sick to death of bioessentialism in worldbuilding, sapient species or not. there's no good reason why a species would evolve to be "mindless, violent monsters", even if it's only like one day a month. this would, in fact, be a detriment to their health and energy levels, and it's just lazy writing for a monster form IMO.

to be clear, I don't want to rewrite Saiyans as perfect little angels-- they can be a predator species with bloodsports, they can have cultures that valorize violence and domination. we see this irl with the human species after all. however, while some of these decisions are certainly influenced by biology irl (predators are far more likely to get enjoyment out of hunting and make it into a sport in the first place), violence is decidedly not a biological imperative, and there is obviously a wide array of diverse opinions on violence among humans.

which is all to say-- imo, an uninfluenced Saiyan is psychologically similar to a human, and would not automatically behave violently without some kind of sociocultural pressure or neurological influence. Freeza's empire may have found a violent, colonizing warrior culture by chance, but he took it further by rewarding that behavior for his empire's glory, and physiologically warping developing Saiyans. a combination of neurological tinkering and horrifically bad socialization during critical developmental years makes for adults that are unstable, quick to anger, and resort to violence by default.

also the idea of blasting a literal newborn off into space without any training or education, and expecting that baby to survive enough to become a useful soldier is... laughable, tbh. so I'm gonna say they're raised by Freeza's empire (away from their parents) until at least the age of 8-10, THEN blasted off and expected to survive. this at least makes some damn sense, but leaves room for the brutal "survival of the fittest" mindset.

3) Oozaru forms

"shifters" are an interesting conundrum to me in any setting, bc the more drastic the shift, the less it makes sense to me in the biological sense. I'm more willing to hand-wave it for thematic reasons, but DBZ doesn't run on themes (or biology, tbf), so it doesn't give me much to work with. not that shifters can't work biologically, but it's not as simple as just balancing out matter and mass. like, WHY do they shift? what is the evolutionary advantage?

and honestly I haven't come to an answer to that yet. I'm chewing on the idea of breeding periods and mating rituals, but I'm not fully sold on the idea yet. we'll see if I come up with anything better

I'm also not sure abt the actual trigger for it. like it's one thing to say that moonlight is the trigger for a completely planet-bound species, but what does that mean for a space-faring species? what differentiates a "moon" from a mere asteroid circling a planet? what exact properties of the light are the trigger here? what happens if a Saiyan lands on a moon?

I could just ignore this for my own sanity, but I also like the idea of Saiyans having some physiological adaptability to a given planet's rhythms. their bodies will sense the overall gravitational cycles of the planet, maybe even the moonlight as well, and adjust their shifting schedule accordingly. thus, I don't think summoning a random ball of 'moonlight' would trigger any real change in an uninfluenced Saiyan, but moons do technically impact a Saiyan's shifting schedule. though, perhaps Freeza put a 'switch' in influenced Saiyans that reacts to concentrated light on that scale so they can shift at will, idk

at the very least, I have some solid ideas abt the execution of the shift and resulting form. for one, I personally prefer shifters whose forms aren't 100% completely separate, so I like the idea of more monkey traits in their humanoid form. hell, even if they weren't shifters, I think an alien species with a furry tail shouldn't just look like a "human with a tail", that's boring. thus, I think Saiyans should look far more monkey, with snouty faces, full-body fur, and grabby feet. I'd like a different posture too-- maybe a little hunched with somewhat splayed legs, to emphasize an arboreal lifestyle. essentially, I'm picturing a smaller, leaner, somewhat more humanoid Oozaru

oh, and I nearly forgot to mention the tails-- why are they so weak? I'd maybe understand for literally any other animal, but an arboreal animal? their tails should be strong enough to at least hold up the mass of their own bodies, if not more. idk, maybe Saiyans aren't actually arboreal anymore, and their tails have weakened over time, but they still shouldn't be THAT sensitive. in any case, my Saiyan tails aren't any weaker than a regular monkey tail, and are often used as another limb for clinging/climbing

I also like the idea of gradual shifting, like bulking up on mass over several days leading up to the final, bigger shift on the full moon, then having to recover that energy/mass several days after.

speaking of mass, I'm also not a huge fan of the size of the Oozaru. I truly cannot conceive a scenario where yacht-sized mega-beasts would be evolutionarily advantageous (or even biologically viable), unless the entire rest of their planet's fauna was of similar size. but in that case, they wouldn't be a strange size for their environmental circumstances, and they prolly wouldn't have evolved a complementary tiny, humanoid base form in the first place. my take on an uninfluenced Oozaru is much smaller-- Saiyans can shift to the size of a horse or moose, maybe even the size of an elephant for particularly large/beefy Saiyans, but no larger than that. there's obviously still mass difference in the two forms, but with the gradual shifting and bulking-up I mentioned earlier, I think it's easier to hand-wave that difference away.

of course, this doesn't mean yacht-sized mega-beasts can't exist in the setting. in my view, Freeza also influenced this aspect of Saiyans, warping their Oozaru forms into something hideously large, unwieldy, and mindless. to compensate for the insane mass difference in forms, perhaps Saiyans wear special gadgets that pull mass from the surrounding environment during the shift, leaving a plain of desolation in their wake, even before the Oozaru can start wreaking havoc. but even with this gadget to help, injuries are common, and many of the larger Oozaru are left with gaping wounds from their flesh not reassembling correctly. many are also prone to joint/spine issues, as the body isn't prepared to hold that much mass at once, leading to limping, wobbly gaits. even those that escape most of these side-effects will almost always have burst blood vessels in the eyes, giving them an unsettling, red-eyed stare.

of course, these issues are not usually a problem for the Oozaru's work under Freeza-- the sheer size/power of these influenced forms is more than enough to subdue tiny, unprepared populations, despite all the drawbacks. but the after-effects of this form can leave affected Saiyans out of commission for days at a time.

and finally, my second main point hints at this, but let me say it clearly here too-- in my view, an uninfluenced Oozaru should NOT be acting like a mindless killing machine, that's completely Freeza's influence. uninfluenced Oozaru are fully conscious and aware of themselves and those around them. at most, perhaps they act a bit more uninhibited and energetic, pulling from a well of built-up energy to play, compete, court, and show-off. they certainly can act aggressive and violent, but that's not the default state, it's merely the natural fluctuation of emotions you'd find in the humanoid form as well. hell, I'd even allow for more aggression of the territorial variety, if the Oozaru form does end up being a courting/breeding thing, but it's still not mindless violence.

