#love square if you include bulma

[planetjuliann]

Does anyone here see rhe Tien/Yamcha/Vegeta vision

#dragon ball #dbz #yamtien #tiencha #yamgeta #dragon ballz #yamtiengeta #? #mine #its some sort of twisted love triangle #love square if you include bulma

[roy-dcm2]

DBZ Wrath of the Dragon Reaction

I had never seen Wrath of the Dragon.

For the longest time, I knew this one only by the Japanese name, “Exploding Dragon Fist.” Japan has a tendency to give away spoilers right in the title. I imagine they changed it because it sounds like the name of a porno. “Wrath of the Dragon,” meanwhile, kinda sounds like a generic action film name (like naming everything “Evolution,”) but thinking of it like the tail end of DBZ, then “Wrath of the Dragon” is a fitting name.

Honestly, Movie 13, is definitely one of the best DBZ movies. I love it. We start with Saiyaman 1&2 (and boy do the movies love to use them [it’s even in Battle of Gods]), and this is one of the few times, the initial plot lands squarely into Gohan’s lap. The red guy, Hoi, specifically seeks him out to use the Dragonballs to open up the music box. Oddly enough, once Tapion is free, Gohan shuffles into the background. Then we get some nice character building for Trunks, where he latches on to Tapion, as an older brother figure. Bulma tries to help by building a pod for Tapion to sleep in (is this the first time she does something in a movie?) There’s the final battle, including the brief moment when Tapion asks Trunks to kill him. That is such a nice touch. Finally, there’s the last tousle, where Goku pulls out all the stops and Superman’s the thing.

[Have no fear for I am here!]

It’s really awesome. Everybody gets to do something. This is one of the few times they actually fight in a city. The only glaring flaw I noticed was it seemed like they were completely oblivious to all the destruction the monster was doing, especially during the first half of the movie. Only Gohan and Videl would show up, and then when it was destroying the Western Capital, they didn’t notice until it had crashed into their wall. But, really, it’s just one drawback from a fantastic plot.

Finally, crazy theory… Maybe Tapion (and his brother) are Kais. Sure, you see similar people in their home planet “Konats,” but you could chalk that up to an animation error... maybe those extras should have been drawn in shadows, because they got to great length to show Tapion and his brother as separate from the rest.

Also, what’s the deal with the sword? This is supposed to be Future Trunks sword, but… how does Future Trunks get the sword? Three things… 1. “Future Gohan” found either Hoi, or Tapion. If he found Hoi, then “Future Trunks” Sword might actually be from Tapion’s little bother, Minotia, who also had a similar sword (and Hoi just had that sword and never used it). Or, “Future Gohan” freed Tapion, and did follow up on killing Tapion to prevent Hildegarn from being freed (their timeline had enough problems without a Majin Buu level threat). 2. At some point, Future Trunks actually travels back in time 1000 years to give his sword to Tapion, who gives it to little Trunks. 3. It doesn’t matter how Future Trunks gets it, because this is little Trunks receiving it, and we’re going to be watching him going forward.

[I used to have a set of playing cards with this picture in the back.]

9/10 Getting more time with the characters and seeing how they react to new situations exemplifies why shonen movies still have a place in Fandom.

#dbz movie #dragonball #dragonball z #dragonball super #DBZ #Dragon Ball Z #shonen #anime #Goku #Gohan #Super Saiyan 3 #Trunks #Tapion #Review #Reaction #Roy-DCM2

[correctdbzquotes]

What your favorite Dragon Ball Z ship says about you:

Vegebul: You’re a fan of the BratxBrat tamer dynamic (alternatively: you recognize these two as the OGs of the girlboss-malewife duo)

Kakavege: Rivals to lovers is what you live for… Constructing intricate rituals to touch the skin of other men but the touch is violent and the result is just as punch-drunk a thrill as it would be had you kissed him, this shit right here is what fulfills your trope needs.

Tiencha: This is the same thing as Kakavege, but up the hilarity because these are two hopeless grown men who SUCK at romance and have yet to gravitate toward the one who’s been there all along (*strums accoustic*)

BulChi: You have realized that Bulma fits all the qualifications that Chi-Chi looks for in a romantic partner. More to the point, you’ve remembered that it goes both ways because Chi-Chi is /also/ a haughty royal who can and will beat your ass.

K18(Krillin/Android 18): You hated Maron (Very wise, she was rude as fuck for no reason) and you too would count yourself lucky to be married to a a well-meaning former monk who is guaranteed to make you laugh on your worst day... Or it’s quite possible that scary beautiful lady who takes no prisoners is your ideal woman. Good taste all around.

Truten: You need a Childhood friends to lovers 10k slow burn fic, stat!

Godel (Gohan/Videl): Bad girl x Good boy and the unique sweetness that results from it drives you WILD.

Two Tsuns One Bed (Piccolo/Vegeta): This is the same joke as Vegebul except applied to two people who can and will beat the fuck out of each other, and whose relationship is fundamentally honest because of their strange common threads. Two princes who were once Goku’s rival finding a strange kinship. You hoard that shit like gold.

