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From the original Dragon Ball manga, to Dragon Ball Daima, everything in-between and beyond, join cohosts Jelli and Bekinney as they delve into the world of Akira Toriyama, and discuss lesser-known facts about the worldwide manga and anime phenomenon that is one of the most well-known and popular Japanese pop culture exports of all-time. Want to learn about the cultural importance of moments, literary inspirations behind scenes and characters, production facts, and more? Whether you‘re a fan of Goku, Vegeta, or any of the cast of characters including Piccolo, Krillin, Gohan, Frieza, or even Broly, there should be something for you to enjoy. We are two life-long fans of the franchise and wanted to transform our fan status from low level warrior to Super Saiyan, so join us as we delve into the world of Dragon Ball and not only meet our fictional characters, but also discuss the creative minds behind them such as composers Shinsuke Kikuchi and Bruce Faulconer, directors like Daisuke Nishio and Tatsuya Nagamine, editors/writers Kazuhiko Torishima and Toyotarou, voice actors like Masako Nozawa, Sean Schemmel, and Chris Sabat, and of course, Akira Toriyama himself. We release every other week with discussions lasting about 40-60 minutes. We‘ll have discussions, guests, interviews, reviews, and commentaries so grab a senzu bean, channel your ki, and get ready to learn about Kakarot and his friends, and of course, thank you for helping us achieve our FINAL FORUM...We hear it‘s over 9000.
Episodes
2 days ago
2 days ago
What does it take to be one of the most well-respected voice actors of all-time? Jelli and Bekinney have finished the "Dragon Ball" portion of Dragon Ball. That means it's time for Dragon Ball Z, right? Welllll....let's take a break from format and Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon Dragon Ball by pivoting and talking about the life and personality and career of one of the most important figures in Dragon Ball, the voice of Goku himself: Masako Nozawa.
In this episode:
- Jelli has Bekinney prep for a spacewalk.
- We have already discussed the life and career of Akira Toriyama, Daisuke Nishio, Toshiki Inoue, Takao Koyama, Chiaki Imada, Jackie Chan, and Kazuhiko Torishima. Slowly chewing up "behind the camera" talents to discuss, we talk about one of the "faces" of Dragon Ball, Masako Nozawa.
- Nozawa's birth in Nippori Town and childhood in Numata, in Gunma Prefecture
- Her early career in child acting and theater acting
- Her father Ryoshu Nozawa, a moderately well-known painter, and her unique parentage
- Why Nozawa moved from Tokyo to Numata as a child (hint: in 1944)
- Her initial intentions to pursue stage acting and her first forays into voice acting, doing dubbing for Western films
- Her "big break" in anime voice acting, in an episode of Astroboy, considered by many to be the "first" anime series
- An interesting synergy with her husband, voice actor Masaaki Tsukada, and how they both have a character voiced in English by Sean Schemmel
- Her career with various talent agencies and her foray into establishing her own
- How missing out on a return to Gegege no Kitaro led to her landing the Dragon Ball gig
- Her philosophy when it comes to voice acting and her work process
- What Akira Toriyama said to her that makes her continue to portray Goku, even as she nears her 90s
- and more, including some general pop culture, trivia, and editorializing, as usual
Join us as we continue to uncover the cultural meanings, publication facts, inspirations and more behind the wildly popular Dragon Ball franchise, and unspool what we all love so much about Goku, the Dragon Ball franchise, the Dragon Ball anime, Dragon Ball manga, and more.
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https://twitter.com/finalforumpod
Tuesday Nov 12, 2024
Tuesday Nov 12, 2024
The world of Dragon Ball is all abuzz so we felt we needed to put together a special BONUS episode for everyone. There is new Dragon Ball for the first time in years and we felt it was important to share our thoughts and opinions.
Join Jelli and Bekinney as we continue looking at Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball franchise by tackling a discussion of Dragon Ball Daima, and its first five episodes: "Conspiracy," "Glorio," Daima," "Chatty," and "Panzy".
Who is Glorio, and what are his motives?
What will the recently-introduced Panzy bring to the table?
What interesting cultural concepts are behind the likes of Warp Sama and the Evil Third Eye?
