Meant to be doing a part 2 of something but...

Almost a year ago (jeeze) I wrote a post celebrating that Dragon Ball super was still a franchise actively producing content after being launched a year before I was even born.

At first I was fooling myself into believing I wouldn't be watching it, but I ended up watching the whole 'new' series, Dragonball Super and I've gotta say I loved it! The animation was great, it was giving me some of my childhood back, and it was fun.

It lacked any depth and they kept with the times to the annoying extent that there's just no blood or gratuitous violence like head stomping, but I reminded myself it's literally for kids, and just enjoyed it for what it was.

Well, social media algorithms won't let me let go of this interest of mine, constantly showing me DBZ content. People are still actively discussing it and theorising about the next series, even though DBS ended seven years ago.

Then, only months ago, a new series called Dragonball Daima came out, in a kind of spin-off repeat concept of an oft-hated Dragonball GT, both of which turn the main guy Goku into a child but the stories run different.

Honestly, I really enjoyed this too! Again, fun and beautiful animation.

Naturally the algorithm didn't let up, and I was drawn to the O.G series, Dragonball and Z. It occurred to me I had pushed a certain reality from my memory:

I had never actually watched it.

I distinctly remember watching Frieza, the main and most prolonged antagonist and that whole saga. I remember being so absolutely hooked that I would be running in bursts from school even though I knew it was airing in plenty of time to walk. I remember doing as many push-ups as humanly possible so I could eventually shoot energy beams from my hands.

But I also remember my step-grandfather coming round and putting on the GOLF and he had more right than me over the TV. So, while Goku was spending 400 episodes building a spirit bomb, I didn't get to see the actual moment he finally launched it. I was traumatised. I remember like it was yesterday, quietly and calmly going up to my bedroom without a word of protest, before screaming as loudly as I could into my pillow and crying my little eyes out.

He started coming over frequently and, well, that was kinda that. I never actually watched beyond that point. Maybe a couple of episodes following but I don't recall.

I never saw the hundreds of follow up episodes of the next baddies showing up: Androids, Cell, Buu.

I've seen tons of clips of them over the years that I became very familiar with their voices and moves - and Buu is in the more recent DBS series I already watched.

So I decided to change this once and for all. Reclaim the childhood memories I never had but certainly deserved!

The Cell Saga

I just finished the cell saga and while I won't leave a big review or anything, at least today, I will say that the show just hits so much harder than the others. There's blood, there's head stomping, explosions of entire bodies, holes being shot right through people's chests. It's not gory but it feels so much more real of an experience.

At this point in the show, the Dragon Balls themselves are kind of available but not ubiquitous, and they were limited in scope and power. So there isn't this sense like in DBS that 'Oh the entire universe is destroyed? Nevermind I'll just use the dragonballs to wish everything back to normal'.

or 'Oh, your best friends of 20 years have all, one by one just been brutally slaughtered by your worst enemy? Nevermind, I'll just use the dragonballs to wish everything back to normal'.

At this point there was still a gravity to the consequences of one's actions. And this Cell saga does not make you forget it. While the main characters make the stupidest decisions time and time again, the consequences are profound and tragic. A fine lesson for kids to learn.

To be honest, I touched on it before but I think this whole show should be watched by anyone raising a son. It's kind of a treasure trove of value and virtue that should be passed on. The protagonist's son, Gohan, for one, shows a purity and kindness balanced with absolute power through determination and perseverance in the name of his friends and family. He still fails them multiple times through fear and uncertainty, but when pushed into a corner, he is not to be messed with.

I was fighting off a flood of tears as I was watching the above scene, Gohan finally overcoming his hesitant nature, his concern for the safety of others. I genuinely felt 10 years old again.

Goku himself, for all his flaws as a father much joked about, displays a kind of unconditional love and support for his son that fathers all over the world could learn a few lessons from. A trust and pride in his child through ruthless discipline & training. Ultimately, he sacrificed his own life without fear or regret to save everyone, his last words telling his son how proud he was of him.

_{If it's the last time you see your father, it should be like this}

Gohan went through a very traumatic life, but never lost track of his values - and absolutely wrecked Cell in the end. (If you are reading this and need a spoiler warning it's on you not me).

Look at what they took from us

Many people lament what the show has become now. While I watched the more recent stuff first, I enjoyed them for what they were. But now, in hindsight, I see what the new shows took from us. impact.

They dazzle us with beautiful animations and flashing lights, but by lightening the tone and making it more 'kid friendly', it's just not as memorable. You certainly don't feel those life lessons in any capacity. It's a show without consequence. Pure entertainment and little else.

The transformations from Saiyan to Super Saiyan were profound and powerful, too. In the more recent stuff, they literally just change their hair colour and say 'wow they're stronger now'. Yawn.

_{Ok the Ultra Instinct form got me revved up and was awesome, but that's not a transformation, per se}

And, for real, perhaps the biggest downgrade of any character in any show in history is probably Gohan, who went from an absolute beast with hidden powers, a boy of pure spirit and love to the point you would not want to mess with him:

To whatever pathetic... thing... this is supposed to be:

WTF.

I genuinely think the earlier, more bloody content was way more wholesome and formative than the new, safe stuff which just serves to help kids grow an iPad addiction.

Anyway, onto the next saga!

My life is going to be so empty once I've used all this up.