Cultures and settings in the series

[SSJ YUSUKE]

I think one of the most interesting things about the series is how Toriyama created a world that is like our own yet so different at the same time.
What are the different cultures potrayed in the series? If I recall we see Middle Eastern, South Eas Asian, Indian, various East Asian cultures through out the series. We even see things like Cowboys and Native Americans.
Are there any other cultures and settings inspired by the real world in the series?

[KBABZ]

Native Americans I think is the oddest one of the bunch to include. I think the use of Russians/Inuits/Scandanavians for Jingle Village was pretty cool.

There was also that one cowboy in the Oolong debut episode who was given an Australian accent in the dub for no reason!

[MyVisionity]

I've always noticed how the farther into the rural country the series goes, the more Chinese things get. While the big cities tend to be mostly Westernized. Although it seems maybe that might be more Toei than Toriyama.

There was also that one cowboy in the Oolong debut episode who was given an Australian accent in the dub for no reason!

Maybe he was supposed to be from the Outback??

[KBABZ]

I've always noticed how the farther into the rural country the series goes, the more Chinese things get. While the big cities tend to be mostly Westernized. Although it seems maybe that might be more Toei than Toriyama.

No I think it's quite intentional. Right from the first Chapter of the manga we spend time with a kung-fu boy out in the mountains and you could guess that the story is set in legit Ancient China, but then Bulma shows up in a Porsche with a radar and magic compression capsules and you're like "WTF???". One of the greatest aspects about Dragon Ball to me is how the countryside is ancient China (or one of the other cultures like Jingle Village and the Land of Korin), but when you get to the cities it's The Jetsons as seen by 80s Japan. And while it wasn't intentional, I've always loved the take of the cities in the original series because of how goddamn 80s it is, and it has a strange mix of 80s wheeled vehicles and futuristic hovercars. Meanwhile, Super isn't as appealing to me because it feels generically modern and without any personality. That juxtaposition and dichotomy is part of what appeals to me so much about Dragon Ball's Earth, that one moment it's wuxia mountains and the next it's Japanese Jetsons.

If you think back to how the world expanded when the manga was first coming out, it's actually rather interesting. We don't get to see an actual city for the first time until the brief preview before the 21st Tournament; before that it's villages, the Training island and Pilaf's Castle. We get our first big exposure to a city when Goku visits West City looking for Bulma and we truly get to see how advanced the cultures of Earth can be, and it remains that way for the rest of the series. With the exception of Satan City, any other city we visit is basically a West City clone. It's also where the futuristic aspect comes in too: if you compare the look of Papaya Island where the Tournament is as seen at the 21st Tournament, then compare it to the 23rd, it's much more down to earth and realistic when we saw it the first time. And it's no coincidence that flying cars make their proper debut with West City.

There was also that one cowboy in the Oolong debut episode who was given an Australian accent in the dub for no reason!

Maybe he was supposed to be from the Outback??

Maybe, although as a Kiwi I appreciate Australia not existing in my media, haha!

[JohnnyCashKami]

Dragon Ball has shown a variety of races before on the series, from memory it was these ones; European, Asian (Most notably; Japanese, Chinese, Native Indian, Arab) and African. The Saiyans always appeared to me as a sort of hybrid of European and Japanese descent.

Tenshinhan, Yamucha, Bulma, Trunks, Chichi, Gyumao, Videl, Kuririn, and Muten Roshi gave me a vibe of being of Asian ancestry, each one being from different parts of the continent.

Mr. Satan is mostly European from the looks of it but also has a small portion of African heritage going by his Afro hair.

Native Americans I think is the oddest one of the bunch to include.

Not really. "Native Americans" were originally from the Asian continent so it makes sense that Toriyama would have wanted to include Native Indians as well in his series.

Anyway, just like Native-Americans, there's also European-Americans, African-Americans and so on but the franchise isn't based in US for it to be "_race_-American".

[Attitudefan]

I always got the sense that West City - where Bulma is from - is supposed to be a reference to Silicone Valley/New York type of vibe. It could also be a reference to modern Tokyo? I felt the vibe that Bulma is "Western" (I know that encompasses a lot, but she represents the stereotype of that) and Tenshinhan is a reference to East Asia/China. Mr Satan is heavily based off Hulk Hogan, seeing that his older character design is as bald as Hulk too

[Kid Buu]

Nam and Uub are clearly based off Indians/South Asians, so I guess the village we see Goku go to is India/Indian Subcontinent?

Dragon Ball is actually pretty diverse for a 80s Japanese comic book.

Mr. Satan is mostly European from the looks of it but also has a small portion of African heritage going by his Afro hair.

i always assumed he was a parody of American stars like Hulk Hogan. Unless you meant European as in ethnicity (white).

[KBABZ]

Nam and Uub are clearly based off Indians/South Asians, so I guess the village we see Goku go to is India/Indian Subcontinent?

Well of course the planet they're on is not Earth was we know it. It's approximately China with a bit of Russia, Indonesia, some Eastern Europe and a bit of Africa, except that covers the entire globe of the Dragon World's depiction of Earth.



I think the only reference to a real-world place in the dub was Oolong saying Hawai'i is nice this time of year, when hearing about the old wrath of Daimao from Roshi.

[Kid Buu]

Nam and Uub are clearly based off Indians/South Asians, so I guess the village we see Goku go to is India/Indian Subcontinent?

Well of course the planet they're on is not Earth was we know it:

Well I don't mean it is literally India. Just that their village is most likely based on India; with those two characters based on South Asians.