What of the rest of the cast? Where do Bulma, Piccolo, Vegeta, Gohan and others fit in?
What's the potential significance of a three-person fusion?
Did Jelli and Bekinney have a good Halloween?
How many trick-or-treaters did they get?
Wait, what?
What's happening in now in Jelli's household?
Are we okay?
Join us for this more casual conversation as we dig through the world of Daima and continue to uncover the cultural meanings, publication facts, inspirations and more behind the wildly popular Dragon Ball franchise.
https://www.facebook.com/FinalForumPodcast
https://twitter.com/finalforumpod
Tuesday Nov 05, 2024
Tuesday Nov 05, 2024
We couldn't do this one alone, so we reached out to some new friends. Joining us on Final Forum this week, we have Vince and Aaron of Kame House Party and Randy of We Gotta Podcast as we tear into the original Dragon Ball one more time and wrap up the first 153 episodes (194 manga chapters).
We run through the arcs, talk about favorite moments, funniest bits, best animation and give our rankings along the way. Who's got the hot takes? What's a show like with five voices on it? Tune in and find out!
We also discuss Dragon Ball Daima and Dragon Ball Sparking Zero at the end, so make sure to listen all the way through!
Kame House Party Links:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnRm6TPfFd6lnfA_JWz0SOQ
https://moonshotpods.com/kame-house-party/
https://www.instagram.com/kamehouseparty/
We Gotta Podcast Links:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCitidhDC9ExX7sVtytQc9Lg
https://open.spotify.com/show/6CIbbgkAwkma5nR7sramSt
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/we-gotta-podcast-dragon-ball-from-a-to-z/id1554086515
Join us as we continue to uncover the cultural meanings, publication facts, inspirations and more behind the wildly popular Dragon Ball franchise, and unspool what we all love so much about Goku, the Dragon Ball franchise, the Dragon Ball anime, Dragon Ball manga, and more.
https://www.facebook.com/FinalForumPodcast
https://twitter.com/finalforumpod
Tuesday Oct 29, 2024
Tuesday Oct 29, 2024
Welcome to Final Forum's Dragon Ball-oween Spooktacular!
In this special Jelli-only mini-sode we take a complete break from format, and from breaking down Akira Toriyama's manga and anime smash success to continue our October/Halloween Festivities and on this episode, it's all about villainy. Because dastardly evildoers are a big part of Halloween. That makes sense right? Right?
Sure.
So, who will make Jelli's Top Ten Dragon Ball Villains? The pool to choose from is ENORMOUS:
Vegeta, Tien Shienhan, Oolong, Emperor Pilaf, Giran, Ninja Murasaki, General Blue, Tao Paipai, Commander Red, Piccolo, King Piccolo, Raditz, Nappa, Frieza, Dodoria, Captain Ginyu, Zarbon, Jace, Burter, Recoome, Guldo, Android 19, Android 20, Dr. Gero, Android 17, Android 18, Android 16, King Cold, Cooler, Turles, Lord Slug, Super Android 13, Garlic Jr, Cell, Perfect Cell, Semi-Perfect Cell, Majin Buu, Dabura, Babidi, Fat Buu, Evil Buu, Kid Buu, Beerus, Jiren, Goku Black, Zamasu, Hit, Frost, Cell Max, Moro, Gas, Elec....
....and more...?
Jelli threw all these in a pile and picked out just TEN of his favorites. Who will they be?
Tuesday Oct 22, 2024
Tuesday Oct 22, 2024
Why are we talking about Castle in the Sky and Studio Ghibli on our Dragon Ball show? Tune in to this episode to find out! It's time for Final Forum's Dragon Ball-oween Spooktacular!
In this episode, Jelli and Bekinney break down the 1986 movie, Castle in the Sky directed by Hayao Miyazaki and released by Studio Ghibli via a watch-along commentary. It's part of our October/Halloween Festivities where we're taking a break from breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon and delving into times our franchise's creators have "put on a costume" and worked on other shows and movies.
In this episode:
- Jelli and Bekinney get right into it, with no time for frivolousness. This movie is two hours long. There's no time for silliness.
