Moments When Science Took The Day Off

[Cipher]

"The final villain in this series should just be Science. It would destroy the whole universe in a second." - My girlfriend, while going through the Namek arc with me

Dragon Ball's a pretty silly series. Most of the time it isn't concerned with petty things like internal logic or common sense. Unfortunately, as the series veers into more and more into sci-fi territory, it invites nitpicking on all these points.

So, let's catalogue scenes that just fly in the face of any branch of real-world science. Obviously this doesn't apply to the fantasy elements, like the use of ki, the presence of magical beings, etc.

Instead, this is about all those moments which are otherwise played straight. The times you actually have to think for a second before realizing, "Wait. That doesn't make any sense." These could be from either the manga or any of the three anime series. For example:

1. Namek has largely plausible topography. However, there's no geological way for the spire the Grand Elder's House sits on to be there.

2. While caught in the electromagnetic storm on his way to Namek (anime-only), Goku fires a Kamehameha at the ceiling that is also weighed down by the multiplied gravity. Which is ... what? Isn't it energy?

3. Goku's spaceship has a gravity machine period, despite being the size of a large room. Furthermore, Vegeta can crank his gravity machine up to 400G in Capsule Corps' backyard without affecting anything outside the ship.

4. Gohan's training ground in the Saiyan arc is an island ... sometimes (anime-only). None of its topography makes sense with it being an island in the first place.

5. Everyone can breathe in space sometimes why not (anime-only). Boy, does this ever ruin the endings of the Arlia episode and the Bardock special.

6. Cell absorbs Android 18, gets punched through the gut and portions of his body blown off, but is later capable of spitting her back out whole. Because, science.

7. Cell has an exoskeleton. We know because we see it crack in several panels. So of course it makes perfect sense that he can bulk up his entire body on a whim.

8. Scouters only blow up when it's dramatic. Because even when the series invents its own sci-fi rules, it has to break them. For that matter, why even create something that likely to explode in the first place? And people wear these on their ears? What mechanism in there is so prone to bursting into flames?

9. Bulma's space telepohone(s). It would take them thousands of years to get to Namek in a normal spaceship. Radio waves apparently get there immediately.

10. Namek's three suns. Maybe someone more adept at astronomy/physics can correct me, but I'm pretty sure there's no way for this to happen. Also, Namek would be hot and dry as fuck.

There are literally hundreds of these all over the franchise.

[Chibi Mystic Gohan]

1. Namek has largely plausible topography. However, there's no geological way for the spire the Grand Elder's House sits on to be there.

2. While caught in the electromagnetic storm on his way to Namek (anime-only), Goku fires a Kamehameha at the ceiling that is also weighed down by the multiplied gravity. Which is ... what? Isn't it energy?

3. Goku's spaceship has a gravity machine period, despite being the size of a large room. Furthermore, Vegeta can crank his gravity machine up to 400G in Capsule Corps' backyard without affecting anything outside the ship.

Can you elaborate on these ones?

5. Everyone can breathe in space sometimes why not (anime-only). Boy, does this ever ruin the endings of the Arlia episode and the Bardock special.

Not only that, but there's also sound... IN SPACE!

[caejones]

As for Namek having three suns, a planet has actually been discovered in a tripple starsystem, and last I read this was the sort of thing that should make us reconsider the standard model of planet formation (do we even have a standard model of planet formation at this point?). Now, whether or not such a planet could wind up in a stable position where it effectively has no nighttime... and can support complex life... That's another issue entirely.
Although, Namek did have a planet-wide disaster. No telling if that had anything at all to do with its curious astronomical situation, but it's there.

[Herms]

Though DB has what are commonly considered science-fiction elements, I think it's consistently a fantasy from beginning to end. The alien races, spaceships, gravity champers, are all just toys Toriyama plays around with in the context of a Wuxia story. There's never at any point an attempt to connect it with science in anything but name. Call me a stickler, but I think only what's commonly labeled "hard science-fiction" should be considered science fiction. Just having stuff like aliens, spaceships, or time machines shouldn't be enough for something to be considered sci-fi, if there's nothing remotely resembling a scientific backing to it all. So DB's fantasy. Star Wars is fantasy. Star Trek, Doctor Who, Firefly, all fantasy. I think this widespread association of science predominantly with specific things (machines, outer space, atoms, energy, etc) as opposed to a specific way of thinking is a major part of the increasing acceptance of pseudo-science and other nonsense.