I'm not sure how I want influenced Oozaru to work, when they aren't supported by special gadgets to provide necessary mass from their environments. perhaps the transformation goes bad the first few times, and sorta stop-starts bc there's no mass to work with. this could be fatal, under the worst conditions. but once the body gets used to the idea of less mass, perhaps it settles back into a normal range of transformation. they're still larger than the average uninfluenced Oozaru, but not city-destroying size. perhaps they could even develop consciousness in this form, but it would likely take a lot of time and patience to overcome Freeza's psychological influence. in any case, influenced Oozaru shifting would probably still be exhausting, and influenced Oozaru wouldn't experience the same joy and freedom that uninfluenced Oozaru feel in their forms.

4) power level

we all agree that shouting out numbers is the most boring part of the show, right? right? yeah, I think it's all bullshit. Freeza just arbitrarily assigns all the Saiyans numbers and watches them bully one another into hierarchies

though I do think it's interesting to consider individual propensity for controlling life energy. surely, some ppl have an easier time than others, but you can still improve your skill, and it isn't as arbitrary and dumb-sounding as a "power-level". and I feel like there is precedent in the show for this exact logic, but it gets lost in the sea of "look how cool badass Goku is naturally!"

5) aliens and mixed species

different alien species having compatible gametes has always felt odd to me-- that just wouldn't realistically happen. on the other hand, I like Trunks and Gohan, so I GUESS I'm willing to hand-wave it so they can exist. but I'm shaking my head the whole time so the audience knows I don't agree with the biological implications

also, I'd make most of the aliens completely non-humanoid. I get that they all look human bc this is ostensibly a martial arts show, I just think it's boring when they all look human.

#notes #dragon ball #dragon ball z

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sonicjustbecause · 1 year ago

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Lost in translation (general). Unavoidable.

"What girl witch cute". Yes. This is the plain translation. I'll come there later.

I'm not a native English speaker. I can say I know one language and half. Written/spoken Italian (native), written English.

I like to watch shows in Italian and Japanese usually. Seldom I watch them in English. In general i dislike the translation and the voices they choose for characters from foreign shows.

Like, I would watch easily The Simpson in English because is their native show and the voice they choose are good. In the Italian show they went as far as finding VA who have very similar voices to the original VA.

Sonic Prime worked fine with English voice (because they choose canadian VA and not the american ones. Both RCS and Kirk Thorton are... uhmmm... I loved Deven Mack and Ian Hanlin). Is maybe one of the few shows I watched happily in English. And I could somewhat understand what they say because of a clearer pronunciation.

For other shows I often watch them either in Japanese with English sub, or translated in Italian. For Dragon Ball I watched the whole DB and DBZ in Italian, DBS in Japanese with English subs.

I watched my favourites episodes of Dragon Ball Z in Italian, Japanese and English, to see how they differ and how voices work.

Italian in general stay true to the Japanese dialogues (few exception here and there, I'll come later). English? Oh God. The scene with Vegeta being possessed by Babidy made me laugh in English. Something like: 'He is in my head! I'm attacked! I can't! Oh no, I'm not innocent" Talkative Vegeta. The context was the same, the message was about the same (more ambiguous and open to interpretation in Italian and Japanese, more one sided in English) but a dramatic scene like that became a comical scene in English. And the voices... oh no!.

English dubbing! NO! My ears!

Language, context...

Monolingual people think all language are the same. Not the case, languages are influenced by enviroment. Inuit have many ways to say 'snow' with a single word, referring to the different quality of it.

Coming to the language we are referring to, English is known to be a low context language. It has a word for everything and a very rich vocaboulary.

Italian is a mid context language. It has not a so large vocaboulary,

Some words are the same but with different meaning.

Example

Salutare: it does means either 'to greet and' 'healthy' Sale: it does means either "going up" and "salt"

Batteria: 'set' 'drums' and 'battery' Piano: "plan", 'floor' (of a building), 'flat' (like the surface of a table), 'piano'

Those words can be easily translates in English though.

The problem come with figuratve language. Every language has one. I don't speak Japanese so i can make examples using italian and English.

When someone is lucky, we say, vulgarly: "che culo!" But, translated in EWnglish it turns in a "What an ass!". The phrase is the same, litera, the meaning change completely. For this you can't always stay true to the original material.

Another example, still involving luck in Italian might be:

"Avere un culo così".

In English it turns something like

"Having a big ass"

From having luck to being fat. And there it turns even funnier because in Italian you can use the very same phrase to tell that either someone is fat or that a woman looks curvy in the butt area in particular. Though all of them are not nice and can be used only among close freinds. Otherwise there are three distinct phrase for the different things like: "avere fortuna" "essere grassi" "avere un sedere formoso". Context.

Japanese is abnormally high context.

Let's talk about the above monstruosity that make us laugh hard.

Among people who like Japamese stuffs, there are some who are so passionate that they would sacrifice grammar in order to have a product that is true to the original. In Italy we have many translators. Some are better, some are worse. We got cursed by this man in particular:

Gualtiero Cannarsi.

To be honest, is unfortunate. He talks the finest Italian you can hear. But his translations from Japanese to Italian suck. he is one who think the product must be true to itself, so he just change Japanese words into italian words, leaving the Japanese rules, grammars etc. Yes, nothing got lost in traslation. But the result is incomprehensible so to say the truth, everything got lost.

If transtated in Cannarsi style, Versailles no Bara turns into Versailles di Rosa (The correct translation is 'La rosa di Versailles). For a better understanding of what I'm saying, in English, if I just switch the words, I get 'Versailles of Rose'.

His translation get some... uh, funny results:

Porco Rosso is supposed to be settled in Italy. Then why do they talk like barbarians?

"To stay to have fun to those places you'll end to be kidnappen in company" Is bad I know. I tried to stay true to his awful translations. This is terrible, considering that Gibli tried to write in Italian, as best as they could to create a better atmosphere:

"Non si fa credito" "Le rosse ali si sono spezzate (correct but arcaic) "Vivo o morto?(sounds better) "Di nuovo il canto di trionfo del Porcellino Rosso (perfect)" "Le bambine sane e salve" Still the atmosphere is there, is true!