Brolai: Youre not about any of that “I can fix him” nonsense… but you really did enjoy seeing someone show Broly kindness without any kind of transaction, and man oh man do you love Cheelai’s spunky temperament!

GoChi: You find Goku’s willingness to honor his promise to Chi-Chi very sweet and sincere, not to mention you’re a sucker for every single reunion scene of theirs. Promises, promises, you live for the romance of it!

Birushin(Beerus/Supreme Kai): You hear the words ‘I would die for you’ and think ‘No, I would die WITH you’. The ultimate yin-yang dichotomy.

Beerus/Whis: Your ideal dynamic is ‘old married couple’ meets ‘a duo of epicureans where one blows up the place after and the other asks you for a doggie bag before he does it’

Piccolo/Goku: You heard Piccolo’s 5 minute monologue in the Frieza saga waxing poetic about Goku, and for you a confirmation of the theory that ‘everybody is a little in love with Goku’ rang true.

Caulifla/Kale: For you, the ultimate culmination of love is to become one being and fight with the strength of your union for everything that made you.

Launch/Tien: When strong and silent meets loud and fiery, you love what results. Also, you just want good things for Launch, and really, who wouldn’t? You find yourself wishing often that she didn’t disappear after the Frieza saga, she had so much potential…

Bardine (Bardock/Gine): you look at the dynamic ‘Soft girl meets Hardened badass and inspires him to discover kindness as praxis’ and know immediately know what you’re going to be writing well into the late hours.

Piccolo/Chi-Chi: I’ll be honest. I’m only including this one so I can say the words “he’s my kid, I stole him fair and square.", also, you probably are of the camp that says Piccolo parented Gohan better than his own father.

Hercule/Buu: You watched the filler.

#Truten #Vegebul #Kakavege #GoChi #Two Tsuns One Bed #Bulchi #caulikale #Tiencha #Bardine #Birushin #Godel #Hanvi #K18 #Brolai #Kakabeji #Son Goku #Vegeta #Piccolo Jr #Android 18 #Broly #Bulma Briefs #Cheelai #Bardock #Videl Satan #Gine #Hercule Satan #Majin Buu #Beerus #Whis #Tien

[marisacox123]

Vegebul: Weekend Alone

Part 2/3

*I do not own DBZ characters. I do own this Fanfic. Please do not copy.*

Trunks and Goten only won because Vegeta got distracted. And while he was irritated by this, anything goes in a fight, so the boys did win fair and square.

This is how he found himself standing in the kitchen looking lost.

Vegeta has never cooked a meal before, ever. He was the Prince of all Saiyans. Princes did not cook.

“Come on, Dad, we’re hungry,” Trunks whined.

“Silence!” Vegeta said staring into the fridge.

“Just grill up some meat,” Goten said. He had ahold of Bulla. “Even my dad can do that.”

“If Kakarot can do it, then mine will be way better,” Vegeta said pulling steaks out of the fridge.

“Make sure to put spices on them!” Trunks said.

“Yeah, yeah,” Vegeta said throwing the steaks into multiple pans on the stove.

Bulla started to cry and Vegeta looked back at her. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know! I didn’t do it!” Goten said.

“She’s probably hungry,” Trunks said. “Mom usually gives her a bottle around now. Dad, where’s the formula?”

“How am I supposed to know?” Vegeta asked getting random spices out of the cupboards. “You’re the one who knew where her food was!”

“Yeah her food! Not her formula!” Trunks said, now opening random cupboards. Vegeta had to side step him to het back to the stove.

“I’m pretty sure formula is kept in the fridge,” Goten chimed in while trying to shush Bulla.

“How would you know?!” Trunks fired at him, opening up the fridge all the same.

“I’ve seen Gohan get it for Pan!”

“Found it! What now?”

“Heat it up!”

Vegeta was doing his best to try and ignore the boys squabble as he flipped over the steaks. How the hell is he supposed to know if these are done?

“Something smells like its burning,” Trunks said.

“SHUT UP!” Vegeta yelled.

The boys silenced themselves and Trunks fed Bulla her bottle. By the time she drank it all, Trunks had a very interesting piece of steak in front of him. Goten and Trunks both poked at it with their forks while Vegeta watching them with his arms crossed. They exchanged a look before shrugging and taking a bite, and then proceeded to bust up laughing. Bulla started giggling too, just because she loved the sound of laughter.

“It can’t be that bad,” Vegeta said going to try some himself, and yes, it was that bad. It was the toughest meat he had ever had, and he clearly did not use the right spices.

“Well, I don’t thinks it’s any worse than my Dad’s,” Goten said.

“Yeah, whatever,” Vegeta said throwing his steak away. “Both of you clean up when you’re done.”

“Aww all this mess?” Trunks said looking around the wrecked kitchen.

“Don’t make me ask you again!” Vegeta snapped.

“Yes, Dad!”

“Goten, get home before your mother comes here and rings my neck. Trunks, watch your sister. I’m going to shower,” He said leaving the kitchen.

“Thanks for dinner, Dad!” Trunks called after him.

Vegeta paused, shocked. A small smile tugged at his lips. “Hmph.”

