Gine Appreciation Thread.

[Grimlock]

Time to shed some love to this character.

I am aware and fully acknowledge that her portrayal hasn't been the best example on how to portray female characters, especially in a franchise that puts fighting above all else, but that clearly male characters are predominant in that area. Leaving to sporadic moments where a female one can do some battle. It doesn't help that the mothers of protagonists of other big franchises, like Naruto and One Piece, are either completely absent or contribute to this pathetic and old notion that their role is summed up in basically providing aid indirectly and rarely participating actively in anything besides that.

Even though Akira Toriyama stated that she was part of a four-people group with Bardock, she was consistently being saved by the latter. Which means even she was able to fight, it still isn't the ideal way to go. For a time I wanted a TV Special, OVA or a mini-series focused on them to further elaborate their relationship (which I think it's worth it, considering they didn't bond just to reproduce, as is the usual case with the Saiyans), but I can see me not liking seeing her being repeatedly saved. I would very much prefer to see her fighting. It's always nice to change the "status quo" and go in different routes from the "established" and "standard norms", and I feel like Gine holding her own and not being a passive character would do just that.

That said, I still really like Gine's softness and that she was able to change Bardock. It kind of gives her some importance to the overall story. It pleases me to see her questioning Bardock's decision to send Goku away, although that is expected as it ties to what was revealed in Dragon Ball Super: Saiyans are attracted to women with strong personality. As one can imagine, Gine is one of those characters that I believe would benefit from having more screentime. Next year, 2024, will mark her tenth-year anniversary since her debut in Dragon Ball Minus, and to this day we still saw very little of her (even if we take into consideration her appearance in Dragon Ball Fusions).

What do you like about this character? Want to see more of Gine in a near future? Share your thoughts on her!

[WittyUsername]

There’s honestly not much to her. She’s Goku’s caring mother, but that’s about all there is to say.

[nineko]

I'd really like to see Goku actually meet his parents in some way someday. I know they're long dead, but he also fought against grandpa Gohan once thanks to Uranai Baba, so it's not like there isn't a precedent for this kind of thing. We have all kinds of supernatural characters, some of which even have access to time travel means, not to mention the dragon ball themselves, so it can be done, and I want to see it done.

[Grimlock]

I honestly don't think we will ever get to see Goku meeting his parents. I also think there's some sort of "rule" going on behind the scene preventing that from happening, which would explain why not even games tackle this in a more appropriate manner. Even when Goku gets to breathe the same air as Bardock, there never is an acknowledgement. Goku doesn't recognize him, Bardock doesn't tell who he is. All the available means are there like you said, but it's not like we know how take opportunities...

[Hellspawn28]

I'd really like to see Goku actually meet his parents in some way someday. I know they're long dead, but he also fought against grandpa Gohan once thanks to Uranai Baba, so it's not like there isn't a precedent for this kind of thing. We have all kinds of supernatural characters, some of which even have access to time travel means, not to mention the dragon ball themselves, so it can be done, and I want to see it done.

Gine is probably in Heaven, but Bardock probably had his soul reincarnated at this rate. He still went to Hell for killing so many people similar what happen to Vegeta. Goku could still see Gine after he dies from old age or natural causes.

[VegettoEX]

Couple things worth noting:

(1) Some video games have in fact touched on Goku meeting his parents. Fusions in particular has a whole multi-part story with Gine joining the team and recognizing who Goku is (the recognition is, of course, not reciprocated).



(2) In the original interview that introduced the concept of Gine, Toriyama stated that Gine was in fact originally on a team with Bardock. She ultimately wasn't cut out to be a warrior and was more gentle... but that doesn't mean she wasn't initially out there slaughtering people, too.

As has been mentioned, though, I don't think we'll ever see Goku "meet" his parents in any of the "real" storylines; that'll be relegated to multiverse/cosmic/magic/whatever video game stuff. I don't see any narrative value in it happening, and Goku's continuous Saiyan heritage acceptance through things like Bardock's scouter in the Super manga are already pushing it (too far?).

