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. https://www.facebook.com/FinalForumPodcast https://twitter.com/finalforumpod  

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. https://www.facebook.com/FinalForumPodcast https://twitter.com/finalforumpod  

Jelli and Bekinney continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon Dragon Ball by breaking down episodes 125, 126, and 127, , "Earth's Guardian Emerges," "Eternal Dragon Resurrected," and "Quicker than Lightning." We continue discussing the Piccolo Jr. Saga, and talk about one of Dragon Ball's most controversial topics: Mr. Popo. In this episode: Jelli and Bekinney are cataloging a new species We recap the episodes and discuss our favorite moments  Trigger warning: This episode contains in-depth discussion of racial stereotypes and problematic depictions of people of color. While it is only our intention to discuss and educate, and not at all to condone, there are non-flinching discussions of potentially upsetting items. 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 Then we do it, we talk about Mr. Popo First, we contextualize his appearance using the setting and similar characters in 1001 Arabian Nights Then, we discuss the story of Little Black Sambo, and its popularity throughout the world and in Japan We talk about minstrel history We discuss whether Mr Popo is a problem 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. https://www.facebook.com/FinalForumPodcast https://twitter.com/finalforumpod  

Jelli and Bekinney continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon Dragon Ball by breaking down episodes 123 and 124, , "Lost and Found," and "Temple Above the Clouds." We begin discussing the Piccolo Jr. Saga, look at Kami's Lookout and discuss what makes the gods of Dragon Ball unique (hint: they suck). In this episode: Jelli and Bekinney are on a new planet We recap the episodes and discuss our favorite moments  Talking about getting started on a new saga Why the decision was made to go to gods Why Krillin, Chiaotzu, and Master Roshi don't get to meet King Yemma or receive an invitation to train with King Kai (aside from those characters not having been introduced yet) The meaning of "kami-sama" How the upper realm of jokai has existed all this time with nobody knowing about it How the nyoi-bo or power pole compares to the vajra, a Buddhist weapon  The significance of the bell Korin hands Goku, and its inspiration from Suzu The importance of formlessness vs form Kami's Lookout - how its appearance mirrors Korin's Tower and draws further on the inspiration from Bespin from Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back Kami's shrine, or shinden and what a typical Shinto shinden looks like vs that of Kami-sama's Freudian analytics Why fighting is the bar to meet god Parallels to Jackie Chan Of course Jelli manages to sneak in references to Ultraman Blazar and Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris Why the gods of Shintoism and Eastern philosophy in general are different from the Judeo-Christian God. 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. https://www.facebook.com/FinalForumPodcast https://twitter.com/finalforumpod  

Jelli and Bekinney continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon by ...jumping off the manga and onto our third feature film commentary! In this episode: Jelli and Bekinney are nearing the end of Frieza-controlled space We sync up our audio commentary for the listeners We discuss some of the production facts about the film Dragon Ball Mystical Adventure such as its 1988 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: Bikkuraman, Tatakae Ramenman, and Kamen Rider Black Terrifying the Phantom House of Devil Pass We delve into the background behind the Toei Manga Matsuri – Toei Cartoon Festival and its inception in 1969 and other such festivals around the country such as Toho's Champion Festival Contextualizing the box office of the film Shedding light on co-directors Kazuhisa Takenouichi (who worked on Dr Slump, Sailor Moon, One Piece and Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem, which is a companion piece to the Daft Punk album, Destiny) and Minor Okazaki (who worked on Doraemon, Dr Slump, Gegege no Kitaro and others) Discussing the film's producer: Chiaki Imada and his career at Toei which began with the release of Tower of Lilies We discuss the different dubs created for the film by studios such as Harmony Gold, Speedy, and Funimation The difference between the 2005 original Funimation release and the 2010 remastered version A reference to a Godzilla fan film turned "real" movie, Dragon Lizard Lord Super Monsters Really digging into the Speedy Dub Talking about Ceyli Delgadillo, the original voice of kid Goku Discussing the Mifan Empire seen in the film Talking about timelines and continuity 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. https://www.facebook.com/FinalForumPodcast https://twitter.com/finalforumpod  

Jelli and Bekinney continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon Dragon Ball by breaking down episode 122, "Final Showdown" and then jumping into comparing the Dragon Ball anime to the Dragon Ball manga. We continue discussing Demon King Piccolo, and talk about Piccolo's regeneration. In this episode: Jelli and Bekinney are on their way to a new planet. We recap the episode and discuss our favorite moments  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. https://www.facebook.com/FinalForumPodcast https://twitter.com/finalforumpod  

Jelli and Bekinney continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon Dragon Ball by breaking down episodes 118, 119, 120, and 121, , "Prelude to Vengeance," "Battle Cry," "Goku Strikes Back," and "The Biggest Crisis." We continue on with Demon King Piccolo Saga, and discuss the concept of achieving salvation by traveling through hell via the fight between Goku and Piccolo. In this episode: Jelli and Bekinney are reeling from their call with Frieza We recap the episodes and discuss our favorite moments  Comparisons between the moves here and those seen in some Akira Kurosawa movies, Sanshiro Sugata (1 and 2) as well the Ultraman series with Ultraseven Power level tropes being utilized Goku fulfilling Uranai Baba's prophecy Goku taunting Piccolo using a childlike phrase Japanese voice actor Aono Takeshi (for Piccolo) setting a precedent for Sean Schemmel and Chris Sabat by almost passing out in the recording booth The trials of The Buddha, Jesus Christ, and Dante Alleghiri with regards to achieving salvation Discussing saru, Japanese for monkey, and how monkeys are seen as demon repellants Discussing May 9th, Goku Day...or Piccolo Day... How monkeys play into Buddhism Another pivot, slight though it may be, of Dragon Ball's tone and style 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. https://www.facebook.com/FinalForumPodcast https://twitter.com/finalforumpod  

Jelli and Bekinney continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon Dragon Ball by breaking down episodes 114, 115, 116, and 117, , "Conquest and Power," "Awaken Darkness," "A Taste of Destiny," and "The Ultimate Sacrifice." We continue on with Demon King Piccolo Saga, and discuss the concept of Senzu beans and how they work. In this episode: Jelli and Bekinney are prepping to return to their adventures, and a surprise call awaits them at the end... We recap the episodes and discuss our favorite moments  The story of Emperor Win Shihuang who ruled China in the 200s BC The idea of the denshija and how it externalizes Piccolo's innermost fears If there might perhaps be a parallel between Pilaf and Majin Buu...or more accurately Babidi King Furry's resemblance to Teddy Roosevelt The meaning of senzu Tautologies The origin of senzu from Daoist practices Gross. The compounding effects of senzu Ultra Divine Water or Super God Water The root of the terms Connections to Daoist fasting Discussions of alchemy 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. https://www.facebook.com/FinalForumPodcast https://twitter.com/finalforumpod  

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 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!

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 episode of Iron Chef. 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!

On this episode of Final Forum, we discuss the recent, unfortunate, and untimely passing of Akira Toriyama, and do our best to talk about what his works, from Dragon Ball, to Dr. Slump, to Dragon Quest, to Chrono Trigger, meant to us, and attempt to parse this news as best we can.   We were joined on this episode by our friend Lux Edwards (Soulmass218 Linktree).

Jelli and Bekinney continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon Dragon Ball by breaking down episodes 110, 111, 112 and 113, , "Piccolo Closes In," "Roshi's Gambit," "King Piccolo's Wish," and "Siege on Chow Castle." We continue on with Demon King Piccolo Saga, and discuss the "man" of the hour himself: Great Demon King Piccolo (orPiccolo Daimao). In this episode: Jelli and Bekinney are returning to Frieza Force controlled space We recap the episodes and discuss our favorite moments  Discussing the puns of Piccolo's name as well as the meaning of Daimao Drawing a parallel between Piccolo's airship and the Hayao Miyazaki movie Castle in the Sky Kazuhiko Torishima's inspiration that led Akira Toriyama to create Piccolo How Piccolo attacking martial artists parallels real life demons fearing Daoist, Buddhist, and Shintoist priests The origins of the Pokopen chant that's done when Piccolo gives birth The importance of Piccolo having only four fingers A discussion of the burakumin, and why the anime staff MAY have changed Piccolo's design prior to animating him in the show 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. https://www.facebook.com/FinalForumPodcast https://twitter.com/finalforumpod  

Jelli and Bekinney continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon Dragon Ball by breaking down episodes 108 and 109, , "Goku's Revenge," and "Goku vs. King Piccolo." We continue on with Demon King Piccolo Saga, and break down Piccolo's Children, Tambourine, Cymbal, Drum and Piano (and more). In this episode: Jelli and Bekinney are trying to find a way off the planet where they are stranded We recap the episodes and discuss our favorite moments  Discussing puns, Piccolo, Drum, Piano, Cymbal and Tambourine Mentioning Piccolo's non-canon children, Ukulele, Harp, Mandolin, Maraca, Organ, Castanets, Harmonica, and Bongo, and their appearances in video games, including Damaio Fukkatsu Breaking down Tambourine, his voice actors Dameon Clarke and Ryusei Nakao and their connections to other characters like Frieza, Cell, Krillin, Nuova Shenron and Eis Shenron Discussing Cymbal, his voice actors Brad Jackson and Daisuke Gori, and their connections to other characters including Ox King, Turtle, Ghastiel, InoShikaCho, Drum, King Yemma, Porunga, Mr. Sata and King Cold Drum, his voice actors Daisuke Gori and Bob Carter, and Carter's voicing of Bojack and Syn Shenron Piano, his voice actors Masato Hirano and Sonny Strait and their connections to Man Wolf, Mummy-kun, Bardock, General Blue, and Krillin The Mazoku race and breaking down the word and how mazoku differ from yokai or oni Why Piccolo's children are not mere Namekian clones 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. https://www.facebook.com/FinalForumPodcast https://twitter.com/finalforumpod  

