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IMPress Polly
09-08-2015, 11:39 AM
Whether the new Dragon Ball Super anime series can achieve the same heights that Dragon Ball Z (to which it is a sequel series) did remains to be seen, but one thing is for sure: the 291-episode Dragon Ball Z series that ran originally from 1989 to 1996 has cemented itself as a seminal work in the history of Japanese animation, and many say as the greatest action cartoon of all time. But you may be wondering why someone like me would enjoy such a series, what with its rather gratuitous action-violence, frequent supply of sexist jokes, and other elements that I commonly describe as personal turn-offs vis-a-vis media in general. Why would someone like me find this series appealing, you ask? Because, unlike so many other boy's action cartoons and movies and such, DBZ uses these fairly standard devices as means to other ends rather than as ends unto themselves. Much of what on the surface level can appear, even to many fans of the series, to be pretty shallow material that's simply about fulfilling male power fantasies, is actually much deeper than it may appear at first glance if you just think about it for a minute. Let me give you my rundown of the surprisingly deep and thought-provoking sub-messages that appear to be conveyed in the form of allegory.

Dragon Ball Z can be broken down into three main sagas and a pair of short minor sagas that are just simply filler material. I'm going to focus on the three main sagas. Here's the core message I get out of each:

The Frieza Saga:

The first saga in the series spans a little over 100 episodes. It reveals early on that series protagonist Goku is actually an alien from the planet Vegeta who was sent to Earth in infancy Superman-style not long before his planet was destroyed. He is soon confronted by other surviving members of his alien race, the Saiyans, who attempt to conquer the Earth and wipe out its population in order to sell the "cleansed" planet to the highest bidder for the villainous Frieza's intergalactic empire. The threat is repelled, but not before much damage is done and many lives are lost. The heroic Z Fighters travel to the planet Namek in search of its dragon balls (which, in genie-like fashion, grant the user wishes) in the hopes of reviving the deceased. There they encounter Frieza and his army, who are seeking to use the planet's dragon balls to achieve immortality for Frieza. The Saiyan Prince Vegeta, who led the earlier attack on Earth, opportunistically turns on his former master in a bid for immortality of his own, which ultimately requires that he temporarily fight alongside the Z Fighters. Ultimately though, only the pure-hearted Goku, who achieves a new Super Saiyan form, is able to defeat Frieza, but not before acquiring a dose of tempered pride in his Saiyan warrior race despite its history.

This saga contains much talk and argument about race and pride to the point of these elements seeming to serve as the dominant themes. One must bear in mind that this is a Japanese program originally intended for a Japanese audience, that the Japanese have a warrior heritage, and the that Japan is a former (overt) empire that has long struggled to reconcile its past with its new, post-WW2 position and role in the world. That is what I feel is at the heart of this saga. The Frieza Saga seems to me very much about the struggle of the Japanese people to shed the tyrannical, imperial elements of their past without losing all pride in their heritage; the challenge of finding their identity as a people in the modern world, given their history. References to the Saiyans as a "warrior race", to their work for an empire, and allusions to atomic blasts don't strike me as collectively coincidental.

The Cell Saga:

Running roughly from episode 118 to episode 199, the Cell Saga takes place some time after Frieza's defeat. It turns out the he has barely survived his fight with Goku and, in a new, cybernetic form, visits Earth with his father to exact revenge. The Z Fighters are unprepared for this challenge, but a mysterious youth calling himself Trunks intervenes, making short work of both Frieza and his father. Trunks then reveals to the Z Fighters that he has come from the future to warn them that a mad scientist from their past (see the original Dragon Ball series) by the name of Dr. Gero is in the process of creating a pair of super-powered androids in an unknown location that will ultimately lay waste to human civilization. He warns the Z Fighters to begin training to confront this threat immediately, which they do. A number of plot twists later though, it turns out that the previously unknown android Cell (unknown previously even to Trunks, that is) is the greatest threat of all, as he uniquely possesses the ability to absorb the other androids and, with them, their strength. Upon thus absorbing Androids 17 and 18, he easily proves himself a superior combatant to the Z Fighters and egotistically challenges them to a tournament called the Cell Games wherein all participants fight him until either he is defeated or he defeats them all and obliterates the Earth as a penalty for his amusement. He is ultimately defeated by Goku's frequently-underestimated son, Gohan, and the deceased are revived with Earth's dragon balls.

