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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 Nov 04, 2025
Tuesday Nov 04, 2025
What do WWE/WWF, King Kong Bundy, Bam Bam Bigelow, Junkyard Dog, David Bowie, the 80s punk rock movement, voice actor Sumi Shimamoto, and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have to do with Dragon Ball? We'll present the information, you tell us if the answer is "anything at all"
Join Jelli and Bekinney as they continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon Dragon Ball Z by looking at episodes 51 through 55: "Vegeta Has a Ball," "The Past and Future," "Zarbon's Surprise," "Guru's Gift," and "Piccolo vs Everyone." We continue discussing the Namek Saga and take a look at Frieza's right-hand men, Zarbon and Dodoria
In this episode:
- Jelli and Bekinney are traveling through space
- The episodes are solid
- Notes on Dodoria's name pun, and physical appearance, including whether he was originally intended to be yellow rather than pink
- Confusion about the appearances of a durian fruit, horned melon, jackfruit and pineapple
- The differences between a tankoban and kanzenban and attempting to equate it to American comics with trade paperbacks and omnibuses
- King Kong Bundy, his life and career including his run at the top of WWF alongside Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant, and his appearances on Married with Children
- Mentions of Bambam Bigelow and Junkyard Dog
- Musing about whether Dodoria's design was influenced by punk culture
- Brief notes on Japan's punk scene in the 80s
- Sliding over to Zarbon
- Notes about his name pun and appearance
- The cultural importance of the zabon fruit (aka the shaddock) in Southeast Asian festivals
- Whether Zarbon is at all influenced by voice actress Sumi Shimamoto from Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
- David Bowie and his obsession with Japanese culture
- Musing on Zarbon's transformation and whether it's a nod to reptiles, or possibly frogs, and then a detour into the realm of TMNT
- 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.
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