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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.
Tuesday Jan 18, 2022
Tuesday Jan 18, 2022
What do mochi-making moon rabbits have to do with Dragon Ball?
Jelli and Bekinney continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon by tackling episodes 8, 9, and 10 of the anime, "The Kamehameha Wave," "Boss Rabbit's Magic Touch," and "The Dragon Balls are Stolen" and then have a discussion about the character Boss Rabbit/Monster Carrot, and Akira Toriyama's penchant for subverting tropes and expectations. This episode, released just 3 days after the beginning of 2022, features a discussion of Japan's New Year's traditions!
In this episode:
- Our hosts find themselves on a windswept desolate wasteland and report on their findings
- Brief plot synopsis of episodes 8, 9, and 10 of the Dragon Ball anime
- Brief discussion of favorite moments from the anime episodes
- Importance of what these episodes reveal about Goku, including his ability to understand and immediately master the Kamehameha Wave
- Goku's inner awareness of his self and his truth
- The cultural influence behind the Bansho Fan and how it plays into the quest of Sun Wukong and Tang Sanzang from Journey to the West
- Discussion of the pop culture references from the episodes, including Gamera and how he's a play on Godzilla
- Recommendation to check out Arrow Video's releases of Gamera and Daimajin, particularly and especially Shusuke Kaneko's 1990s Heisei Gamera trilogy of films
- Discussion of Japan's Mochi Making Rabbit on the Moon, including the legend behind the story and how East Asian cultures see a rabbit in the craters on the moon
- We break down the mochi festival that takes place in Japan on New Year's every year
- How the episode may reference the Ultraman Taro episode "The Father of Ultra and Son Big Mochi-Making Strategy" and the kaiju Mochiron
- How Toriyama employs subversion and his ability to craft both familiar and simultaneously unpredictable narratives
- Comparison of Toriyama's use of subverting expectations to those of Game of Thrones, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Avengers: Infinity War
- Who is better? David Benioff and Ben Weiss or Akira Toriyama?
- How subversion of expectations can be done well, with an example using The Shining and Dr. Sleep and the books vs the movies, and comparing it to Toriyama's use of the mochi making rabbit on the Moon.
- and more, including some general pop culture, Toriyama's use of setting, 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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Wednesday Jan 05, 2022
Wednesday Jan 05, 2022
Fan Service. Love it? Hate it? Unsure what it is?
Join Jelli and Bekinney as they delve further into Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon by tackling episodes 6 and 7 of the anime ("Keep an Eye on the Dragon Balls," and "The Ox King on Fire Mountain" and then have our typical in-depth discussion, focusing on the character of Chichi, and ultimately, the use of Fan Service and sexuality in Dragon Ball and anime as a whole.
In this episode:
- Our heroes (or cowardly hosts) prepare to land on their first new planet
- Brief plot synopsis of the episodes listed above
- Brief discussion of favorite moments from the episodes
- Discussion of Fire Mountain and its basis in the Turpan Mountain range which is made of red sandstone and through which Xuanzang traveled.
- Literary inspiration behind Frypan Mountain from Journey to the West, including parallels between the story of Sun Wukong and that of Goku
- We discuss the Ox King and his titles as Demon Ox King and Emperor of Devils, and whether these are official titles.
- How the Ox Hermit of Journey to the West compares to the Ox King and how that influences his relationships to Goku and Master Roshi
- In-depth analysis of Chichi, Goku’s future wife.
- Our ill-conceived notion that she’s a simplistic character, little more than a love interest and wife/mother before understanding how she is more than that
- An analysis of how she fits as Goku’s love interest, including their similar dialects and slightly similar backgrounds
- How Chichi’s initial appearance is inspired by the Ultraman character, Ultraseven; a character created by tokusatsu legend Eiji Tsuburaya
- Recommendations on some Ultraman viewing, including Ultra Q and Neo Ultra Q
- The popularity of Lollicon in Japan in the 80s in particular and how that influenced Chichi’s design.
- Discussion of Lollicon, the Lolita Complex, a term coined due to the popularity of Vladimir Nobokov’s 1955 novel, Lolita, adapted into a 1962 film by Stanley Kubrick
- A discussion about sexuality and fan service in Dragon Ball, and whether the show’s more problematic elements have been acknowledged and/or corrected as the show has pushed forward into new decades, centuries, and millennia.
We try to be unafraid to get our hands a little dirty on this one, and take an unflinching look at one of the more controversial elements of Dragon Ball and in truth, anime in general, and try to contextualize the use of sexuality while also not excusing it when it’s utilized poorly. Join us as we continue to uncover the cultural meanings, publication facts, inspirations and more behind the wildly popular Dragon Ball franchise by analyzing Chichi and the use of sexuality in the franchise.
Tuesday Dec 21, 2021
Tuesday Dec 21, 2021
What's in an antagonist? What about Dragon Ball's earliest attempts to get under Goku's skin? Why are we talking about Pinball Wizard?
Join Jelli and Bekinney as they delve further into Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon by tackling episodes 2, 3, 4, and 5 of the anime ("The Emperor's Quest," "The Nimbus Cloud of Roshi," "Oolong the Terrible," and "Yamcha the Desert Bandit" and then have a discussion about the antagonistic characters Pilaf, Oolong and Yamcha.
In this episode:
- Our hosts prepare to leave for their mission, again.
- Brief plot synopsis of the episodes listed above
- Brief discussion of favorite moments from the episodes
- A talk about whether the sexuality and sexual humor presented in these episodes are problematic
- A quick look at some of the readily obvious differences between the manga and anime
- An explanation of Flying Nimbus and its Japanese name Kintoun, which means Somersault Cloud.