- Contextualizing Castle in the Sky and why we're covering it on a Dragon Ball podcast
- Where Castle in the Sky fits into the timeline of Dragon Ball, notably during the 21st Tenkaichi Budokai in the anime, and the Red Ribbon Army Saga (specifically during Tao Paipai's appearance and the training with Master Korin) in the manga
- How Miyazaki was inspired by a trip to Wales and the Coal Miner's Strike in the UK
- Shindo Productions, who did keyframe animation for this movie....and Curse of the Blood Rubies
- A brief biography of Mitsuo Shindo, and his worko n Dragon Ball, Dr Slump and Dragon Ball Z
- Tadayoshi Yamamuro, and his career in Dragon Ball, including his work as lead character designer for Dragon Ball Super
- How Yamamuro's style differs from that of Minoru Maeda
- What drew Yamamuro to Dragon Ball and his thoughts on characters such as Goku, Frieza, Bojack, and Janemba
- Yamamuro's thoughts on the most difficult thing to draw
- Voice actress Mayumi Tanaka, voice of Pazu, Yajirobe, and of course, One Piece's Monkey D Luffy
- How Tanaka utilized a career in theater, to break into the world of voice acting via Urusei Yatsura, and leveraged her part as Pazu to become cast as the voice of Luffy in One Piece
- Other Dragon Ball notables from the voice cast: Keiko Yokozawa, voice of Sheeta here and Anin from the Bansho Fan filler episodes we just discussed; Ichiro Nagai, voice of the General here and Crane Hermit and Master Korin; Ryuji Saikachi, voicing the engineer here, and Grand Kai in the Other World Tournament filler arc; Tomomichi Nishimura, voice of the Supreme Kai of Universe 4 in Dragon Ball Super's Tournament of Power arc
- Notable actors from the dub cast including Eddie Frierson, voicing the train engineer here, but Tienshinhan in the Harmony Gold dub of Dragon Ball, as well as Ken in the Street Fighter II animated movie
- Anna Paquin, Jim Cummings (leading to a lot of Winnie the Pooh talk), Mandy Patinkin (Hallo, my name is Inigo Montoya), Richard Dysart (The Thing), Tress Macneille (a million things including Mom in Futurama and Agnes Skinner in The Simpsons); and Cloris Leachman aka Frau Blucha
- Mark Hammill...ever heard of him?
- Discussing Studio Ghibli, their start, and how a double bill of Grave of the Fireflies and My Neighbor Totoro finally led to them breaking out; their partnership with Disney; Disney helping propel Ghibli to Miyazaki's first Oscar win at the 75th Academy Awards Ceremony for Spirited Away; and how GKids wound up swooping in due to a disagreement between Ghibli and Disney over From Up on Poppy Hill
- We also talk about how Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind was edited for a movie called Warriors of the Wind, give thoughts on Only Yesterday, Ocean Waves, The Tale of Princess Kaguya, When Marnie was There, Kiki's Delivery Service, Porco Rosso, Pom Poko, Whisper of the Heart, Princess Mononoke, The Cat Returns, Howl's Moving Castle, Tales from Earthsea, Ponyo, Arrietty, The Wind Rises and Earwig and the Witch throughout the episode, as well as our plans to eventually watch The Boy and the Heron
- Miyazaki's career, including his work on The Wonderful World of Puss in Boots (and Toei's mascot Pero), Wolf Boy Ken, Doggie March (and helping to launch the Toei Manga Matsuri), and Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro
- Miyazaki's philosophical disagreements with Takashi Yamazaki (director of Godzilla Minus One and The Eternal Zero) as well as Naoki Hyakuta (author of The Eternal Zero)
- Miyazaki's influences including Osamu Tezuka, Lewis Carroll, Nick Park (Wallace and Gromit), Roald Dahl and the 1957 animated Soviet film, The Snow Queen.
