Dragon Ball has a wealth of cultural context and inspiration that’s often overlooked because the fights are cool. Though not averse to fawning over animation an...
March Madness 2025 Tenkaichi Tournament Pt 2 (S4E2)
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 Win Ben Stein's Money, with a Jeopardy kicker
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 trivia?
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!
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1:03:40
Daima Discussion 4 Episodes 16-20
WILL we find out why Piccolo is here? Is Super Saiyan 4 really canon now? Does that matter? What's the meaning of canon? What's the meaning of life? Why are we here? Does anything matter? Are we just on a big ball of entropy careening towards the heat death of the universe?
Join Jelli and Bekinney as we continue looking at Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball franchise by tackling a discussion of Dragon Ball Daima, and its final five episodes: "Degesu," "Gomah," "Awakening," "Betrayal," and "Maximum."
The Great Value Ginyu Force has their moment
Gomah gets the Evil Third Eye
Glorio does...I don't know...something. His story makes as little sense as we could have imagined
Piccolo's punches do nothing? What is he DOING here? (spoiler: we never find out)
Super Saiyan 4!?!?! SSJ4?!?!? Canon?!?!? ZOMG!
Vegeta and Bulma make us wish for that sitcom we pitched last time even MORE
Then there's a bunch of punching and fighting for multiple episodes
And then Kuu, Duu, Arinsu, Glorio, Panzy, Kadan, and the rest all get a happy ending...wait...not THAT kiind.
What else are Jelli and Bekinney up to?
Jelli is re-reading The Dark Tower, talks about The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, and talks about Mike Flanagan
Bekinney is playing Monster Hunter Wilds
Join us for this more casual conversation as we dig through the world of Daima and continue to uncover the cultural meanings, publication facts, inspirations and more behind the wildly popular Dragon Ball franchise.
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1:04:57
March Madness 2025 Tenkaichi Tournament Pt 1 (S4E1)
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 Win Ben Stein's Money with a Jeopardy kicker.
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!
It's Summer Convention Season! You think it's not, just because it's winter? Well, tune in to find out why it is! Jelli takes you into the world of our summer conventions by presenting one of the panels we held this year, at Colossalcon Texas in Austin, TX (well, technically Round Rock, TX) from Colossalcon. This panel was also presented at Anime Weekend Atlanta (AWA) in (obviously) Atlanta, GA and the Q&A portion of that event is retained here.
In this episode:
Jelli is on his own.
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
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
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
Some more details on Akira Toriyama's unfortunate passing from subdermal hematoma
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.
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48:59
Daima Discussion 3 Episodes 11-15
What happens when Vegeta goes even further beyond? When will we find out why Piccolo is here? What's Daima's terrible behind-the-scenes secret?
Join Jelli and Bekinney as we continue looking at Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball franchise by tackling a discussion of Dragon Ball Daima, and its next five episodes: "Legend," "True Strength," "Surprise," "Taboo," and "Third Eye".
Why is Majin Kuu best boi?
Is his brother, Majin Duu also best boi?
Piccolo forgot how to speak Namekian? What is he DOING here?
Battles against Tamagami 1 and 2
Kaiju sized hamsters!
Who is the mysterious woman with the fun hat?
What's the deal with the Great Value Ginyu Force?
Join us for a pitch for a new show: The Saiyan Prince and Buu Heirs, and marvel at its potential storytelling heights such as Duu and Kuu asking Vegeta in a heartfelt way, "Why doesn't Arinsu want me?" (Yes this is a Fresh Prince spinoff sitcom...featuring VegeBull Hybis Duu and Kuu)
What else are Jelli and Bekinney up to?
Jelli is re-reading The Dark Tower, talks about The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, and gives thoughts on 2025's Wolf Man as well as 2024's Street Trash remake
Bekinney is playing Final Fantasy 7, and gives thoughts on the anime and manga series Hajime no Ippo
Wait, what?
Are we okay?
Join us for this more casual conversation as we dig through the world of Daima and 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
https://bsky.app/profile/finalforumpod.bsky.social
Dragon Ball has a wealth of cultural context and inspiration that’s often overlooked because the fights are cool. Though not averse to fawning over animation and allowing for the Rule of Cool, Jelli and Bekinney delve into the world of Akira Toriyama, and discuss lesser-known facts about the worldwide manga and anime phenomenon that is one of the most well-known and popular Japanese pop culture exports of all-time. Want to learn about the cultural importance of moments, literary inspirations behind scenes and characters, production facts, and more? Whether you‘re a fan of Goku, Vegeta, or any of the cast of characters including Piccolo, Gohan, Frieza, or even Broly, there should be something for you to enjoy as we cover all things Dragon Ball, including DBZ, GT, Super, Daima, and more!
We‘ll have discussions, guests, interviews, reviews, and commentaries so grab a senzu bean, power up your fan level to Super Saiyan, and get ready to learn about Kakarot and his friends; and of course, thank you for helping us achieve our FINAL FORUM...We hear it‘s over 9000.
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