You could always count on Bulma being over the top about things. That included her bathroom. The master had a tub the size of a hot tub, jack and jill sinks with marble counters, and a shower with way too many settings.

Vegeta stripped his sweaty/greasy clothes and turned on the shower. He stood there letting the hot water run down him, wondering how many times Bulla would wake him up tonight. He heard a beeping noise, and opened his eyes to see his wife’s face in front of him.

“Bulma!” He said jumping back and almost slipping “Why did you put a phone in the shower?”

“Because I know my husband well enough to know you’d be showering right now,” She paused and her eyes swept over him. “And I wanted to enjoy the view.”

Vegeta stood up straight and smirked. “Then come home. It looks better in person.”

Bulma threw her head back and laughed. “Oh I love you. Nice try, dear, but I’m still not coming home until Monday.”

Vegeta sighed. “Fine. Are you just gonna watch me?”

Bulma reseted her head on her hand. Apparently she was sitting at a desk. “That sounds fun to me. How are the kids?”

“Fine,” Vegeta said shampooing his hair. “Trunks is watching Bulla.”

“Aw. Such a good older brother. Did you and Trunks train today?”

“With Goten too. And it resulted in me having to cook.”

“Wait what?!” Bulma asked aghast. “You cooked??”

“Yes, and it was awful,” Vegeta snapped. “So don’t expect me to ever do it again!”

Bulma giggled. “Oh, I forgot, don’t forget to feed the cat.”

They had a cat?

💥💥💥

Bulma talked to Vegeta the entire time he was in the shower, and even a bit afterwards. Once he finally emerged from the bathroom, he went to search for Trunks, and found him in the living room feeding the cat. Bulla was trying to grab onto the cat’s tail.

He had never seen that creature ever in his life.

“Is that pizza?” Vegeta asked seeing the box on the coffee table.

“Yeah, I left some for you,” Trunks said.

“Didn’t you just eat?”

“It wasn’t enough! And you didn’t eat!”

Fair.

After he ate, Vegeta bathed Bulla. Which was honestly just like taking another shower, since he ended up being just as wet as her. He put her to bed afterwards, and headed to his room.

The first thing Vegeta noticed was that it was too quiet. He didn’t like that Bulma wasn’t here. He’d be the first to admit that he left home a lot, leaving her alone. But he was never home alone without her for this long before.

He didn’t like it.

#vegebul fanfiction #dbz vegeta #vegebul #prince vegeta #vegeta x bulma #bulma briefs #bulma dragon ball #anime fanfiction #anime #dbz fanfiction #fanfiction #writing #fanfic

[duhragonball]

Dragon Ball Z 222

The recap for this episode includes a cutaway diagram of Babidi’s spaceship.   I think I messed up the screencaps here to make it look like there’s five stages instead of just four, but you get the general idea.   The big chamber at the bottom is where I think Babidi monitors the fights, and then below that is the room where Buu’s ball is stored.  

The thing I never understood was why so much of Babidi’s ship is devoted to this gauntlet he’s having our heroes run.   Each “Stage” is equipped to absorb energy lost by intruders as they do battle with the stages’ defenders, which is handy for Babidi’s current project of reviving Majin Buu.   But this is probably the first and only time this has ever come up.    Would Babidi even have need for stolen energy other than reviving Buu?   

Come to think of it, has Babidi ever had any other agenda before this?   My understanding of his life is this: He was created as a duplicate of his “father” Bibidi, probably to do some side work for him, and when the Supreme Kai killed Bibidi he eventually started plotting to take over where Bibidi left off.   So I would assume he’s spent his whole existence trying to recover Majin Buu, though much of that was preparation, I’m sure.   He had to learn more magic, assemble a crew, acquire this spaceship, and figure out Buu’s location.

Anyway, up on Stage 1, Vegeta has to fight Puipui before they can proceed further into the ship.    If Puipui hurts Vegeta (or Goku or Gohan, if he ever gets to them), the damage will feed Buu’s ball.  But that doesn’t seem to matter, since Vegeta utterly dominates the guy in his base form.

To improve Puipui’s chances, Babidi uses his magic.

Now, the Supreme Kai claims that Babidi only used his magic to change the room, but later episodes will strongly suggest that they’ve all been teleported to a new location outside of the ship.    I’m not clear on this, but one way or another, they’re now standing on what looks like Puipui’s homeworld, the planet Zoon.   The subs spell it “Zun”, but I feel like “Zoon” is right.    “Zuun?”    I kind of like all three.   Skip it.  

Whether they’re actually on Zoon or a reasonable facsimile, Vegeta is surprised by the change, and Puipui brags that he now has the advantage, because the gravity here is ten times that of earth.    Oh, you sweet summer child...

Punch.

Kick.

Titty grab.

>:^D

Closed casket funeral.

The Saiyans head for the next deck, while the Supreme Kai is gobsmacked by Vegeta’s performance.   Puipui never even touched Vegeta, and Geets wasn’t even using Super Saiyan.  

