Final Forum: A Dragon Ball Podcast

The World's Strongest Commentary (S4E13)

What would have happened if they saved Hitler's brain and put it in the body of a robot with a bubble-dome? What does the film Phantasm have to do with Dragon Ball? How did we manage to work in a reference to the Aum Shinrikyo cult that carried out multiple poison attacks on Japanese public transit in the early 90s? 

The answers to these, and similar questions, abound as Jelli and Bekinney continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon by tackling the 1990 movie, The World's Strongest.

In this episode:

• Jelli and Bekinney narrowly escape disaster
• We sync up our audio commentary for the listeners
• We discuss some of the production facts about the film Dragon Ball Z: The World's Strongest such as its 1990 release at the Toei Manga Matsuri film festival, the film's box office, and the production team working on the film
• We talk about the other films released alongside the movie: Akuma-kun: Welcome to Devil Land, and Mitsuteru Yokoyama's Sally the Witch movie.
• A little history about Misuteru, including his creation of Tesujin 28, Babel II, Iga no Kagemaru, Sally the Witch, and adaptations of Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Water margin
• Contextualizing the box office of the film
• Shedding light on Shinji Fukumitsu, the editor, who worked on Dragon Ball Z, Gegege no Kitaro, One Piece, and Transformers: The Movie
• A little bit on Motoaki Ikegami and his career spanning Neon Genesis Evangelion, Dr Slump, Pokemon, Inuyasha and Twilight of the Cockroaches
• Discussing the film's unique antagonists, Kishime, Ebifurya, Misokatsun, Dr. Kochin, and Dr. Wheelo (or Uiro)
• Misokatsun --> Buyon --> The Blob --> horror movies --> Nightmare on Elm Street 3 (yes, really)
• A bit about the Funimation composer, Nathan Johnson and his career, including his time as a Texas state senator
• (Nathan) Johnsons, (Anthony) Wieners, adult film parodies of Chinese classic novels...things are coming unglued
• A bit about the Metaluna Men from This Island Earth, Hal 9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey, and Universal Monsters movies, especially Ghost of Frankenstein
• and more, including some general pop culture, trivia, and editorializing, as usual as we react to this wickedly fast-paced film

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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Saiyan Arc Manga Review (S4E12)

We've reached the end of the Saiyan Arc. How do we feel about it having reached its end and being primed for the next adventure?

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 Saiyan arc, and talk about pacing. We also discuss five episodes of the anime, episodes 36-40, "Picking Up the Pieces," "Plans for Departure," "Nursing Wounds," "Friends or Foes," and "Held Captive."

In this episode:

• Jelli and Bekinney destroy the gravity generator
• We recap the story a little bit
• Wukong Hospital and Goku's unique looking hospital bed, with a possible inspiration from Alien
• Bulma's outfit being inspired by Alien, and its possible influence on Hideaki Anno's Neon Genesis Evangelion
• A theory about Bulma's evolving hairstyles
• A brief discussion of Frank Frazetta, the "godfather of fantasy art" who was a well-renown illustrator who worked on Conan the Barbarian and John Carter of Mars among other things in his career
• A conversation about the Russian attempts to place mirrors in space, and a brief tangent into discussing Archimedes' Sun Death Ray
• Wrapping up the arc with grades and comparing the manga to the anime
• 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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Vegeta, a primer (S4E11)

How do you handle introducing a rival? Why does Vegeta always call himself the Prince of All Saiyans? Is there any basis for this character in the story Journey to the West?

Join Jelli and Bekinney as they continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon Dragon Ball Z by looking at episodes 30 through 35: "Goku vs. Vegeta," "Saiyan Sized Secret," "Spirit Bomb Away!" "Hero in the Shadows," "Krillin's Offensive," and "Mercy." We continue discussing the Saiyan Saga and talk in detail for the first time about one of the franchise's most iconic characters: Vegeta. We talk about his in-universe history, and his psychology, as well as his possible sources for inspiration, and what makes him so popular

In this episode:

• Jelli and Bekinney enter into the gravity well
• Just how good are THESE episodes? For really real.
• Who is Vegeta?
• Setting the stage using examples from X-Men, DCEU and Journey to the West
• Vegeta's history as the heir to the throne, and his early life
• Some of Toriyama's thoughts on Vegeta, at least early in the story
• Vegeta and Goku: Opposite sides of the same coin
• How Vegeta so internalizes the lessons he learns as a child that it shapes his entire worldview, and how the very existence of Goku flies in the face of said worldview
• The Six-Eared Macaque from Journey to the West, one of Sun Wukong's most formidable foes
• Some researched theories about the relationship between Wukong and Six-Ears and how that is mirrored by the relationship between Goku and Vegeta
• The Lego series Lego Monkie Kid and its portrayal of Six Ears
• Why Vegeta is always invoking his prince status as if it is a boast, despite there being only a handful of Saiyans left
• Why Vegeta is so relatable
• 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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Nappa and Notes on Filler (S4E10)

Could Akira Toriyama have pulled inspiration from WWE for Dragon Ball Z? Did he really have nothing to do with the anime portion of the show? What happens when we come across five more stellar episodes of DBZ?

