Final Forum: A Dragon Ball Podcast

Master Korin (S2E10)

Jelli and Bekinney continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon by breaking down episodes 61 62, 63 and 64 , "Korin Tower," "Sacred Water," "The Return of Goku," and "The Last of Mercenary Tao." We continue discussing the Red Ribbon Army, and dig deep into the character of Master Korin (or Karin) and the inspirations behind this master hermit cat.

In this episode:

• Jelli and Bekinney have been taken aboard a Frieza Force medical vessel
• We recap the episodes and discuss our favorite moments 
• Korin Tower's inspirations from a fried snack treat in Japanese cuisine to Muscle Tower as well as Buddhist zutapos and pagodas
• Korin Tower's similarities to Star Wars as well as its Native American inspirations
• How Korin Tower is similar to a Tree of Life
• Korin (Karin) and his inspiration points, including Akira Toriyama's cat
• How Korin is a pun on Corn because the dub staff was unaware of Karinto (the Japanese treat)
• Why Korin is a cat
• The inspiration behind the filler sequence with the jars that show past present and future
• The significance of the centipede in the future jar, including Omukade, a famous yokai
• Goku's zen teachings continue and his wuxing remains on display
• Then we discuss Trees of Life, the Bible, Terrence Malick, The Northman, and how Korin fits into the Dragon Ball universe and our thoughts on him as a character and how he compares to Master Roshi as a mentor
• 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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Tao Pai Pai aka Mercenary Tao (S2E9)

Jelli and Bekinney continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon by breaking down episodes 59 and 60, "The Notorious Mercenary," and "Tao Attacks." We continue discussing the Red Ribbon Army, and dig deep into the character of Mercenary Tao.

In this episode:

• Jelli is punishing Bekinney for his insubordination
• We recap the episodes and discuss our favorite moments 
• Mercenary Tao's points of inspirations, from the films Drunken Master and Snake in Eagle's Shadow
• Tao's long hair braid and its implications from the Qing Dynasty
• Tao's Kill You motto and the kanji on his shirt
• Tao Pai Pai's meaning: Peach White White, and how that impacts his character implications, especially how the Peach is important in Chinese culture
• The attempt of the dub staff to create a food pun based on the Chinese food dish General Tao's Chicken (aka General Tso's Chicken)
• The possible inspirations behind the pillar toss
• The cultural heritage behind the Dodonpa from Shaolin fighting styles and Japanese poetry
• How Tao and Goku differ, beside the obvious "good vs evil" comparisons"
• And we discuss other characters throughout fiction who are similar to Tao Pai Pai
• 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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Bora, Upa, and Indigenous Peoples in Dragon Ball (S2E8)

Jelli and Bekinney continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon by breaking down episode 58, "The Land of Korin." We continue discussing the Red Ribbon Army, and get into how Indigenous People are portrayed in Dragon Ball and why they are portrayed that way.

In this episode:

• Jelli remains convinced he is having a nervous breakdown as Bekinney attempts to get him to notice that they're standing in the same spot
• We recap the episodes and discuss our favorite moments 
• We talk about the locale of Korin Tower
• Attempting to contextualize where Akira Toriyama's knowledge of indigenous peoples comes from
• Dunking on Disney, and specifically Peter Pan for their own depictions of American indigenous people
• Discussion of the Noble Savage trope
• Whether Bora and Upa are Comanchee or Navajo
• A bit of Bora trivia including inspiration from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and The Outlaw Josey Wales
• Discussion of the problematic depictions of indigenous people in Looney Tunes
• Whether Bora and Upa have names based on puns, as is typical for anime
• Our overall discussion for the day, which focuses on how indigenous people have been depicted in media over the years, including modern day depictions such as Reservation Dogs and Prey
• 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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General Blue Manga Comparisons (S2E7)

Jelli and Bekinney continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon by breaking down episodes 56 and 57, "Strange Visitor, " and "Arale vs. Blue." We continue discussing the Red Ribbon Army, the walking contradiction that is General Blue, continue talking about Dr. Slump, and do our usual end-of-arc manga comparisons.

In this episode:

• Jelli remains convinced he is having a nervous breakdown as Bekinney attempts to get him to notice that they're standing in the same spot
• We recap the episodes and discuss our favorite moments 
• We clarify a bit of potentially problematic General Blue trivia
• We talk about whether Arale is worthy to be judged as acceptable to ride Kinto-un (Flying Nimbus) and whether Arale qualifies as Vision did or did not in Avengers Age of Ultron
• And then we get into comparing the manga to the anime as we do when we reach the end of an arc, including examining the differences in the West City portion of the story, how the manga drives home the comparisons between the Red Ribbon Army and the Nazis moreso than the anime, and how some of the puns and jokes differ
• We also talk about faxing
• And we continue breaking down the crossover
• 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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On Booby Traps and Crossovers (with Dr Slump) (S2E6)

Jelli and Bekinney continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon by breaking down episodes 50, 51, 52, 53, 54 and 55, "The Trap is Sprung," "Beware of Robot," "The Pirate Treasure," "Blue Black and Blue," "Escape from Pirate Cave" and "Penguin Village." We continue discussing the Red Ribbon Army, the walking contradiction that is General Blue, talk about booby traps, and delve into the crossover with Dr. Slump and Goku meeting Arale.