You have to be fluent in Italian to understand this. Then you can either laugh or facepalm or be disgusted.

We also have good example of translation from Japanese. Luckily we have many good products from Japan that are treated correctly. One that I can think off is from Dragon Ball Super - Broly.

In DBS - Broly, I can feel the Japanese aura/culture/mentality from every phrase, every word they speak. They all sound solemn without sounding the same. But at the same time it is translated in a fine Italian, we all understand what they say just fine. The actor were great at acting and... do you know that the one who dubs Goku is the same VA who dubs Shadow? And the voice sounds different, very silly when he dubs Goku, more serious and mature when he dubs Shadow.

We of course also had some bad translation because there was a period we relied on 4kids. Luckily we still had manga, they came directly from Japan and got translated in italian. Some of them unfortunately went translated by Gualtiero Cannarsi. Dark days for anime. It seems things are getting better right now.

Same VA, different personalities.

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acelynonix · 26 days ago

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I am coming back to hyperfixate on A17. Not as much when I was a child, but I'm still passionate about him. I was a child and I am Italian, for context.

I had so much fun and I built so many good memories I regret nothing.

Here's a sum up of my experience as a DBZ Android 17 (A17, C17 or simply 17) hyperfixated fan from 2012(? Probably more 2013) to 2017 (when his comeback in DBS happened) and also until nowadays:

I started both writing, videoediting and drawing thanks to him. He was my inspiration all along🥺✨️

I talked about A17 24/7 and I was a walking encyclopedia about him. No day is complete without at least one small thought of 17, even nowadays.

17 was my comfort character during very hard times (not only him, but he was too).

This hyperfixation has always been something mostly personal that I rarley shared with someone deeply (because nobody loved him as I did, soo yeah, I talked a lot about him, but it always felt something mine, idk how to explain it better)

I knew by memory his sentences in the anime, I watched the episodes with him in them... idk how many times. Lots of.

My favorite match was A17 vs Super Namekian Piccolo and I hated Cell for interrupting them.

My music tastes depend a lot on his AMVs too (nowadays I listen to everything more or less, but a big part of my favorite songs were from YT AMVs).

Everytime I hear his voice on TV (ITA dub) I can't avoid thinking about him. I can recognize his voice very well at this point. When the voice actor was the same in DBS I was so happy!

I also like the japanese voice too and I once heard the ENG one too.

My whole family knows about him. Even my grandparents. And my parents know many details because I'm an info dump champion.

I put the number 17 everywhere so it reminded me of him.

I liked how he drived💀

My grandma made me a cosplay of A17, I was SO DAMN HAPPY running around in comics conventions... I should do it again ya know?-

My hair have been often A17 inspired during my life, before finding my personal style (the influence is still visible I think)

At my first comic convention (I was a child, in middle school), at a certain point my mum called me and told me to look at my right. I did it and I swear I saw him in the crowd. The cosplayer did so well I SWEAR IT SEEMED POPPED OUT OF THE ANIME😭✨️ so I have this memory of me actually seeing my first real crush coming out of an anime. Then, there was the fastest run of my life to reach him and I took a photo with both him and A18, they had been so kind and sweet with me and my little brother🥺✨️ (also they were kinda tall compared to us)

Nowadays both my style and my tastes are still A17 inspired or they remember him.

I mostly wear black, blue and white.

I made earrings holes years ago because I wanted to wear his earrings too (but I let the holes close because they got infected too many times and the earrings were too much to handle for me) - it hurted like hell but I did it anyway XD

I had to buy new storage (a lot) to, ya know, hyperfixate offline too with fanarts, ffs...

At a certain point I thought I watched most of A17 AMVs and I can still remember many of them nowadays

I remember michiru95's A17 and A18 AMVs on YT and many other channels and AMVs / video related to them.

I spent my free time mostly on YT for AMVs and on EFP ff.

I talked a lot with some other A17 and A18 fans. I remember the Android 17 fandom as a chill corner of the internet, both on youtube and EFP.

At a certain point (before 2016 so I was very young and naive) I thought I saw every image of A17 and was so proud of my extended knowledge (little did I know that tumblr and pinterest existed, I lived in my own little world. But it was a good discovery because I had loads of new content for my hyperfixation all at once).

I discovered deviant art and fanarts / fanfictions thanks to A17. And also what ffs/fanarts😏 (some of them)

When I didn't, I searched for eventual new news about A17 (especially about his past or his new life after he came back to life at the end of Cell saga)

I put his human name everywhere I could when I found out (I think it was in 2015)

I didn't find many news so I ended up searching for answers in ffs

I'm still waiting to see the photo of his wife and kids

I'm still waiting for some updates on ffs paused since 2015

I still remember many ffs I read

I'm still crying because my favorite A17 ff is not on internet anymore. 17 x Loria (OC of the autrice) will always live in my heart😭🥺✨️

A17 lived in my mind rent free on daily basis in every moment

I had a whole multiverse based on A17 ffs I wrote, I had various AUs and OCs related to the androids

I also wrote a lot of cringe stuff but I still laugh at it nowadays

I even found some cool gadgets before he got famous in 2017 (where I live it has been hard for me to find those, so I was so proud to find them / happy if they were gifts)

I wanted black hair and blue eyes so bad (now I love myself the way I am, long story short, even if I still love the aesthetic and his look etc)

I really hated Dr Gero, Cell, and the Super 17 saga in GT for what they did to 17 and 18 (I still don't like them, but growing up I developed a keen eye for how complicated some characters and stuff could be. Example: now I understand better how Dr. Gero became like that. This doesn't mean I justify him or I like him, he still makes me angry)

I was very strict about distinguing the three timelines we saw in the DBZ anime in thr android saga and, therefore, the three 17s we saw: the present timeline, the future trunks timeline (we call him Mirai!17 if I remember well, when needed to distinguish him from the present one obv), and the Cell's original timeline one... remember when we saw him and 18 running away from that lab and disappear? Idk what happened and I'd love to know, but anyway, Cell didn't find them, so he came back. There's also another Cell that ends up in the future trunks timeline at the end of the saga, so he's related to another timeline too... anyway it's just a mental trip of mine, I believe in Hugh Everett's theory anyway (multiverses, in a nutshell). I believe in infinites A17s🤣

