ulisa wrote:
I don’t think Gohan fits to be a scholar —-I don’t buy it, I just don’t. I realize that this is the angle they went with but from a character development angle, it never made any sense to me. Gohan states at the beginning that he wants to be a scholar but that has always sounded rehearsed to me. It sounds like something his mother kept repeating and pushing so he decided to go along with it to please her. His character traits to me point more toward someone that enjoys nature, animals, likes to explore and enjoys the martial arts if not the battles. Gohan has been shown to have some of that Saiyan battle lust, it just isn’t triggered by the same things as his father. I always thought Gohan would have fun being a martial arts teacher and exploring different things he could do with ki. That seemed to be the best combo of earthling and human traits.
Okay, this one is likely going to get me roasted but I’m sorry, it’s one I’m pretty passionate about—While not perfect, I think Goku is a better parent than ChiChi
Let me make something real clear—I’m not saying ChiChi is a bad parent. She’s not. She loves her kids and she’s making sure they have a good foundation for a future while trying to keep them safe. All of these are excellent traits! When Goku is at home and the two of them can parent together, they seem to do really well and that seems to be the most stable times for their kids (before Raditz and after Buu mainly)
Having said that though, where ChiChi fails I think is on connecting to her kids, especially Gohan on an emotional level. The best way I know to describe this is simply—Gohan’s confidence soars when he’s with Goku. When he’s with ChiChi, it drops. I think all that can really be summed up with Goku gives his kids a sense that he cares about and loves them for who they are whereas ChiChi gives off this vibe of “I love you when you’re a certain way.” I don’t think it’s purposeful but when she is only giving positive attention when he studies and is downplaying the Saiyan part of his heritage, that sends a very strong message to a kid. Again, i don’t think she does it on purpose but it still happens. In counseling, we call what Goku has with his kids “unconditional positive regard” or “Ill love you no matter what” and what ChiChi has at least with Gohan “conditional positive regard” or “I love you because you are/act a certain way.” Now this definitely changes as Chichi changes in the Buu saga especially but for a long time, I think this was the message Gohan was getting and his confidence suffered for it. One reason I think Goku and ChiChi parent best together because they balance out one another’s flaws.
These are actually really good interpretations of the characters and I love them.
Gohan always wanting to be a scholar felt kind of forced to me. The fact that it's one of the first things we learn about him (how many four-year olds even know what they want to do, let alone something like that?) seemed like writing shorthand for "this character is a pacifist/nerd, watch us throw him into battle". But on the other hand, the fact that he was always proud of being his father's son and had an aptitude for fighting makes me think there could have been a better way to balance his character. He'll always be a victim of the writing flip-flop between Cell and Buu, but him becoming a scholar and getting such a perfect life at the end of it all felt like a consolation prize. There's no real drama or substance to it. I'm glad they at least tried to explore the implications of it all through his arc in Super, even if it was a slow burn.
As for Chi-Chi and Goku...yeah, that's just legit good stuff. It's very easy to view Goku and Chi-Chi as this dysfunctional family unit that shouldn't be allowed to raise kids, but I think looking at how Gohan and Goten turned out when they got back together at the end of Buu says they work better than we give them credit for. The problem was with how they were often written as broad caricatures when it comes to parenting. Goku was often too absent and carefree, while Chi-Chi was too overbearing. It can't be a coincidence that they do their best work during time-skips or offscreen.
Also, I cut it from your post, but I'd just like to point out that the entire last page was full of people saying "I like GT more than Super". Can we all just agree that's not an unpopular opinion? Or rather, it's going to be another one of those endless debates that people flip-flop on and each side takes turns being "in fashion". Do you prefer GT or Super? DB or DBZ? DBZ or Kai? Saiyan/Namek or Android/Cell? Cell or Buu? 21st/22nd/23rd tournament?