This is the most contrived and conservative of the major DBZ sagas and has emerged as kind of my least favorite. Though it contains many touching moments and worthwhile side plots and nuances, the core message of this second major saga is pretty obvious: This is supposed to ultimately, primarily be a coming-of-age story. Coming-of-age stories are important for any society, as they define what it is to be a mature adult and in this case a man. Unfortunately, the definition of masculinity provided here does not stray from convention. Gohan learns that he must shed his weaknesses, which in this case mean his natural empathy and reservations about fighting, and let an uncontrollable desire for revenge drive him to victory.

Perhaps more interesting than the core message of this saga is a side element that is its portrayal of Americans. Americans are notably in this saga really for the first time, and are portrayed poorly. It was interesting for this viewer to see some of the stereotypes that Japanese people have about us. Americans in this saga are portrayed as gangsters and posturing blowhards who will say and do anything for fame and fortune. According to DBZ, martial arts should be an art, not a sport; one should fight for the love of fighting, not to win trophies and recognition. While the negative portrayal of Americans is clearly exaggerated, perhaps there's an element of truth somewhere in there. I think we as a society are too obsessed with our image and status both individually and nationally and perhaps martial arts have become too Americanized.

The Buu Saga:

Fortunately though, the Buu Saga, which spans the rest of the series, makes up for many of the Cell Saga's faults. For example, taking place a number of years after the confrontation with Cell, early on we learn that Gohan has actually grown up a more complex and nuanced character than the previous saga led us to believe he'd become. It turns out that he has decided to fulfill his mother's desire for him to become a scholar even though there remains a part of him that cannot give up fighting entirely, which he uses to hilariously play the role of Western-style goofy superhero called the Great Saiyaman who stamps out ordinary crimes in a silly costume as a side endeavor. :grin: Likewise, in another unexpected development, Krillin, a human Z Fighter who has displayed perhaps the most negative attitude toward women over the course of the series so far (lines like "This [the battlefield] is no place for women!" abound with him) has, in an ironic twist, married Android 18: a female fighter much stronger than himself. One might say that, in these senses and others, this is the most pro-feminist of the DBZ sagas. But these are only the beginning points of interest!

The Buu Saga deals above all with a very unusual topic: schizophrenia. You know, split personality. An ancient wizard has released a mysterious fighter named Buu, legendary for his intergalactic destruction. Buu, it turns out though, while as powerful and destructive as the legends suggest, is a child-like character who is simply goofing around without realizing that he's doing anything wrong. But one day the blowhard martial arts champion Mr. Satan thinks of doing something that no one else has yet considered: simply telling Buu that what he's doing is wrong. It works! Buu is an innocent, child-like character, so as soon as he learns that it's wrong to cause all the death and destruction that he is, he immediately changes his ways. But his actions have convinced many people that the apocalypse is upon them and they begin to behave on base instincts as a result. Humanity's base instincts are laid bear as depraved when, among other things, our camera follows a pair of opportunists who go around shooting people just for the adrenaline rush involved in doing something taboo because they know that, in this context, they won't suffer any consequences. When Buu's new pet dog, who, together with Mr. Satan, has helped him adjust to a more normal lifestyle, becomes one of their victims followed by Mr. Satan himself, Buu cannot keep himself together anymore and splits into two characters: good Buu and evil Buu. The latter emerges victorious in a subsequent fight, absorbing the good Buu. Evil Buu moves to exact revenge on humanity by resuming, and accelerating, his previous pattern of mass destruction, thus reversing the logic of the previous saga that had cast revenge as righteous. No fighter by themselves can defeat this new incarnation of Buu and thus are a (kinda sorta) new technique called fusions, wherein two characters merge into one new, more powerful, being required. The rest of the saga is spent with various logically opposite pairs of characters (Goten and Trunks in one case, Goku and Vegeta in another, and finally Buu's own divided personality) negotiating control over the same bodies, being forced to learn how to find common goals and cooperate. There is something implied here even for those of us without schizophrenia if we think about the natural divide between what psychologists call our id and super-ego respectively.

