A few years back, a great friend of mine wrote, for his English final or something to that nature, a paper on DBZ. I was reminded of it today and decided to post it as it may...spark discussion? Well I certainly hope so!
(well, anything involving Frieza gets my vote always
)The link to the paper is here, but be warned as its a geocities site, 10 page views or so makes it go BOOM, or at least it often feels that way:Preface
Funimation's translation is both praised and criticized for a number of reasons, but little attention is given to the effects their changes had on the literary aspects of the show. Its inconsistency with Toriyama's manga or Toei's adaptation is usually damned for destroying any artistic value the series had. But while Toriyama's original themes are no longer fully intact, few have noticed that Funi took the liberty of including their own themes, rewriting symbols and adding literary devices with, believe it or not, remarkable coherency.
The following is a paper I wrote for my college literature class, worth 100% of the final semester grade, which explores the major areas of value in Dragonball Z's dub up to the Frieza Saga under the premise that it ended there and with the presumption that Goku and Piccolo would've died if it actually had. I got a B. To make things easier, I referred to Toriyama as the sole author of the primary source rather than specifying additions from Toei or Funimation (my professor was confused enough already). Random people from Internet message boards are cited because it had to be a combination analysis/research paper and I could find no one in the halls of the learned who had written anything about this particular anime. Even if you can't bring yourself to recognize the effort and talent that Funimation's writers put into their localization, you can surely appreciate the hilarity of quoting such scholars as SSJ Cheesus and World Famous J. Triangles in a serious academic paper.
A Literary Analysis of Dragonball Z
Dragonball Z, Akira Toriyama’s most acclaimed work, is known for its memorable characters and intense action. Few, however, will look any deeper than its surface of showy fight scenes. Most readers believe that looking for meaning in a work such as Dragonball Z is “like looking for art in a child's scribbles” and that anything of value in the work is the result of “pure chance and not something the creator added on purpose”(SSJ Cheesus). Those that do believe some meaning was intended insist that it is limited solely to the themes surrounding combat and the human desire to ascend to new physical and spiritual levels. This is simply not the case. Beneath the veil of endless suspense and flashy battles are a number of clearly intended themes and symbols that most critics have overlooked. The prime example of the work’s literary worth is the Frieza Saga, originally intended to be the ending. In this saga can be found such themes as pride, the inherent purity of life, the inevitable ills of fighting, and the transient nature of worldly things, as well as symbols like tails and the Super Saiyan transformation.
The most obvious theme of Dragonball Z is pride. In fact, this subject is so implicit that critics have neglected discussing it at all. Perhaps its elementary presentation has led them to believe, rightly so, that it is a simple moral and unworthy of profound consideration. It is, however, a theme, and one that is undisputedly intentional among those who believe anything was intended in the work at all.
The first and most prominent example of pride is that of the Saiyan race. Their society was built on the foundation of physical strength, and pride in one’s strength came as naturally as breathing. A Saiyan without pride would be seen as weak hearted and a social outcast. Toriyama reminds us that pride demands constant exhibition to keep it satisfied by having the Saiyans follow the natural path of a warrior race: conquering other races. This ultimately leads to the destruction of their own civilization, demonstrating the foolishness of arrogance and the greed that comes with it.
The embodiment of the Saiyans’ pride is Vegeta, their prince. The strong dignity in which he holds his people is as evident as his own ego. In the end, however, he is forced to succumb to the lesson of his lost kingdom. Since his childhood, he believed that because of his royal blood he was destined to become the Super Saiyan of the prophecy and avenge his race. This misguided audacity leads him to a battle that he cannot win. But as he realizes his failure and sees his imminent death, he humbles himself before Goku, a low class soldier who’d humiliated him in battle. He proclaims Goku to be the Super Saiyan of legend and begs him to destroy the one who destroyed their world. Through this act of meekness, though it cost him his life, Vegeta overcomes the fatal weakness of his people and is redeemed. Toriyama uses Goku to express this. “Goku: Goodbye, Vegeta. You weren’t as coldhearted as you believed yourself to be. A heart of stone can’t shed tears like you did. You must’ve been holding them back your whole life”(Toriyama, End).