Jelli and Bekinney continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon Dragon Ball by breaking down episodes 105, 106 and 107, "Here Comes Yajirobe," "Terrible Tambourine," and "Tien's Atonement."  We continue on with Demon King Piccolo Saga, and introduce a new character, Yajirobe. In this episode: Jelli digs Bekinney out of the cold, cold ground We recap the episodes and discuss our favorite moments  Yajirobe's design inspirations, coming from the Akira Kurosawa film Yojimbo and the actor Daisuke Kato A note about a first when it comes to a fight within Dragon Ball, between Yajirobe and Cymbal Yajirobe's swordsman skills What Yajirobe means in Japanese both as a toy (Circus Sam) and in breaking down the characters that make up the name Yajirobe's status as a Ronin and inspiration from the real life historical figure Musashi Miyamoto How Kurosawa redefined the narrative around Ronin 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. https://www.facebook.com/FinalForumPodcast https://twitter.com/finalforumpod  

Jelli and Bekinney continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon Dragon Ball by breaking down episodes 102, 103 and 104, "Enter King Piccolo," "Tambourine Attacks!" and "Mark of the Demon."  We leave the 22nd Budokai Tenkaichi behind, and delve into the Demon King Piccolo Saga, starting out with the idea of the Evil Containment Wave, or the Mafuba. In this episode: Jelli and Bekinney collect themselves after a harsh battle We recap the episodes and discuss our favorite moments  Some notes on the episodes about translations with Master Mutaito and Master Roshi, timeline items with Master Shen (Crane Hermit) and Chiaotzu, canon issues regarding Piccolo's Namekian heritage, and some censorship notes We talk about Master Mutaito and the origin of his name Looking at Mutaito's gi Mafuba, and breaking down the word and its translation as Evil Containment Wave How Daoists, Buddhists, and Shintoists inspired the Mafuba The origins of sealing demons or foes in general for centuries, with a few examples from Journey to the West (Laozi sealing Sun Wukong within the heavenly crucible and Buddha trapping him under a mountain) The Japanese art of onmyodo How runes become jewelry in Japan Toriyama's playful nature in having Piccolo sealed within the denshi-ja (electric rice cooker) A look ahead at the arc and our initial impressions 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. https://www.facebook.com/FinalForumPodcast https://twitter.com/finalforumpod  

Jelli and Bekinney have no time to continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime Dragon Ball. In this episode: The climactic battle! 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, and unspool what we all love so much about Goku, the Dragon Ball franchise, the Dragon Ball anime, Dragon Ball manga, and more. https://www.facebook.com/FinalForumPodcast https://twitter.com/finalforumpod  

Jelli and Bekinney take a break from format and Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon Dragon Ball by pivoting and talking about the life and personality and career of one of the most influential creative minds behind Dragon Ball: Akira Toriyama's first editor Kazuhiko Torishima. In this episode: Jelli and Bekinney are fired upon! We have already discussed the life and career of Akira Toriyama, Daisuke Nishio, Toshiki Inoue, Takao Koyama, Chiaki Imada, and (one of the men who inspired the creation of Goku himself) Jackie Chan...let's talk about one of the key men when it came to the birth of Dragon Ball itself: Kazuhiko Torishima, Toriyama's first editor, the man who pushed and pulled Toriyama all the way from up-and-comer to one of the most successful manga ka of all time, and one of the most important men in the history of Shueisha and Shogakukan. Torishima's birth and childhood in Niigata prefecture His early career, in which he wanted to be an editor for Playboy How he wound up working for Weekly Shonen Jump His initial opinion that manga was a lower form of entertainment His first job working on Doberman Deka, created by Buronson, who would go on to create Fist of the North Star Torishima's role in pushing Akira Toriyama to make Arale the main character of Dr. Slump How Torishima's occasionally harsh style led to the creation of the antagonist of Dr. Slump, Dr. Mashirito Shueisha's desire for a hit to follow up Dr. Slump when it ended How Torishima kept pushing Toriyama to make Dragon Ball better when popularity initially slumped and again and again in order to make it more and more popular How Torishima helped make sure the Dragon Ball anime was more faithful to the manga than most anime at the time Torishima's general philosophy behind storytelling and his preferred reading, including philosophy (like Nietzche and Confucius)  Torishima's work with Nintendo to create a fusion of manga and video games, in Famicon SHinken Other works Torishima helped launch including Yu-Gi-Oh, One Piece, Naruto, Dragon Quest, Bleach, Death Note, Gantz II, and Pokemon His rise to being the editor-in-chief of Shueisha and ultimately director of Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions Creatives who have been inspired by Torishima, including the minds behind Tottemo! Luckyman, Momotaro Dentetsu, Yudetamago, and Kinnikuman Why Torishima even became an editor in the first place Some of Torishima's activism as a face of the manga industry as a whole 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. https://www.facebook.com/FinalForumPodcast https://twitter.com/finalforumpod  

Jelli and Bekinney continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon Dragon Ball by breaking down episode 101, "The Fallen" and then jumping into comparing the Dragon Ball anime to the Dragon Ball manga. We continue discussing the 22nd Budokai Tenkaichi, and delve into the topic of Tien and his third eye. In this episode: Jelli and Bekinney are on their way to a new planet. We recap the episodes and discuss our favorite moments  The cliffhanger ending involving Krillin and how shocking it is The physics of the end of the battle Whether Tien or Goku is technically the stronger one and whether latent ability and power level (ugh) determine a battle's outcome 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. https://www.facebook.com/FinalForumPodcast https://twitter.com/finalforumpod  

Jelli and Bekinney continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon Dragon Ball by breaking down episodes 96, 97 ,98, 99 and 100, "Tail's Tale," "Final Match: Goku vs. Tien," "Victory's Edge," "Tien's Insurrection," and "The Spirit Cannon."  We continue discussing the 22nd Budokai Tenkaichi, and delve into the topic of Tien and his third eye. In this episode: Jelli and Bekinney split up. That will end well. We recap the episodes and discuss our favorite moments  Some notes on Toriyama's claims of making it all up as he goes along Parallels in the fighting to Daoist concepts about levels of refinement and control Breaking down the Taiyo Ken, or Solar Flare, and its relationship to ying and yang energy Where the volley ball attack came from, and a brief note about shojo manga being essentially created by the manga Attack No. 1 Breaking down the Shiyo-ken or Four Supernatural Fists Technique How Shiyo-ken ties Tien to Hindu deities such as Ganesh Breaking down Tien, Tien Shinhan, Tenshinhan, Ten, and which is the "correct" pronunciation Tien's ties to the Qing Dynasty Tien's all-important tenme, or third-eye and its metaphysical importance How a tenme is inspired by humanity's pineal gland A brief note on the movie From Beyond, which features the pineal gland as a plot point How Daoists believe it is possible to utilize your pineal gland and open a third eye A note about Tien and his retroactive explanation of being an alien from the Mistume-jin (three-eyed people) Toriyama's possible inspiration from Osamu Tezuka's manga, The Three-Eyed One, and Journey to the West, and the character Erlangshen Comparisons between Erlangshen and Tien Shinhan including uses of a third eye, fighting a monkey child, being able to defeat Sun Wukong (Goku), and more 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. https://www.facebook.com/FinalForumPodcast https://twitter.com/finalforumpod  

Jelli and Bekinney continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon by breaking down episodes 91, 92, 93, 94, and 95, "Counting Controversy," "Goku Enters the Ring," Tien Shinhan vs. Jackie Chun," "Stepping Down," and "Goku vs. Krillin"  We continue discussing the 22nd Budokai Tenkaichi, and delve into the topic of zombies (kind of) in Dragon Ball. In this episode: Jelli and Bekinney are faced with a veritable ocean of molten rock We recap the episodes and discuss our favorite moments  Some notes on Panputto and the less important matches that happen herein We begin discussing Chiaotzu with how his name is derived Breaking down language to explain who and what Chiaotzu is The topic of zhiren in Japanese culture and how Toriyama may have been inspired by the Bruce Lee film, Fist of Fury and the Sammo Hung film The Dead and the Deadly The concept of jiangshi in Chinese and Japanese (and Daoist) culture How jiangshi are akin to Western zombies How jiangshi relate to the concepts of shishen and yuanshen as well as fengshui Toriyama's possible inspiration points for bringing a jiangshi into Dragon Ball, including the Sammo Hung films Ghost Beats Ghost and Mr. Jiangshi, and a 1985 film known as Kung Fu Wonder Child How Chiaotzu is also inspired by Prince Nezha, whom we had previously covered in our Sleeping Princess in Devil's Castle commentary  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. https://www.facebook.com/FinalForumPodcast https://twitter.com/finalforumpod  

Welcome to Final Forum's Dragon Ball-oween Spooktacular! In this special Jelli-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 FEAR, because it's almost Halloween and there's nothing like a good scare to get you ready for the season. So, who will make Jelli's Top Ten Scariest Dragon Ball Moments? The pool to choose from is ENORMOUS: Vegeta in his early years had many moments Bulma can be fearsome when she gets mad Oolong used to try to scare villagers Master Roshi's perversions would scare most women in the MeToo era Emperor Pilaf...uh probably not Giran is a literal monster Eighter (Android 8, 8-chan) evokes Frankenstein and his monster Tao Paipai's villainy knows no end Mister Popo could strike fear into the hearts of anyone insisting that Dragon Ball is culturally sensitive Fortune Teller Baba communicates with ghosts Demon King Piccolo is a literal demon (kind of...at least until we learn what Namek is) Nappa creates seed people (saibamen) and uses them to murder our heroes Frieza is the ruthless emperor of the galaxy and his henchmen Zarbon, Dodoria, and the Ginyu Force are no slouches in the nasty department either Chi-chi Android 19, Android 20, Dr. Gero, Android 17, Android 18, Android 16 - Will any of the artificial humans make the cut? King Cold is Frieza's father and perhaps even more ruthless What about any of the movie villains? Cooler, Turles, Lord Slug, Super Android 13, Garlic Jr, Janemba, Bojack, or the like? Cell, Perfect Cell, Semi-Perfect Cell...they eat people! Majin Buu, Fat Buu, Evil Buu, Kid Buu, Buuhan - The shapeshifting monster could make anyone shudder in fear Dabura is the king of the demon world Babidi and his father Bibidi are evil wizards Beerus is a literal destroyer god who almost blows up the Earth because he can't get pudding Mr Satan, probably not, but he has SATAN in his name... Jiren's quest for absolute power and emotionless focus may take one aback Goku Black, or Zamasu - bodysnatching Goku and murdering your best friends is definitely a scary thought Hit is a trained assassin Caulifla goes Berserk Speaking of Berserk, Broly's power can be scary Many antagonists have scary moments Bergamo, Frost, Magetta, Botamo, Top, Dyspo, Cell Max, Moro, Granolah, Gas, Elec.... ....and more...? Jelli threw all these in a pile and picked out just TEN of his favorites. Who will they be? Stay tuned to find out!