- An explanation of the effects of Oolong's diarrhea pill, including the differences between the English "piggy piggy" and the Japanese "pipipi"
- A look at Emperor Pilaf, and his inner and outer hypocrisy and self-contradictions, most notably his Napoleon complex
- A discussion of what Pilaf's clothing means, including its reference to The Who, Tommy and Pinball Wizard.
- Who are Mai and Shu, Pilaf's underlings?
- We talk about whether Pilaf is a good or bad antagonist.
- Deep dive into Oolong, his name inspiration, from a Chinese tea, his connections to the Tang Dynasty, and his literary connections to the character Zhu Bajie from Journey to the West and how this character normally interacts with Sun Wukong and Xuanzang vs. how he interacts with Goku and Bulma
- Oolong's ability to transform and his connection to Japanese Oni demons
- A debate about whether Oolong is meant to represent communism, Mao Zedong, and/or Kim Jong Il (or Kim Jong Un, or North Korea)
- Yamcha, Bekinney's favorite character, and his connection to Journey to the West via the character Sha Wujing a man-eating sand-demon, who is known more as a river-bound character and how Akira Toriyama is subverting the expectation by having Yamcha be a desert bandit
- Bekinney's assertion that Yamcha is a Jobber
- A discussion of whether Yamcha is a joke and whether that's a bad thing
- Puar, Yamcha's constant companion, whose name is also based on a tea
- A discussion of Yamcha's status as a Lone Wolf, and his Wolf Fang Fist
Join us as we continue to uncover the cultural meanings, publication facts, inspirations and more behind the wildly popular Dragon Ball franchise by analyzing these original antagonists
Tuesday Dec 07, 2021
Tuesday Dec 07, 2021
He's the main character of the show, one of the most important characters in animation history, and a major reason we're bothering to have a podcast, but what do we know about Goku, really?
Join Jelli and Bekinney as they take the first real steps into Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon by tackling episode 1 of the anime "The Secret of the Dragon Balls" and then have a discussion about the character of Goku.
In this episode:
- Our hosts prepare to leave for their mission
- Brief plot synopsis of the episode "Secret of the Dragon Balls"
- Brief discussion of favorite moments from the anime episode
- Brief analysis of some of the pop culture references including Michael Jackson, Madonna, and 80s fashion included in the episode
- Definition of the terms Yokai and Ningen
- Introduction to Japanese honorifics
- Introduction to Goku as a character, including very briefly his Saiyan roots and birth name of Kakarott
- Akira Toriyama's design process in the creation of Goku, including his more monkey-inspired concept, and influences from action starts like Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee, and other manga and anime characters such as Astro Boy and Merry Melodies and Mega Man
- Goku's literary inspirations from Journey to the West: the character Sun Wukong, a key ally to the Buddhist Monk, Tang Sanzang, the literary character based on Xuanzang.
- Goku's lack of desire in terms of having a wish for the Dragon Balls, and his inner contented nature.
- A discussion of Goku's race
- Goku's abilities (or lack thereof) as a father
- The inspiration behind Goku's Power Pole
- A discussion of whether Goku is overconfident and cocky
- A discussion of whether Goku is a "boring" character and the flat character arc including other examples such as Wonder Woman, and Superman - and the similarities and differences between Goku and Superman
- How Goku's flat character arc contrasts with more traditional growth character arcs such as those for Vegeta, Piccolo, Yamcha, Krillin, and Bulma, and even less traditional arcs like Frieza and Zamasu.
- and more, including some general pop culture and editorializing, and an argument over whether Goku is stupid.
This is the first full discussion of a topic of many more along the way as we'll uncover the cultural meanings, publication facts, inspirations and more behind the wildly popular Dragon Ball franchise.
Tuesday Nov 23, 2021
Tuesday Nov 23, 2021
Welcome Super Elite Warriors to Final Forum! A podcast for the discussion of all things Dragon Ball.
Join Jelli and Bekinney as they begin their journey into Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon as they briefly explain what Dragon Ball is, why they enjoy it, and do some taste calibrations so listeners can get a feel for where our hosts stand on various this-or-that questions as they pertain to Dragon Ball.
This episode had some technical glitches that we mostly salvaged, and do not repeat, so we hope if you decide to check it out, you’ll come back for more as it legitimately only gets BETTER from here.
In this episode:
- Introduction to our hosts
- Brief description of what manga is
- Introduction to Dragon Ball including the general premise, start and end dates of manga and anime titles
- Akira Toriyama's creation of Dragon Ball and his past history with Dr. Slump
- Acknowledgement of Dragon Ball's inspiration points including Bruce Lee, Godzilla, Ultraman, and more
- Brief discussion of Journey to the West, the main point of inspiration for Dragon Ball, including a biography of the Buddhist monk, Xuanzang, who inspired the story and the character based on him, Tang Sanzang
- Connection between Yokai and Dragon Ball
- Acknowledgment of Dragon Ball's gorgeous animation and fight sequences
- Jelli and Bekinney's first experiences with Dragon Ball via Toonami, including an admission of ignorance about Super Saiyans
- The cultural importance behind Dragon Ball, and whether it was intentional
- Discussion of Goku as a character
- Goku vs. Vegeta
- Favorite secondary characters (Gohan? Frieza? Krillin? Yamcha? Piccolo?)
- Subtitles vs Dub
- Anime vs Manga
- Dragon Ball vs. Dragon Ball Z vs. Dragon Ball Super
- Favorite filler episodes
- Shinsuke Kikuchi vs Bruce Faulconer
- and more, including some general pop culture, just to help you better understand us and where we're coming from with our opinions.
This is the first of many steps along the way as we'll uncover the cultural meanings, publication facts, inspirations and more behind the wildly popular franchise.