Let's talk about DBZ Adbridged I love the androids saga

I wanted to learn japan because of him too... I bought a japanese book recently, what a coincindence (now it's not only for him XD)

Spoilers about DB Super Tournament of Power Saga ahead: When the Tournament of Power came out, I was so happy I can't describe it with words. My legend had a cool comeback, became one of the main characters so he had a lot of screen time compared to DBZ... and everytime he did something cool I was amazed and overjoyed. This was the first time I really cared about the result of a tournament I didn't take part to. When it seemed he died, I swear I ran in the other room in tears and stayed in the bathroom for so long. I was glad he survived. But the best moment was... when Goku and Freezer vs Jiren was about to end, I saw the three of them about to fall off the ring and before it even happened I started to scream and jump because hey, 17 was still on the ring and nobody was attacking him. A17 was winning. And I did it long after it was all confirmed. I got scolded cause my father fell asleep and I didn't notice I woke him up but hey, how could I not scream overjoyed?

I'm buying every db manga where I see him since I was like 11 I think?

I had a yt channel and made videos where I talked about him... not public nowadays though🤣 but still, good memories😌

I had the most unrealistic ships XD

#acelynionixthoughtoftheday

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hollowphobiasfw · 1 year ago

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A friend of mine commissioned me to draw Son Goku, in honor of the passing of the beloved Akira Toriyama. I've not really talked about it much, but Dragon Ball Z, like many other kids in the west from the early 2000's was some of the very first anime I was ever introduced to, along with others like Sailor Moon, Digimon, Pokemon, Monster Rancher and many more and from there I'd continued to watch Eastern animation way into my 30's.

As such Dragon Ball has always held a special place in my heart, even as much as I disagree and complain about the way Toei Animation is currently handling the property and I do worry how the property will continue without Akira, I will still love the show regardless. I remember burning the DBZ songs onto CDS with Napster, hanging posters on my fall, seeing Majin Buu from a Japanese exclusive poster and wondering what the hell it was. I guess what I'm saying is I will always love this show, for without it, I'd not be the person I am today.

As for the picture itself, I knew I could never replicate Akira Toriyama's style one to one and it be foolish of me to even attempt it, but I decided to purposely go with little design choices to reflect his influence, such as using a more muted grey-ish black for one, to make Goku's hair feel a lot more natural than what we were use to seeing.

---

Patreon

Linktr.ee // Commission Info

#dragon ball #dbz #akira toriyama #rip akira toriyama #DragonBall Z #DBZ #DB #DBS #Dragon Ball Super #commission open #Commission #my art

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cocobeanzies · 1 year ago

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Team Future: BTD6 Tourney Merges! 🗣️

This tourney was so much fun! I mostly participated because it would be good motivation to draw some Bloons stuff, which I eagerly wanted to sprinkle DBZ influence onto as that's my hyperfixation at the moment! Despite goofing around, this somehow won? 😂

#btd6 #bloons #bloons tower defense 6 #bloons td 6 #monke #bloons td6 #bloons tower defense #btd art #btd fanart #btdgame #frieza #vegeta #krillin

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mitochondriaandbunnies · 2 years ago

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You Should Watch Wiseguy:

The show that changed the face of television while no one was paying attention

If you've ever watched and enjoyed anything that gets tossed around as “prestige television—” you know what I’m talking about— long form narratives, high stakes, actors with something to prove— shows like The Sopranos, Breaking Bad, The Wire, etc.— you have Wiseguy to thank. While largely forgotten by mainstream audiences (for a variety of reasons, including sheer lack of availability), Wiseguy was one of the first non-soap-opera shows with a fully serialized story— one that expected you to see every episode, in order. When it began airing in September of 1987, really the only other thing on TV like it was Michael Mann’s Crime Story (also worth a watch), and Crime Story would be canceled before Wiseguy even hit its second season.

Writers, actors, and industry types of all kinds cite Wiseguy as a major influence— Vince Gilligan and Tom Schnauz credit watching Wiseguy in the 80’s as why they cast Jonathan Banks as Mike— Chris Carter hired writers from Wiseguy when he started the X-Files— actors like Stanley Tucci made their names on the show— and hell, David Chase wrote an angry letter to the New York Times claiming he was absolutely under no circumstances at all influenced by Wiseguy ever, which feels like the kind of thing you don’t need to write a letter about if it’s true.

Of course, just because something is influential doesn’t mean it’s good.

Wiseguy is really damn good.

Much like Miami Vice (and some of the later shows that took influence from Wiseguy), Wiseguy takes the position that there’s very little difference between criminals and the police, and that the justice system is wildly ill-equipped to create justice. Mafia movie blood, with all its inherent moral ambiguity, runs through Wiseguy’s veins, and then after episode nine, it asks you to think about how that blood would pump in a different milieu— corporate espionage and the destabilization of the global south by American capitalists, insular rural politics and the easy rise of small-time dictators, congressional politics and Twelve-Angry-Men-worthy courtroom drama, the music industry and the cutthroat disposal of talented young people. Money and power structures are always suspect, and good-hearted tough guy lead Vinnie is constantly torn between doing his job, doing the right thing, and doing the thing that makes sense to him emotionally.

The show is heartfelt, tense, funny, and above all else, incredibly human. The characters behave irrationally— they self-sabotage, they struggle with moral decisions, they lash out at people they care about— because they’re people, not plot devices. Little things will come back to haunt them, often many episodes later, in believable and sometimes gutting—but rarely shocking— ways. Despite this realism, and a deep sense of cynicism about our institutions, Wiseguy never falls into the trap of wallowing in grim bleakness. The writers and the actors clearly believe in people— it’s a show that says— ‘yeah, the world sucks. So how do we keep going, together?’ The characters are lovable not because they’re all good, but because you feel like you could know them, with realistic flaws and foibles and senses of humor. Sometimes it’s a little silly, and sometimes it’s a little melodramatic— but it works, because sometimes that’s how real life is, too.

