Final Forum: A Dragon Ball Podcast

What do you get when you put together all the PLOT of a movie, but little of the ACTION of a Dragon Ball movie? Why are we talking about Jane Fonda on a Dragon Ball Z commentary track? 

The answers are within as Jelli and Bekinney continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon by tackling the 1991 movie, The Tree of Might.

In this episode:

Jelli and Bekinney are nearing a certain Red Planet

We sync up our audio commentary for the listeners

We discuss some of the production facts about the film Dragon Ball Z: The Tree of Might such as its 1991 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 in an event known as Akira Toriyama: The World, namely, Kennosuke-sama and Pink the Rain Jack.

A little bit about Minoru Okazaki, director of Kennosuke-sama who also contributed to Dr. Slump, Tetsujin 28, Dragon Ball GT, Mega Man: Wish Upon a Star, Astro Boy, Cyborg 009 and more, as well as the voice cast featuring talents that would appear in Metal Gear Solid 2, Soul Calibur III, and the Lupin franchise

Comparing Pink to Akira Toriyama's later manga, Sand Land, and discussing its director, Toyoo Ashida, most known for the original Vampire Hunter D, as well as Fist of the North Star and the 1986 Guyver anime, as well as the anthology film Batman: Gotham Knight

A brief discussion of Yuji Ikeda, art director for this film, and through Super Android 13, as well as Barefoot Gen 2, Bleach, Death Note, Demon City Shunjuku, Digimon, The Guyver, Naruto, One Piece, Pokemon and Yu Yu Hakusho

The first appearance of Icarus, who we likened (A VERY LITTLE BIT) to the DBZ equivalent of Harley Quinn and drew comparisons to a Dr Slump character, Taxi Dragon

Discussing the film's unique antagonists, Raisin, Lakasai, Cacao, Amond, Daiz and Turles

Cacao's visual similarities to a slew of creatures that bounced around Jelli's brain including the Inhumanoids characters Tendril and Metlar as well as the design similarity to the third Clayface, Preston Payne

Delving into a unique aspect of Daiz's design: leg warmers and how they were popularized by the 1980s aerobics fad, originally pioneered by Jacki Sorenson and popularized by Jane Fonda's home workout video series

Other elements of the 80s leg warmer fad including Fam Flashdance and Xanadu

A little about Jane Fonda's career, from Barbarella to political activism, to her faux pas that led to her being dubbed Hanoi Jane, to her attempt to rebrand herself with her home exercise tapes

How Jane Fonda's workout is a trope that is so well-known, people have likely seen homages to or parodies of it (like 2024's The Substance) even if they didn't know it, akin to Star Wars or Dragon Ball Z

Jelli acknowledging that the popularity of Jane Fonda's home workout paved the way for his exercises of preference, P90X and other Beach Body (or Bodi) workouts

Trivia around the movie's many dubs, unique design debuts, and cast of characters

Ron Wasserman's contributions to the original score and his thoughts on Dragon Ball

Shuki Levy, a partner of Haim Saban and co-founder of Saban Entertainment

How the Tree of Might may be an allusion to a Tree of Life

Bekinney pointing out that the Tree of Might is kind of like the Tree of Heaven and is a terrible thing, unlike Toriyama's pre-established Tree of Hell (the Enseijuu Tree, seen in the HFIL episode) that is a healthy, prosperous thing, and how this highlights Toriyama's love of opposites.

and more, including some general pop culture, trivia, and editorializing, as usual as we react to this movie and re-evaluate our thoughts on it

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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What happens when an independent artist unofficially adapts a Dragon Ball-free adaptation of a Dragon Ball video game into a light novel? Did that question even make sense?

 

Jelli and Bekinney are taking a quick break from breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon Dragon Ball Z by looking at a novelization of the NES game: Dragon Power, inspired by the Worlds of Power book series.

In this episode:

Jelli and Bekinney pass through an asteroid belt

The Worlds of Power Book series, from its inception as an idea inspired by Seth Godin's conversations with his nephew about reading to its ultimate success

Nintendo's decision to pass on the Worlds of Power licensing

Random House's Godzilla books

A discussion of Quan Millz and Chuck Tingle

and more, including some general pop culture, trivia, and editorializing, as usual 

Join us as we continue to uncover the cultural meanings, publication facts, inspirations and more behind the wildly popular Dragon Ball franchise.

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What if… Dragon Ball were to implement a Secret Invasion type of story, with a race of Ginyu type aliens body swapping into various bodies? How would swapping two beings into the same body at the same time?

Join Jelli and Bekinney as they continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon Dragon Ball Z by looking at episodes 71 through 75: "Goku is Ginyu and Ginyu is Goku," "Calling the Eternal Dragon," "Gohan, Defeat Your Dad," "Captain Ginyu…the Frog" and "Password is Porunga." We continue talking about the Ginyu Force, and this episode, zero in on Captain Ginyu, the namesake of the group.

