Age 748 or so: while Gohan’s had an easier job raising Goku since the traumatic head injury, the boy still has a nasty habit of absorbing Bruits Waves through his eyes. Gohan warns him to stay indoors whenever Bruits levels exceed 17 million zeno, but one night... #HistoryofEver
After this (surely the most tragic midnight potty trip in history), Goku is left all on his own up in the mountains, miles from civilization. He inherits Gohan’s magic staff, plus a weird ball Gohan found one day. Goku starts talking to this memento as if it were Gohan himself
Prior to his death, Gohan had trained Goku in the martial arts, including his trademark Rock-Paper-Scissors technique. Daizenshuu 7’s technique dictionary also speculates that Goku might’ve received some ki training from Gohan, which is how he mastered the Kamehameha so fast.
While Goku never saw another human when living with his grandfather, Gohan did tell him to treat women nicely. And though Gohan didn’t teach young Goku anything of female anatomy, he did apparently explain what “bloomers” are.
(Or so it seems from Goku’s reaction to Bulma’s name. Viz makes Goku’s comments more explicit, while in Japanese he merely calls it a “funny name”, so maybe he doesn’t actually know about Japanese gym shorts terminology)
Somewhat on that note: Goku was in the habit of sleeping with his head on Gohan’s crotch, as we see when he tries the same thing with Bulma. Yep, good ol’ early DB.
More gaps in Goku’s education: not knowing about baths or the sea. On the other hand, he’s apparently familiar with Buddhist prayer beads and stainless steel (he compares his body to the latter; this is changed to simply “steel” in the anime, and left out of Viz entirely)
The date of Gohan’s death isn’t specified beyond being prior to the series’ start. Goku retains no memories of his time in Ape mode, and doesn’t realize the true identity of the “monster” who killed his grandpa until seeing Vegeta’s transformation causes him to connect the dots.
Meanwhile, Gohan receives first-class treatment in the afterlife, keeping his body like the other dead martial arts masters, and getting lucrative contracting work from time to time. Goku himself will later get much the same deal when he dies (minus the contracting gigs)
Besides fighting for Baba, the Wedding Dress filler arc shows another of Gohan’s post-death gigs: serving as personal assistant to Annin as she tends her magic furnace. No wonder he doesn’t want to come back to life!
On Tuesday: crybaby!
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Toyotaro’s postscript for DBS vol.24 details the creation process of the ch.104 one-shot: originally this was a text prologue he got from Toriyama, which he revised and put into manga form. And now the Super Hero arc is really, truly done: “Look forward to future developments!”
Toriyama also designed the Red Pharmaceutical Company air truck for the Super Hero arc epilogue:
Toyotaro’s vol.24 author’s comment explains how Toriyama’s corrections were typically about how manga ought to be, rather than simply how DB should be. He was a manga artist above all. “I will never forget the approach to manga which sensei taught me, and continue to do my best!”
Dragon Ball Daima, ep.20: it’s the end, but the moment has been prepared for. The fight with Gomah is samey but looks amazing and is over soon enough for Kuu to ascend the Iron Throne, plus other fun wrap-up stuff. Thanks for everything Toriyama, and farewell. #DAIMA #ep20
Since Daima airs at 11:40 PM in Japan, the final episode on February 28th ended right as the date ticked over into March 1st, marking the one year anniversary of Toriyama’s death. So far there’s no word on if this was intentional on the part of the production team, though.
The title ゼンカイ/Zenkai comes from 全開, meaning “full power”, hence the translation “Maximun” (see also the DBZ ending theme ZENKAI Power). I’ll give it another week, but if there’s no further clues on the red letters, I’ll assume it was just about using all 20 dakuten letters
Executive producer Akio Iyoku discusses Daima’s origin: 6 years ago during DBS: Super Hero’s production, they decided to do a new TV series. At first Toriyama’s involvement was going to be minimal, but he really got into it, creating most of it in the end. mantan-web.jp/article/202502…
Iyoku says Daima was intended as a show that parents could watch with their children, so it was made to appeal both to kids and adults in their 30s who were kids back when DBGT first aired. So yes, making Goku and co kids was specifically done to appeal to the GT generation.
While making Goku a kid was seen as making the series accessible to a wider audience, it was Toriyama’s idea to turn the entire main cast into kids too. Toriyama was also concerned many people wouldn’t know DB’s story, hence the general overview at the start of each Daima episode
It’s already November 20th in Japan, which means Dragon Ball has officially reached its 40th anniversary. In case you weren’t paying attention and/or born at the time, here are some highlights from the first 40 years of DB history… #DragonBall40th
1984: gag manga superstar Akira Toriyama concludes megahit Dr. Slump, and in November debuts its follow-up in Weekly Jump. This Journey to the West-inspired kung-fu adventure kicks off as inventor girl Bulma recruits monkey boy Goku to track down the titular dragon balls.
1985: after last year’s tail-end teaser, things begin in earnest. The initial “quest for the dragon balls” arc wraps up in May, and Toriyama shifts gears to a tournament arc (always a fan favorite in his Dr. Slump days) with the lecherous Roshi and Goku’s new cueball-esque BFF.
According to Bunshun Online, Dragon Room head honcho Akio Iyoku has stepped down from Shueisha and established his own company, Capsule Corporation Tokyo. Supposedly he wants Shueisha to keep DB’s manga publishing rights but for CC Tokyo to handle DB games/anime/etc.
As you might imagine, Shueisha is reluctant to part with DB to any extent, and negotiations are still ongoing. According to this article, anyway. Shueisha has apparently confirmed that Iyoku is stepping down, but not confirmed any of the particulars so far.
Bunshun Online reached out to Toriyama and asked if he would be working with Iyoku in future, but Toriyama said he couldn’t comment publicly, only through Shueisha. He also said the company name “Capsule Corporation Tokyo” was Iyoku’s idea, not his own.
Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai ep.41: Pissed Myst’s great and the logistics of Dai’s sword are interesting, while the castle’s just there to be knocked down. But it knocks down well. 4/5 #DragonQuest#ep41