Heroes' Masi Oka Acknowledges Dragon Ball influence

Sebastian (SB) · Post by **Sebastian (SB)** » Fri Apr 27, 2007 2:23 pm

ANN wrote:In the May 15 issue of Wired magazine, Masi Oka, the actor playing Hiro Nakamura in NBC's Heroes, mentions that he drew inspiration for the character from Dragonball. Oka also hopes that the series will include more specific references to anime and manga. According to the article, Heroes creator Tim Kring agrees, particularly because this will help expand the show's appeal to the Asian market. Two episodes have already included Mazinger Z toy cameos, and Oka, a professed Naoki Urasawa and Shonen Jump "geek," has said in previous interviews that he helps translate and rewrite some of Heroes' Japanese dialogue.

This has somewhat been brought before a ways while back by Daemon Corps I believe, but still interesting none the less. I've been a bit of a Naoki Urasawa fan recently myself.

mAcChaos · Post by **mAcChaos** » Fri Apr 27, 2007 3:01 pm

Which DB character is he supposed to be?

BlueSky · Post by **Kaboom** » Fri Apr 27, 2007 3:06 pm

mAcChaos wrote:Which DB character is he supposed to be?

I haven't seen much of Heroes (alas; I guess I'll wait for Season Box sets), but I do know that Hiro has time/space-bending powers, and sports a sword. Do zeh math.

mAcChaos · Post by **mAcChaos** » Fri Apr 27, 2007 3:06 pm

lololol, now I can show this to all my Heroes-loving-DB-hating friends.

Dayspring · Post by **Dayspring** » Fri Apr 27, 2007 4:37 pm

SSj Kaboom wrote:
mAcChaos wrote:Which DB character is he supposed to be?
I haven't seen much of Heroes (alas; I guess I'll wait for Season Box sets), but I do know that Hiro has time/space-bending powers, and sports a sword. Do zeh math.

Seriously. Future Hiro is a carbon copy of Future Trunks, whereas the bubbly Hiro we see the most has the same personality as Chibi Trunks. He even says Yatta! at least as often as Chibi Trunks.

DaemonCorps · Post by **DaemonCorps** » Fri Apr 27, 2007 6:30 pm

Well, for anyone interested in the previous one-page discussion on this, here it is.

And yeah, I also hope to see more DB references in the show. I rarely understand the references in most shows now, so it would be a nice change of pace for me

.

The S · Post by **The S** » Sat Apr 28, 2007 1:18 am

I believe Oka's in-character blog of Hiro (I never read it, just heard about it) on an official site mentioned he liked Future Trunks, as well as Chrono from Chrono Trigger.

Maker777 · Post by **Maker777** » Sat Apr 28, 2007 2:49 am

That's pretty cool. Heroes is awsome.

Conan the SSJ · Post by **Conan the SSJ** » Sat Apr 28, 2007 7:00 am

Eh, as cool as Heroes probably is to some of you, I just see it as a mediocre X-Men rip-off made for NBC's attempt of milking whatever viewers they can get (and shouldn't a show about "heroes" include the whole suit/secret-identity thing?). But this isn't a forum about live-action shows, let alone Heroes, so I'm gonna refrain from talking of it any further. Anywho, Heroes isn't the only show to take some notable elements from DBZ. Anyone ever see shows like Charmed or Smallville? Hell, Charmed's Chris Halliwell is another interesting carbon-copy of Future Trunks. Also, each season of Charmed seems to have some formula equal to that of the anime trilogy in its own ways; Season 1 = original DB, Season 2 = Saiyan saga, Season 3 = Namek/Ginyu sagas, Season 4 = Freeza saga, Season 5 = Garlic Jr./Trunks sagas, Season 6 = Android/Cell arc, Season 7 = Buu arc, and Season 8 = GT.

Black Mist · Post by **Black Mist** » Sat Apr 28, 2007 10:38 am

It is an X-men rip off there next episode iis just like the issue days of future past.

The S · Post by **The S** » Sat Apr 28, 2007 4:53 pm

Conan the SSJ wrote:Eh, as cool as Heroes probably is to some of you, I just see it as a mediocre X-Men rip-off made for NBC's attempt of milking whatever viewers they can get (and shouldn't a show about "heroes" include the whole suit/secret-identity thing?).

I'd have to disagree. It's very well-written, and actually has more in common with Lost than X-Men. But I digress.

Hiro is a blatant otaku and it really wouldn't be surprising if he actually mentioned Trunks in an episode.

Olivier Hague · Post by **Olivier Hague** » Sat Apr 28, 2007 8:10 pm

The S wrote:It's very well-written, and actually has more in common with Lost than X-Men.

Well, it's my turn to disagree... "Heroes" really isn't that well-written. Lots of plot-holes, lots of idiot plots, etc. It's entertaining, but that's about it.
(and "Lost"'s writing is just plain terrible)

Hiro is a blatant otaku

A peculiar otaku, at that: a "Star Trek" otaku! Now, that's what I'd call a niche, in Japan...
I wonder where he found a co-worker who actually gets his jokes... Oh, right: in Korea (seriously, the guy's accent is distracting).