Welcome to Final Forum's Dragon Ball-oween Spooktacular! In this episode, Jelli and Bekinney are joined by Trevor Snyder of the Failure to Franchise Podcast as well as Days of Future Podcast Examining the X-Men for a fun break from format and into the world of kung fufilms. 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 case, it's Akira Toriyama's favorite movie of all-time and the film that helped create Dragon Ball (we've told the story about Toriyama's wife helping he and Kazuhiko Torishima coming up with the idea...and we tell it again here): Drunken Master, starring Jackie Chan. In this episode: We get right into syncing because it's a longer movie and commentary track. Stats on the movie including release date (pre-dating Dr. Slump and even Toriyama's first official publishing credit with Wonder Island), box office and key personnel Dragon Ball connections as it being Toriyama's favorite movie, the connections to Jackie Chun, Drunken boxing fighting style, and more including some surprise Master Crane similarities and Master Roshi inspiration points An introduction to the studio behind the film, Season Film Corporation, founded by Ng See-Yuen as he left Shaw Brothers to create this competitor and build a third studio behind Golden Harvest and Shaw Brothers A brief BRIEF history of Brucesploitation where actors who had a passing resemblance to Bruce Lee were passed off as him appearing in a posthumous feature Connections to Zu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain Connections to Jean Claude Van Damme, Michelle Yeoh, and Cynthia Rothrock A dive into the life and career of Jackie Chan, from his beginnings in the Peking opera, to his early film roles, on through his breakout to stardom in Asia, his run-in with the Triad, his attempts to gain fame in Hollywood (finally captured when Rumble in the Bronx and Rush Hour broke through in a major way), and even his later career and current persona A dive into the life and career of the film's director Yuen Woo-ping, having worked with Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Chow Yun-Fat and more, from his beginning working with his father on to his own Hollywood success working on the Matrix trilogy of films as well as Kill Bill, Kung Fu Hustle and later work with War Kong-Wai How Woo-ping worked on the Once Upon a Time in China series, helped launch the career of Donnie Yen (Star Wars: Rogue One and John Wick Chapter 4) The real-life cultural inspiration for this movie, an a discussion of Wong Fei-hun, a well-known Chinese folk hero and real-life master of martial arts, who worked with the Ten Tigers of Canton to create a style still taught in Chinese martial arts schools today The importance of Wong Fei-hun to China and Chinese film with over 100 films featuring the character and having been played by actors such as Gordon Liu, Jet Li, Donnie Yen, Sammo Hung, Eddie Peng, and Vincent Zhao An introduction to the Beggar So character, So Chuan, and his status as one of the Ten Tigers of Canton How Yuen Siu-tien became known as THE most famous person to play Beggar So, and is Yuen Woo-ping's father A brief history of Drunken Master's home video releases A discussion of the film's many imitators and homages, including those found in Naruto, the works of Edgar Wright, and Mortal Kombat   ...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 Drunken Master Franchise....for our special Dragon Ball-o-Ween event! https://www.facebook.com/FinalForumPodcast https://twitter.com/finalforumpod https://failuretofranchise.libsyn.com/ https://twitter.com/F2Fpod   

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 FEAR, because it's almost Halloween and there's nothing like a good scare to get you ready for the season. So, who will make Bekinney's Top Ten Scariest Dragon Ball Moments? The pool to choose from is ENORMOUS: Vegeta in his early years had many moments Bulma can be fearsome when she gets mad Oolong used to try to scare villagers Master Roshi's perversions would scare most women in the MeToo era Emperor Pilaf...uh probably not Giran is a literal monster Eighter (Android 8, 8-chan) evokes Frankenstein and his monster Tao Paipai's villainy knows no end Mister Popo could strike fear into the hearts of anyone insisting that Dragon Ball is culturally sensitive Fortune Teller Baba communicates with ghosts Demon King Piccolo is a literal demon (kind of...at least until we learn what Namek is) Nappa creates seed people (saibamen) and uses them to murder our heroes Frieza is the ruthless emperor of the galaxy and his henchmen Zarbon, Dodoria, and the Ginyu Force are no slouches in the nasty department either Chi-chi Android 19, Android 20, Dr. Gero, Android 17, Android 18, Android 16 - Will any of the artificial humans make the cut? King Cold is Frieza's father and perhaps even more ruthless What about any of the movie villains? Cooler, Turles, Lord Slug, Super Android 13, Garlic Jr, Janemba, Bojack, or the like? Cell, Perfect Cell, Semi-Perfect Cell...they eat people! Majin Buu, Fat Buu, Evil Buu, Kid Buu, Buuhan - The shapeshifting monster could make anyone shudder in fear Dabura is the king of the demon world Babidi and his father Bibidi are evil wizards Beerus is a literal destroyer god who almost blows up the Earth because he can't get pudding Mr Satan, probably not, but he has SATAN in his name... Jiren's quest for absolute power and emotionless focus may take one aback Goku Black, or Zamasu - bodysnatching Goku and murdering your best friends is definitely a scary thought Hit is a trained assassin Caulifla goes Berserk Speaking of Berserk, Broly's power can be scary Many antagonists have scary moments Bergamo, Frost, Magetta, Botamo, Top, Dyspo, Cell Max, Moro, Granolah, Gas, Elec.... ....and more...? Bekinney threw all these in a pile and picked out just TEN of his favorites. Who will they be? And will Bekinney get himself into more trouble than he bargained for...? Stay tuned to find out!

Welcome to Final Forum's Dragon Ball-oween Spooktacular! In this episode, Jelli and Bekinney break down the Halo franchise, with specific focus on three pieces: the short film Halo Landfall, the animated anthology Halo Legends, and the new Paramount+ streaming show, Halo. 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 case, it's Daisuke Nishio, director of a segment on Halo Legends (Odd One Out) and Dragon Ball.   In this episode: Jelli and Bekinney say hello to Halloween We discuss our introductions through Halo, whether that be playing Halo 2 in college, or just gaming in general, and if we've experience other Halo media outside the games prior to this episode. Breaking down the origins of Halo from creative studio Bungie with Halo: Combat Evolved and through Halo Infinite Discussion of the lore of Halo, discussing the Covenant, the Flood, Forerunners, humanity's place in the universe, Halo's importance in the franchise, and who the Master Chief is. We talk about Daisuke Nishio, and give a biography, from his birth in Miyoshi City in Hiroshima in 1959 to current day, covering his entry into Toei, working with directors who also worked on Sailor Moon, Digimon, and Dr. Slump. Discussing Nishio's strengths as a director and looking at some interviews he gave talking about how he approaches production, as well as his work on Gegege no Kitaro Introduction some of the mythology in order to contextualize the franchise for listeners including a history of the Forerunners, what the Halo installations are, what the Ark is and its function, and breaking down the races of the Covenant Talking about how the Prophets, Drones, Grunts, Jackals, Hunters, Elites and Brutes all work together (or don't) to begin what they call the Great Journey The role of a special Elite known as the Arbiter Who the Master Chief is An introduction to the AI Cortana A discussion of Neill Blomkamp's short film Halo Landfall with special assistance from Weta Workshop. A discussion of Halo Legends, first discussing its role in the Halo franchise as Microsoft's first attempt to expand the franchise beyond the confines of the Xbox under the newly created 343 Industries banner when Microsoft acquired the IP from Bungie Talking through each entry in the anthology Origins, by Studio 4C directed by Hideki Futamura (Akira, Gundam, Vampire Hunter D, The Animatrix) The Duel, from Production IG and directed by Hiroshi Yamazaki (Ghost in the Shell) Homecoming from Bee Train directed by Koji Sawai (Parasyte, Ranma 1/2) Odd One Out from Toei and directed by Daisuke Nishio Prototype from Bones (Cowboy Bebop, Fullmetal Alchemist, My Hero Academia) and directed by Tomoki Kyoda (Rebuild of Evangelion, Eureka Seven) The Babysitter from Studio 4C and directed by Toshiyuki Kanno (Dragon Ball) The Package from Casio Entertainment and directed by Shinji Aramaki (Ultraman) Discussing the Halo series on Paramount+ with showrunners Kyle Killen and Steven Kane, who worked on The Beaver, Netflix's Death Note, The Closer, Alias, and Curb Your Enthusiasm as well as Amazon's Jack Ryan show Some of the creation history behind the series including originally thinking it would be helmed by Rupert Wyatt and Steven Spielberg   ...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 Halo trans-media franchise....for our special Dragon Ball-o-Ween event! https://www.facebook.com/FinalForumPodcast https://twitter.com/finalforumpod

Jelli and Bekinney continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon by breaking down episodes 87, 88, 89, and 90, "Yamcha vs. Tien," "Yamcha's Big Break," "Full-Moon Vengeance," and "The Dodan Wave."  We continue discussing the 22nd Budokai Tenkaichi, and delve into the topic of flight in Dragon Ball. In this episode: Jelli and Bekinney try to chart their course We recap the episodes and discuss our favorite moments  Some notes on the techniques Tien uses during his battle against Yamcha Revealing how Jackie Chun is able to hypnotize Man Wolf using a method similar to that employed by General Blue Defining buku jutsu and how it is the name for the cloud dancing flight technique employed in Dragon Ball Unveiling how xianren (senin) became associated with the ability to fly, along with red crowned cranes, thus deepening the connection for the Crane School and Master Shen's Crane Hermit abilities Talking about lingzhi mushrooms and their ability to make you believe you can fly How flight as buku-jutsu is different from Puar's ability to fly Then we discuss how Dragon Ball flight may be similar to or different from that employed by Superman or Peter Pan, we get off on a tangent about Mr. Satan, and we discuss whether we would want to be able to fly 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. https://www.facebook.com/FinalForumPodcast https://twitter.com/finalforumpod  