Join Jelli and Bekinney as they continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon Dragon Ball Z by looking at episodes 26 through 29: "Nappa's Rampage," "Nimbus Speed," "Goku's Arrival," and "Lesson Number One" We continue discussing the Saiyan Saga and talk about one of Dragon Ball's most infamous villains: Nappa. We also talk about filler moments such as the character Gregory, Snake Way, and Goku's misadventures in Hell and what influence Toriyama may have had on those elements. WE ALSO discuss some of the new ki attacks namely: the kienzan, or Destructo Disc, and the Masenko

In this episode:

• Jelli manages to stave off further adventure, much to the chagrin of Bekinney
• Just how good are these episodes? For real.
• How much input did Toriyama have on anime filler?
  
  • We know he designed the character Gregory, and came up with the idea for Goku to be chased by a giant snake as well as Goku eating clouds. What does this say about how involved Toriyama may have been in filler?
• We briefly discuss the guidebooks, or Daizenshuu
• A note on a filler moment from very early in Dragon Ball, with regards to Muscle Tower and some possible foreshadowing to Goku's Saiyan heritage
• What inspired Toriyama to create the Destructo Disk?
• What would Gohan's use of the Masanko tell his intended audience (Japanese people) about Gohan and Piccolo at this point?
• It's over 9000! A discussion of the meme
• Nappa: his name, his design, and the team dynamics between he and Vegeta
  • Bolo Yeung, Hulk Hogan, Bruce Lee, and King Boxer
• An attempt to tie-into Journey to the West, at least thematically
• 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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Bonus Discussion: The State of Final Forum

Join Jelli and Bekinney as we continue looking at Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball franchise by tackling a discussion of where we sit currently at Final Forum. Recapping where things stand in the animated area of the franchise, and just providing a general update for the upcoming couple weeks.

Bekinney discusses watching Full Metal Alchemist and then Jelli gives an SEO-friendly (hopefully...gotta get them clicks RIGHT?!) update on some movies he watched including:
The Monkey, Predator: Killer of Killers, 28 Years Later, Mickey 17, Pee-Wee as Himself, The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie, Companion, Heart Eyes , Novocaine, Nickel Boys, Love Hurts and the little-seen Bob Trevino Likes It.

 

Join us for this more casual conversation as we dig through the franchise in a post-Daima world and continue to uncover the cultural meanings, publication facts, inspirations and more behind the wildly popular Dragon Ball franchise.

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The Magic Begins Commentary (100th Episode! ft. Eric Hates Dragon Ball Z)

It's our 100th Episode! And we didn't want to celebrate on our own, so we brought in some new friends, Spencer and John from the show Eric Hates Dragon Ball Z to do a commentary-slash-reaction to the second live-action bootleg movie, Taiwan's Dragon Ball: The Magic Begins.

In this episode:

• Jelli and Bekinney are celebrating 100 episodes
• We reveal our title and instruct listeners where to find this one
• We discuss some of the production facts about the film, its 1991 release, and the production team working on the film
• Discussing the history of Taiwanese cinema
• Why this movie is on Tubi, Amazon Prime, and official YouTube channels
• A theory about why this movie looks like it has a budget
• Forays into the history of China and Taiwan
• A wild combination of everything being absolutely right and ABSOLUTELY wrong
• and more, including some general pop culture, trivia, and editorializing, as usual as we react to this insane fever dream of a film

Eric Hates Dragon Ball Z Links:
https://www.rocktopusnetwork.com/eric-hates-dbz 
https://erichatesdbz.libsyn.com/ 
https://x.com/erichatesdbz 
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8rUZoC6KaDgEo9cnFnMRLw 
https://www.instagram.com/erichatesdragonballz/?hl=en 
https://discord.gg/7pUnfRf29k 

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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Saibamen and Attack Balls (S4E8)

Could Akira Toriyama have pulled inspiration from The Thing for Dragon Ball Z? What would the effects of Saiyan space travel be if it were real? What happens when we come across five stellar episodes of DBZ?

Join Jelli and Bekinney as they continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon Dragon Ball Z by looking at episodes 21 through 25: "Counting Down," "The Darkest Day," "Saibamen Attack!" "The Power of Nappa," and "Sacrifice." We continue discussing the Saiyan Saga and talk about some new foes: The Saibamen. We also talk about the Saiyan Space Pods, or Attack Balls.