Wiseguy is four (well. three and a half) seasons [cross out— and a terrible TV movie that disregards canon], and is notably divided into 4-11 episode arcs within those seasons, and occasional “breather” episodes between arcs. It’s actually a brilliant bit of plotting that I wish more shows would do today— it allows for overarching narratives and real stakes without running into DBZ-like “the next threat has to be BIGGER and MORE DANGEROUS” power level bullshittery that’s common to a lot of long running serialized shows. One of my favorite aspects of this design is that the cast partially rotates every few episodes, but the show still expects you to remember what was going on with the characters from the previous arcs— because they often return later in unexpected and narratively satisfying ways.

The three characters that remain more-or-less consistent throughout the show are Vinnie Terranova, an undercover agent for the Organized Crime Bureau, Frank McPike, his handler, and Dan “Lifeguard” Burroughs, the OCB call-center operator who gives Vinnie field instructions.

Vinnie Terranova is just on the border of thirty when the series begins, a gregarious kid-from-the-neighborhood, just out of a cover-establishing 18-month stint in prison. He is a bundle of contradictions— quick to fall but slow to trust, a practicing Catholic who chose a job in the field of lying and murder, a 50’s hood irritated by bigotry. Vinnie is both far smarter and more sensitive than anyone gives him credit for, which is both his greatest strength and his fatal flaw— empathetic undercover agents burn out fast. He spends a surprising amount of the series trying and failing to quit his job. He has a marshmallow center, a steel-trap mind, and the general affect of your cousin who dropped out of college to marry his pregnant high school sweetheart. He also has no idea that his type is “angry asshole” and keeps being surprised when he falls for them.

Frank McPike is a curmudgeon's curmudgeon, a career fed with a chip on his shoulder, a fathoms-deep sense of cynicism, and a collapsing marriage. He and Vinnie begin the series at odds, and as you watch the first few episodes, you're going to seriously struggle to believe me when I say that the affection between Frank and Vinnie becomes the absolute thematic and emotional heart of the series. Frank is also a genuine oddball failing to pose as a tough guy; he makes noises, he lurks in strange costumes, and the words he chooses when he’s irritated beggar normal human understanding.

We don’t get to know Dan as quickly or as deeply as we get to know Vinnie and Frank (in fact, he’s introduced as “Mike”), but he’s the man behind the curtain, a guiding moral and emotional star for Vinnie, a talented musician, and a cheerful face with a lot of anger bubbling just below the surface. He offers life advice even as his own home life is in constant meltdown, and loves both Vinnie and Frank with a fierce, sarcastic weariness. Dan is also an amputee, and his disability is portrayed with respect and without pity— a rarity for television even now, but especially in 1988.

You’ll absolutely fall in love with these three, but one of the things that makes Wiseguy so special is its fantastic supporting cast. The world is fleshed out and lived in, and you get the distinct sense that all the recurring characters have their own lives we don’t get to see off screen. There’s Carlotta— Vinnie’s mother, as contradictory and sharp as her son, Pete— Vinnie’s brother, a progressive basketball-playing priest, Roger Lococco— a killer-for-hire who refers to every person on the planet as Buckwheat, Rudy Aiuppo— an elderly don with the heart of a trickster spirit, and a whole host of others who enter and exit the narrative throughout the arcs of the show. There are also a whole host of wonderful arc-based characters played by incredible actors, journeymen and and famous alike— including turns from Tim Curry, Debbie Harry, Jerry Lewis, Stanley Tucci, Patti D’Arbanville, Stephen Bauer, and Billy Dee Williams. You can tell everyone involved in the show had a fantastic time working on it, and nearly every actor who comes aboard really puts their whole Wisegussy into it gives it their all.

You notice that as I’ve been speaking, the lights have dimmed slightly, and the strains of an organetto have started to play quietly in the background. A man in a rumpled suit is smoking nearby, though you are fairly certain smoking indoors hasn’t been legal in a number of years. I pass you a plate of espresso and biscotti.

Let’s talk arcs.

The first arc of the show, known as the Steelgrave arc, is a lot of fans’ favorite arc of the show, and for good reason. Vinnie infiltrates a New Jersey mob organization, and gets very, very close* to this man:

Sonny Steelgrave, human Knife Cat, is a complicated man, and Vinnie has complicated feelings about him. He’s very nearly a co-protagonist to Vinnie in this arc, and the show artfully toes the line between condemning him and making it clear that he’s not always entirely wrong. Vinnie’s goal is to get Sonny into prison and take down the entire family— how and whether he achieves this goal is best left unspoiled. Sonny may not have been the first complicated, likable villain on television, but his arc is intense, heart-wrenching, and splendidly morally grey. I don’t think it’s an overstatement to say that the Steelgrave arc is the best nine hour mob movie ever aired on television.

*I’m really not kidding about the closeness. There’s an episode where Sonny announces he’s getting married and literally all the other mobsters are like ‘oh, now I understand why Vinnie has been in a bad mood all day.’ They are as close to canonically in love as a federal agent and a mobster have ever been portrayed on screen.

Lest you get Kevin-Spacey-jumpscared, the following arc unfortunately has Kevin Spacey in it. Thankfully he plays a slimy sister-kissing coked-up hypercapitalist, so it’s fairly easy to just hate his character in the same way you hate the actor and move on with your life.

This arc, the Profitt arc— in which Vinnie is tasked with taking down a wealthy business mogul who is suspected of drug-and-gun-running— is, for many fans, a close second to the Steelgrave arc. It’s an interesting change of tone and locale, and introduces Roger Lococco, who is a really stellar supporting character. Personally, I rank a bunch of other arcs above Profitt, because no matter how much I like Roger, Mel and Susan are bananas, and they wear out their welcome before they exit the narrative. Regardless, it’s a stylish arc— one that rather kicks truth, justice, and the American way in the teeth— and Mel’s machinations have serious reverberations later in the show. The Roger subplot is also genuinely excellent, and good old Corey Matthews’ Dad plays him with aplomb.

Back home, after trying to quit his job and failing, Vinnie has to deal with a threat with much smaller, but far more personal stakes. A white supremacy group has moved into his neighborhood and is attempting to recruit working-class Italians to their cause, pitting an older immigrant group against a newer one, pitting Catholics against Jews, and pitting a previously “ethnic” group’s newly acquired “whiteness” against people of color. I have mixed feelings about the Pilgrims of Promise/White Supremacy arc, because it’s truly quite good, and it pulls no punches about the kind of people fascists are and prey on, but it’s also exceptionally fucking upsetting that nothing has changed at all since 1988. Literally you could remake this arc word for word today and a) it would be exactly as believable, and b) your show would be immediately boycotted and canceled for being too “woke.” Great writing, great stakes, great character motivation; so, so uncomfortable to watch.