But so anyway, you ever wonder what's the deal with the gravity in the afterlife? The various Kaios' planets and Heaven just floating on its own, while everything else is apparently drawn down towards Hell. Pretty odd.

[Rukura]

5. Everyone can breathe in space sometimes why not (anime-only). Boy, does this ever ruin the endings of the Arlia episode and the Bardock special.

I actually need some clarification on that one. Was it ever stated in the manga and/or anime that the Saiyans can't breathe in space?

Most of what can be used to discuss this is filler, but we take Goku with a space suit at face value because there's a human telling him that he won't be able to breathe otherwise.....but i guess i always didn't think much of Vegeta and Nappa in space during the Arlia episode, because of them being aliens and all. Also, after that, Freeza (another alien) survives in space after being blown up "half" to death, and Vegeta is shown training to achieve the Super Saiyan form in space.

So...what can we make of all this? lol

[dbgtFO]

5. Everyone can breathe in space sometimes why not (anime-only). Boy, does this ever ruin the endings of the Arlia episode and the Bardock special.

I actually need some clarification on that one. Was it ever stated in the manga and/or anime that the Saiyans can't breathe in space?

Only Freeza can survive where there's no planet, stated by Kaio.

[Rukura]

Only Freeza can survive where there's no planet, stated by Kaio.

Then i guess we have at least 3 instances in the anime that cleary go against it:
1. Vegeta and Nappa in space
2. Bardock and god knows how many other races in space with Freeza
3. Vegeta's training post-Trunks

Silly Toei lol

[Chibi Mystic Gohan]

Was it ever stated in the manga and/or anime that the Saiyans can't breathe in space?

There's no oxygen to breathe in space, period.

[dbgtFO]

Only Freeza can survive where there's no planet, stated by Kaio.

Then i guess we have at least 3 instances in the anime that cleary go against it:
1. Vegeta and Nappa in space
2. Bardock and god knows how many other races in space with Freeza
3. Vegeta's training post-Trunks

Silly Toei lol

Well it's not that bad, Buu later contradicts it and we saw in early DB that Boss Rabbit could live on the moon with his companions(although it's an obvious joke) and the Bardock special is a part of the manga's continuity, if I've understood the following Daizenshuu 6 quote properly(and if the translation is accurate):

A story that is unfolded in the timeframes of both the original work and the TV series.

[Super Ghost Kamikaze]

8. Scouters only blow up when it's dramatic. Because even when the series invents its own sci-fi rules, it has to break them. For that matter, why even create something that likely to explode in the first place? And people wear these on their ears? What mechanism in there is so prone to bursting into flames?

It actually seems like they blow up when power rises dramatically in a short period of time, and does so "gradually" rather than in one big go(like a transformation). This makes sense, because none of Freeza's men really understand ki or ki manipulation. They have a very raw access to it, but they see it as a very static thing, something that only changes in one big go with a transformation, and that's in very rare cases. Since the scouters often explode as power is rising, and often are able to handle these higher levels of power when they're present later, the "rising power levels causes scouter explosions" theory seems to hold up.

[Super Ghost Kamikaze]

Only Freeza can survive where there's no planet, stated by Kaio.

Then i guess we have at least 3 instances in the anime that cleary go against it:
1. Vegeta and Nappa in space
2. Bardock and god knows how many other races in space with Freeza
3. Vegeta's training post-Trunks

Silly Toei lol

Well it's not that bad, Buu later contradicts it and we saw in early DB that Boss Rabbit could live on the moon with his companions(although it's an obvious joke) and the Bardock special is a part of the manga's continuity, if I've understood the following Daizenshuu 6 quote properly(and if the translation is accurate):

A story that is unfolded in the timeframes of both the original work and the TV series.