This has emerged as my favorite saga of late.

Other Themes:

Dragon Ball Z also has some themes that stretch across all of its sagas. One of these is redemption. Unlike in your average American superhero cartoon, many of the villainous characters in Dragon Ball Z eventually wind up on the side of justice, joining the Z Fighters themselves in the end. Across the various sagas, Piccolo, Vegeta, Android 18, and Buu all serve as examples of characters who start out evil and wind up among the ranks of the heroes. This is the kind of complexity and dynamic character development that is too often absent from Western programs in general, to say nothing of our cartoons. Second, third, and fourth chances and beyond are valued by the creators of this series. Even the most rotten of villains are given these chances to reform.

Similarly, renewal is another common theme across the series. Large-scale destruction and recreation occur throughout the series, both vis-a-vis the Earth and elsewhere. At the end of the day, through every challenge, things always seem to wind up better than they were beforehand: bonds strengthened, etc.

Summation:

Yes, there's a lot of action-violence and such to DBZ, but it's not nearly as mindless as it may at first appear. It has a purpose! THAT's what makes Dragon Ball Z so awesome: because while it can be petty, the more carefully you look behind that seeming pettiness, the more depth you'll find. How many action shows can that be honestly said of?

The Xl
09-08-2015, 11:51 AM
That's quite the summary and definitely an interesting take on the series. I always thought the depth of the series was lost on many, perhaps they weren't smart enough to see it, or maybe they weren't interested in seeing it. I liked the parallels you drew to countries, cultures, and historical events.

It was also one of the first series I can remember that had a female character as one of the strongest characters at a point. A female beating the hell out of Super Sayian Vegeta must have been surprising for the Japanese audience in the early 90s.

The Xl
09-08-2015, 12:56 PM
Speaking of Super, it appears to have more a comedy tone to it than DBZ did, it's part Dragonball and part DBZ. I'm enjoying it greatly, although the retelling of the two movie arcs could be a little quicker.

IMPress Polly
09-08-2015, 01:01 PM
The Xl wrote:
That's quite the summary and definitely an interesting take on the series. I always thought the depth of the series was lost on many, perhaps they weren't smart enough to see it, or maybe they weren't interested in seeing it. I liked the parallels you drew to countries, cultures, and historical events.

Well I think most people just approach action shows as power fantasies. The way I see it is that DBZ is a show that used that as a lure, and you know, it worked!

Anyway, thank you for your kind words. :smiley:


It was also one of the first series I can remember that had a female character as one of the strongest characters at a point. A female beating the hell out of Super Sayian Vegeta must have been surprising for the Japanese audience in the early 90s.

It was definitely one of the Japanese expressions of the "girl power" wave of feminism that hit in the 1990s and early 2000s. In and around that same time frame, for example, you also had manga and anime shows like Sailor Moon, Magic Knight Rayearth, and Cardcaptor Sakura, as well as anime movies like Ghost in the Shell, hitting and making it big in Japan and even internationally. Amidst this global wave, it's none too surprising to find that even some popular boy's cartoons from that era like DBZ wound up responding and even getting on board to a degree. Nevertheless, I would actually argue that Android 18 was one of the best of these characters, at least in terms of character design. Many of the female warriors showcased in these shows and movies looked more like strippers than credible fighters. Android 18 was different. She (mostly) actually looked like a fighter. You know, she had visible muscles and everything.

IMPress Polly
09-08-2015, 01:06 PM
The Xl wrote:
Speaking of Super, it appears to have more a comedy tone to it than DBZ did, it's part Dragonball and part DBZ. I'm enjoying it greatly, although the retelling of the two movie arcs could be a little quicker.