And then Ken Wahl breaks his leg in real life, and they have to replace him for a few weeks.

The Garment Trade arc starts off pretty promising— Vinnie meets with the son of a clothing manufacturer, they have great (borderline meet-cute) chemistry, it’s a wonderfully New-York-in-the-80’s kind of storyline, Jerry Lewis is there, and I think it’s the only time I’ve ever seen Sukkot represented on TV— and then Vinnie has to leave for the next four episodes because of Wahl’s broken leg. They rewrote the arc on the fly, and considering that, it’s pretty good. Jerry Lewis is still there, and he gives the serious, dramatic performance of a lifetime, and Stanley Tucci chews scenery as The World’s Slimiest Businessman. We meet Vinnie’s childhood bestie, “Mooch,” whose actor, delightfully, starred beside Ken Wahl in 1979’s The Wanderers. My beautiful and talented wife Joan Chen even shows up for an episode. However, all of this is undercut by the lack of Vinnie; his replacement, a semi-retired agent named Raglin, is… a bit milquetoast. He’s okay, and he’s given some interesting backstory in his final episode, but he’s no Vinnie.

Once again sporting a functional leg, Vinnie returns, and my favorite arc other than Steelgrave follows.

In the Dead Dog arc, Vinnie has to pose as a music producer, because the OCB traded an airplane for a music label. It’s the dumbest, most fantastic plot device of all time, and brings me incalculable joy. I literally made Dead Dog t-shirts because I love this stupid fake music label owned by a fictional government agency so much.

The Dead Dog arc sees Vinnie at his happiest (the poor man really, really just wants to quit undercover work and stop being involved with Murder Organizations), and the crime he’s investigating is… wait for it… bootleg CDs. You would think this would be a ridiculously boring premise for an investigation, but the Dead Dog arc has Tim Curry, Debbie Harry, Glenn Frey, and Patty D’Arbanville playing a cadre of unhinged music industry moguls all attempting to stab each other in the back, and it is exactly as chaotic as you would expect based on that cast. This arc also had a bunch of original music produced for it, which is extremely fucking cool, except that then the studio lost the rights to the music it created and this arc became inaccessible and unwatchable except through circulating the tapes, so to speak, of early 90’s TV rips. (The irony is not lost on me that the arc about the Evils of Piracy is the arc that one must pirate.) Miraculously, in the last year, Wiseguy’s rights have been renegotiated, and the newest sets of the show have Dead Dog restored. Accessibility via streaming is still a bit of a mixed bag— the episodes were streaming on Tubi and Youtube briefly, but now appear to have been taken down again.

After his turn as a surprisingly successful music producer, Vinnie returns to his roots: the mob. In the Mob Wars/Trash Wars arc, Vinnie unintentionally becomes the temporary leader of the local mafia commission (I will not spoil how.) The OCB wants to use this as an opportunity to take down the entire organization from the inside out, and Vinnie must deal with mafia backstabbing, pressure from Frank and the OCB, and surprisingly personal stakes. It’s an unspectacular but solid arc that regrounds the series, and the interpersonal aspects of the story— and its examination of fathers and sons and generational inheritance of social rules and expectations— are excellent. The Mafia Wars storyline won’t blow your pants off, but it’s thoughtful and well-executed and reminds us of who Vinnie is and where he came from.

What follows is another of my favorite arcs, referred to as the DC or Counterfeit Yen arc, but perhaps better described as the Mr. Terranova Goes to Washington arc. Vinnie is summoned by the federal government to investigate counterfeiting, and thus unfolds a multinational conspiracy that ties back to the Profitt arc. Much like the White Supremacy arc, this arc is distressingly current— Vinnie is a patsy for a group of corrupt republican senators who want to destabilize the currency of a perceived East Asian economic rival. It’s Yen here, but all you’d need to do to bring this arc into 2023 is swap out references to Japan for China, because the American government has changed very little from the 80’s and has to be awful about some country somewhere or, I don’t know, a bunch of horrible old racist politicians will shit themselves. Vinnie enters talking like Jimmy Stewart, and leaves with one more thing to be crushed and disillusioned about. We get some riveting and stomach-churning courtroom drama, the bad guy turns out to be capitalism all along, and Frank threatens to shoot a Howard Hughes stand-in on a ski lift.

And then somehow we end up in Twin Peaks. The Lynchboro arc predates Twin Peaks by a whopping two months, indicating a total coincidence of premise similarities, but it does take place in a corrupt rural Pacific Northwest town unduly influenced by one large family/company, wherein an outsider has to investigate a tangled conspiracy and deal with strange townsfolk and some spooky happenings. There’s no way either show could’ve plagiarized the other— they were assuredly written and in production at the same time— but it is deeply bizarre. In the Lynchboro arc, Vinnie goes undercover as a local beat cop, and finds himself faced with both a serial killer and a land-rights and building-contracts espionage plot. He also has to deal with Mark Volchek, the ostensible “owner” of the town, and his eccentricity and decreasing grip on reality. Roger returns, and Vinnie must finally confront the enormity of his trauma. One major character is literally brought back from the edge of death by another character’s crushing love for them, expressed via church bells. It doesn’t exactly end on a cliffhanger, but it doesn’t not, either.

And then Ken Wahl quit.

Season Four begins with a deeply depressed, heavily bearded Frank struggling to find the will to live after Vinnie has disappeared. (I don’t think I’m really at risk of spoiling anything serious by saying that we are “supposed” to think Vinnie is permanently gone, but that there are a huge number of blatantly spotlighted contradictions in that story. Wahl left on decent terms, and I firmly believe the Wiseguy staff was expecting to eventually win him back to the show and have his absence turn out to be a ruse. Unfortunately, Wiseguy got cancelled before this could happen.) Frank spends the first (and only complete) arc of this season investigating his partner’s disappearance, eventually working with the supposedly-corrupt DA who helped establish Vinnie’s cover back before Season One.