Watching this fight again, I notice that Vegeta’s style has changed dramatically since his battles against the androids and Cell.    He taunted Puipui a few times, but he wasted no time in putting the guy away.   I’d suggest that the only reason the fight lasted as long as it did was because Vegeta wanted to scout him out a bit before he committed to a finishing blow.   This is a far cry from when he fought 19, and he basically gave 19 a bunch of free hits just to show him how outclassed he was.    He horsed around with 18 and Cell in a similar fashion, thinking he had an advantage that he really didn’t.  But against Puipui, he was all business.   

I point all this out, because it’s tough to square Vegeta’s stoic gruffness in the 2010′s with his manic bluster from early and mid-DBZ.   When he first showed up in the Saiyans Saga, he was very cocky, but also quiet, letting Nappa do most of the gloating.    Then Goku got under his skin and he became downright nutty.    On Namek, he acted like a total lunatic sometimes, which I always chalked up to his desperation to beat Frieza to immortality, and the rich rewards he would achieve if he could pull it off.   

Most of the Androids and Cell period was him trying to prove his superiority, to be the man he had always claimed to be.   His big problem was that he thought turning Super Saiyan was a destination instead of a journey, and that it would solve all his problems.    This is why he kept losing in that arc, because he went into every fight thinking he’d already won by showing up.  

The Puipui fight is the last time we see him win a fight in DBZ.    If we want to count the later series and movies... let’s see.    He killed Nappa in Dragon Ball GT, but how big a deal is that?    He beat Golden Frieza in Movie 15, but he was practically beaten anyway after fighting with Goku.    In Dragon Ball Super he took out Captain Ginyu, then several fighters from the other universes.   Toppo was the big win for that series.     Dramatically speaking, though, all of these resemble the Puipui fight more than the battles he had before that.    Much more focused, no nonsense, and shutting out distractions.   

Maybe that’s what Whis meant when he told him he was wound up too tightly in Movie 15.   If Whis could have seen Vegeta’s fight with Semiperfect Cell, he would realize that Vegeta used to be way too sloppy and self-assured, and the “overthinking” approach he used afterward was his attempt to compensate for that.  

Anyway, Babidi and Dabura are shocked to find anyone this strong on Earth, because they scouted the planet 300 years ago and didn’t find anyone nearly that powerful.    Okay, but what I don’t get is that they must have realized the Saiyans were unusually powerful, because that’s why they lured them on board in the first place.    They wrote Krillin and Piccolo off as useless, and I’m betting either of them could have killed Puipui.   

Back at the stadium, Chi-Chu suddenly realizes that she has no idea where Goten is.    For some reason, Bulma doesn’t seem terribly concerned about Trunks, though.  

Turns out, they’re both in the... lounge?   I have no idea what this room is for, but it’s some place for the tournament fighters to hang out, because when the World Tournament Announcer comes into find Mighty Mask, he finds the boys instead, and tells them they aren’t allowed back here.   See, Goten was tired of carrying Trunks on his shoulders, so they came in here to take a break.   

WTA wanted to tell Mighty Mask that they’re still figuring out how to proceed with only five fighters, and then he notices MM’s costume on the floor, so Trunks uses super speed to turn on the shower.    WTA almost walks in on the guy, but Goten insists that he’d be mad about that.    WTA’s like “Oh, yeah, those masked fighters hate for anyone to see their faces.”    Okay, yeah, but more importantly, maybe you don’t just walk in on somebody while they’re taking a shower?   Geez.  

So he calls out to MM from there, and Trunks has to pull the crappiest ventriloquism act ever to respond.    The Announcer buys this completely, just like he buys that Trunks and Goten only came in here to find Mr. Satan and get his autograph.    Then again, WTA’s seen a lot of weird shit in his time.   I get the sense that he’s a dude who gets along by not asking too many questions.    If you served him Steamed Hams, he’d be all excited to sample authentic Utica cuisine.   

Piccolo and Krillin update: They’re still statues. 

In the ship, Babidi decides to send Yakon down to Stage 2.   Dabura thinks that’s a bit extreme, but Babidi doesn’t want to take these intruders too lightly, not after Puipui got killed without landing a single blow.    

Dabura’s all worried that Yakon will kill them all before he gets to have any fun with them, and Babidi has to remind him that he’s his mind-controlled henchman, so he’s not here to have fun, dammit.

That’s kind of the interesting thing about the dynamic between these two.    Babidi seems to give his slaves a lot of leeway, either because he can’t control them absolutely, or because he prefers to let them think independently.   In Dabura’s case, he seems to enjoy having him as a dependable second-in-command, offering counsel and relaying his orders to the crew.   It gets to the point where even Dabura gets a little too comfortable with the role now and then.   

And it becomes easy for us in the audience to forget that Dabura is one of Babidi’s victims.   He only wants to awaken Buu because Babidi told him to want it.    Would Dabura even care about this goal otherwise?   I mean, it’s an evil agenda, but maybe not his brand of evil, you know?   

