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Dragon Ball has a wealth of cultural context and inspiration that’s often overlooked because the fights are cool. Though not averse to fawning over animation and allowing for the Rule of Cool, Jelli and Bekinney 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, Gohan, Frieza, or even Broly, there should be something for you to enjoy as we cover all things Dragon Ball, including DBZ, GT, Super, Daima, and more! We‘ll have discussions, guests, interviews, reviews, and commentaries so grab a senzu bean, power up your fan level to Super Saiyan, 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
Tuesday Feb 01, 2022
Tuesday Feb 01, 2022
If you could wish for ANYTHING what would it be? Have you considered the possible negative side effects of your wish? Let's get philosophical.
Jelli and Bekinney continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon by tackling episodes 11 and half of 12 of the anime, "The Penalty is Pinball," and "A Wish to the Eternal Dragon" and then have a discussion about the character Shenron, and the concept of being granted a single wish.
In this episode:
- Bekinney deals with his carnivorous ear slug
- Brief plot synopsis of episodes 11 and 12 of the Dragon Ball anime
- Brief discussion of favorite moments from the anime episodes
- An analysis of the pinball portion, which is filler and its potential inspiration point from the rock opera, Tommy, by The Who and Elton John's appearance in the movie
- A cultural background on East vs West views of dragons
- How Shenron is the same as and different from traditional Chinese Shenlong dragons
- How traditional Eastern ideas of Dragons lends to the idea of there being magical orbs
- The differences between kanji, katakana, and hiragana and how Toriyama uses these systems to give immediate visual cues to listeners
- Shenron's potential title as the dragon of god and what that might mean for the future
- The significance of the number of toes on Shenron, his antlers, and other aspects of his design
- Where the idea of dragons granting wishes originates
- What a person's wish reveals about who they are, especially each character in the show
- Jelli and Bekinney break down their ideal wishes
- The hosts argue about what immortality means in the context of a wish, including how it relates to potential physical damage and ones psychology
- How the idea of immortality plays into the concept behind the show The Good Place
- How Jelli's wish may tie in to the concept of a character in the Watchmen universe
- How the first wish of the show differs from the rest throughout the duration of the show
- The fallout of this first wish, and how it influences future actions, including a nod given to Dragon Ball GT and a bit of praise thrown the way of that oft-maligned show
- and more, including some general pop culture, Toriyama's use of setting (again), 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.
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