In this episode:

• Your Jelli remains convinced he is having a nervous breakdown as Bekinney attempts to cross the planet
• We recap the episodes and discuss our favorite moments 
• Raiders of the Lost Ark references found in these episodes, as well as a very brief Godzilla reference (as usual) this time to 1992's Godzilla vs. Mothra.
• We talk about how the Pirate Robot looks like a Xenomorph from the Alien franchise, and how that design is pulled in from the one-shot Dragon Boy.
• More of Toriyama pulling in work from elsewhere for repurposing, as there are some Dragon Quest designs being re-used.
• We talk about the octopus and it being a Toriyama reference to the films he grew up watching, notably King Kong vs. Godzilla and Frankentstein Conquers the World
• We discuss the octopus as a figure in Japanese pop culture dating back hundreds of years, and the origin of tentacle-based pornography with the netsuke art called The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife, which features octopus erotica. 
• We discuss the Legend of Princess Tamatori, a story about a pearl diver that must fight an army of octopuses
• We debate whether octopus, octopuses, octopi, or octopodes is the correct pluralization
• A brief connection to the show Mad Men
• A seemingly out-of-nowhere reference to Hinduism with a statue to Kali (or possibly Shiva) until you contextualize this as the Indiana Jones portion of the story and realize it is likely a reference to Kali Maa, from Temple of Doom
• Blue's supernatural ability appears
• We talk about the paralysis technique being similar to Kanashibari, a traditional folkloric Kung Fu power
• We discuss the idea of sleep paralysis and the film The Nightmare, a documentary about the phenomenon
• The idea of a crossover with Dr Slump
• And then we get into our main topic of the day and why Dragon Ball decided to cross over with Toriyama's other manga at this point, and how this crossover differs from the typical crossovers seen in media today
• 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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General Blue (S2E5)

Jelli and Bekinney continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon by breaking down episodes 46, 47, 48 and 49, "Bulma's Bad Day," "Kame House - Found!" "Deep Blue Sea," and "Roshi Surprise." We continue discussing the Red Ribbon Army, the walking contradiction that is General Blue, and have a discussion about LGBTQIA+ Representation in Dragon Ball.

In this episode:

• Your cohosts return!
• We recap the episodes and discuss our favorite moments 
• More of Toriyama's love of James Bond, with planes inspired by You Only Live Twice, and underwater sequences inspired by Thunderball
• We discuss the history of underwater filming in Japan, as innovated by Ishiro Honda
• Recommendation to watch the movie King Kong Escapes
• We draw some parallels further to the Red Ribbon army being a stand-in for Nazis.
• More Journey to the West references
• General Blue's not-so-secret sexuality
• General Blue as an ubermensch
• We talk about the contradictions of having a gay man be the leader of an army that would persecute gays and the real-life inspirations behind this with Hitler having a personal friend, Ernst Rohm, as the leader of the precursor to the SS who was also gay
• And then we get into our main topic of the day and whether Dragon Ball has any good representation of the community to be found....NOTE: Sadly some of this discussion, where Jelli and Bekinney discussed the possibility of other characters being queer-coded, got cut due to audio issues
• 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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2023 March Madness Tenkaichi Tournament (2 of 2) (S2E4)

Jelli and Bekinney continue their break from breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon, and pivot away from tearing into the manga and anime that are the most crucial parts of the Dragon Ball franchise to have a little themed fun!

In this episode:

• It's TOURNAMENT SEASON! Kick off your shoes, relax, and listen as we break down 32 of Dragon Ball's most popular (?) characters and discuss who would win in a theoretical game of one-on-one Halo.
• We discuss the system used for determining outcomes.
• We break down our opponents in each matchup.
• In the Saiyan Region: Will Tarble topple Kale?, Will Kid Trunks defeat his best friend Goten?, Who will win when Gohan encounters Cabba? Can Caulifla beat Paragus?  
• In the Earthling Region:
  • Krillin vs Bulma, Android 17 vs Android 18, Yamcha vs Tien, Videl vs Master Roshi
• In the Villains Region: Can Frieza out-fox Hit? Will King Cold throttle Pilaf? Who is more nefarious, Ginyu or Android 19? Will Dr Gero smash Cell? 
• In the Deity/Ally Region:
  
  • Who will win when Beerus, Korin, Elder Kai, King Kai, Dende, Puar, Kami and Jacco all face off?
• What happened to Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo, Future Trunks, Jiren, Mr Satan, Majin Buu, Broly, and other popular characters? Listen to episode 1, to hear why they lost.
• We take if from the round of 32, down to the Sweet 16, Head into the Elite Eight, jump into the Final Four, and then choose our champion!
• Who will reign supreme and be declared the number one under heaven in 1-on-1 basketball?