Jelli and Bekinney continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon by breaking down episodes 83, 84, 85 and 86, "Which Way to Papaya Island?" "Rivals and Arrivals," "Preliminary Peril," and "Then there Were Eight."  We begin discussing the 22nd Budokai Tenkaichi, and delve into the Crane Hermit, or Master Shen. In this episode: Jelli and Bekinney prepare to leave Kemani We recap the episodes and discuss our favorite moments  How Toriyama became among the first manga ka to incorporate a time skip into a Shonen Jump manga The possible origins of Konkichi, the green fox Jelli throws out some movie recommendations including Battle Royale, Kwaidan, and Godzilla's Revenge How Dragon Ball continues to borrow from Journey to the West A discussion of durian and papaya, two of the most controversial fruits (if such a thing can be called controversial) A brief biography of Andre the Giant Some things to be on the lookout for as the 22nd Budokai Tenkaichi ramps up And then we delve into the Crane Hermit, his design inspirations from Hideyo Amamoto and Christopher Lee as Fu Manchu, and why Toriyama chose a crane We wrap up by saying some predictive thoughts about the forthcoming 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. https://www.facebook.com/FinalForumPodcast https://twitter.com/finalforumpod  

Jelli and Bekinney continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon by ...jumping off the manga and onto our second feature film commentary! In this episode: Jelli and Bekinney roast some food over a crackling fire We sync up our audio commentary for the listeners We discuss some of the production facts about the film Dragon Ball Sleeping Princess in Devil's Castl such as its 1987 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: Metalder, Super Sentai, and Saint Seiya We delve into the background behind the Toei Manga Matsuri – Toei Cartoon Festival and its inception in 1969 and other such festivals around the country such as Toho's Champion Festival Contextualizing the box office of the film in terms of a modern-day episode of The Simpsons Shedding light on Keiju Terui - a Toei staff writer who also worked on Dr Slump and Legend of Zelda Discussing the film's producer: Chiaki Imada and his career at Toei which began with the release of Tower of Lilies We discuss the different dubs created for the film by studios such as Creative Products, Speedy, and Funimation The difference between the 2005 original Funimation release and the 2010 remastered version Discussing the characters Lucifer and the hunchback and their inspirations from Dracula, Frankenstein and Dr Slump Breaking down Ghastel from his appearance to his cultural background as a Prince Nezha interpretation from Journey to the West Talking about Minoru Maeda's career as a character designer for Dragon Ball 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. https://www.facebook.com/FinalForumPodcast https://twitter.com/finalforumpod  

Jelli and Bekinney continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon by breaking down episodes 78, 79, 80, 81 and 82, "The Eternal Dragon Rises," "Terror and Plague," "Goku vs Sky Dragon," "Goku Goes to Demon Land," and "The Terror of InoShikaCho." We continue discussing the Fortune Teller Baba mini tournament and a few unexpectedly interesting filler episodes, as well as round up with a discussion of the Baba arc in the manga. In this episode: Jelli is on an ant-hunt We recap the episodes and discuss our favorite moments  The hidden meaning behind Baba's chanting as she intones the final dragon ball's location Kazuhiko Torishima's take on Goku's pants being burned Some Voltron and Power Rangers comparisons Terror and Plague's similarities to both Journey to the West and Seven Samurai Jelli and Bekinney discuss Seven Samurai, The Magnificent Seven, and....A Bug's Life? Also The Three Amigos. The similarities between Goku's clash with Sky Dragon and the films Tiger and Crane Fists and Fist of Fury The movies being borrowed from for Goku's trip into Demon Land How Shura looks like the destroyer Shiva, and how Shiva may be repurposed in Super later on InoShikaCho's inspirations from a popular card game and the influence of said game on anime, including Naruto And we round it all out with a discussion of the manga and do our usual comparison 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. https://www.facebook.com/FinalForumPodcast https://twitter.com/finalforumpod  

Jelli and Bekinney continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon by breaking down episodes 74, 75, 76 and 77, "The Mysterious Fifth Man," "The Strong Ones," "True Colors of the Masked Man," and "Pilaf's Tactics."  We continue discussing the Fortune Teller Baba mini tournament and break down the identity of the fifth fighter, Grampa Gohan, as well as his importance culturally and to the story. In this episode: Jelli is on an ant-hunt We recap the episodes and discuss our favorite moments  How Toriyama is subverting expectations by pivoting from Western-Themed monsters to an Eastern-inspired hermit for his fifth fighter The meaning of Gohan, being cooked rice, how it's colloquially "Let's Eat" in Japan, and how Gohan comes to clash with Toriyama's Sun Wukong-inspired Monkey King The importance of hermits in Eastern culture and a brief mention of the film Amongst the White Clouds How Gohan has some minor parallels to Star Wars An explanation of why a dead fighter needs money Baba's status as an onmyoji We talk about Obon, the Japanese festival built around paying homage to one's deceased ancestors, and how important it is to Buddhist culture and future characters in Dragon Ball (Enma Daio, aka King Yemma) How Toriyama repurposed halos for Dragon Ball Why Gohan wears a fox mask An elaboration on Kitsune (fox) in Japanese and Chinese culture How kitsune are similar to tanuki Why Japanese culture views foxes as more benevolent than Japanese culture and how foxes became intermingled with the concept of the Shinto god Inari as well as a symbol of Shintoism itself The importance of a fox fighting a monkey in Eastern culture as a clash of kitsune and saru or even Shintoism vs Buddhism How foxes relate to No Theater A Pokémon connection to Ninetails and Vulpix A Miles "Tails" Prower reference Toriyama repurposing the fox mask from Dr. Slump  And we look for further examples of the importance of foxes in Japanese pop culture and get into a tangent on the film Pom Poko 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. https://www.facebook.com/FinalForumPodcast https://twitter.com/finalforumpod  

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. https://www.facebook.com/FinalForumPodcast https://twitter.com/finalforumpod  

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. https://www.facebook.com/FinalForumPodcast https://twitter.com/finalforumpod  

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. https://www.facebook.com/FinalForumPodcast https://twitter.com/finalforumpod  

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. https://www.facebook.com/FinalForumPodcast https://twitter.com/finalforumpod  

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. https://www.facebook.com/FinalForumPodcast https://twitter.com/finalforumpod  

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. https://www.facebook.com/FinalForumPodcast https://twitter.com/finalforumpod  

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. https://www.facebook.com/FinalForumPodcast https://twitter.com/finalforumpod  

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. https://www.facebook.com/FinalForumPodcast https://twitter.com/finalforumpod  

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. https://www.facebook.com/FinalForumPodcast https://twitter.com/finalforumpod  

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!

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!

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. https://www.facebook.com/FinalForumPodcast https://twitter.com/finalforumpod  

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. https://www.facebook.com/FinalForumPodcast https://twitter.com/finalforumpod  

Jelli and Bekinney have no time to continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime Dragon Ball. In this episode: The climactic battle! 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. https://www.facebook.com/FinalForumPodcast https://twitter.com/finalforumpod  

Jelli and Bekinney continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon by breaking down episodes 42 and 43, "The Secret of Dr. Flappe," and "A Trip to the City." We dig further into the Red Ribbon Army,  break down some trivia on a few filler episodes, and compare the Muscle Tower manga chapters to the episodes of the anime. In this episode: The battle rages on...and a new fighter emerges! We recap the episodes and discuss our favorite moments We talk about the inspiration points for Dr. Flappe, as best we can guess them, comparing him to Leon Trotsky, and mildly infamous Soviet scientist Ivanovich Ivanov We discuss how the character of Dr. Flappe contradicts statements made later in the show by Dr. Gero about the creation of the androids We talk about inter-species hybridization (yes, really) We get into a few design elements from the Trip to the City episode, including the Bruce Lee lookalike character, and a re-use of the General White character model We discuss whether the show Dragon Ball exists in this universe, and we do a brief detour into The Seven Year Itch We talk about the decision to do a wrap-up episode here, vs a few episodes of anime later And then we get into comparing the anime to the manga, including the differences between Major Metallitron and Full Metal Jacket, Buyon and The Jiggler, Ninja Murasaki and Sergeant Major Purple, and the destruction or non-destruction of Muscle Tower 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. https://www.facebook.com/FinalForumPodcast https://twitter.com/finalforumpod  

Jelli and Bekinney take a break from Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon (because we don't do enough of that, right?) by breaking down some early video games. We're talking about Dragon Ball: Dragon Daihikyō, aka Secret of the Dragon from the Super Casette Vision; Dragon Ball: Shenlong no Nazo aka Dragon Power for the Nintendo Entertainment System; and Dragon Ball: Daimaō Fukkatsu  aka Dragon Ball: Great Demon King's Revival, also for the NES. In this episode: We perform mop up duty on straggling invaders We discuss the background of Dragon Ball video games, specifically that of developer Epoch, who created the first game We talk about what the Cassette Vision console was, and Epoch's big hits Barcode Battler and TV Tennis Electrotennis Epoch's current state of existence, which is largely making baseball trading cards for the Nippon Pro Baseballe league and little tchotchke toys. We talk about Dragon Daihikyo and its similarities to overhead shooters like 1942 We begin for the first time ever discussing Bandai and their stranglehold over the Dragon Ball franchise universe in terms of marketing We discuss TOSE Software, the programming company behind Dragon Power TOSE's credits, including Bases Loaded, Mappy-Land, Toxic Crusaders, Tetris 2, Yoshi's Cookie, Resident Evil Survivor, Resident Evil Zero, Scarlet Nexus, Dragon Quest, WWE and Metal Gear Solid The Famicom entertainment system and how it compared to the NES How Dragon Power's US port differed from the Japanese version and why the changes were made Dragon Power gameplay and how it walks you through the Pilaf Arc, including the Bear Thief, Master Roshi's desire to see Bulma's panties, Oolong, Yamcha, Ox King, Monster Carrot (Boss Rabbit) and Pilaf's Castle...and how there are still 8 stages to go, including the Tenkaichi Budokai, with combatants being Krillin, Major Metallitron, Yamcha and Buyon, fighting through Muscle Tower, and how the game's wishes to the eternal dragon Shenron work Then we get into Dragon Ball Daimao Fukkatsu, and how it has never been ported to the US We discuss early Nintendo RTS (real time strategy) games, and how this game walks one through the Demon King Piccolo story arc and the changes it makes, including returns to Muscle Tower, General Blue, Korin Tower, fighting members of the Crane School of martial arts (when Tien Shinhan studied) and Fortune Teller Baba 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. https://www.facebook.com/FinalForumPodcast https://twitter.com/finalforumpod  