[JulieYBM]

Forcing Gokuu to have to emphasize with a woman in a story would be such welcomed breath of fresh air. It would be nice if that was not only his mother but it's still a story I would love to see.

[MasenkoHA]

Forcing Gokuu to have to emphasize with a woman in a story would be such welcomed breath of fresh air. It would be nice if that was not only his mother but it's still a story I would love to see.

I feel like that could be accomplished with Caulifa too.

[JulieYBM]

Forcing Gokuu to have to emphasize with a woman in a story would be such welcomed breath of fresh air. It would be nice if that was not only his mother but it's still a story I would love to see.

I feel like that could be accomplished with Caulifa too.

Definitely, I would really like to see more of those two together. I would love to see other creators get a chance to tell those stories, too.

[ABED]

I don't think there's much to do with the character and I don't see there being some grand emotional reunion between Goku and either of his parents. I"m mildly interested to see what it would be, but not enough that's I'd want to explore it. The Saiyan "lore" has been done to death. There's nothing more to explore there. I would be interested to see how Vegeta views female warriors. Is he a misogynist or is strength actually the only thing he cares about, and not the gender/sex of his opponent?

[Dr. Casey]

I would be interested to see how Vegeta views female warriors. Is he a misogynist or is strength actually the only thing he cares about, and not the gender/sex of his opponent?

I think he's probably misogynistic (he just seems the type) but that it's not something he would be too adamant about and it wouldn't be too hard to get him to change his perspective; he'd just need some interactions with a few strong female warriors that he considers impressive and worthy of respect.

[Yuji]

I don't think there's much to do with the character and I don't see there being some grand emotional reunion between Goku and either of his parents. I"m mildly interested to see what it would be, but not enough that's I'd want to explore it. The Saiyan "lore" has been done to death. There's nothing more to explore there. I would be interested to see how Vegeta views female warriors. Is he a misogynist or is strength actually the only thing he cares about, and not the gender/sex of his opponent?

I think there were some mysoginistic undertones in his fight with #18 but I may be misremembering.

[goku the krump dancer]

Vegeta mentioned "Not holding back because you're a woman" against 18 but he also followed up with "then again, you're just a machine anyway" or something to that effect. So he was mostly just being a dick to his enemy and trying to get into her head as opposed to outright sharing any world view he might have.

For what its worth, While I don't remember him ever having any direct contact with Kale and Caulifla, If he did complement them on their power I dont think he ever said anything like "wow they're strong for Saiyan women" so there's that too.

On topic, there isn't much to appreciate about Gine, she was there then, BOOM she wasnt. I'm not sure why so many fans hyper fantasize about a hypothetical "I'm so proud of you son" moment between Goku and his parents (mostly Bardock) outside of a cute moment for fans to witness IRL, if the last arc we just had in the manga is anything to go by it does nothing for Goku's character. He by nature already has a love for battle and he as a person has a deep passion for constantly getting better at it, so does he need to be a "prouder'" Saiyan? That would only make him worse as a person since saiyan culture is savage at its core.

[ABED]

Do they think we'd get another Goku reuniting with Grandpa Gohan type moment?

[MasenkoHA]

Not while everyone, including the people involved with the series, thinks being a Saiyan is Goku's defining trait.

[goku the krump dancer]

Do they think we'd get another Goku reuniting with Grandpa Gohan type moment?

Thats probably what most of them have in mind. The difference is though, with Grandpa Gohan while we didnt meet him until Baba's tournament, he at the very least was mentioned several times by not only Goku but Roshi and Gyumaou and was held in pretty high regard by all of them. So even if we never got that reunion we as viewers know that he was an important figure due to the emotional attachment they had with him. Their reunion gave Goku some closer that he didnt actively seek but was glad he got.

Goku, Vegeta nor even Freeza have an emotional attachment to Bardock, so it just isnt the same. Where Bardock shines in the bigger picture is in the slight irony of the situation where he was the first Saiyan to stand up to Freeza and fail while Goku was the last one to stand up to him and succeed but even the story itself doesn't treat it like that big of a deal.