I think this is why Toriyama designed him to look so much like a classic interpreation of the Chrisitan Devil.    He’s not like Frieza or King Piccolo, where he’ll have time to establish his credentials as a major villain.   Dabura has to look like a major villain up front, because we’ll never really get to see how he earned the role.   His job is to look like a big deal, to emphasize that Babidi has turned him into plaything.    He could make this guy swab the decks with his tongue if he wanted to.    He only lets Dabura play first-officer because it suits his purposes.  

So some of the henchmen got to summon Yakon for Stage 2 duty, and he kills them as soon as they open the door to his room.    Awesome!   This guy ain’t fucking around.

Then Babidi calls to him, probably though telepathy or something, and it’s clear that this guy is Babidi’s plaything too.    It kind of makes you wonder why Babidi even bothered having minions go fetch Yakon in the first place, if this was the only way to get him to cooperate.    But it makes a lot of sense once you realize Babidi is a sick fuck and all of his servants are expendable.   

In Stage Two, Vegeta suggests forcing the door again, and when the Supreme Kai argues that this might release Buu, he asks how big a deal Buu really is.   After all, Puipui was helpless against him, and Dabura’s not that big a deal either.  

Shin’s like “Whaaaaa?” and Vegeta’s like, “Yeah, Dabura’s not that tough.    Your friend Kibito only got killed because he’s a bitch.”  

Shin asks Goku if this is true, and Goku’s like “Yep, Kibito’s shit tier, Supreme Kai.”

Goku estimates that Dabura’s about as strong as Cell was, and Cell was a big deal... seven years ago.    Now, being as strong as Cell doesn’t mean jack to these guys.   That’s awesome.   I love this.  

And this makes the Supreme Kai look like a real geek, because he only seemed to know that Goku and the others were very strong, but he had no idea how strong.    My impression is that he had no idea the Cell conflict ever happened, which kind of makes sense, seeing as Cell came from the future.    Perfect Cell was never really meant to be, when you think about it.   In his own timeline, the androids he had to absorb to become perfect were already dead, so without time travel, no one would ever have to deal with him at full power.   As it was, he fought the Z-Fighters umpteen years before he was born, so it sort of forced the heroes to get stronger than they would have been normally.

My guess is that the Supreme Kai knew about how strong Frieza was, and that Goku beat him, so he estimated his power based on this.   Still, you’d think he could have asked around before today.    He knew Goku would be at the tournament, so he must have had some advance notice on this.    All he had to do was talk to King Kai and go “Hey, how do you think Son Goku would stack up against, say, Dabura?”   And King Kai would go “You know, I’m not a hundred percent sure, but I think Goku could take him, sir.  He’s improved dramatically since he beat Frieza.”    And at least then he’d know what he was dealing with.  

Something else I wonder about is why none of the Kai’s seem to know anything about Saiyans.   I mean, they’ve all been around for millions of years, and Goku wasn’t the first Super Saiyan.    Maybe he and Vegeta are stronger than all the ones who came before, but you’d think some of the Kais would have noticed when the last Super Saiyan was running wild a thousand years ago, or the Super Saiyan before that, and so on.   

My point is that both the Supreme Kai and Babidi seem to think these guys are key to their respective plans, and yet they seem surprised to find out how strong they are.    Let me throw out a suggestion here: If Shin knew exactly how strong Goku is right now, do you think he’d just blow up this spaceship and have done with it?    I mean, if Buu wakes up prematurely, in his weakened state, Goku could probably beat him, right?   It’d be a gamble, but no worse than what ends up happening in this story.    

Anyway, Yakon finally shows up on Stage 2, so we can finally get on with this thing.   

And it’s Goku’s turn to fight, so we get to see what he can do after all these years.    Doncha dare miss it!

#dragon ball #2019dbliveblog #babidi saga #goku #vegeta #puipui #gohan #supreme kai #babidi #dabura #yakon #goten #trunks #chi chi #world tournament announcer #ox king #yamcha #marron #master roshi

[recentanimenews]

FEATURE: The First Dragon Ball Series' Appeal Lies In Its Simplicity

  Hello everyone, and welcome back to Why It Works. I’ve been keeping a close eye on the migration of the Funimation library and most recently was delighted to see the original Dragon Ball show up in both subbed and dubbed varieties. Dragon Ball, and Goku in particular, are essentially global icons at this point, but fans tend to focus on the high-stakes battles of Z and beyond, when Goku and his friends are fighting for the fate of the world. Z is iconic for a variety of reasons, but personally, it’s the lower-stakes conflicts of the original Dragon Ball that most appeal to me, and which I’m now eager to revisit. If you’ve enjoyed Z but have never seen Dragon Ball, this is a perfect time to rectify that — and if you’re still on the fence, here are a few of the things that make Goku’s origins so compelling!

    First off, the very fact that Dragon Ball’s conflicts occupy a smaller scale than Z’s battles is, to my mind, one of its greatest assets. When you’re beginning with the fate of the world at stake, any lesser conflict will naturally seem somewhat trivial; as a result, Z tends to focus primarily on escalating battles, with the scale eventually expanding to include other planets and even the galaxy. In contrast, Dragon Ball opens with Bulma seeking the Dragon Balls for entirely selfish reasons and Goku instantly sidetracking her into a variety of errands, ambiguously useful quests, and confrontations with petty dictators.