Vegeta also serves as a foil for Frieza. The icy tyrant’s airs and arrogance trump the prince’s by far. While Vegeta was able to find humility in the end, Frieza was committed to die rather than lose face. “Frieza: I’d destroy us both before I let you live”(Toriyama, Namek). Goku gave him several opportunities to walk away from a losing battle, but Frieza refused to let go of his dignity. Taking the theme to full fruition, he cuts himself in half with an attack he’d used in a proud rage. Goku had even warned him to dodge, but the ire created by his frustrated ego blinded him to it. Goku illuminates this theme’s climax when he says, “Goku: I wanted to save you Frieza, but you wouldn’t let me. And now you will have to share the fate of the planet Namek, which you yourself destroyed”(Toriyama, Defeated). This irony is the final, most potent demonstration of the results of pride.
A Saiyan’s tail symbolizes his/her pride, as well as the fury and bloodlust that come with it. Most readers would agree that “The saiyan tail was not only a huge power booster but it was also a symbol of pride and honor”(Asherman_00). In the story, tails increase overall strength and enable the Saiyan to transform into an enormous, raging beast. This holds true to the symbol. Power is what a Saiyan takes pride in to begin with, and the rampant nature of the transformation tails bring on relates to the rage that lost dignity, which would certainly be present if transforming were necessary, creates. The resemblance of the tail to that of an ape is meant to express the primal nature of such feelings. Goku is further evidence of this symbol. He had his tail removed as a boy and is the only Saiyan who, for the duration of time that tails are present, isn’t pompous, murderous, and occasionally blinded by anger.
The character Frieza presents his own message. In the early stages of his development, the galactic emperor is made out to be pure evil. He has horns, a pointy tail, red eyes, and kills his own servants for amusement, but this monster isn’t meant to be written off as the devil incarnate. Over the course of his development, Frieza takes on 4 physical forms. Each is more hideous and misanthropic than the last until he assumes his true form. In this final shape, his body is adorned with purple crystalline spots on the fronts of his appendages and the crown of his head, perhaps symbolizing his callous nature, though it’s most likely meaningless. His height is close to that of a normal human, and his appearance is sleek and aesthetically pleasing. The only repulsive aspect of him is his reptilian skin and tail. Some critics claim that the reasoning for this drastic change in physical evolution is to demonstrate that outward appearance is often deceptive. As Sheena McNeil of Sequential Tart writes, “Freeza's final form may be very anti-climatic, but as Piccolo says that's ‘a good example of why we shouldn't judge by appearances.’” Others believe that it’s merely a plot device to create a better-looking villain. These interpretations are plausible, but they fail to account for Frieza’s later development. The unexpected nature of this final transformation means exactly what it appears to: that Frieza is really more human than he first appeared. While he doesn’t show any change in character, he does say something very uncharacteristic as he’s dying:
Frieza: Please...have...mer...cy.
Goku: How many people beg for their lives at your feet, and you kill them anyway?! Did you show ME mercy when I asked you to spare my best friend Krillin?!
Frieza: Please?...Please?!...Forgive me.(Toriyama, Defeated)
A casual reader will argue that Frieza’s just trying to trick Goku into helping him so that he can strike back at him later, but Frieza wouldn’t be capable of such a display if it weren’t sincere. He would rather die than sacrifice his pride, as he demonstrates moments later by attacking Goku with half his body left. While he doesn’t apologize or show regret for what he did, he asks for Goku’s forgiveness. As the intended final villain of the Dragonball series, Frieza obviously represents evil, but after this display we’re meant to find something in him to pity or even sympathize with. Toriyama added this aspect of him not only to deepen the character, but also to offer that there is something worth preserving in all life, even the vilest.
Centered on the art of fighting, Dragonball expresses a great deal on the subject of conflict. Goku is the primary catalyst of this theme. Early in the series, he doesn’t take fighting seriously. Foes are just players in a game to him. They’re battled for recreation as much as for any other reason, and nobody ever really gets hurt. As he grows, he learns through suffering and self discipline that fighting is more than a pastime, but he still retains his Saiyan love of battle. As Shonen Anime’s “Analysis of Son Gokou” points out, “The most interesting aspect of Son Gokou's personality is how kind he is, yet how incredibly addicted he can be to fighting. While this obsession is neither sadistic nor masochistic, he constantly pushes himself to the point of breaking during a training session.” Not until the death of his childhood friend Krillin does he come to understand the inherently gruesome nature of combat. Most critics fail to recognize this message, focusing on ideas like determination and the human desire to ascend that surround the fighting. “No one gets struck by radioactive cannisters[sic] or is just born with their powers at their peak. Everyone trains nonstop and has an incredible work ethic”(World Famous J. Triangles). Concepts such as these are certainly present, but readers like Triangles miss the conclusion they lead to. Advancing from the light-hearted spirit of the story’s beginning, Dragonball ends by showing the horrifying and disheartening reality of fighting. Goku is finally able to leave his lifelong passion behind him and bring this theme to fulfillment as he walks from the dismembered body of Frieza. “Goku: I’m tired of fighting. I’m going home”(Toriyama, Defeated). Supplementing this idea, Christopher Anderson points out that at the end,
Nearly all the z-senshi are gone. Kurrurin, Yamcha, Tenshinhan, Chauzou, and Vegita are all dead. The only people still alive are those who are minor characters, such as Muten-Roshi, Lunch, Yajirobee, and two major characters: Bulma and Gohan. And the only warrior strong enough to actually protect people from any serious threat is Son Gohan, the last of the Saiya-jin race and the one who is the most unlike them; he is peaceful, which gives an ironic and satisfying ending to the Saiya-jin race.