It’s not an uncommon opinion to say, ‘hey, just skip S4’— and honestly, if you chose to watch S1-3, you’d have consumed a wonderful story with a reasonably coherent ending. But I don’t actually hate Season Four. The “new Vinnie—” Michael Santana, played by pretty-boy Scarface alum Stephen Bauer— is exceptionally likeable, and he brings with him a new set of characters who are also quite compelling. Furthermore, if you’re a Frank fan, he really gets the spotlight in this season, and if you’re a Frank/Vinnie fan, Vinnie may not be around, but Frank’s despair is really fucking something else. It’s almost worth it just to see him lie to the FBI and tell them he “never crossed the line” of professionalism with Vinnie.

Unfortunately, the next arc sets up something really compelling and unique, but it’s only 3 (unaired on TV) episodes, and ends on a complete cliffhanger, because the show was unceremoniously cancelled. After his niece is shot in the midst of teenage gang violence, Michael teams up with Billy Dee Lando Calrissian Fucking Williams to investigate red-lining and racist underfunding of schools. Oliver Stone shows up in the last like, ten minutes of the last episode?? I would be all over this storyline if it wasn’t just dropped like a moldy tomato, but I guess that’s what fanfiction is for. It’s not how Wiseguy deserved to go out, but hey, it was really aiming for the stars even as the plug got pulled.

Oh, and if anyone tells you there’s a 1996 TV movie, no, there isn’t.*

(*The movie is so deeply mediocre that it’s worse than any of the controversy surrounding Season Four. It essentially retcons all of S4 and, frankly, really the last few episodes of S3, and presents a bland, uninspired “getting the gang back together” story that retreads thematic materials from the show without saying anything new. Vinnie has apparently been doing wiretapping for 6 years, which is completely at odds with everything we know about his character, and he and Frank are treated as “dinosaurs” that the OCB doesn’t know what to do with, and yet they are also simultaneously the only ones who can take care of a nearly-kidnapped child. It’s rushed, it’s emotionally hollow, the actors are phoning it in, and it ignores all of the character development from the series in a way that renders its plot nearly nonsensical. Furthermore, Ken Wahl had been in a seriously disabling motorcycle accident a few years before, so his apparent discomfort and stiffness throughout the film is because he’s genuinely in significant pain. Don’t watch the movie. You can always write fix-it fic for how Vinnie manages to come back after Season Four. It’s much harder to write fix-it fic for boring character assassination written by the 'due-process-is-for-pussies-and-torture-works' 24 guy.)

One of the other delightful things about Wiseguy is that Vinnie is both a big softie and yet is also saddled with a bizarre sort of erotic smolder, and therefore he has ridiculous chemistry with basically half the cast of the show. Vinnie very much seems a guy like you could say some blandly nice things to and buy him dinner, and you’d wake up, exhausted and satisfied, the next morning to him cooking breakfast. You’d think, wow, this guy is so thoughtful, he must be the one— and then you’d turn your head and he’d have immediately been seduced by the next schmuck down the line. He’s a good boy, but his “acceptable romantic target” sensors are so wildly mistuned as to render him, affectionately, a tragic slut. Will he end up with a mobster? One of a number of widows? His boss? No one knows but god.

Vinnie is also heavily bi-coded— his relationship with Sonny is almost explicitly romantic, he calls out Roger for homophobia (in 1989), one of his old friend asks if the reason he’s not married is because he ‘likes boys,’ and he doesn’t say no, and he has a borderline I-love-you moment with Frank. The boy just wants someone to love him, goddammit.

I’m also really not kidding about Vinnie and Frank developing into the emotional core of the series. They live together for a period of time. They both imply they can’t live without the other. They go shopping for Dan’s birthday together. They pick up Frank’s ailing father from the nursing home together. Frank picks out Vinnie’s tie.

You pick at the plate of spaghetti that appeared in front of you, unsure of either its provenance or why it came after dessert. It’s the best spaghetti you’ve ever had, and that frightens you, somehow.

I lean in close to whisper to you about crime. You note that at some point I changed into a pinstriped suit. You don’t remember me changing, or even getting up— you console yourself with the notion that maybe I’d been wearing it from the start, even though you know that isn’t true.

So, the thing about Wiseguy is— well— it’s more available than it used to be. The whole series was recently released on blu-ray, and both that set and the most recent DVD sets actually have every episode, a change from the previous releases. As of August 2023, all of the series except Dead Dog is available, legally, on Youtube. This is a vast improvement from even two or three years ago, when multiple episodes weren’t available through any means but blurry, VHS-tracking-laden downloads of TV rips.

Unfortunately, the most recent renegotiation of the series home video and streaming rights still failed on the music rights front. Dead Dog has been spared the hammer, but there are still places where the series has gaps. Notably, there’s an episode (Stairway to Heaven) where Frank murders a jukebox, and looks completely fucking insane, because the original (thematically meaningful) music the jukebox was playing was replaced with generic elevator music. Worse, the final episode of the Steelgrave arc (No One Gets Out of Here Alive) is missing two musical cues: in one instance, Sonny himself is singing, in a fit of mania, and the footage has straight up been cut from the episode because they couldn’t get the rights to The Young Rascals’ Good Lovin’. Equally egregious, The Moody Blues’ Nights in White Satin, which originally played over nearly a minute of sustained, silent eye contact between Sonny and Vinnie— has been replaced with the Wiseguy opening theme. It renders a scene which should be quite clearly devastating and unsubtly romantic instead utterly awkward and bizarre. It’s hard to demonstrate just how jarring the change is unless you’ve seen the scene, but suffice to say that everyone I know who has seen both versions— in either order— has expressed horror and bafflement at the substitution.

Which is to say: there’s a couple of episodes of Wiseguy you’re probably going to want to locate those shitty old TV rips of. It’s worth it, even if it seems like it wouldn’t be.

I place my hand over yours. You jump a little. I have a number of large, dark-stoned signet rings, and my hand is strangely cold.

I make you an offer you can’t refuse.

You’re going to watch Wiseguy.

#wiseguy #tv recommendations #fandom #80's #retro tv

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xb-squaredx · 1 year ago

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A Tribute to Akira Toriyama

It’s been a bit over 24 hours since I’ve heard the news that acclaimed manga author, Akira Toriyama, has passed away, and frankly it’s still hard to process. I’d like to just say a few things to honor and mourn a man that I have never met, but whose work touched me and millions of others all over the world in ways I am only now really beginning to see.