Jelli and Bekinney continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon by breaking down episodes 37 and 38, "Ninja Murasaki is Coming," and "The Five Murasakis" and we dig further into the Red Ribbon Army and Goku's challenge on floor 4: a deadly ninja assassin In this episode: INVASION! We recap the episodes and discuss our favorite moments We discuss the origin of Murasaki's name and why it's different than other members of the Red Ribbon Army who have color-based names We break down Murasaki's design There is a brief detour into Akira Kurosawa's films such as Seven Samurai, Ikiru, and One Wonderful Sunday (and Ran, Yojimbo, Sanjuo, Throne of Blood, Kagemusha, etc) The importance of language in Murasaki's speech patterns and how it changed from Japanese to English The connections to James Bond, especially the film You Only Live Twice We talk about some of the James Bond influences, like You Only Live Twice How Toriyama is blending cultures: A Japanese Ninja, working for a James Bond Villain, controlling a Red Army, to defeat a Hindu Monkey Demigod - to create new things The use of all the ninja jokes that exist We talk about Akira Toriyama's use of stereotypes We break down the tatami mat joke, which neither of us understood prior to researching this episode More discussion of opposites colliding, and subversion, which have definitely become Toriyama signatures at this point Connections to Journey to the West, including a clash between Sun Wukong and Laozi Explanation of shuriken  Explaining the Murasaki Brothers and how the five of them come together to form one person How Murasaki's personality and style reflects those of General White Is Murasaki a social commentary? What is he saying about salary man culture? Is Toriyama making a statement about Japan in the post-war years? Is this a statement made about the past, present, and future of Japan? If you've been listening along, you can probably guess the answers to some of this 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. https://www.facebook.com/FinalForumPodcast https://twitter.com/finalforumpod  

It's the last episode of Final Forum's Dragon Ball-oween Spooktacular! In this episode, Jelli and Bekinney break down Osamu Tezuka's manga and anime Don Dracula. 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 case, it's Takao Koyama, screenwriter on both Don Dracula and Dragon Ball. In this episode: Jelli and Bekinney say farewell to Halloween We discuss our experiences with various versions of Dracula including the Universal Dracula movies, Bela Lugosi, Christopher Lee, Dracula Untold, Van Helsing, Blade Trinity, Bram Stoker's Dracula (the movie and the book), Gary Oldman, we debate whether Interview with the Vampire and Twilight should count (they shouldn't because they don't have Dracula - Jelli), Claes Bang's portrayal in BBC's Dracula adaptation on Netflix, and more. Breaking down the episodes of Don Dracula, including how it adapts Dorian Gray, The Gillman (Creature from the Black Lagoon), ghosts, and Van Helsing. We discuss Osamu Tezuka and his career briefly, and how Don Dracula served as a bridge for him to return to more light-hearted fare like Astro Boy after he had spent several years on an adult work, Black Jack We discuss whether Disney ripped off Kimba the White Lion (a Tezuka manga) for The Lion King We talk about Takao Koyama, his biography, and his philosophy with adapting manga for screenplays We briefly touch on the influence Koyama had on Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Shamploo (Champloo?) Discussion of Koyama's other works, including stories "In the Name of Piccolo Daimao," "Great Pride! The Saiyan Prince Vegeta," his Dr. Slump follow-up and his Cashman remake. What Koyama's experience working with Akira Toriyama was like Koyama's thoughts on Toriyama's noted propensity towards being a hermit How Koyama almost left the industry in the early 2000s Then we discuss our thoughts and feelings on Don Dracula, highlighting our favorite episodes and provide some thoughts and feedback ...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 Osamu Tezuka trans-media franchise....for our special Dragon Ball-o-Ween event! https://www.facebook.com/FinalForumPodcast https://twitter.com/finalforumpod https://www.facebook.com/kaijutransmissionspodcast  

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 looks, because looks are similar to costumes and costumes are a big part of Halloween. AND we've already established that it makes sense so just go with it. Sure. So, who will make Bekinney's Top Ten Best-Looking Dragon Ball Character Designs? The pool to choose from is ENORMOUS: Goku, Vegeta, Bulma, Yamcha, Tien Shienhan, Oolong, Puar, Master Roshi, Emperor Pilaf, Nam, Jackie Chun, Giran, Launch, Puar, Ninja Murasaki, Grandpa Gohan, Teen Gohan, Upa, Bora, General Blue, Tao Paipai, Commander Red, Mister Popo, Master Korin, Fortune Teller Baba, Chiaotzu, Piccolo, King Piccolo, Kami, Raditz, Nappa, Vegeta, Krillin, Yajirobe, Frieza, Dende, Dodoria, Captain Ginyu, Zarbon, Jace, Burter, Recoome, Guldo, Chi-chi, Android 19, Android 20, Dr. Gero, Android 17, Android 18, Android 16, King Cold, Cooler, Turles, Lord Slug, Super Android 13, Garlic Jr, Trunks, Future Trunks, Goten, Dr Brief, Cell, Perfect Cell, Semi-Perfect Cell, Majin Buu, Dabura, Videl, Babidi, Fat Buu, Evil Buu, Kid Buu, Buuhan, Vegito, Gogeta, King Kai, Supreme Kai, Beerus, Whis, Lord Zeno, Mr Satan, Jiren, Goku Black, Zamasu, Hit, Cabba, Kale, Caulifla, Kefla, Bergamo, Frost, Magetta, Botamo, Top, Dyspo, Cell Max, Moro, Granolah, Gas, Elec.... ....and more...? Bekinney threw all these in a pile and picked out just TEN of his favorites. Who will they be? And will Bekinney get himself into more trouble than he bargained for...? Stay tuned to find out!

Welcome to Final Forum's Dragon Ball-oween Spooktacular! In this episode, Jelli and Bekinney are joined by Kyle Byrd and Matt Parmley of the Kaiju Transmissions Podcast for a fun break from format and into the world of Godzilla films. 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 case, it's Akira Toriyama's EXTREMELY BRIEF cameo in a Godzilla movie: The Return of Godzilla (aka Godzilla 1984, aka Godzilla 1985, aka Godzilla, aka Gojira). In this episode: Jelli and Bekinney place a call to Byrd and Matt from Kaiju Transmissions We each talk about our initial experiences with this movie Breaking down the production facts, including director Koji Hasimoto's vision with a Screenplay by Shuichi Nagahara, production by Tomoyuki Tanaka, and score by Reijiro Koroku. The effects sequences were handled by Teruyoshi Nakano and we talk about his general philosophy when it comes to making movies We discuss how the 1970s treated Godzilla with Terror of Mechagodzilla, and re-releases of Godzilla vs. Monster Zero and Mothra vs. Godzilla We mention the inclusion of a script draft that introduced a never-to-appear kaiju named Bagan We unveil the history behind the film's genesis, from an idea by Steve Miner and a script from Fred Dekker Ishiro Honda's decision to decline the offer to direct based on his ongoing work with Akira Kurosawa The film's setting during the Cold War and high tensions between the United States and Russia/Soviet Union and how this affected the film when it came time to dub it and adapt it for American audiences Highlighting the differences in the American version, Godzilla 1985 How the 1976 King Kong film led to this movie being released and influenced the creation of the 20-foot-tall Godzilla Cybot We highlight the cast, including Yosuke Natsuki, Keiju Kobayashi, Hiroshi Koizumi, Yasuko Sawaguchi, Ken Tanaka, Hiroshi Kamayatsu, and a cameo from director Shinpei Hayashiya We discuss the cultural and historical significance of Mt. Mihara, where the film's climax takes place The short, Bambi Meets Godzilla, by Marv Newland, which was associated with this film theatrically and for years on television, as well ...and more, including some general pop culture, how the movie preceded Jurassic Park, 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 Godzilla franchise....for our special Dragon Ball-o-Ween event! https://www.facebook.com/FinalForumPodcast https://twitter.com/finalforumpod https://www.facebook.com/kaijutransmissionspodcast  

Welcome to Final Forum's Dragon Ball-oween Spooktacular! In this special Jelli-only mini-sode we take a complete break from format, and from breaking down Akira Toriyama's manga and anime smash success to begin our October/Halloween Festivities and on this episode, it's all about looks, because looks are similar to costumes and costumes are a big part of Halloween. That makes sense right? Right? Sure. So, who will make Jelli's Top Ten Best-Looking Dragon Ball Character Designs? The pool to choose from is ENORMOUS: Goku, Vegeta, Bulma, Yamcha, Tien Shienhan, Oolong, Puar, Master Roshi, Emperor Pilaf, Nam, Jackie Chun, Giran, Launch, Puar, Ninja Murasaki, Grandpa Gohan, Teen Gohan, Upa, Bora, General Blue, Tao Paipai, Commander Red, Mister Popo, Master Korin, Fortune Teller Baba, Chiaotzu, Piccolo, King Piccolo, Kami, Raditz, Nappa, Vegeta, Krillin, Yajirobe, Frieza, Dende, Dodoria, Captain Ginyu, Zarbon, Jace, Burter, Recoome, Guldo, Chi-chi, Android 19, Android 20, Dr. Gero, Android 17, Android 18, Android 16, King Cold, Cooler, Turles, Lord Slug, Super Android 13, Garlic Jr, Trunks, Future Trunks, Goten, Dr Brief, Cell, Perfect Cell, Semi-Perfect Cell, Majin Buu, Dabura, Videl, Babidi, Fat Buu, Evil Buu, Kid Buu, Buuhan, Vegito, Gogeta, King Kai, Supreme Kai, Beerus, Whis, Lord Zeno, Mr Satan, Jiren, Goku Black, Zamasu, Hit, Cabba, Kale, Caulifla, Kefla, Bergamo, Frost, Magetta, Botamo, Top, Dyspo, Cell Max, Moro, Granolah, Gas, Elec.... ....and more...? Jelli threw all these in a pile and picked out just TEN of his favorites. Who will they be?