Join us as we take a break from uncovering the cultural meanings, publication facts, inspirations and more behind the wildly popular Dragon Ball franchise and have some March Madness themed fun!

2023 March Madness Tenkaichi Tournament (1 of 2) (S2E3)

Jelli and Bekinney take a break from breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon, and pivot away from tearing into the manga and anime that are the most crucial parts of the Dragon Ball franchise to have a little themed fun!

In this episode:

• It's TOURNAMENT SEASON! Kick off your shoes, relax, and listen as we break down 64 of Dragon Ball's most popular (?) characters and discuss who would win in a theoretical game of one-on-one Halo.
• We discuss the system used for determining outcomes.
• We break down our opponents in each matchup.
• In the Saiyan Region: Will Goku topple Tarble, will Vegeta defeat Paragus, who will win when Broly encounters Goten? Will the timeline handle Future Trunks facing off against his younger self? Can Gohan defeat King Vegeta?  Can Cabba beat Bardock? Can Kale topple Nappa? Will Caulifla be able to defeat Raditz?
• In the Earthling Region:
  • Krillin vs Yajirobe, Bulma vs Chiaotzu, Android 17 vs Ox King, Android 18 vs Mr Satan, Yamcha vs Chichi, Tien vs Nam, Android 16 vs Videl, Master Roshi vs Launch
• In the Villains Region: Can Frieza out-fox Mercenary Tao? Will Hit topple Recoome? Will Zamasu throttle King Cold? Who is more nefarious, Cooler or Pilaf? Who has the mad skills, Ginyu or Dabura? Will Buu beat down Android 19? Will Jiren smash Dr Gero? Can Cell prove to be more perfect than Garlic Jr?
• In the Deity/Ally Region:
  
  • Who will win when Beerus, Oolong, Korin, Mr Popo, Nail, Elder Kai, Supreme Kai Shin, Puar, King Kai, Gregory, Dende, Kabito, Kami, King Yemma, Piccolo, and Jaco all face off?

Join us as we take a break from uncovering the cultural meanings, publication facts, inspirations and more behind the wildly popular Dragon Ball franchise and have some March Madness themed fun!

Further West and Capsule Corp (S2E2)

Jelli and Bekinney continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon by breaking down episodes 44 and 45, "Master Thief, Hasky," and "Danger in the Air." We continue discussing the Red Ribbon Army,  break down some trivia on a few filler episodes, and have a discussion about how society is basically just the worst.

In this episode:

• Your cohosts remain missing
• We recap the episodes and discuss our favorite moments (spoiler: we don't have a lot of favorite moments)
• Mentioning Toriyama's love of inversions, reminding listeners about his Frankenstein inversion with Android 8 (8er) and how he's going to continue that with a "fish out of water" motif on Goku
• We discuss the destruction of Kintoun/Flying Nimbus and remind listeners about Kume Sennin and the inspirations behind Master Roshi
• We talk about how Daoist mentality suggests that as society becomes more complex, the magic fades from the world
• We talk about West City's design and its inspiration points including the Jetsons, Star Wars, and Blade Runner
• Inspiration points behind the Bruce Lee fight in West City including Bolo Yeung's King Boxer (and how Yeung ties into Enter the Dragon), and infamous Three Card Monty games
• We discuss the film The Idiot by Akira Kurosawa, albeit briefly
• We talk about Legend of Korra
• Possible inspiration points behind the design of Capsule Corp, including the film, Gamera vs Guiron (and then we divert into talking about Mystery Science Theater 3000 - MST3K - and how the crew reacted to the Daiei movie)
• Dr Brief's cat, Tama, is brought up, and all the cultural inspiration that goes behind naming a cat "Tama" in Japanese
• We talk about Dr Brief's potential inspiration points, including the original Godzilla film and the movie Terror of Mechagodzilla, which features a character who looks almost exactly like Dr. Brief
• We discuss the potential inspiration behind Tiny Bulma, from the show Ultra Q
• We talk about Bulma's mother and how her name is not OFFICIALLY Panchi
• And then we get into our main topic for the day, and discuss how Goku's incorruptibility in the face of the failings of a complicated and uncaring society make him an inspirational character that we really enjoy seeing
• 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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Clue: Dragon Ball Edition (S2E1)

Jelli and Bekinney have no time to continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime Dragon Ball.

In this episode:

• Jelli and Bekinney are MISSING!
• Audio from when your heroic hosts first met one another and played Dragon Ball Z Clue
• We discuss the pieces inside the Clue box, and talk about the classic whodunit game.

Join us and find out if we will ever continue to uncover the cultural meanings, publication facts, inspirations and more behind the wildly popular Dragon Ball franchise.

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