This further illustrates the negativity of living by the fist.
The most powerful symbol in Dragonball Z comes at the climax of the series, when Goku realizes the prophecy and becomes the legendary Super Saiyan. Surprisingly, critics have given it no attention outside of plot conjectures. Firm supporters of the meaningless Dragonball theory claim, “This is just a plot device to allow Toriyama to create bigger and better battles and blow-ups”(MattBrady). This notion is ridiculous considering the abundant evidence against it. It should be obvious that this long awaited transformation is intended to be a symbol.
Super Saiyan can be understood by simply looking at its physical attributes. When he transforms, Goku’s eyes turn green, he begins emitting light, and his hair and aura become golden-yellow and begin flowing upward in sharp tongues resembling fire. In Japan, green eyes are a rare sight because of genetics(Raza). They invoke an exotic and mysterious quality, and are commonly used as the eye color of heroes in Japanese entertainment. The resemblance of his hair to fire has a number of likely meanings, passion, power, anger, and cleansing among the most certain. Goku’s change in hair color is the most noticeable and revealing change. In Japanese mythology golden hair simply indicates something supernatural(Saiyan Link), but Toriyama intended more than that. He is referring to what the color golden-yellow symbolizes in traditional western literature: the link between Heaven and Earth. That, more or less, expresses what Super Saiyan is. It is the intervention of God or Fate to give us an extra push when our own hope and strength aren’t enough to overcome the forces of evil.
Vegeta’s inability to become the Super Saiyan supports this assertion. Shortly before his death, the Saiyan prince attempted to transform. Arcs of golden electricity surrounded him and his hair began to rise, but somehow he fell short of achieving the legendary state. In order to interpret the significance of this, we need to establish what is required to become a Super Saiyan. Most readers would agree with KingWolf that:
to[sic] become a Super Saiy-jin, one must have intense motivation/will or an extreme passion/desire. When Frieza killed Krillin, Goku's best friend, whom he has known since his beginnings of training back in the days of Dragon Ball, this sparked an overwhelming, shocking sensation in Goku. Frieza was a terrible menace at the time, and wanted to control the universe. Goku's rage and passion allowed him to break his current limits and become a Super Saiy-jin.
The failing of this theory is that Vegeta had received even more trauma from Frieza than Goku. His father, his people, and his whole life had been destroyed by the tyrannical monster. He’d been forced to swallow his pride and serve Frieza until he found a way to break free. Goku, on the other hand, only lost his best friend. Some argue that Vegeta wasn’t powerful enough to reach the transformation, but this, again, seems unlikely when considered with the sum of the evidence presented. Achieving the Super Saiyan status requires not simply rage or trauma, but purity as well. Vegeta’s sins and selfish nature held him back while Goku, whose innocence is constantly reaffirmed, was able to obtain the divine form. It certainly reasons that a heavenly link must be pure of heart. An ordinary power boost would have no such requirement.
The transformation itself presents more to contemplate. It comes immediately after the failure of the spirit bomb, which represents the united strength and hope of the universe. Krillin’s murder pushes Goku into a trance-like rage from which he emerges on a new level of might. But this power comes to him in an unfamiliar way. Unlike every previous power-up, Goku doesn’t scream as he summons it. He just stands brooding as the power comes to him. The weather takes on a new role as well. Bolts of unnaturally straight lightning, often used to symbolize the wrath and power of heaven, begin to rain in the background, connecting the sky with the ground (or linking Heaven and Earth). Lastly, during the final moment of the transformation, Goku’s cornea disappear, leaving his eyes immaculately white for an instant. All of these factors point to a celestial occurrence.