  This rambling focus helps convey the sense of a true adventure, a journey where the end isn’t certain and anything could happen along the way. Unburdened by the shadow of a world-threatening apocalypse, Dragon Ball can stretch its legs and embrace a wide variety of dramatic styles. There are fights and tournaments, but also mysteries, fantastical fables, and even a brief war arc. Dragon Ball’s structure is as loose and wandering as Toriyama’s imagination, and that’s a very good thing.

  The relatively low-stakes conflicts of Dragon Ball also free up room for other priorities, like developing a strong rapport between the key players. Whereas the conflicts of Z are generally too pressing to allow goofing off, Dragon Ball’s idle journeys offer plenty of time for Goku, Bulma, and their various companions to bounce their personalities off each other. They’re not just sworn allies, they’re a makeshift family — and ultimately, all their time spent huddling over fires in the wilderness makes their unity in times of trouble feel that much more meaningful.

    This celebration of Dragon Ball’s character dynamics is further bolstered by the series’ amplified focus on comedy. Leaning into Toriyama’s experience writing beloved gag manga Dr. Slump, Dragon Ball possesses an easy sense of humor that makes all of its heroes seem relatably fallible. Don’t you love the incidental Z episodes where the gang does something like take a driver’s license test or go to an amusement park? The original Dragon Ball is absolutely brimming with episodes like that, making it hard not to fall in love with its supremely goofy cast.

  Incidentally, if you’ve already come to love Dragon Ball’s cast through its sequels, the original offers one final allure: revealing the origins of iconic friendships, along with the heyday of now-secondary companions. Dragon Ball illustrates the origins of Goku’s relationship with many of his Z companions, with characters like Yamcha, Krillin, and Piccolo playing key dramatic roles in their early appearances. Can you even imagine that — Yamcha serving as a force to be reckoned with, or Krillin and Goku squaring off as equals? With the overall power scaling more flattened, every character can contribute to the drama, resulting in all sorts of unexpected twists.

    Ultimately, it is Dragon Ball’s very provincialism and lightness of stakes that make it special, allowing the story to embrace a wide variety of conflicts and giving the relationships between its stars time to bloom. Goku’s early adventures are snappy in pacing and diverse in style, demonstrating a world brimming with possibility, and populating that world with all manner of fascinating creatures. Dragon Ball is the foundation upon which Goku’s future adventures stand, and it will always possess a special place in my heart. If you haven’t seen it yet, this is a perfect time to give it a shot!

      Nick Creamer has been writing about cartoons for too many years now and is always ready to cry about Madoka. You can find more of his work at his blog Wrong Every Time, or follow him on Twitter.

  Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features!

By: Nick Creamer

#Anime #News #Latest in Anime News by Crunchyroll!

[italicwatches]

GAMERS! Episode 10

Well tonight is pizza night, so it can’t all be bad. Anyways, it’s GAMERS!, episode 10! Here we GO!

-We begin, at the cafe. Where Aguri is in a new outfit with a beanie atop her head, and Keita wants her at the next gaming meet up. But…Why? She doesn’t play games! Not the point. He needs you there when he talks to Tasuku. And Karen will be there too…And Aguri’s confidence falters, as her fears about losing Tasuku bubble up. …Okay, here’s the deal. You want his cake? Of course she does! Swear you’ll join in and you can have it. SHE’S IN! Well that worked. As Keita feels ever so sorry for Aguri, who’s about to lose her boyfriend who just went and confessed to another girl behind her back.

-Opening! We’ve got one last game…And those windows, that first-person view straight on to an opponent, that bold artwork? I could be wrong as ever, but that’s almost definitely Dragon Quest, THE classic JRPG! The one that really birthed the field, simplifying the core pieces of PC roleplaying games from the West into something that anyone could play, and building one of Japan’s first real boom genres. The series, now held by the combined powerhouse of the two old masters of the genre, Square-Enix, is still going strong with new main releases and spinoffs alike seen in the last year, though they’ve long since abandoned the Akira Toriyama sprite art for…Akira Toriyama art in 3D. All the boys still look like young Goku, all the girls still look like young Bulma. I’m not wrong.

-DAY 10: Gamers and Next Stage

-A few days ago. Where we left off last time. Keita congratulated Chiaki on having her crush confess to her, but of course, by this point Chiaki was just fucking confused as to her emotions…This issue with Keita had her in a deep mess of a funk, that even Konoha saw without knowing the details…But she also saw that this Tasuku guy’s dating another girl, right? So by her read, you should turn him down right away, that kind of disloyalty will only be turned against you! Well she wasn’t wrong. And Keita realized he’d have to figure out how to keep Aguri in one piece…

-As an aside, how much you want to bet that Keita would, at this point, describe Aguri much as she described him, the cute but pain-in-the-ass younger sibling that you have to work so hard to help but you’re still proud when they manage to succeed? It would just be the cherry on this fucking sundae of insanity if they both thought they were the older, wiser friend in this camaraderie.