In this episode:

• Jelli and Bekinney's situation has become most desperate
• Just how good are these episodes? For real.
• Were Saibamen inspired by the Bio Men from This Island Earth? Or perhaps by The Thing from Another World? Maybe by the Xenomorphs of Alien? Perhaps by the titular monsters from The Day of the Triffids? Maybe the pod people from Invasion of the Body Snatchers? More? None? All?
• Are there any ties between the Saibamen and The Red Ribbon Army? (not really, but there is a minor reference made by the hosts)
• A possible pull from Osamu Tezuka's manga, Lost World
• Potential inspiration from Dragon Quest
• Other variants of Saibamen that appear in video games and a tangent on their naming conventions
• How fast do Saiyan space pods travel? Is that speed feasible? 
• What does Saiyan deep space exercise look like? Something to think about when we talk about the exercise requirements of astronauts in space.
• The gooification of people inside the Attack Balls when they land and the Iron Man problem
• A possible tie back to Journey to the West, as well as the Chinese emperor Yu the Great
• A discussion of Soyuz rockets, used by Russian cosmonauts for space travel
• A brief look at Vostok-1 and Yuri Gagarin's historic feat
• The Rule of Cool
• 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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King Kai (S4E7)

What do centuries of isolation with only a monkey as company do to a martial arts master? Is the blue catfish man really a martial arts master? What's with all the dad jokes? Join Jelli and Bekinney as they continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon Dragon Ball Z by looking at episodes 16 through 20: "Plight of the Children," "Pendulum Room Peril," "The End of Snake Way," "Defying Gravity" (and to think, we barely make any Wicked references), and "Goku's Ancestors." We continue discussing the Saiyan Saga and talk about Goku's newest teacher, King Kai.

In this episode:

• Jelli and Bekinney are in a rather desperate situation
• Is Pigero like the Artful Dodger from Oliver Twist? Or is he more like Rufio from Peter Pan/Hook?
• Good vs bad filler
• Do King Kai's jokes translate between languages? (We're actually asking)
• What episodes are cut out of the Ocean Group dub?
• Why HFIL happened and how and why things got altered wit a brief overview censorship
• An all-too-brief discussion of Funimation's history releasing Dragon Ball, DBZ, and their partnerships with the Ocean Group and Saban Entertainment
• Translating Kaio-sama to King Kai and/or The Lord of Worlds
• King Kai's design including his clothing from the Qing Dynasty, and his teashade sunglasses from John Lennon, or is it Mahatma Gandhi? And what is a Mahatma anyway? And who was Mahatma Hirandanda, and what of his Mewad Remayana manuscript?
• The deity Prince Rama and how he might tie-in to King Kai
• Catfish? No. What about fireflies? 
• Genji's Firefly
• Hitodama and a Return of Ultraman reference to hitodama kaiju Femigon
• The Tale of Genji or the Genji Clan aka the Minamoto
• Lamenting to loss of a great pun, but a promise to revisit when we discuss Dragon Ball Daima in the future and delve into Warp Sama
• 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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Daima Discuss-DONE. The Future of Dragon Ball

Dragon Ball Daima is over. The dub has been released in full. What now? Where does the franchise go from here? Where CAN it go from here? What would we LIKE for it to do now?

Join Jelli and Bekinney as we continue looking at Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball franchise by tackling a discussion of Dragon Ball's "State of the Union." Recapping where things stand in the animated area of the franchise, the manga and of course, current video games.

We talk about where Dragon Ball Super last left off with the Super Hero arc being completed and the big Black Frieza teaser left out there.

We talk about the four big video games currently being supported in the Dragon Ball world that led to Dragon Ball being Bandai Namco's number one money earner for the past fiscal year, namely The Breakers, Xenoverse 2, Kakarott, and Sparking Zero.

We also talk about James Gunn's Superman, Sinners, Friendship, Paul Rudd, Tim Robinson, I Think You Should Leave, The Dark Tower, Stephen King, Holly Gibney, and of COURSE....lawnmowers.

 

oin us for this more casual conversation as we dig through the franchise in a post-Daima world and continue to uncover the cultural meanings, publication facts, inspirations and more behind the wildly popular Dragon Ball franchise.

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https://twitter.com/finalforumpod

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Snake Way (S4E6)

Do you walk this lonely road? Is it the only one you've ever known? Do you not know where it goes? But it's home to you and you walk alone? Join Jelli and Bekinney as they continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon Dragon Ball Z by looking at episodes 11 through 15: "Terror on Arlia," "Global Training," "Goz and Mez", "Princess Snake," and "Dueling Piccolos." We continue discussing the Saiyan Saga and talk about Snake Way, and Princess Snake.

In this episode:

• Jelli and Bekinney are on a new and strange planet
• Ox Head and Horse Face? Goz and Mez? Gozu and Mezu? We highlight the cultural underpinnings of a pretty good filler episode 
• The Sanzu River and the River Styx and a brief foray into Dante's Inferno
• The dream logic of Princess Snake, and the episode featuring Russian roulette
• Whether Princess Snake is inspired by a Nure-onna or an Uwabami and the importance of Snakes in Japanese culture
• Snake Way
• Snake Street in Nezu, in Tokyo, and its history along the Aizen River
• Torii gates
• Snake Way being a physical manifestation of the metaphysical Yellow Path or Sacred Path or Path Within Us from Shintoism and Buddhism
• Why falling off Snake Way is punished by a visit to Hell, or HFIL depending on what version of the show you're watching
• The Han Dynasty afterlife concept of the Yellow Springs
• How the cycle of reincarnation works
• 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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