Buu and Boss Rabbit are magical. One can assume that magical beings follow different rules.

[Rukura]

Yeah, i almost included the rabbit there as a joke but there was really no science being applied there any way lol

Buu doesn't count at all, just because he's a magical being, i think.

[cRookie_Monster]

The thing that gets me is Frieza easily blowing up a planet...or Piccolo early on destroying the moon with hardly any effort.

How did they not blow up the earth in the Android, Cell, and Buu sagas??? That makes no friggin sense.


And the whole thing about "They are moving so fast I can't even see them!!!" kinda gets dropped eventually.

[Fox666]

How can Vegeta walk without a vertebral column? Or talk without lungs? I am not an cardiologist, but I suppose that if your heart is completely erased from existence you would collapse instantly kind like an heart attack.

[dbgtFO]

The thing that gets me is Freeza easily blowing up a planet...or Piccolo early on destroying the moon with hardly any effort.

How did they not blow up the earth in the Android, Cell, and Buu sagas??? That makes no friggin sense.

While the real reason is probably something as simple as plot protection(I mean let's face it, we can't have a random ki blast destroying the Earth every time someone dodges), for an in-universe explanation, I think there could be some sort of control the characters have over the blasts and/or the level of concentration of the blasts, as in a quickly fired ki blast vs. a ki blast charged up to its max capabilities.

And the whole thing about "They are moving so fast I can't even see them!!!" kinda gets dropped eventually.

Yeah at the Cell games and beyond. I guess it'd be boring if the audience couldn't comment on anything, since they are supposed to be excited about the power and speed these guys posses.

[Kiyza]

10. Namek's three suns. Maybe someone more adept at astronomy/physics can correct me, but I'm pretty sure there's no way for this to happen. Also, Namek would be hot and dry as fuck.

Actually, you can have a star system with three suns. It's called a triplet star system. There have never been any planets confirmed to orbit around them to my knowledge, though. It's possible there are planets that orbit in a triplet system, but they almost certainly wouldn't harbor life, at least, not anything like we know it.

[Bussani]

2. While caught in the electromagnetic storm on his way to Namek (anime-only), Goku fires a Kamehameha at the ceiling that is also weighed down by the multiplied gravity. Which is ... what? Isn't it energy?

Energy is affected by gravity. Even light is affected by gravity in its own way, but it's a little harder to explain that one. Come to think of it, don't a lot of deflected ki blasts end up falling and exploding on the ground?

3. Goku's spaceship has a gravity machine period, despite being the size of a large room. Furthermore, Vegeta can crank his gravity machine up to 400G in Capsule Corps' backyard without affecting anything outside the ship.

Interestingly, when Dr. Brief first explains how his spaceship works, he tells Goku it creates gravity using its own acceleration. This is extremely plausible--you really could generate 100g if you could make your ship accelerate at a high enough rate. Like a lot of Toriyama's scientific explanations, however, this one is pretty throwaway; if Goku's ship made gravity by acceleration, it would be changing acceleration rates all the way to Namek, which wouldn't make sense if you're trying to get there as quickly as possible. Also, the ship would have to turn around and decelerate once it's halfway there.

8. Scouters only blow up when it's dramatic. Because even when the series invents its own sci-fi rules, it has to break them. For that matter, why even create something that likely to explode in the first place? And people wear these on their ears? What mechanism in there is so prone to bursting into flames?

I've always compared it to placing a mercury thermometer in extreme heat; the mercury expands as it gets hotter, thus showing the temperature, but if it expands too much as has nowhere to go, it could break the thermometer--and then you'd have hot, toxic mercury everywhere. Maybe scouters have something inside them that reacts to ki, and battle powers are calculated by measuring the reaction; too much ki too quickly could then cause a violent reaction, leading to the little explosion the breaks the device.