I've definitely noticed that too! I kinda liked Battle of the Gods and have actually enjoyed the extended take, but you know how I am with that sort of thing. I enjoy the details. One of the interesting distinctions of Battle of the Gods, and therefore of DB Super, is it's more optimistic view of human nature, I've noticed. Has Toriyama's outlook changed over the years I wonder?

The Xl
09-08-2015, 01:08 PM
Well I think most people just approach action shows as power fantasies. The way I see it is that DBZ is a show that used that as a lure, and you know, it worked!

Anyway, thank you for your kind words. :smiley:



It was definitely one of the Japanese expressions of the "girl power" wave of feminism that hit in the 1990s and early 2000s. In and around that same time frame, for example, you also had manga and anime shows like Sailor Moon, Magic Knight Rayearth, and Cardcaptor Sakura, as well as anime movies like Ghost in the Shell, hitting and making it big in Japan and even internationally. Amidst this global wave, it's none too surprising to find that even some popular boy's cartoons from that era like DBZ wound up responding and even getting on board to a degree. Nevertheless, I would actually argue that Android 18 was one of the best of these characters, at least in terms of character design. Many of the female warriors showcased in these shows and movies looked more like strippers than credible fighters. Android 18 was different. She (mostly) actually looked like a fighter. You know, she had visible muscles and everything.

Yeah, she was pretty badass. She wasn't the only one either, although she was the strongest and most famous one. Chi Chi entered and made the final 8 in the World Tournament in Dragonball, Videl was the strongest non Z fighter human on Earth, even stronger than her father, Hercule,(Mr. Satan) Pan was a force in GT, and while it wasn't combat related, Bulma was the smartest of the bunch by far, was one of the most important characters in the series, created the dragon radar, helped Vegeta go SS4 in GT, etc.

The Xl
09-08-2015, 01:11 PM
I've definitely noticed that too! I kinda liked Battle of the Gods and have actually enjoyed the extended take, but you know how I am with that sort of thing. I enjoy the details. One of the interesting distinctions of Battle of the Gods, and therefore of DB Super, is it's more optimistic view of human nature, I've noticed. Has Toriyama's outlook changed over the years I wonder?

Yeah, it is, although, they've seem to have made Beerus more of a villain type character so far as opposed to how he was portrayed in BOG. It's good stuff, it's like my childhood is back. I enjoy the Pilaf throwback too, lol. I'm interested to see if they retell the Freeza movie too, I hope they do, he was one of my favorite characters.

IMPress Polly
09-08-2015, 01:30 PM
"Did Goku save the Earth or did the Earth save Goku?"

More underappreciated depth to Toriyama's fun-loving shows.

IMPress Polly
09-08-2015, 01:33 PM
Frieza must be a favorite for a lot of people. He's been brought and defeated again more times than any other character in the entire Dragon Ball franchise. :tongue:

The Xl
09-08-2015, 01:34 PM
"Did Goku save the Earth or did the Earth save Goku?"

More underappreciated depth to Toriyama's fun-loving shows.
That's another thing that's lost on everyone. Good stuff, good observations. Without the Earth, he was destined to be another run of the mill evil Sayian in Freezas galactic empire, and a low level one at that. Even at the beginning of Z, he was far weaker than his brother Raditz, who was considered a low level Sayian.

The Xl
09-08-2015, 01:35 PM
Frieza must be a favorite for a lot of people. He's been brought and defeated again more times than any other character in the entire Dragon Ball franchise. :tongue:

I'm a big fan of Freeza but I always hated when they brought him back as fodder during some filler scenes and sagas. The bit with Pikkon, the GT stuff, etc. The movie did him well though, if he was going to come back, that's how it should have been done.

IMPress Polly
09-08-2015, 02:01 PM
The Xl wrote:
That's another thing that's lost on everyone. Good stuff, good observations. Without the Earth, he was destined to be another run of the mill evil Sayian in Freezas galactic empire, and a low level one at that. Even at the beginning of Z, he was far weaker than his brother Raditz, who was considered a low level Sayian.