In this episode:

Jelli and Bekinney pass a certain ringed planet

A decent batch of episodes

Vegeta’s outfits and the internal consistency (or lack thereof) of Saiyan armor stretching to fit its wearer

The man (?) of the hour: Captain Ginyu

Ginyu’s personality resemblances in WWE, including Ric Flair and the Ultimate Warrior

Ginyu’s physical resemblance to the Talosians of Star Trek

Whether Ginyu’s body is his original, which spirals into a conversation about how multiple body swaps would work simultaneously

What if: Ginyu’s species could ALL do the body swap and we had a Secret Invasion type of story in Dragon Ball with the Ginyus acting as the Skrulls

Should we have done a Frieza episode before a Ginyu episode?

Are Ginyu and Frieza stand-ins for Mephistopheles and Satan?

Nio, a pair of wrathful dharmpala who are guardians of Buddha and destroy obstacles to enlightenment, also known as Agyo and Ungyo

And invitation to be corrected on the connections we’re making

Ginyu and Frieza’s comparability to Orcus, Sauron and Galactus

and more, including some general pop culture, trivia, and editorializing, as usual 

Join us as we continue to uncover the cultural meanings, publication facts, inspirations and more behind the wildly popular Dragon Ball franchise.

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https://bsky.app/profile/finalforumpod.bsky.social

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Prepare for Trouble! And make it...two. Two of the...the bad guys. Two of them. At the same time. A tag team of cosmic proportions, when the fastest man in the universe and...another guy team up to take on the forces of good.

Join Jelli and Bekinney as they continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon Dragon Ball Z by looking at episodes 66 through 70: "Goku's New Power," "A Legend Revealed," "Ginyu Assault," "Incredible Force!" and "Frieza Approaches." We continue talking about the Ginyu Force, and this episode, zero in on Jeice and Burter, the two who operate as a tag team withing the unit.

In this episode:

The season is over...?

A good bunch of episodes again

Some trivia about Burter, his height and his involvement in Dragon Ball GT

A tangent into Ultraman Leo

Jessie the Body Ventura

The idea of punctuality and time management as it pertains to Japanese culture, and how the country was not always thought of as the bullet-train-driven hyper-efficient society it is now

Jeice or Jheese

Sticking with WWF/WWE bit of comparison with Jeice and Burter being like The Rockers, where Shawn Michaels betrayed Marty Jeaneatty, or a visual comparison point of The Road Warriors, especially with Road Warrior Hawk looking somewhat similar to Burter

Revisiting the history of punk in Japan

Tracing punk's history in Japan from Maruhachibu and Zuno Keisatsu into The Stalin and Hantarash and how punk's emphasis on visual style in Japan gave way eventually to Visual Kei

A brief history of visual kei, via the band X Japan and some American comparison points like Twisted Sister or Kiss

Jeice as a glam rock superstar

and more, including some general pop culture, trivia, and editorializing, as usual 

Join us as we continue to uncover the cultural meanings, publication facts, inspirations and more behind the wildly popular Dragon Ball franchise.

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They appear as a full team for approximately 1% of the franchise, and yet the Ginyu Force leave an indelible mark up Dragon Ball. How do they do it? Is it their flashy poses, their sense of style, their group dynamic? What is it about these five warriors that make them so memorable?

Join Jelli and Bekinney as they continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon Dragon Ball Z by looking at episodes 61 through 65: "Hidden Power," "New Ally, New Problem," "Guldo's Mind Binds," "Recoome Unleashed," and "Let the Battle Begin." We are officially into the GINYU Saga and we're taking a look at the eponymous Ginyu Force, especially zeroing in on Recoome and Guldo.

In this episode:

Jelli and Bekinney are looking out the window. Still.

A much better batch of episodes

The Ginyu Force as a microcosm of Toriyama's sensibilities - subversive, parody, colorful, fun, powerful, self-contradictory, everything he likes

Breaking down the name Ginyu Tokusentai into a discussion of what toku and sentai might mean to American audiences

Talking about Super Sentai, including Shotaro Ishinomori, the creator of Kamen Rider and Super Sentai

Ishinimori as the Japanese counterpart to Jack Kirby

The impact of Super Sentai on the pop culture landscape and the more well-known American counterpart, Might Morphin Power Rangers

The Ginyu Force as a classic Disney trope of a second-in-command villain who's more of a bumbling oaf than a genuine threat

Breaking down Ginyu Puns; Ginyu - Dairy, Recoome - Cream, Guldo - Yogurt, Burter -Butter, Jeice - Cheese

Delving into Guldo or Gurd

His function as the Saibaman of the Ginyu Force

Possible comparisons to Herve Jean-Pierre Villechaize, who played Nick Nack in Bond film, the Man with the Golden Gun, and Tattoo on Fantasy Island

Possible comparisons to Danny Devito, due to the movie Twins with Arnold Schwarzenegger coming out at this time

Diving into Recoome

Is Recoome a robot?

Recoome as a blend of Sylvester Stallone and Dolph Lundgren, due to the popularity of Rocky IV at the time

and more, including some general pop culture, trivia, and editorializing, as usual 

Join us as we continue to uncover the cultural meanings, publication facts, inspirations and more behind the wildly popular Dragon Ball franchise.

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