Though DB has what are commonly considered science-fiction elements, I think it's consistently a fantasy from beginning to end. The alien races, spaceships, gravity champers, are all just toys Toriyama plays around with in the context of a Wuxia story. There's never at any point an attempt to connect it with science in anything but name. Call me a stickler, but I think only what's commonly labeled "hard science-fiction" should be considered science fiction. Just having stuff like aliens, spaceships, or time machines shouldn't be enough for something to be considered sci-fi, if there's nothing remotely resembling a scientific backing to it all. So DB's fantasy. Star Wars is fantasy. Star Trek, Doctor Who, Firefly, all fantasy. I think this widespread association of science predominantly with specific things (machines, outer space, atoms, energy, etc) as opposed to a specific way of thinking is a major part of the increasing acceptance of pseudo-science and other nonsense.

This is how I feel as well. Isn't Firefly considered a bit harder on the science fiction "hardness" scale, though? I haven't actually seen it yet... Still, I guess it's more about the story than the actual fictional science.

[Patient-mental]

It is a gag-manga/anime adaption and its Japanese. It's not meant to make any logical sense, like most things that come out of Japan. That's the eternal charm of this and many series'.

[Cipher]

Though DB has what are commonly considered science-fiction elements, I think it's consistently a fantasy from beginning to end. The alien races, spaceships, gravity champers, are all just toys Toriyama plays around with in the context of a Wuxia story. There's never at any point an attempt to connect it with science in anything but name. Call me a stickler, but I think only what's commonly labeled "hard science-fiction" should be considered science fiction. Just having stuff like aliens, spaceships, or time machines shouldn't be enough for something to be considered sci-fi, if there's nothing remotely resembling a scientific backing to it all. So DB's fantasy. Star Wars is fantasy. Star Trek, Doctor Who, Firefly, all fantasy. I think this widespread association of science predominantly with specific things (machines, outer space, atoms, energy, etc) as opposed to a specific way of thinking is a major part of the increasing acceptance of pseudo-science and other nonsense.

Oh, I'm totally aware it doesn't take its sci-fi portions seriously. It's a fantasy story through and through. These are more just for fun.

But so anyway, you ever wonder what's the deal with the gravity in the afterlife? The various Kaios' planets and Heaven just floating on its own, while everything else is apparently drawn down towards Hell. Pretty odd.

I was kind of letting those go by on the basis that they're in the afterlife and, therefore, totally magical. But yeah, the enormous gravity on Kaio's tiny planet, in addition to the fact that Hell is apparently producing its own gravity all the time: pretty confusing.

Energy is affected by gravity. Even light is affected by gravity in its own way, but it's a little harder to explain that one. Come to think of it, don't a lot of deflected ki blasts end up falling and exploding on the ground?

Ah, I suppose you're right. But then, why don't Goku's subsequent Kamehamehas in the ship fall to the ground as well? Because he's putting more energy behind them?

Interestingly, when Dr. Brief first explains how his spaceship works, he tells Goku it creates gravity using its own acceleration.

I didn't remember this explanation in the series at all; that does explain it. However, you're right, it creates huge problems as far as traveling to Namek in a timely manner goes, and it makes no sense when Vegeta's rocking 400G at Capsule Corp later. Plus, there's the gravity room he and Trunks are shown using at the beginning of the Buu arc.

How can Vegeta walk without a vertebral column? Or talk without lungs? I am not an cardiologist, but I suppose that if your heart is completely erased from existence you would collapse instantly kind like an heart attack.

Oh, man, that's right. This is classic.

[Bussani]

Ah, I suppose you're right. But then, why don't Goku's subsequent Kamehamehas in the ship fall to the ground as well? Because he's putting more energy behind them?

Good question. That's the only explanation I can think of, really.

I didn't remember this explanation in the series at all; that does explain it. However, you're right, it creates huge problems as far as traveling to Namek in a timely manner goes, and it makes no sense when Vegeta's rocking 400G at Capsule Corp later. Plus, there's the gravity room he and Trunks are shown using at the beginning of the Buu arc.

Yeah, I thought about mentioning Vegeta's gravity room. In the anime Vegeta uses a ship just like Goku's, doesn't he? In the manga he asks Dr. Brief to make him a room that can go up to 300g; we only see the inside of this room in one panel, and it looks a lot like the inside of Goku's ship, but since it's a "room" I suppose it might work differently. The room in the Buu saga had a completely different design altogether.