Exactly. Or the commentary on religion in the Buu Saga that somehow people just missed. (Have I mentioned yet that the Buu Saga is my favorite?) Japan's a very religious society, by which I mean more so than us. You don't see all that much criticism of people relying on faith to solve their problems out of a society like that.

kilgram
09-08-2015, 04:19 PM
Exactly. Or the commentary on religion in the Buu Saga that somehow people just missed. (Have I mentioned yet that the Buu Saga is my favorite?) Japan's a very religious society, by which I mean more so than us. You don't see all that much criticism of people relying on faith to solve their problems out of a society like that.
Mmm, you are wrong of the religious of Japanese people.

They are a pretty atheist society. They follow many traditions. And they take from any tradition what they like the most. For example, they are going to marry in Christian rites and make the burials in Buddhist or Shintoist rites.

Japanese society is complex, and many things as I said are for tradition rather true belief. For example, all holiday banks are not religious. In conclusion, Japanese society is traditionalist and conservative.

Going to the topic, have you noticed lower quality in the chapters of Dragon Ball Super from chapter 5?

The Xl
09-08-2015, 04:27 PM
Exactly. Or the commentary on religion in the Buu Saga that somehow people just missed. (Have I mentioned yet that the Buu Saga is my favorite?) Japan's a very religious society, by which I mean more so than us. You don't see all that much criticism of people relying on faith to solve their problems out of a society like that.

My biggest beef with the Buu saga is that some of the power chains are messed up and don't flow as well as the Cell and Freeza saga(Kaioshin>Piccolo>Base Sayians>Kaioshin). Inconsistencies bother me a little bit. Otherwise it was pretty good. The Freeza saga will probably always be my fav, though.

Ethereal
09-08-2015, 04:33 PM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiONylGn8Xw

Came out this year. I'm going to watch it soon.

IMPress Polly
09-09-2015, 08:39 AM
kilgram wrote:
Mmm, you are wrong of the religious of Japanese people.

They are a pretty atheist society. They follow many traditions. And they take from any tradition what they like the most. For example, they are going to marry in Christian rites and make the burials in Buddhist or Shintoist rites.

Japanese society is complex, and many things as I said are for tradition rather true belief. For example, all holiday banks are not religious. In conclusion, Japanese society is traditionalist and conservative.

Maybe "spiritual" would be the more technically correct way of putting it. Most Japanese people may not consider themselves formally religious, but that doesn't stop them from praying to, and engaging in the worship of, gods, ancestors, and other deities, and moreoever upwards of 96% of Japanese people have a temple affiliation. It's hard to argue that that's the same thing as atheism. Japan is well-known for its almost universal spirituality, and in these sense can be markedly contrasted with a number of other countries in the region.

Anyway, the DBZ moment I'm pointing to was one wherein the people of Earth were criticized for awaiting a deity to descend from the heavens and solve their problems. I found it to be an oft-poignant point because lots of people the world over do that.

kilgram
09-18-2015, 06:46 PM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiONylGn8Xw

Came out this year. I'm going to watch it soon.
I've found it in Spanish (latino)... No comments for that... Yes, I don't like that accent xD

By the way, which is your favourite character of the series? I forgot how I loved Vegeta. And he was incredible instructive to learn how to curse in Catalan (my native language) :)

Ethereal
09-24-2015, 10:25 PM
I've found it in Spanish (latino)... No comments for that... Yes, I don't like that accent xD

By the way, which is your favourite character of the series? I forgot how I loved Vegeta. And he was incredible instructive to learn how to curse in Catalan (my native language) :)

Vegeta was my favorite character, too, because he was the most complex and multifaceted. But you can never go wrong with Goku, either.

IMPress Polly
09-26-2015, 07:29 AM
I like different DBZ characters for different reasons. I relate the most to Buu and Android 18, honestly. Like 18, I'm rather melancholy and monotone...none too excitable...in person. Like Buu, I feel generally well-intentioned, but get used a lot and get sick of it, and have to learn a lot of life lessons the hard way. And like both characters, I'm on the complicated side. However, I also really like the funny characters: Mr. Satan because he's hilariously oblivious in general (though occasionally productive and even heroic) and King Kai because he can't figure out how lame his jokes are. :grin:

Cell I have found to be my least favorite character.