Jelli and Bekinney continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon by breaking down episodes 35 and 36 of the show, "Cold Reception," and "Major Metallitron" and we dig further into the Red Ribbon Army as well as their current base of operations for this portion of the arc: Muscle Tower In this episode: Jelli and Bekinney are preparing for invasion We recap the episodes and discuss our favorite moments We talk about whether the Japanese would say the "h" in White We introduce the General White character Muscle Tower resides in a snowy landscape that Akira Toriyama said was like Siberia, does that mean the setting is Northern Russia? The hosts discuss Suno/Snow and where the name came from, whether it was inspired by the anime or if the mangaka gave it to the anime We talk about some of the James Bond influences, like You Only Live Twice An anecdote is shared from Masako Nozawa about her reaction to the episodes We talk about the inspirations behind Muscle Tower, being, surprise Kung Fu Films, namely Game of Death We discuss the game Spartan X that was released for Famikon, which was ported to the United States as "Kung Fu" and is inspired by Game of Death, not Spartan X (aka Meals on Wheels) as might be expected Surprise, a part of Dragon Ball is inspired by Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee We talk about pagodas and their importance in traditional Chinese culture Major Metallitron, who is totally not Arnold Schwarzenegger's Terminator, appears We discuss Goku "killing" Metallitron and praying, as Nam prayed in the Tenkaichi Budokai We talk about the psychological examination of General White via Muscle Tower as a metaphor and how Goku interacts with that We talk about what might have inspired Toriyama to start bringing in so much Western Culture into his manga The state of cinema in Japan in the 1970s and how it affected companies like Toho, and bankrupted the studio Daiei, including stressful situations on the set of Gamera films We talk about how the desperate state of Japanese cinema in the 70s led to importation of American films We remind our listeners about Toriyama's westernized style catching the eye of Kazuhiko Torishima Is Dragon Ball (or Dragonball Z) responsible for creating a sort of homogenized Japanese culture that Americans understand? Toriyama is at the forefront of bringing Western inspirations to his story, does the rest of the Japanese pop cultural spectrum follow suit? Just ask Godzillla, who brings in references to Indiana Jones, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Star Wars, James Bond, and more ten years after Toriyama had done so. The pop culture news shift and how things have sped up over the decades, and an anecdote about Jurassic Park Quick aside: is it a problem that Goku uses the Power Pole to skip only the first floor of Muscle Tower? (Answer: shut up) and more, including some general pop culture, trivia, and editorializing, as usual  This is a breezy, quick episode, and we hope you enjoy! Join us as we continue to uncover the cultural meanings, publication facts, inspirations and more behind the wildly popular Dragon Ball franchise. https://www.facebook.com/FinalForumPodcast https://twitter.com/finalforumpod  

Jelli and Bekinney continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon by jumping back into the show, and delving into how filler is important when creating an anime based on a manga. We discuss the episodes "The Roaming Lake", "Pilaf and the Mystery Force", "Wedding Plans?", "The Flying Fortress Vanished!", and "The Legend of a Dragon" and we dig into why filler exists, as well as some of Asian culture's wedding traditions. In this episode: Jelli and Bekinney are once more drifting through space We break down the episodes and scrape where we can, looking for homages and cultural references We come up pretty sparse, despite thinking there might be some significance to a roaming lake We find some Star Wars and Death Star references, within an episode We discuss some of the music and its importance We talk about the FIFA World Cup from 1986, which was hosted by Mexico The difference between Toriyama's approach to the real world vs the anime is made clear via a reference to Alexander the Great We talk about marriage traditions in China and Japan A discussion of September 11, 2001 and the attacks on the World Trade Center due to a bit of censorship Notes on contradictions between things that appear in these filler episodes and the true canon of Dragon Ball The meat of the episode: filler Is filler necessary?  How much filler is necessary per chapter of manga? How does filler work in Dragon Ball? We get into the nitty-gritty of tracking how the anime caught up to the manga and also how filler was used judiciously to maintain pace...or not used judiciously until the animators got themselves into trouble, how far behind the anime was than the manga, and how much it caught up when things got dire for the animators and filler became an absolute necessity 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. https://www.facebook.com/FinalForumPodcast https://twitter.com/finalforumpod  

Jelli and Bekinney continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon by remaining off the show itself, and delving into some background information on Dragon Ball, specifically, by tackling the genesis of Dragon Ball, and its prototypes via some of Akira Toriyama's one-off manga he created leading up to Dragon Ball's inception In this episode: Jelli and Bekinney encounter a massive power reading in the deep recesses of space We talk about WHY we're jumping back, to uncover some of Dragon Ball's genesis We discuss the brainstorming between Toriyama and Kazuhiko Torishima (Toriyama's Editor) The spark of idea from Toriyama's wife, Nachi Mikami, that clicks a tumbler into place and makes Torishima push Toriyama to create a kung-fu manga We discuss the concept of yomikiri manga, which are essentially akin to comic one-shots such as Marvel's What If...? or DC's Elseworlds. We talk about the manga Dragon Boy and its similarities to Dragon Ball We mention the existence of Viz Media's Akira Toriyama's Manga Theater, a collection of his early works and yomikiri manga spanning his career We also shed light on Tong Poo's Great Adventure about a young boy traveling through space and meeting a human girl We unveil the similarities between Dragon Ball and his yomikiri Pola & Roid, from 1981 We talk about the 1982 story Pink: The Rain Jack We discuss how Dr. Slump helped Toriyama develop his style and voice and build an audience over the decades We discuss the similarities between Akira Toriyama and Peter Jackson, and how one can be somewhat popular from their previous work, before exploding into massive popularity from Lord of the Rings, and how the differ, as Jackson's early works such as Braindead/Dead Alive, Meet the Feebles, and Bad Taste belie his abilities in epic storytelling, as opposed to Toriyama's work very much being in his style We discuss how Toriyama is pretty similar to Stan Lee (and Jack Kirby) in creating prototypes for various characters in comics headlined by other characters (ie, Punisher in Amazing Spider-Man or Wolverine in Incredible Hulk) We discuss Stan Lee's awesome response to "Who would win in a fantasy fight?" We talk about how Toriyama and Torishima's relationship is different from "Batman creator" Bob Kane and his collaborations with Bill Finger  We talk about Toriyama's building of a shared universe and how that's similar in some ways to Stephen King's crafting of his Dark Tower 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. https://www.facebook.com/FinalForumPodcast https://twitter.com/finalforumpod  

Jelli and Bekinney continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon by ...jumping off the manga and onto a feature film commentary for the first time ever! In this episode: Jelli and Bekinney find themselves adrift in space We sync up our audio commentary for the listeners We discuss some of the production facts about the film Dragon Ball Curse of the Blood Rubies such as its 1986 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: Gegege no Kitaro Gekitotsu Ijigen Yokai no Dai Hanran (Kitaro of the Graveyard) and Kinnikuman – Seigi Choujin vs Senshi Choujin and talk about Shigeru Mizuki's yokai-based manga (Kitaro) as well as Yoshinori Nakai and Takashi Shimada's superhero wrestling property (Kinnikuman) We delve into the background behind the Toei Manga Matsuri – Toei Cartoon Festival and its inception in 1969 and other such festivals around the country such as Toho's Champion Festival We talk about director Daisuke Nishio and his work, spanning Dr. Slump, Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, GeGeGe no Kitaro, Kindaichi Case Files, One Piece, Pretty Cure and Halo Legends. We shed some light on Toshiki Inoue – the screenplay writer, who also worked on Dr Slump, and live action films including Kamen Rider, Jetman, and work with Hideaki Anno (creator of Neon Genesis Evangelion) We talk about composer Shinsuke Kikuchi, albeit briefly, who has worked on Gamera, Doraemon, Getter Robo, Jumborg Ace, and Sister Street Fighter as well as composer Peter Berring, who has a surprising family history We discuss the Harmony Gold dub and its method of changing character names as well as the many dubs done by Funimation of the years and how that changed the roles for Ted Cole and Chris Sabat as the voice of Yamcha We talk about punny character names We discuss the similarities to the studio Ghibli film Castle in the Sky, one of Hayao Miyazaki's earliest film efforts 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. https://www.facebook.com/FinalForumPodcast https://twitter.com/finalforumpod  

Jelli and Bekinney continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon by comparing the manga for the 21st Tenkaichi Budokai tournament to the anime episodes. We'll be recapping the storyline and expounding on the similarities and differences. In this episode: Jelli and Bekinney find themselves attempting to leave the planet where they've been stuck Brief plot synopsis of the Dragon Ball manga for the next several chapters Brief discussion of favorite moments from this arc Explanation of Krillin and Launch and their name differences Kururin and Lunch We expose a character who's in the "background" (he's actually in the foreground) of a panel drawn in by Toriyama who was actually a tour guide during a trip taken by the manga ka to Bali We very briefly discuss the importance of the gi as given to Goku and Krillin by Roshi We take a look at Toriyama's claim that all women he draws look the same We talk about how a Capsule might work if a person were inside when it was transformed Launch as a character in the manga vs the anime A discussion about a common complaint with regards to the shugyo (training) undertaken by Goku and Krillin Discussion of Krillin's innate pessimism and his character development We talk about some of the potential differences between the Viz Big version of the manga and the other editions and translations We resolve a major plot thread from the podcast's past! (it's a bit of trivia we forgot to answer in a previous episode) We continue talking about Akira Toriyama's "all time favorite movie" the count on which is now up to at least 5 Our main discussion points, the genre known as wuxia, which has many of the calling cards of Dragon Ball, and a discussion of Yamcha and his usage in the manga including his relationship with Bulma vs the way he's portrayed in 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. https://www.facebook.com/FinalForumPodcast https://twitter.com/finalforumpod  

Jelli and Bekinney return to format and continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon by tackling episodes 24-28 of the anime. "Krillin's Frantic Attack," "Danger from Above," "The Grand Finals," "Number One Under the Moon?" and "The Final Blow". We'll be discussing the contrasts between the characters and their motivations, and unveiling the secrets behind the success of the Tournament arc. In this episode: Jelli and Bekinney find themselves stuck outside under strange circumstances Brief plot synopsis of episodes 24-28 of the Dragon Ball anime Brief discussion of favorite moments from the anime episodes A talk about whether Dragon Ball has any hidden messages or meanings We discuss the nuts-and-bolts of the battles and what the attacks mean More discussion about the Japanese honorifics and how those subtleties clue the viewer in to the characters' relationships with one another We talk about Goku and Roshi's Kamehameha battle  We discuss the appearance of the Ozaru in the battle and how it is named for the first time The importance of the moon in Japanese culture and its use in making mochi as well as Master Carrot (Monster Carrot) and what happens to him The references to the Jackie Chan film Drunken Master Whether Toriyama had any plans coming into the tournament and how those plans may have changed based on popular opinions and perception at the time We discuss wuxing, genji, go, and other cultural concepts from Chinese traditions that influence the understanding of the tournament We talk about the learning curves along the ways from novice to intermediate to master and how one idolizes different levels of people along the way 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.