-Anyways, Konoha wanted to have Chiaki call him up and turn him down right then and there. But Chiaki froze up at the idea, and without a good reason to do so…It was Keita who had the idea to ask Karen, because of course she had tons of experience letting guys down easy…

-And yet just listen to the poor girl when she answered the phone from Keita calling her out of nowhere. You’ve never heard a voice that “ohgodpanic” before. And Keita, without giving her the full context of what happened, asked for her advice in turning someone else down. While the Hoshinomori sisters just stared. YOU’RE MAKING IT WORSE. So Karen thought this was a way for him to turn her down, which might be even worse than the alternative(that someone’s going after her man), and, well, it turned into an argument until his sheer density led to him using the phrase ‘beloved girlfriend’ and how do you think the lovestruck Karen handled a phrase like that?

-Well she calmly said she loved him and then hung up. Leaving a confused Keita to just quietly sit back down because, well, this just got emotionally hefty. And Konoha proceeded to beat him for his uselessness.

-So. Okay. New plan. Konoha! Keita decided she had a cute look about her, so surely she must get asked out a lot, how does she turn a guy down? Konoha, who had herself been dealing with…complicated emotions, and hearing Keita call her cute, well…

-So what I’m saying is YOU’RE MAKING IT WOOOOORSE

-Oh and this also included nearly letting her porn-gaming truth out, thus further mucking up Chiaki’s emotions about this twisted pervert who has been so important in her life. But, anyways, Konoha has always leaned on her school work and after-class activities as reasons to gently turn a guy down. Chiaki…Either doesn’t have those or shares them with Tasuku. So…Yeah…The only thing she could lean on would be her hobbies, like game creation…

-Which just reminded Keita of how he’d never seen Chiaki’s game work and Konoha making a wild flailing panicked attempt to not give away the secret, and…Okay. He finally decided, there was only one thing to do. Gather up EVERYONE, and talk this shit out! YES! FINALLY!

-Hard cut to Now, as everyone sits in a classroom together, and Keita starts to lay it all out…Something deeply, incredibly important, much to the confusion of both Karen and Aguri…While Chiaki and Tasuku know it all too well…Oh god, oh dear, Chiaki would like to die now please…

-…First thing tomorrow, he’s going to sprint to the store and get Space Ocean 5!

-I mean good for you but that’s not what we came here to see happen. Even Karen and Aguri can tell he’s fucking beating around the bush…

-But Tasuku decides to humor Keita and he explains that it’s his favorite RPG series and 5 comes out tomorrow, so he’s gonna skip all after-class stuff and run right out at the last bell to go get it. And Chiaki kiiiind of had the same plan. But did he get a preorder? …No. This summer has been…Complicated.

-Which will make life difficult. This is a big series, and by after school, most of the non-reserved copies will likely be gone…So he’s going to be on lockdown so he can be ready to just sprint at the first opportunity. The series is really important to him. It’s not the first one he ever played, or anything, but the series was…The first he ever really connected to, you know? 2 was…Well, he’d played plenty of famous RPGs, but something about 2 just clicked, and it’s when he went from a kid who plays games, to a gamer.

-So he’s going to go track down a physical copy come hell or high water! And everyone can’t help but give him praise, because they all get that passion and wanna see him pull it off…Well, except for Chiaki, whose emotions are just a mess right now. So, uh, that attempt to actually talk shit out didn’t work. Like, at all. Not even a little bit.

-Cut to Chiaki in her room, alone, surrounded by games and Famitsu, with her head on her PZ4, thinking heavy thoughts about the pervert boy she can’t get out of her head…And cue a very confused Konoha. Why…All of this? She went and found her copy of Space Ocean: The Second Story! Oh, girl, you have it bad. Konoha asks how the big meeting went…Nothing’s gotten better because Keita couldn’t nut up and admit what was happening!

-Well, yeah. You’re all ridiculous. You even dragged her ass into it. …So now that it’s just them, you wanna talk about what’s actually going through your head or what?

-…Keita has a girlfriend. A girl named Karen who’s the idol of the school.

-Nope, nope, stop right there. Figure out what you want. Is it this Tasuku guy? Is it Keita? Is it stealing their girls and having an all-girls three-way? (Wait what was that last one) Look the point is figure it out so you can push forward…And be ready to deal with the mess you caused by making her into Mono and Nobe. That shit ain’t gonna work forever.

-So. Cut everything else out. Assume anything and everything you do will work out exactly how you want to. Do you want to get closer to Keita, either platonically or romantically? Do you want to just keep hating him because that’s easier? Or do you want to cut loose and put some outright distance between the two of you so you can find a new path?

-…She…She doesn’t knowwwww….

-Konoha doesn’t exactly know what advice to offer, so all she can say is not to try and figure it out right now or anything, and then she lets Chiaki have some time alone…Chiaki, who realizes she has no idea what she wants, at this point…

-Next day, the last bell goes off, and Tasuku gives Keita a quick thumbs-up. Go, go get that game, man! While Tasuku gets a text, seems Aguri is meeting up with some friends from her old school…Which means Tasuku’s on his own this afternoon. And that means he can get his own tasks started. With Keita and Karen dating, he’s the only one who can sort out a happy ending for Chiaki, and she needs to know that now that everyone else is out of the building and can’t fuck this up for him…!

