The Secret Message Behind the Saiyans

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TheUltimateVegito
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The Secret Message Behind the Saiyans

Post by TheUltimateVegito » Mon Apr 04, 2016 10:36 am

The Saiyans arc consist of themes such as being the product of your environment and the limits of society conventions, but what if there's also a secret message on war itself?

The Saiyans are know for being ruthless and lacking compassion, which is a result of how they evolved. Being a race bred for fighting meant they were able to enjoy attacking planets for money without compassionate thoughts so that their own civilization can grown as well as personal gain. This is similar to how humans in the real world would wage wars/invade other country for their gain. The real message lies in the Saiyan viewpoint of things:

When Goku told Raditz what he's doing is wrong Raditz insisted that doing the "so called wrong" makes him (And by extension his race) more alive, meaning he sees being "wrong" as just Goku's own viewpoint and not the truth. The Saiyans know war is best for their civilisation because war makes civilisation grow, from the Saiyan point of view compassion only holds humanity back from doing what's right, because best makes right. The message being that war crimes are not the norm because military/governments needs their people's support and thus appeal to their compassion by creating compassionate reasons for starting wars without expressing their true reason which is for civilisation's growth or greed to justify the killing.

So what do you guys think?
Last edited by TheUltimateVegito on Wed Sep 21, 2016 4:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Nejishiki
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Re: The Secret Message Behind the Saiyans

Post by Nejishiki » Mon Apr 04, 2016 10:57 am

I can see the parallels. War has historically advanced civilization in reality and the product is taken to the extreme with the Saiyans. They're beneficiaries of space flight, expandable, tough armor, scouter technology capable of detecting lifeforms, etc. because of their approach to life. It's only natural to feel their violent natures are justified since invading the Tsufruians in the first place is how they got to their current status, likewise their monstrous capabilities are also the reason why they're nearly extinct. It's a double-edged sword growing with that philosophy and Son Goku has managed to combine the best of both worlds with his life: Constant conflict with his presence while also keeping the world's inhabitants capable of defending themselves once he's gone.

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Bardock the Mexican
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Re: The Secret Message Behind the Saiyans

Post by Bardock the Mexican » Mon Apr 04, 2016 1:27 pm

I saw this and had to rant a little. Hope that's ok. I promise I'll deal with the topic at hand though, since I've thought off and non about it for a while now. Kind of what drew me back here.
TheUltimateVegito wrote:The Saiyans arc consist of themes such as being the product of your environment and the limits of society conventions, but what if there's also a secret message on war itself?

The Saiyans are know for being ruthless and lacking compassion, which is a result of how they evolved. Being a race bred for fighting meant they were able to enjoy attacking planets for money without compassionate thoughts so that their own civilization can grown as well as personal gain. This is similar to how humans in the real world would wage wars/invade other country for their gain. The real message lies in the Saiyan viewpoint of things:

When Goku told Raditz what he's doing is wrong Raditz insisted that doing the "so called wrong" makes him (And by extension his race) more alive, meaning he sees being "wrong" as just Goku's own viewpoint and not the truth. The Saiyans know war is best for their civilization because war makes civilization grow, from the Saiyan point of view compassion only holds humanity back from doing what's right, because best makes right. The message being that war crimes are not the norm because military/governments needs their people's support and thus appeal to their compassion by creating compassionate reasons for starting wars without expressing their true reason which is for civilization's growth or greed to justify the killing.

So what do you guys think?
You have it mostly right. In the worldview of a natural or "created" psychopath you get a kind of thinking which is very different from someone with a "normal" worldview. That's why the military has to teach people how to kill their fellow man and do other sorts of normally morally questionable things. In drug cartels people have to learn how to be ruthless and able to kill people for the simple reason that they are in a rival group or are with the police. No one is born doing that. I can't imagine that the Saiyans would extend their brutal ways to their own people, but we can guess with what we know of sociology and from Dragonball Z itself.

Going from Dragonball to the "Zeta" show is a bit hard to do. It destroys a lot of what made Dragonball more enjoyable, because it makes Gokuu into an alien/Superman type figure. Previously he was just a Sun Wukong type character, with some inspiration from gag mangas and a lot more humor. Even during the Pikkolo Daimaou arc of Dragonball, there was still a feel of being in a mythical reality and not talk of aliens. The alien stuff is well known in most fiction, so this would have been a good place NOT to use it. Gokuu should not have been anything other than what we knew him to be - a weird little kid who grew up into a weird adult and who also happens to have strange powers of strength and the like. Making him a Vegetable alien was not really the best choice and I'm sure if you take the nostalgia glasses off, you'll see it similarly. Some of you might.
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