MisterFlashdude · Post by **MisterFlashdude** » Sat Apr 28, 2007 10:43 pm

Conan the SSJ wrote:Anywho, Heroes isn't the only show to take some notable elements from DBZ. Anyone ever see shows like Charmed or Smallville?

I find it amusing that you'd mention Smallville, considering the long-standing Superman VS Goku argument. I had been a fan of both series, and most of the WB shows back 4 years ago.
I've honestly never watched Charmed and thought 'Dragonball!'. As for Smallville, there was the one episode where Clark actually flew, which was identical to the way Neo was shown to fly in the Matrix (The whole crouch down for a few seconds while the air distorts around them in bullet-time before taking off...) and it was the end of the Matrix that reminded me of something you'd see in DBZ. So kind of a 'This reminded me of that which reminded me of Dragonball' scenario...

The S · Post by **The S** » Sun Apr 29, 2007 2:34 am

Olivier Hague wrote:
The S wrote:It's very well-written, and actually has more in common with Lost than X-Men.
Well, it's my turn to disagree... "Heroes" really isn't that well-written. Lots of plot-holes, lots of idiot plots, etc. It's entertaining, but that's about it.
(and "Lost"'s writing is just plain terrible)

I'm interested to see what you consider good writing for a TV show. If you say 24, though, I swear my head will explode.

Seriously. Future Hiro is a carbon copy of Future Trunks, whereas the bubbly Hiro we see the most has the same personality as Chibi Trunks. He even says Yatta! at least as often as Chibi Trunks.

I thought I was the only one who thought present Hiro mirrored Chibi Trunks

Now if only we'd seen enough of Chibi Hiro to see his personality. Would he be more like GT Trunks? o.o

Olivier Hague · Post by **Olivier Hague** » Sun Apr 29, 2007 9:01 am

The S wrote:I'm interested to see what you consider good writing for a TV show.

You mean, for an US TV series? "Six Feet Under", "Veronica Mars", "the West Wing"...

If you say 24, though

Of course not. Again, entertaining, but that's about it.

Dayspring · Post by **Dayspring** » Sun Apr 29, 2007 7:30 pm

Olivier Hague wrote:
The S wrote:I'm interested to see what you consider good writing for a TV show.
You mean, for an US TV series? "Six Feet Under", "Veronica Mars", "the West Wing"...

In other words, only shows in which the majority of characters are pretentious and all of whom speak at a level of verbal sophistication well above the norm? It drives me nuts when writers do that to their characters.

And about Heroes, tomorrow's ep is about Chibi Hiro meeting Mirai Hiro.

Olivier Hague · Post by **Olivier Hague** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 9:25 am

Dayspring wrote:In other words, only shows in which the majority of characters are pretentious and all of whom speak at a level of verbal sophistication well above the norm? It drives me nuts when writers do that to their characters.

That might be a valid criticism concerning "Veronica Mars" (especially after the first season), but "Six Feet Under"?
As for the characters of "the West Wing", they're supposed to be somewhat sophisticated: it's a science fiction show about the White House being run by smart and decent people.

Anyway, my point remains: the writing is far better in these series than in "Heroes" and *shudder* "Lost". In these series, the characters are dumb, but so are the writers (that, or they assume the viewers are dumb), and that's why it all works out in the end. I'd say that's a bit more of a problem for a show's integrity than simply some characters being glorious smart-asses...

laserkid · Post by **laserkid** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 2:08 pm

Interesting, I've been meaning to see the show, as I'd heard Christopher Eccleston (Doctor Who, which I LOVED him in), was supposed to land a major role in it. But I am so far behind on the show that I'm honestly waiting for DVD Boxed sets. Now I hope they come out soon, as this makes me even more interested.

Dayspring · Post by **Dayspring** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 2:09 pm

laserkid wrote:Interesting, I've been meaning to see the show, as I'd heard Christopher Eccleston (Doctor Who, which I LOVED him in), was supposed to land a major role in it. But I am so far behind on the show that I'm honestly waiting for DVD Boxed sets. Now I hope they come out soon, as this makes me even more interested.

Boxsets usually come out after a season finishes. Today marks the first of the final four episodes of the first season, so you've got a good 2-month wait at least.

Anonymous Friend · Post by **Anonymous Friend** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 2:18 pm

Dayspring wrote:
laserkid wrote:Interesting, I've been meaning to see the show, as I'd heard Christopher Eccleston (Doctor Who, which I LOVED him in), was supposed to land a major role in it. But I am so far behind on the show that I'm honestly waiting for DVD Boxed sets. Now I hope they come out soon, as this makes me even more interested.
Boxsets usually come out after a season finishes. Today marks the first of the final four episodes of the first season, so you've got a good 2-month wait at least.

General most show have box sets of previous seasons when the new season starts. Not all shows do this but most do. So you may need to wait until the start of season two to get it.