Jelli and Bekinney return to format and continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon by tackling episodes 20-23 of the anime. We're taking on "Elimination Round," "Smells Like Trouble," "Quarterfinals Begin," and "Monster Beast Giran", and then having a discussion about the characters we meet, specifically Bacterian, Jackie Chun, Nam, Ranfan, and Giran, their inspirations from cultural and literary history as well as where Toriyama may have been introduced to these concepts via film or television. In this episode: Jelli and Bekinney are on a new planet and face all new challenges Brief plot synopsis of episodes 20-23 of the Dragon Ball anime Brief discussion of favorite moments from the anime episodes A talk about some of the Easter Eggs in the episodes We talk about jokes that may not have translated well, characters who appear in the backgrounds, and the importance of the backgrounds and backdrops and settings we see A possible explanation of where the two monks who face Krillin come from and their roots as a manzai comedy duo Bacterian's inspirations from professional wrestling Jackie Chun's inspirations and how his name might have been different if Toriyama had been introduced to Jackie Chan via different means Ranfan's inspirations from Toriyama's time drawing lingerie ads Nam's inspirations from Buddhism Giran's inspirations from kaiju films Our opinions on the quarterfinal matches and their level of interest Whether the subversion of expectations in the brevity of Giran vs Goku works The inspiration for the tournament itself from the popularity of baseball in Japan and Fist of the North Star History of actual martial arts tournaments over the years, including similar winner-takes-all battles that took place in China hundreds of years ago and also a Chinese novel, Water Margin How Toriyama was likely not inspired by these actual tournaments or literary history but rather movies like King Boxer and Master of the Flying Guillotine The legacy of the Budokai Tenkaichi and how it impacted future manga moving forward 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.

Jelli and Bekinney return to format and continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon by tackling episodes 15-19 of the anime. We're taking on "Look Out for Launch", "Find that Stone!", "Milk Delivery", "The Turtle Hermit Way" and at least part of "The Tournament Begins", and then having a discussion about the character of Launch (or Lunch, aka Ranchi) and her inspirations from cultural and literary history as well as where Toriyama may have been introduced to these concepts via film. Then we're dealing with Goku and Krillin's training, or Shugyo, and again, delving into where these concepts begin in literary and cultural history. In this episode: Jelli and Bekinney are adrift in space, with things looking more and more dire Brief plot synopsis of episodes 15-19 of the Dragon Ball anime Brief discussion of favorite moments from the anime episodes A quick aside about a couple moments towards the end of episode 19, where Goku and Krillin are wearing suits, and the setting for the tournament We explain where Launch's signature look came from We break down the confusion over her name and discuss why she's known as both Launch and Lunch We debate whether her good or bad side is the "normal" side, and draw a comparison between the bad side and a previous Toriyama character, Polly Buckets We talk about hammerspace We editorialize about Launch and her value to the story, whether we'd like to see her back and whether we're upset that she was more or less forgotten We discuss the Shugyo, or austere training, of Goku and Krillin at the hands of Master Roshi We talk about whether the training via unorthodox methods has any real-life parallels, and a bit about its connections to films a la The Karate Kid We compare the idea of Shugyo to the Chinese concept of xiulian, or refinement through fire We have a brief aside about calling it Shugyo vs simply training, and why we're for this episode at least, going with the former We compare the idea of self-cultivation and self-salvation as espoused in Eastern culture with the more traditionally Western idea of salvation through external means, and more pointedly, Christianity We discuss how there is no standard, set, single path in a shugyo method of training and cultivation. One can become a Buddha via multiple paths of self-cultivation There's an in-depth discussion of how the concept of Shugyo and ever-increasing challenge is the key to Dragon Ball's ability to steadily increase the stakes and keep the franchise going essentially forever; there's always a higher level We compare this concept of training and increasing stakes with the idea of getting into "the zone" or "a groove" when it comes to things in our day-to-day lives 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.

Jelli and Bekinney are bored. So, they're pivoting once again from simply breaking down and discussing Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon and looking at a couple episodes of the show, and instead they're doing something BRAND NEW! They're interviewing a special guest In this episode: Jelli and Bekinney are adrift in space We place a call to Dragon Ball scholar, Derek Padula, author of the Dragon Ball Culture series, as well as the books It's Over 9000! When Worldviews Collide, and Dragon Soul: 30 Years of Dragon Ball Fandom Derek's career accomplishments are highlighted, and we breeze through his resume as an author and content creator Derek provides his "origin story" as a fan of Dragon Ball A powerful moment, as Derek lays bare a low moment in his life and how the philosophy of Dragon Ball and mindset of Goku helped him to continue on Derek discusses how being a fan of Dragon Ball led to him studying the shaolin arts, and accumulating decades of knowledge about East Asian culture We ask Derek what inspired him to become an author and he unsurprisingly says it is his way of attempting to give back and help contextualize Dragon Ball for people to help everyone understand why it is so beloved. We discuss the writing process, the editing process, what self-publishing looks like in the 21st century for an author, how reviews can be so important to up and coming content creators (hint hint: leave us a review while you're at it) Derek gives insight into the level of detail to which he has studied Dragon Ball...every panel on every page, compared to hundreds of hours of pop culture content, movies, games, tv shows, books, and ancient history We talk about Toriyama's Dragon World and its escapism, and compare his mentality of crafting a world of fantasy opposite his own personality to other creative types Derek hints at other ideas he has including books on the anime, a Dragon Ball cook book, physics and math problems based on the feats of Goku and the Z Warriors, and even more commercial applications of his work We wrap up by asking Derek: What makes Dragon Ball still so popular and relevant 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.   For more from Derek, feel free to follow him on Twitter @DerekPadula (https://twitter.com/derekpadula) , seek him out on Facebook, and make sure to visit https://thedaoofdragonball.com to stay up to date on Derek's pursuits.

Jelli and Bekinney return to format and continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon by tackling episode 14 of the anime, "Goku's Rival" then have a discussion about the character of Master Roshi and his inspirations from cultural and literary history as well as where Toriyama may have been introduced to these concepts via film In this episode: Jelli and Bekinney are adrift in space Brief plot synopsis of episode 14 of the Dragon Ball anime Brief discussion of favorite moments from the anime episode A quick aside about the state of the Dragon Ball franchise after the conclusion of the Pilaf arc We talk about how Kazuhiko Torishima wanted some changes made and the steps he and Akira Toriyama took to change Dragon Ball to make it more popular including looking at Yoshiyuki Okamura's (aka Buronson) manga hit Fist of the North Star for inspiration in not only tone, but paneling We discuss Master Roshi aka Muten Roshi aka The Turtle Hermit aka Kame-Sennin and what all these names mean We take a look at the legend of Kume Sennin, a Daoist monk who could once fly through the clouds until impure thoughts made him crash down to Earth (sound familiar?) We discuss how Daoism became intermingled with the idea of having concubines and being obsessed with young women There's extensive discussion down this line of thought, including the propensity for old men in fiction to be depicted as dirty old men, and a lengthy discussion about where we stand on Master Roshi's lecherous ways as viewers in more modern times We talk about the Toshiro Mifune movie The Great Bandit aka The Lost World of Sinbad aka Samurai Pirate which features a lecherous old hermit whose biggest weakness is boobs and discuss whether a young Toriyama may have seen that movie as Mifune was Japan's most popular actor when Akira Toriyama was a child (Jelli forgets to recall the name of the movie...and another similar movie known as Adventure in Kigan Castle which ALSO features a hermit helping a swashbuckling Mifune, though much less lecherous this time; apologies to director Senkichi Taniguchi and screenwriter Takeshi Kimura) We briefly touch on the legacy of Master Roshi and how a dirty-old-man mentor has become a trope in Shonen manga to this day, including in the popular manga/anime Naruto 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.