-So it’s down to class A, where Chiaki is about to leave right when he gets there…! Perfect! Can they talk for a minute? And Chiaki starts to panic, and the only thing that solidly comes out is that she’s not prepared to cause heartbreak…

-Which, Tasuku interprets as her being unsure of her feelings for Keita, and thus unwilling to hurt Karen by stealing him away. …Now, it’s not that you’re wrong, it’s just that you got there the wrong way. Because then he gently apologizes for trying to rush her, and Chiaki is in a panic, and…Well…

-You’re all making it wooooorse. I know I said that a lot today. But they are. And Karen would like to know if she can get through the doorway now please…But first, she needs to borrow the two of them!

-Meanwhile, Aguri’s get-together was a trap by a frenemy turned total bitch and her boy toys to poke fun at the nerd Aguri used to be, and possibly get her to fuck one. …Yeah this girl has a boyfriend too, she’s still gonna claim one of these beach-tanned bottle-blonde fuckboys.

-Wow. WOW, you’re…Aguri is realizing just how little she likes this girl, and this whole scene. And then they start talking shit about everyone in the gaming group, deciding it must be full of fat virgin nerd boys.

-So…That…Doesn’t go over well. Like, at all. As she finally decides, you know what, fuck this. You’re assholes, she’s done, get fucked. And she’s off…As her old ‘friend’ comes to try and ask her what the fuck.

-But Aguri is not playing along. You insulted her friend. You insulted someone who matters to her. If you don’t have an apology, she’s done. And she walks off, an attempted insult about how she’s still that nervous wallflower inside echoing in her ears…

-And once she’s got some space, she starts trying to call people…But Tasuku, the one guy she really needs to hear from, isn’t picking up…Oh god, Aguri, someone save this precious gumdrop!

-While Tasuku’s phone buzzes in his bag, still on vibrate from school, and he has no idea…As Karen has taken him and Chiaki out for a walk because she needs to know how to deal with something…She’s been feeling funny ever since she started dating Keita…It’s, it’s like everything just got better, brighter and happier! …Chiaki did not need to hear this she’s gonna go bye no—

-But…But then there are days like today. Days where it seems he puts his beloved games ahead of her. And they met because of games, so she gets it, but also…And then there’s how often he goes to get lunch with Aguri…

-Tasuku can at least squash that part. Listen. Aguri looks to him as, like, this high-maintenance kid brother. And Keita only started going to her to get advice for you. They’re close friends, but it’s not gonna go any further than that.

-As for the other side…Chiaki’s the one who figures, it’s kind of…just Keita. For all he seems waffly and wishy-washy, he gets super stubborn about some weird shit. He’ll occasionally put games over love, friends, real-world happiness…It’s just…It is who he is…

-And Tasuku can’t help but realize just how deep Karen’s love for this guy is, if she’s willing to not only put up with it, but accept it. When his eyes widen, and hold that thought, everyone!

-Because Aguri just spotted him.

-With both Karen and Chiaki.

-And, being in a fucking mess of an emotional state, she’s decided he’s going out with both of them at the same time, for Maximum Player Status.

-YOU DOUBLE CHEAT! She flees in wild sobbing tears, running so fast that she gets comical cinnamon-roll legs, and so everyone has to chase after her and try to fix it…Which includes such highlights as Karen describing Tasuku as ‘a bug that buzzes around’ her Keita. And Chiaki being ‘way past the point that she was honored that he liked her’. And Aguri, with no other option, decides to call the only loyal man in her entire life, Keita!

-Eventually they manage to corner her up by an arcade, as she’s feeling better now after Karen and Chiaki talk to her…And everyone gives Tasuku a death glare for letting this shit happen. Here’s the thing.

-You deserve that death glare you fucking idiot.

-Moving on. Aguri is gonna try and call Keita off but, knowing him, he probably didn’t even receive the message, he’s out hunting for that game, it’ll all work out—

-AGURI!

-So Keita arrived.

-And sprinted here. He’s out of breath. And, from her message, he thought, didn’t she just break up with Tasuku and yet he’s here…And everyone is…What happened…?

-It’s, well, you see…

-…It was a misunderstanding, wasn’t it.

-WHY DID HE BOTHER WORRYING ABOUT ANYONE IN THIS HELLSCAPE

-And Karen is kind of worried about how quick Keita was to come over here…Well, yeah, Aguri sounded super upset on the phone! But…But you were out getting Space Ocean (Shoulda called it Space Lake), and…

-And, yeah, he had to put that on hold because this mattered more! And Aguri thumps him for being here all gross and sweaty like the gross nerd her so-called friend tried to call him, but he’s only gross and sweaty because someone made him panic and run right over! The argument turns into laughter and banter soon enough, as the two both relax. And everyone quietly, horrifiedly realizes, they’re acting a lot more like a couple than he does with Karen or she does with Tasuku…!

-Credits!

Congratulations, Aguri. You managed to make it worse. I didn’t realize it was possible to make it worse, but you managed.

#where I watch #recap #anime #gamers!