Like a lot of 90s kids in the United States, my first exposure with Toriyama’s work was through the Dragon Ball Z anime. Despite the fact that I didn’t even know this was a sequel to a completely different series, and I had no real clue what anime even was at the time, I was captivated. For years I would race home from school and sit glued in front of the TV as Toonami would air the latest episodes. A phenomenon that rippled out across the world for several years in waves, from the original airing of DBZ, to some snippets of the original Dragon Ball and even later on with the anime-only continuation that was Dragon Ball GT, this series had such a hold on me. Friends and I would spend recess trying to recreate the iconic Kamehameha Wave, we’d scream trying to become a Super Saiyan, or take turns fighting each other in one of the MANY different video games based on the series over time. I’ve made friends through my love of Dragon Ball and it would go on to foster a love of anime and later manga. But little did I know just how far Toriyama’s influence would reach.

While I was never all that knowledgeable of his past work, particularly Dr. Slump, so many other series would be inspired by him or have his involvement in some way. Sonic the Hedgehog’s Super Sonic is an easy reference to spot, but less so was Cloud Strife’s garb in Final Fantasy VII being a dead ringer for Gohan’s outfit in the Cell Saga. As long as we’re talking about RPGs, Toriyama’s long history with various properties, from Chrono Trigger to Blue Dragon, and going back to the grandfather of all RPGS in Dragon Quest, it’s safe to say his legacy is felt in multiple mediums rather than just one. This wasn’t even limited to Japanese media either. I would see references to Dragon Ball in things like The Powerpuff Girls or Codename: Kids Next Door. Even well into my 20s, I was still seeing series inspired by him, like the whole fusion concept that made up Steven Universe. His reach was vast and multigenerational.

As I would get older, I would listen to Linkin Park AMVs on YouTube, with songs like Numb or In the End overlaid over the various hypest moments from the Dragon Ball series and its later movies. Even long after the series had finished airing, you’d still see the rare movie or special crop up, alongside an endless series of games trying to capitalize on the success of the Budokai Tenkaichi games. Toriyama was inescapable, and in a way it was comforting. You start to get used to his work being there, whether subtly or overtly. You never think about the day when he’ll be gone.

When first reading the article stating his death, it took a moment to really let it sink in. This man who had been with me, inspiring me throughout my childhood, was gone just like that. Over the past day I’ve seen the greater Internet in mourning, as people share their favorite manga panels, or iconic moments from the various anime interpretations of his work. Outpourings of fanart and inspirational stories from people who grew up with his work just like I did. There are people that got into bodybuilding to be just like Goku, for one. For another, during the finale of Dragon Ball Super there were massive watch parties set up in Mexico and even when authorities tried to stop the events they went forward anyway because they just had to see how Goku could finally defeat Jiren. I remember when Trunks first appeared in the anime, and I thought he was the coolest. I had to try to draw and replicate his first appearance, how he defeated Frieza, the person that took Goku so long to defeat, in a mere instant; I’m realizing now Toriyama might have been my real inspiration to start drawing, alongside who knows how many thousands if not millions of people. As sad as it is to see him go, to see so many people pay tribute and remember him, it really does lay bare just how influential he was, just how powerful art can really be.

It was only in more recent years that I’ve come to really respect Toriyama’s craft. Far beyond the screaming and power ups that many associate with him from Dragon Ball Z this was also a man who valued whimsy. He got his start as a comedy author, and for the longest time the Dragon Ball manga was just a humorous retelling of Journey to the West. The man loved a good bit of toilet humor and the occasional fourth wall break. Looking back at his manga, you can see just how amazing his panel work was, and how it still holds up. The ease at which he guides your eye from panel to panel, the expressiveness of his characters conveyed at all times. Many of his peers have called him a God of Manga, and I think they’re right to do so. The likes of Osamu Tezuka, the creator of manga, had called Toriyama his heir apparent, and stated he was “almost too good.” You can’t get higher praise than that.

Outside of his manga work, just his raw talent at creating iconic character designs needs to be praised. Taking a rather uninteresting mockup of the slime enemy in Dragon Quest, Toriyama would create perhaps the most iconic enemy in all of video games. His enemy designs are often cute and goofy, but occasionally can be quite ferocious. If nothing else, they are eye-catching and never boring. He was also a fan of vehicles and machines, with some really interesting modes of transportation shown off in a lot of his work. And then there’s the fact that so many of his characters have the trademark spikey haircut that has become shorthand for “anime hair,” that is understood to this day. To see him effectively retire after finishing with Dragon Ball back in the 90s, with the occasional contribution here or there, only to get right back to business as usual in the 2010s with amazing designs like Beerus or Android 21, not to mention his continual work on the Dragon Quest series all throughout that time…the man never lost his edge even once.

A sentiment I’ve seen over the last day or so is that Toriyama might, with no exaggeration, have inspired more artists than anyone else in modern history. So many people making their own “Saiyan-sonas” or being inspired to make manga of their own…we may truly never know how far his reach really was at the end of the day. But we do know that the “Big Three” of Shonen Jump throughout the 2000s can be attributed to Toriyama, as the likes of Eiichiro Oda, Masashi Kishimoto and Tite Kubo are all big fans of Toriyama, with Oda in particular worshiping the ground he walks on. Kubo is also on the record for stating that a letter from Toriyama, when his first draft of what would later become BLEACH was rejected, gave him the encouragement to try again and later be accepted into the magazine. And now these authors have gone on to inspire the next generation and so on and so on.

Over the last few years, we’ve lost a lot of creative figures in the manga industry. Toriyama now joins other similar legends, such as Yu-Gi-Oh creator Kazuki Takahashi as well as Berserk author Kentaro Miura. It is the end of an era, arguably of many eras, and it can be hard to imagine the future, but the Earth continues to spin and as Toriyama has inspired and influenced others, we too will inspire future generations with our work. It isn’t enough to call him a legend; he truly was in a league of his own, a legend among legends, and the outpouring of love for him across all manner of social media posts in just a little over a day alone is a testament to his immense talent and reach. I can think of no greater sendoff than the one that Eiichiro Oda gave him: “I pray for his soulful rest in peace. May heaven be the joyous world he envisioned.”

Rest in peace, and thanks for everything, Mr. Toriyama.

-B

#akira toriyama #thank you for everything

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