Final Forum: A Dragon Ball Podcast

Castle in the Sky: Commentary (S3E22)

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!

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Dragon Ball-oween MINISODE - Bekinney's Top Ten Dragon Ball Villains

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?

Sand Land (S3E20)

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!

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Piccolo Jr Manga Review (S3E19)

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.

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Bansho Fan Filler (S3E18)

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.

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23rd Tenkaichi Budokai Finals (S3E17)

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.

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23rd Tenkaichi Budokai Semifinals and Kami (S3E16)

Jelli and Bekinney continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon Dragon Ball by breaking down episodes 140, 141, 142 and 143: "Goku Gains Speed," "The Four Faces of Tien," "Kami vs Piccolo," and "Battle for the Future." We continue discussing the Piccolo Jr. Saga, and talk about Kami, who he is, what his goals are, and whether he's bad at his job.

In this episode:

• Jelli and Bekinney are attempting to relax
• We recap the episodes and discuss our favorite moments 
• Some notes on weighted clothing
• A discussion of the Namekian language 
• All things Kami
• Why Kami looks like Piccolo
• Why Kami's design is the way it is
• What the name Kami means
• The importance of kami in Shintoism
• The significance of the titles Kami-sama and Chikyu no Kami
• The introduction of the bureaucracy of Dragon Ball's afterlife
• How this all differ from Judeo-Christian beliefs in God
• Thoughts and discussion about whether Kami, as "guardian of the Earth" is bad at his job
• 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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23rd Tenkaichi Budoaki Round of 8 (S3E15)

Jelli and Bekinney continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon Dragon Ball by breaking down episodes 136, 137 and 138 : "Tien Shinhan vs Mercenary Tao," "Anonymous Proposal," and "THe Mysterious Hero." ...and the Jelli realizes he wanted to do one more, so we also cover episode 139, "Rematch." We continue discussing the Piccolo Jr. Saga, and talk about characters chasing Goku in his growth.

In this episode:

• Jelli and Bekinney make a final approach to a new planet
• We recap the episodes and discuss our favorite moments 
• Why Tsuru Senin suddenly reappears now
• Theorizing on the training of Yamcha, Krillin, Tien Shinhan, and Chiaotzu
• A note about love angles in Dragon Ball and the push-pull between Toriyama and Torishima
• More about Tien's tenme
• Ties between Tao Pai Pai and Ultraman, Kamen Rider, and Enter the Dragon
• Briefly delving into Tien's lifelong scar received from this battle and whether we want to draw a correlation between Vegeta's now-infamous consistently injured left arm.
• Talking about the significance of Chi Chi withholding her name
• Ties between Piccolo and tokusatsu
• Jelli takes a totally unusual (sarcasm) side trek into kaiju fandom with a parallel between Shen (Kami's human vessel) and Ichiro Arishima's character Mr Tako from King Kong vs. Godzilla and Japan's salary man culture
• We talk about the sokidan
• An interesting corollary between the anime's use of the movie Zu, Warriors from the Magic Mountain, and Toriyama's own use of a motif from the film
• Talking about whether Piccolo's disguise is acceptable
• A brief discussion of the history of wolves in Japan, including a mention of Haiyao Miyazaki's Princess Mononoke, and its inspirations from the Emishi people and their conquest by the Yamato tribe, and how the movie draws on the Meiji restoration policy of slaughtering wolves in order to stem the spread of rabies throughout Japan
• A brief discussion of whether Yamcha, Krillin, Ten Shinhan, and Chiaotzu being stated as having trained with Korin and likely drinking the various divine waters undermines Goku's accomplishments in having done so.
•  
• 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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23rd Tenkaichi Budokai Begins Episode 69 -Nice- (S3E14)

Jelli and Bekinney continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon Dragon Ball by breaking down episodes 133, 134, and 135: "Changes," "Preliminary Peril," and "Battle of the Eight." We continue discussing the Piccolo Jr. Saga, and talk about consistency of character development

In this episode:

• Bekinney is crawling around the duct work while Jelli "encourages" him
• We recap the episodes and discuss our favorite moments 
• Some notes about the tournament as a whole and our new Budokai Tenkaichi theme: Mysteries
• The significance of everyone's outfit changes: Goku exemplifying his connection to nature, Chiaotzu and Tien exemplifying their commitment to their own values instead of Crane Hermit's, Yamcha's new scars, and Krillin's relative lack of change
• A note about the shift in tone and style
• A discussion of whether the change is a good thing (it is)
• A whole bunch of word play with paper, god, kami, and drawing lotteries or fortunes, and Toriyama's subversion of expectations
• A probably longer-than-necessary discussion of Piccolo saving two children
• A detour into the world of WWE, including the films The Wrestler, and Iron Claw.
• 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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Mr. Popo's Training (S3E13)

Jelli and Bekinney continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon Dragon Ball by breaking down episodes 128, 129, 130, 131, and 132: "Secret of the Woods," "The Time Room," "Goku's Doll," "Walking Their Own Ways," and "Hotter than Lava." We continue discussing the Piccolo Jr. Saga, and talk about another controversial Dragon Ball topic: Filler

In this episode:

• Jelli and Bekinney are heading to a new planet
• We recap the episodes and discuss our favorite moments 
• Some notes about the episode Quicker than Lightning, on the character of Chuu Lee, and the Sacred Crown (more on this later)
• Talking about delicious desserts, and the cream puff franchise Beard Papa's
• A brief note on the Japanese custom of Yaochun
• Why The Time Room episode doesn't work for us
• Possible inspiration behind Goku's Doll from the Phantos as seen in Super Mario Bros. 2 (or Doki Doki Panic)
• A brief history of Doki Doki Panic, how it became Super Mario Bros. 2, and its connection to the 1987 festival: Yume Kojo 87
• A brief note on the Odango Hairstyle sported by the Street Fighter character Chun Li (as well as many other kawai anime girls)
• An in-depth discussion of Sun Wukong's golden headband, and whether it matters that Goku does not have this feature
• Why we're not going to talk about Kami-sama, Piccolo Jr, the dragon being repaired, or other items that are debuted in these episodes...yet
• Jelli crams in Godzilla references by brining both Godzilla Minus One and Shin Godzilla to the table
• 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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