What is perhaps the most compelling confirmation of this symbol comes from Goku’s lips. There is a drastic change in his personality following his ascension to the Super Saiyan form. He becomes remarkably self-righteous and preaches to Frieza in a lofty, almost biblical way, trying to convince him of the error of his ways.
Goku: You can destroy planets, but you can never destroy what I am friend.
Frieza: You...what...what are you?!
Goku: I am the hope of the universe. I am the answer to all living things that cry out for peace. I am protector of the innocent. I am the light in the darkness. I am truth...ALLY TO GOOD, NIGHTMARE TO YOU!(Toriyama, Explosion)
Goku has never taken such an attitude with his enemies before. The wording of this quote suggests that, just as he was gifted with holy power, he has been infused with a divine persona. Another explanation offered is that of the character Master Roshi.
Roshi: Having the kind of power that I’m talking about is uncharted territory for Goku. He’s never experienced anything like it, that much I can guarantee. Yes sir, a power of this magnitude could overwhelm a man and change him forever.(Toriyama, Explosion)
Some readers use this to explain all of the psychological changes Goku undergoes. The problem with that explanation is that it’s never happened before. Throughout his life, Goku has gotten stronger by the day. He went from being an unusually strong boy to being able to blow up planets. During this constant increase, he didn’t change at all. In becoming a Super Saiyan, the only tangible power he gains is the ability to defeat Frieza. This is a relatively insignificant step. The last and commonly accepted theory is that Goku’s rage over Krillin’s death influenced him. This, however, doesn’t account for his peculiar claim to be light and truth. The only viable answer is that, while his rage is clearly still present and driving him to fight, Goku’s speeches and actions insist that something new and heavenly is now present within him. Considering all of these factors, it is certain that Super Saiyan is not an anger stoked power trip, but a divine transformation symbolic of God or Fate’s intervention in times of need.
Another point students of this work have overlooked is the full significance of Frieza’s death. A great deal of attention is placed on the fact that Goku, despite his many battles, has retained his child-like innocence. Throughout Dragonball Z, Goku spares every enemy he faces despite the threats they pose. Chichi words it well in a memorable and ironic line. “Chichi: Well let me tell you something about my Goku! He has never hurt anybody in his entire life. He’s like an angel...and angels don’t die, do they?”(Toriyama, Gohan). Frieza foreshadows Goku’s coming failure again, focusing on his bloody ancestry to question his purity.
Frieza: Why do you loath what I’ve done so much? Saiyans are just as ruthless as I am. They were killers, all of them! And you have the gall to condemn what I’ve done? You and your bloodthirsty race!
Goku: They paid for their mistakes!
Frieza: Is that why they died? I thought it was because I killed them.
Goku: You’re just a beast, with no conscience!
Frieza: Ahahahahahaha! So I’m a beast, huh? Oh, and what about you mister Super Saiyan? Aren’t you just like me?
Goku: ...Hm.
Frieza: So the jury’s still out on that one. Let’s just give it a little more time.(Toriyama, Explosion)
Both of these quotes return to mind at the end. Goku makes a clear decision to spare Frieza’s life by giving energy to the cold-blooded emperor after he had cut himself in half. But moments later, as Frieza fires an energy beam in a last ditch effort at victory, Goku repeals his mercy. Though Frieza’s attack was insignificant and could easily have been ignored, Goku fired back and obliterated him. The episode is entitled “Mighty Blast of Rage”, and this is what it refers to. Goku’s frustration with Frieza’s obstinate unwillingness to change erupted in a rash act of violence. As the dust settles Toriyama focuses on Goku’s outstretched hand, which falls to his side and trembles before forming a resolute fist. This conveys that Goku’s hands are no longer clean. He has sinned and is therefore no longer worthy of the gilded form, so it is taken away from him through death. Just like the original Super Saiyan of legend, his rage destroys him. This expands both the themes of pride and conflict, offering that both inevitably lead to sin.
At the end of the story, the Dragonballs and all of the powerful warriors are gone. The parting message that Toriyama leaves us with is that nothing lasts forever. We can’t depend on things like Goku and the Dragonballs because they won’t always be there. We must place our faith in the things that endure, such as love, courage, determination, and hope. Heroes die, but the things that made them heroes live forever.
Akira Toriyama’s Dragonball Z is an excellent reminder that things are not always what they appear to be. Hidden within the violent and eye catching brawls is a myriad of literary value. A work of literature, like anything else in life, should not be judged at face value. Without sincere consideration, great contributions can go unheard for ages.
Works Cited
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http://www.geocities.com/spa_comics3/DBZpaper.html