[ABED]

This is the sort of thing "lore" leads to. The desire to see Gine or Bardock feels way more nerd driven than anything story and emotion driven.

[TheGreatness25]

I wish that Bardock remained as a more typical Saiyan like he was presented as in the original TV special. This retcon also changes the story of when Goku was sent to Earth, why he was sent to Earth, and pretty much changes the entire idea that Goku was meant to be evil until he hit his head because we definitely didn't see the out of him in Minus/Broly.

I really am indifferent to Gine herself because we didn't spend any time with her. All we saw was basically Lara-El for a very brief amount of time. I get the feeling that she was just stuck into the story because people have been asking about Goku's mom for decades now. At least it didn't end up being Seripa.

I think there's so much potential with Dragon Ball spin-offs, and I always thought that a Saiyan spin-off would be cool. So, maybe have a little side story that focuses more on Bardock and Gine to flesh out the characters and have the audience get to know them more. We thought we knew Bardock, but he was changed. I think that it would do the characters justice to give them something to get fans behind them. Their own TV special or a manga dedicated to them--doesn't have to be anything long-term, but just enough for fans to get to know them a bit more. At this point, we know Tarble better than we know Gine and the new Bardock.

I don't think it makes sense to include Gine in stories that take place aftet she dies. I would rather see the development that led into her appearance in Minus/Broly. Especially because it would be a really tall ask for Goku and Gine to share some sort of connection. Goku wouldn't care and Gine wouldn't even know him. I think the real interest for me would be to know Gine before she died. Or if not, I'm cool with it too.

[MasenkoHA]

I wish that Bardock remained as a more typical Saiyan like he was presented as in the original TV special. This retcon also changes the story of when Goku was sent to Earth, why he was sent to Earth, and pretty much changes the entire idea that Goku was meant to be evil until he hit his head because we definitely didn't see the out of him in Minus/Broly.
L

I dunno, I like aspects of the Super/Minus version. Goku being deliberately sent to earth for his safety makes way more sense than the scientist assigning him to earth apparently missing the memo that Freeza was calling all the Saiyans back to Vegeta. Goku as a toddler being initially vicious and violent on earth works better than him being a vicious baby because apparently Saiyans are violent by nature?

I'd probably split the difference in a re-do if I could. Make Bardock an asshole who doesnt give a shit about his children or the mother of his children and tries to prevent planet Vegeta's demise after receiving visions, but Gine is the only Saiyan to take him seriously and sends Goku to earth by her own volition.

[TheGreatness25]

Spoiler:

I wish that Bardock remained as a more typical Saiyan like he was presented as in the original TV special. This retcon also changes the story of when Goku was sent to Earth, why he was sent to Earth, and pretty much changes the entire idea that Goku was meant to be evil until he hit his head because we definitely didn't see the out of him in Minus/Broly.
L

I dunno, I like aspects of the Super/Minus version. Goku being deliberately sent to earth for his safety makes way more sense than the scientist assigning him to earth apparently missing the memo that Freeza was calling all the Saiyans back to Vegeta. Goku as a toddler being initially vicious and violent on earth works better than him being a vicious baby because apparently Saiyans are violent by nature?

I'd probably split the difference in a re-do if I could. Make Bardock an asshole who doesnt give a shit about his children or the mother of his children and tries to prevent planet Vegeta's demise after receiving visions, but Gine is the only Saiyan to take him seriously and sends Goku to earth by her own volition.

The older I get, the more I actually enjoy the stereotypical good-hearted hero with a heart of gold and strong moral compass, but I feel this entire retelling is straight-up Superman. It was already Supermanish, but this just kind of sealed the deal. Maybe I'd feel differently if I were more invested into Bardock and Gine. But since we don't know them too well, I default to "This is a cliché Superman rip-off, they're not important anyway, screw this story."