Final Forum: A Dragon Ball Podcast

[Four of] The Five Warriors (S2E13)

Is Dragon Ball in the Universal Monsters pantheon? Is this a crossover? 

Jelli and Bekinney continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon by breaking down episodes 71, 72, and 73, "Deadl Battle," "Goku's Turn," and "The Devilmite Beam." We continue discussing the Fortune Teller Baba mini tournament and break down the identities of four of Baba's five champions.

In this episode:

• Jelli and Bekinney arrive on a new planet
• We recap the episodes and discuss our favorite moments 
• Fangs the Vampire's inspiration points, which are obviously Dracula and Vlad Tepes
• How Fangs is a Muai Tai fighter and that is appropriate for his character
• A discussion of how Japanese pop culture tends to utilize Western (specifically Christian) religious iconography when telling fictional tales
• More Dracula discussion, as we did when we looked at Don Dracula
• The Invisible Man and where his name came from, the prime time soap opera Water Door Earth Gate
• The background of the song Baba sings to distract Yamcha during his fight with Sukesan
• And discussion of the Invisible Man Universal films
• Mummy Kun's obvious inspiration points front Boris Karloff's portrayal of Frankenstein and The Mummy
• How Toriyama subverted expectations with his mummy by making him nimble
• And discussion of mummies in movies, especially the Universal films of the 30s and 40s and the 1999 Brendan Fraser Mummy film which is called by your cohosts "perfect"
• Devilman aka Akkuman and his name being derived from Akuma
• Why Devilman's evil exploitation ray aka evil expansion beam does not work on Goku
• If Goku is pure of heart or just dumb
• And a discussion of Devilman, the anime series
• We finish up with a discussion of how Toriyama subverts expectations by not using further Universal Monsters and ponder why we did not get a Gillman or possibly a Wolf Man.
• 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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Fortune Teller Baba (S2E12)

Did Fortune Teller Baba inspire John Wick? Did she? Let's be honest about it...

Jelli and Bekinney continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon by breaking down episodes 69 and 70, "Who is Fortune Teller Baba?" and "We are the Five Warriors." We pick up the trail of the final Dragon Ball and start to bridge Dragon Ball into the afterlife.

In this episode:

• Jelli and Bekinney make a bet
• We recap the episodes and discuss our favorite moments 
• The first example of Goku inspiring allies to refocus their training efforts
• Breaking down the contradictions of Baba's Palace and how male and female, living and dead, and beauty and desolation mingle
• The inspiration behind Obake, Baba's ghost usher, from Obake no Q-Taro and Ultra Q
• Goku's classic inability to get ceremonial titles correct
• Whether Baba, which means crone in Japanese, is a pejorative term
• The history of Fortune Tellers in Eastern culture, including the movie The Lost World of Sinbad (aka Samurai Pirate)
• How Baba may be mildly inspired by the Baba Yaga
• And then we discuss our main talking point of the day, which is how we feel about this arc really introducing the concept of the afterlife and spirits living beyond life into the Dragon Ball universe
• 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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Red Ribbon Manga Discussions and Dogi Talk (S2E11)

Everyone loves a good fit. Why are they IMPORTANT in Dragon Ball though?

Jelli and Bekinney continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon by breaking down episodes 65, 66, 67 and 68, "Confron the Red Ribbon Army," "A Real Bind," "The End of Commander Red," and "The Last Dragon Ball." We put a bow on the Red Ribbon Army, get into breaking down the manga as it compares to the anime, and talk about the significance of Goku's gi

In this episode:

• Your cohosts try to unravel a mystery
• We recap the episodes and discuss our favorite moments 
• Violet's inspiration from Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome
• More Star Wars influences
• Silver, Purple, White, Blue, Yello, Red, Violet, Brown, Copper, Metallic, Black...all defeated by a little boy in Orange
• We talk about the importance of Goku's gi, or dogi and why Toriyama chose the color he did, and how the gi he wears is inspired by Chinese dogis and yet differs due to design considerations
• Why Goku wears his dogi almost constantly
• Commander Red's sometimes Scottish accent is analyzed
• More Indiana Jones influences
• Red's Napoleon Complex
• Then we get into some manga an anime comparison points and look at some shocking filler moments and a few other notes on things like cover art and at least one great pun
• A shocking typo (shocking? sure. Why not?)
• 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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Master Korin (S2E10)

What do tasty snack treat towers have to do with all-knowing cat hermits?

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)

THE. SINGLE. GREATEST. MOMENT. IN. DRAGON. BALL. HISTORY?!?!?

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)

What happens when a creator from a racially homogenous society tackles the intricacies of indigenous peoples in North America?

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)

Toriyama's manga continues! But does it retain its panache?

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)

What happens when Akira Toriyama partakes in the time-honored tradition of the franchise crossover?

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)

Can a mangaka with traditional values from a country as historically conservative as Japan create a good quality LGBTQ character?

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 Halo?

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!