- Miyazaki being dubbed the Disney of Japan as well as the Kurosawa of Animation
- ...and more, including some general pop culture, trivia, and editorializing, as usual
Join us as we continue to uncover the cultural meanings, publication facts, inspirations and more behind the wildly popular Dragon Ball franchise....or in this case, the Sand Land trans-media franchise....for our special Dragon Ball-o-Ween event!
https://www.facebook.com/FinalForumPodcast
https://twitter.com/finalforumpod
https://www.facebook.com/kaijutransmissionspodcast
Tuesday Oct 15, 2024
Tuesday Oct 15, 2024
Welcome to Final Forum's Dragon Ball-oween Spooktacular!
In this special Bekinney-only mini-sode we take a complete break from format, and from breaking down Akira Toriyama's manga and anime smash success to continue our October/Halloween Festivities and on this episode, it's all about villainy. Because dastardly evildoers are a big part of Halloween. That makes sense right? Right?
Sure.
So, who will make Bekinney's Top Ten Dragon Ball Villains? The pool to choose from is ENORMOUS:
Vegeta, Tien Shienhan, Oolong, Emperor Pilaf, Giran, Ninja Murasaki, General Blue, Tao Paipai, Commander Red, Piccolo, King Piccolo, Raditz, Nappa, Frieza, Dodoria, Captain Ginyu, Zarbon, Jace, Burter, Recoome, Guldo, Android 19, Android 20, Dr. Gero, Android 17, Android 18, Android 16, King Cold, Cooler, Turles, Lord Slug, Super Android 13, Garlic Jr, Cell, Perfect Cell, Semi-Perfect Cell, Majin Buu, Dabura, Babidi, Fat Buu, Evil Buu, Kid Buu, Beerus, Jiren, Goku Black, Zamasu, Hit, Frost, Cell Max, Moro, Gas, Elec....
....and more...?
Bekinney threw all these in a pile and picked out just TEN of his favorites. Who will they be?
Tuesday Oct 08, 2024
Tuesday Oct 08, 2024
It's time for Final Forum's Dragon Ball-oween Spooktacular!
In this episode, Jelli and Bekinney break down Akira Toriyama's manga, anime, and video game Sand Land. It's part of our October/Halloween Festivities where we're taking a break from breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon and delving into times our franchise's creators have "put on a costume" and worked on other shows and movies.
In this episode:
- Jelli and Bekinney get right into it, with no time for frivolousness. We have a manga, a movie, a tv series, and a game to talk about here, people.
- Contextualizing Sand Land and the later years of Akira Toriyama's career
- Talking about his mindset in creating Sand Land, Beelzebub, and the tank which features in much of the story
- Breaking down some Toriyama inversions and plays on culture including:
- Beelzebub - the role of the Lord of the Flies, or Lord of All That Flies as in Judeo-Christian mythology and the origins coming from Baal and the Philistines
- Rao - Where Toriyama may have taken inspiration from, either Dungeons and Dragons or Fist of the North Star
- Another meaning for Rao, coming from Indian culture and how that might tie into the character's other name: Shiva
- Shifu or Thief and that character's name and role
- Where the names Zeu, Apo, and Are come from (Zeus, Apollo and Ares)
- Talking about the production of the anime and its release as well as the voice cast behind it
- Briefly discussing the video game
- Breaking down the story and our thoughts on the Sand Land franchise
- ...and more, including some general pop culture, trivia, and editorializing, as usual
Join us as we continue to uncover the cultural meanings, publication facts, inspirations and more behind the wildly popular Dragon Ball franchise....or in this case, the Sand Land trans-media franchise....for our special Dragon Ball-o-Ween event!
https://www.facebook.com/FinalForumPodcast
https://twitter.com/finalforumpod
https://www.facebook.com/kaijutransmissionspodcast
Tuesday Sep 24, 2024
Tuesday Sep 24, 2024
Jelli and Bekinney continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon Dragon Ball by jumping into comparing the Dragon Ball anime to the Dragon Ball manga. We continue discussing Piccolo Jr arc, and talk about Goku's character growth.