Jelli and Bekinney take a break form looking at the creations of Akira Toriyama and instead talk about the man himself! Who is Akira Toriyama? Where did he come from? How did he get into manga?  In this episode: Jelli and Bekinney try to escape the caves We talk about Derek Padula, an author who has crafted the first English-language biography on Akira Toriyama in his book Dragon Ball Culture Volume 1 We talk about Toriyama's childhood life We learn about Toriyama's early obsession with drawing and animation The influences of a young Toriyama are discussed, especially his enjoyment of Showa-era television and movie entertainment including Godzilla, Ultraman, Osamatsu-kun, Astro Boy, Iron Man Number 28, Doraemon and some early manga by creators such as Osamu Tezuka, and Fujiko Fujio despite not being a big reader of manga himself. Toriyama's realization that to be a popular anime, you should have a popular manga Discussion of how Toriyama writes and creates while watching TV and movies We discuss Toriyama's initial years out of college in a salaryman job and how his non-professional attitude caused him to seek out something more fulfilling Toriyama's passion for building models and how that allows him to get a 360-degree view of things in order to learn how to draw them Toriyama's well-known antisocial tendencies and his desire to live as near a hermit lifestyle as possible Discussion of Toriyama's procrastination tendencies How a young, budding Toriyama got his first big shot from Kazuhiko Torishima, an editor with Shonen Jump The fusion of a manga-ka (Toriyama) who doesn't read manga, and an editor (Torishima) who also does not read much manga, and how that led the two of them to create a unique presentation Brief discussion of some of Toriyama's earliest publications in Shonen Jump including Wonder Island, Today's Highlight Island, Tomato Girl Detective, and ultimately, Dr. Slump How Arale-chan's glasses became part of her iconic look How Dr Mashirito, the villain, came to be designed after Torishima Discussion of Akira Toriyama's Crummy Manga Lab, a series of funny, short manga that were intended to semi-jokingly teach people how to be a manga-ka. How Toriyama creates Toribot, because of his desire to never be seen in pictures and avoid being recognized by people in public Toriyama falling in love, getting married, and how a snafu with press on his wedding day leads to his vow to never show his face in public An anecdote from Chris Sabat, the American voice of Vegeta, about meeting Toriyama in a public setting We discuss the pros and cons of Toriyama's near-hermitage and whether he owes his fans more A comparison between Stephen King's approach to writing and that of our titular manga-ka A comparison between Hideaki Anno's (creator of Neon Genesis Evangelion) approach to creation and that of Toriyama How Torishima had to push Toriyama along the way to be productive and ultimately create Dragon Ball How Yoshimi Kato, Toriyama's wife, helped create Dragon Ball with an off-hand comment to Torishima about the manga-ka's work habits A very brief discussion of how Dragon Ball Super is crafted, as a collaboration between Toriyama and his chosen successor, Toyotarou and more, including some general pop culture 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.

With our March Madness Tenkaichi Tournament behind us and Future Trunks crowned the Basketball Tenkaichi, Jelli and Bekinney continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon by tackling the first arc of the manga, and then have a discussion of the Pilaf Arc to wrap up their review of the initial arc of Dragon Ball. In this episode: Jelli and Bekinney find themselves trapped after an unfortunate encounter Brief plot synopsis of the end of the Pilaf arc and recapping the arc as a whole A few words about how this was almost the end of Dragon Ball, including sales figures as compared to Dr. Slump, Toriyama's first manga hit. We ruminate on whether the comparisons to Journey to the West will continue, now that the story will be spinning off into more uncharted territory. We briefly discuss how Toriyama and Torishima put their heads together to re-invent Dragon Ball moving forward and the lessons they learned from the sales and interest in the manga at this point We talk about the "arcs" of Dragon Ball and how they differ between manga and anime, because Toriyama himself has never organized or talked about the story in terms of arcs There is debate about the best name for the Pilaf Arc given that Pilaf is a more minor player overall, and we discuss whether it should be the Goku Arc, lumped into the Training Arc (along with what comes next) or dubbed some version of "The Journey to the West Arc" We break down the manga in detail, discuss what it did better or worse than the anime, and give some overall scores and ratings 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.

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 basketball. We discuss the system used for determining outcomes. We break down our opponents in each matchup. In the Saiyan Region: Will Goku topple Nappa, will Vegeta defeat Caulifla, who will win when Broly encounters Future Trunks? Can Gohan defeat Bardock?   In the Earthling Region: Krillin vs Bulma, Android 17 vs Mr Satan, Yamcha vs Nam, Master Roshi vs Android 16 In the Villains Region: Can Frieza out-fox Hit? Will King Cold throttle Cooler? Who is more nefarious, Ginyu (in Dabura's body) or Buu? Will Jiren smash Cell?  In the Deity/Ally Region: Who will win when Beerus, Mr Popo, Nail, Puar, King Kai, Kabito, King Yemma, and Piccolo all face off? 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!

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 basketball. 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? BUT FIRST: A little bit of news about the upcoming film Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero. 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!

Jelli and Bekinney continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon by tackling episodes 12 and 13 of the anime, "A Wish to the Eternal Dragon" and "The Legend of Goku" then have a discussion about the Great Ape, Oozaru, and its inspirations from kaiju film and television In this episode: Jelli and Bekinney find themselves trapped after an unfortunate encounter A call is placed for outside assistance Special Guest: Matt Parmely from the Kaiju Transmissions podcast joins our discussion Brief plot synopsis of episodes 12 and 13 of the Dragon Ball anime Brief discussion of favorite moments from the anime episodes Breaking down the most obvious influence of Oozaru, King Kong and his popularity in Japan, which bolstered that of Godzilla A debunking of the claim that Kong was Japan's first kaiju via an unearthing of some facts about the films King Kong Made in Japan and King Kong Appears in Edo What leads most people to claiming these are Japan's first kaiju films, and what we know to the contrary, despite the films being lost forever due to the bombing of Hiroshima A recommendation to check out the book, Kong Unmade, by John Lemay How King Kong influence Donkey Kong and Godzilla and Eiji Tsuburaya and Akira Toriyama The original name of Oozaru, kaibutsu-zaru, and its meaning How the Wolf Man (1941) influenced Oozaru Discussion of Sun Wukong's transformation abilities and how those literary roots influence Oozaru as well What Eastern mind-sets about one's consciousness and subconsciousness have to say about Goku's transformation Why cutting off the tail is the method of de-transformation A discussion of how the Oozaru form has ceased to be used in more recent years A bit of praise for Dragon Ball GT for bringing the form back to use A very brief discussion of what 'canon' is in the Dragon Ball franchise How the appearance of Oozaru affects all the characters, even the Pilaf gang, and makes them work together to survive What the most memorable moments of the Oozaru are How the form does some inversion of tropes and ideas, and potential ideas for how it could further be used for Toriyama's favorite idea of subverting expectations A plug for Kaiju Masterclass, an online convention, which includes interviews with Ryhuei Kitamura, Bear McCreary, Shusuke Kaneko, and more creators behind the Godzilla, Ultraman, Gamera, Evangelion, and other kaiju, tokusatsu, and related franchises. and more, including some general pop culture, kaiju trivia, and editorializing, as usual. Join us, and Matt,  as we continue to uncover the cultural meanings, publication facts, inspirations and more behind the wildly popular Dragon Ball franchise.

Jelli and Bekinney continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon by tackling episodes 8, 9, and 10 of the anime, "The Kamehameha Wave," "Boss Rabbit's Magic Touch," and "The Dragon Balls are Stolen" and then have a discussion about the character Boss Rabbit/Monster Carrot, and Akira Toriyama's penchant for subverting tropes and expectations. This episode, released just 3 days after the beginning of 2022, features a discussion of Japan's New Year's traditions! In this episode: Our hosts find themselves on a windswept desolate wasteland and report on their findings Brief plot synopsis of episodes 8, 9, and 10 of the Dragon Ball anime Brief discussion of favorite moments from the anime episodes Importance of what these episodes reveal about Goku, including his ability to understand and immediately master the Kamehameha Wave Goku's inner awareness of his self and his truth The cultural influence behind the Bansho Fan and how it plays into the quest of Sun Wukong and Tang Sanzang from Journey to the West Discussion of the pop culture references from the episodes, including Gamera and how he's a play on Godzilla Recommendation to check out Arrow Video's releases of Gamera and Daimajin, particularly and especially Shusuke Kaneko's 1990s Heisei Gamera trilogy of films Discussion of Japan's Mochi Making Rabbit on the Moon, including the legend behind the story and how East Asian cultures see a rabbit in the craters on the moon We break down the mochi festival that takes place in Japan on New Year's every year How the episode may reference the Ultraman Taro episode "The Father of Ultra and Son Big Mochi-Making Strategy" and the kaiju Mochiron How Toriyama employs subversion and his ability to craft both familiar and simultaneously unpredictable narratives Comparison of Toriyama's use of subverting expectations to those of Game of Thrones, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Avengers: Infinity War Who is better? David Benioff and Ben Weiss or Akira Toriyama?  How subversion of expectations can be done well, with an example using The Shining and Dr. Sleep and the books vs the movies, and comparing it to Toriyama's use of the mochi making rabbit on the Moon. and more, including some general pop culture, Toriyama's use of setting, 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.

Welcome Super Elite Warriors to Final Forum! A podcast for the discussion of all things Dragon Ball. Join Jelli and Bekinney as they delve further into Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon by tackling episodes 2, 3, 4, and 5 of the anime ("The Emperor's Quest," "The Nimbus Cloud of Roshi," "Oolong the Terrible," and "Yamcha the Desert Bandit" and then have a discussion about the antagonistic characters Pilaf, Oolong and Yamcha. In this episode: Our hosts prepare to leave for their mission, again. Brief plot synopsis of the episodes listed above Brief discussion of favorite moments from the episodes A talk about whether the sexuality and sexual humor presented in these episodes are problematic A quick look at some of the readily obvious differences between the manga and anime An explanation of Flying Nimbus and its Japanese name Kintoun, which means Somersault Cloud. An explanation of the effects of Oolong's diarrhea pill, including the differences between the English "piggy piggy" and the Japanese "pipipi" A look at Emperor Pilaf, and his inner and outer hypocrisy and self-contradictions, most notably his Napoleon complex A discussion of what Pilaf's clothing means, including its reference to The Who, Tommy and Pinball Wizard. Who are Mai and Shu, Pilaf's underlings? We talk about whether Pilaf is a good or bad antagonist. Deep dive into Oolong, his name inspiration, from a Chinese tea, his connections to the Tang Dynasty, and his literary connections to the character Zhu Bajie from Journey to the West and how this character normally interacts with Sun Wukong and Xuanzang vs. how he interacts with Goku and Bulma Oolong's ability to transform and his connection to Japanese Oni demons A debate about whether Oolong is meant to represent communism, Mao Zedong, and/or Kim Jong Il (or Kim Jong Un, or North Korea) Yamcha, Bekinney's favorite character, and his connection to Journey to the West via the character Sha Wujing a man-eating sand-demon, who is known more as a river-bound character and how Akira Toriyama is subverting the expectation by having Yamcha be a desert bandit Bekinney's assertion that Yamcha is a Jobber A discussion of whether Yamcha is a joke and whether that's a bad thing Puar, Yamcha's constant companion, whose name is also based on a tea A discussion of Yamcha's status as a Lone Wolf, and his Wolf Fang Fist Join us as we continue to uncover the cultural meanings, publication facts, inspirations and more behind the wildly popular Dragon Ball franchise by analyzing these original antagonists