Kanzenshuu

Thanks, Zephyr , pressure is very much welcome. Let me at least be clear that I don’t think intermediate static goals have no place in DB . But what isn’t static, in any case, is the overall relationship between the protagonist and the world and, as I argue, this elastic relationship between world a...

Have not posted in a blue moon, but I wrote this earlier--thoughts or reactions? I can’t help but feel that there’s a significant difference in spirit in how modern DB is written, compared to the original manga--and that this change fundamentally has to do with how it sees the relationship between i...

The only episode Goku's been written in-character this arc is 77, when he was courting danger but not yet glibly continuing to be cheerful in the face of the consequences. In 77 though those consequences hadn't yet come to light, and ever since he's found out animation and scripts together have bee...

Sorry to dredge this up but: Quality and entertainment are different concepts and they can and should be seperated. To be sure, but I'd contend in return that whatever quality the likes of One Piece has to offer beyond joyous entertainment will not in practice prove all that stimulating (intellectua...

The reason I don't think the question of Goku's righteousness simply amounts to a cultural difference is that the series itself so regularly goes out of its way to cast Goku's actions in a questionable light -- as, occasionally, has Toriyama in certain interviews. Even in Battle of Gods Goku is &quo...

This is quite a facile reading of the character. As many have often pointed out, the genius of Goku is that while he does not have a trace of malice in his heart his purity is not a moral purity and does not entail righteousness; and by the same token even as his ever escalating obsessions lead him ...

I feel confident in ruling out option 1 on the grounds of its too easy predictability. Lately I've been toying with the possibility that U7 loses shockingly in the final round, but then of course Goku turns out to have so profoundly influenced both Zeno and the winning contestant through the fight a...

Resurrection 'F' was a quick little side-adventure film never meant to carry all that much import that had no business being adapted for television and was, again, fun enough for what it was. I'm with you that U6's nothing utterly spectacular, but we've gotten short self-contained tournament plots ...

I'm one who doesn't like Toriyama's newer work, I don't necessarily think that it's because he's necessarily less talented, but rather, he's a long time removed from the original story and/or he isn't putting much effort in (I personally think it's both). They lack the creative juice that old DB ha...

"Exotic fetishism" is right. And as to why that might've survived the crucible of dedicated language learning with some people, all I'll say is that I have friends who've I imagine there's more than a few out there who've successfully applied themselves to learning Japanese with zero curio...

Can I just interject and say I wish we stopped lobbing this "lazy" charge at Toriyama already? The guy toiled over the manga week on week, getting as little as "twenty minutes [of sleep] in the span of six days" at the taxing and intoxicating height of DB 's success. And that, mi...

I urge anyone to please correct me if I'm mistaken, but my understanding from the sad two minutes browsing I've given this is that (for better or for worse; probably for the better) the "All according to Keikaku" embarrassment is very much real, deriving from one especially ridiculous 2007...

Toyotaro doesn't trace; he routinely pulls references. In the case of every one of these "homages" in Super the disposition of lines on the page is far too dissimilar to the source material. They just don't overlap, much less to an extent as to arouse any legitimate suspicion of "trac...

But, rereboy , it is precisely because consuming art is such an eminently subjective activity that intention has long been excluded as a standard in assessing the success of works of art. Authorial designs have simply no part in conditioning the subjective experience of a work in and of itself if th...

Until Kei17 gives us an actual source, there's no reason to believe it. He has publicly hated Super since it started, so take it what you will. Yeah not sure why people believe things he says. He seems to have a bit of a dodgy reputation on the site so I don't really trust this person at all. Also ...

Almost too mature for DB , ending, as it does, on the value of mustering the courage to enact what little good one can even in the face of irrevocable failure & permanent calamity. Hats off to Toriyama though, who's managed to create something impactful despite fix-alls galore in this otherwise ...

I say plodding because the incessant back-and-forth trips surely could've used a bit of streamlining, no? (Did Goku really have to learn the Mafuba?)

Like others here I tired quickly of the arc's meanderings and war-of-attrition story-structure -- plodding more than plotting -- but its first half's still DB 's most absorbing attempt at a mystery by a mile, & a several standout episodes still shone through, namely: #47, #52, #60, #63, #64, #66...

He does, admittedly, say: I thought Toriyama would be more particular about the story, but he's actually more particular about the gags and the comedic moments! I can tell that he really loves those parts. But a little later he also says: Fundamentally, I don't deviate from the major plotlines that ...

Considering the fact Toriyama's sole good story is one he had to hijack from another writer in regards to the new material, I think I can safely say that he needs to promptly go the fuck away. Setting aside the point that it's really not his "sole good story"*, I take it you're referring ...