In this episode:
- Jelli and Bekinney are almost back to their ship
- We recap the story a little bit
- Goku's character growth from being overly impetuous and rash to a little more measured and intentional with his fights and how this is doled out over thousands of pages, making it subtle
- How Goku becomes the stand-in for Sun Wukong and Xuanzang as the series progresses and that feeding into his character development meant
- Brief discussion of Toriyama's editors as the series progressed
- A callback to Jelli's theory about the gods being like middle management
- Comparing the manga to the anime, as we do when we wrap up an arc
- and more, including some general pop culture, trivia, and editorializing, as usual
Join us as we continue to uncover the cultural meanings, publication facts, inspirations and more behind the wildly popular Dragon Ball franchise, and unspool what we all love so much about Goku, the Dragon Ball franchise, the Dragon Ball anime, Dragon Ball manga, and more.
https://www.facebook.com/FinalForumPodcast
https://twitter.com/finalforumpod
Tuesday Sep 10, 2024
Tuesday Sep 10, 2024
Jelli and Bekinney continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon Dragon Ball by breaking down episodes 149, 150, 151, 152, and 153: "Dress in Flames," "The Fire-Eater," "Outrageous Octagon," "Mystery of the Dark World," and "The End, The Beginning." We continue discussing the Piccolo Jr. Saga, and talk about the filler that ends the original Dragon Ball series.
In this episode:
- Jelli and Bekinney are trying to get back to their ship and escape
- We recap the episodes and discuss our favorite moments
- Some notes on our assumptions when it comes to breaking down these episodes
- Talking about Azuchi Castle, Oda Nobunaga, the FX series Shogun, and Octagons
- The Basan, Japan's legendary fire bird, similar to a phoenix and how the Pokemon Moltres took inspiration from this as well
- Hakkakke's name, meaning literally chipped-tooth
- The yuki-onna, or Snow Woman, a yokai of Japanese folklore
- A brief tangent into Kwaidan, Tales from the Darkside and Akira Kurosawa's Dreams
- The five elements of Chinese and Japanese culture and how they compare to the four elements of Western thought
- The Bansho Fan and its inspirations from the Banana Leaf Fan of Journey to the West
- A discussion of Daode Tianzun, one of the Three Pure Ones of orthodox Daoism and his connections to Journey to the West, Laozi, and Annin
- and more, including some general pop culture, trivia, and editorializing, as usual
Join us as we continue to uncover the cultural meanings, publication facts, inspirations and more behind the wildly popular Dragon Ball franchise, and unspool what we all love so much about Goku, the Dragon Ball franchise, the Dragon Ball anime, Dragon Ball manga, and more.
https://www.facebook.com/FinalForumPodcast
https://twitter.com/finalforumpod
Tuesday Aug 27, 2024
Tuesday Aug 27, 2024
Jelli and Bekinney continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon Dragon Ball by breaking down episodes 144, 145, 146, 147, and 148: "Super Kamehameha," "Junior No More," "Goku's Trap," "Goku Hangs On," and "The Victor." We continue discussing the Piccolo Jr. Saga, and talk about the ending of the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai. We wrap up our last mystery reveals, and spend some time talking about Piccolo's regeneration ability.
In this episode:
- Jelli and Bekinney are trying to get back to their ship
- We recap the episodes and discuss our favorite moments
- Some notes on weighted clothing
- Goku's abs
- A discussion on the use of nuclear blast imagery
- Piccolo vs Piccolo Jr vs Piccolo Daimao vs Demon King Piccolo - What's the difference?
- The announcer's actions are inspired by kaiju cinema, especially Godzilla movies like King Kong vs Godzilla
- Piccolo's size growth is both a role reversal from the 21st Tenkaichi Budokai when Goku went Oozaru to fight Roshi and a reference to both Ultraman and Super Sentai (aka Power Rangers)
- Goku's trip into Piccolo's mouth and a parallel to Journey to the West
- Goku's surprise reveal that he can fly
- Why Kami can create clothes from nothing
- Discussion on Piccolo's regeneration
- and more, including some general pop culture, trivia, and editorializing, as usual
Join us as we continue to uncover the cultural meanings, publication facts, inspirations and more behind the wildly popular Dragon Ball franchise, and unspool what we all love so much about Goku, the Dragon Ball franchise, the Dragon Ball anime, Dragon Ball manga, and more.
https://www.facebook.com/FinalForumPodcast
https://twitter.com/finalforumpod