MistareFusion's Dragon Ball Dissection! (Updated 12/31/25!)

[VegettoEX]

Supposedly, Toriyama said he wanted to do a chapter where Goku became a kid again. Don't know where he said that.

You may be thinking of this quote from Shenlong Times #7:

To think they’d make Goku little. With this story, I might even be able to continue the manga serialization again… though I have absolutely no intention of drawing it. (laughs)

[DB1984]

He might just do that in a future movie. Assuming he doesn't forget.

[Scsigs]

That's 1 thing I'm perfectly ok with him forgetting about, ngl.

[Koitsukai]

That episode with Pan and the tower with her going in and out constantly was just too much, it's impossible not to doze off or check your phone during those scenes.
And IIRC, she ends up getting a DB out of nowhere after she gets kicked out of the tower... again. That's when she goes to get Goku who was fighting Rildo. I don't remember that DB appearing out of of the blue and landing in Pan's hands ever being explained. Was it Giru? maybe I missed the explanation with so many repetitive, boring scenes.

And yeah, I can't believe they had her break into where they were keeping Goku and Trunks like she's about to free them, only for her to fail miserably and force Goku, the kidnappee, into doing all the work and saving the saviour.

And Rildo's demise is still something I don't completely grasp. It's rushed as fuck, that's for sure. He's off screen after Gokus gets turned into Han Solo, and he is seen next when Baby is controlling him. How did he die? the planet was still intact, Baby survived, so how come Rildo died?? I assumed that if he became the planet, then the planet would need to be destroyed for Rildo to be gone.

Overall, I enjoy this first portion of GT, but there are so many odd things that outstay their welcome that it makes it difficult to fully enjoy.

[Gaffer Tape]

And IIRC, she ends up getting a DB out of nowhere after she gets kicked out of the tower... again. That's when she goes to get Goku who was fighting Rildo. I don't remember that DB appearing out of of the blue and landing in Pan's hands ever being explained. Was it Giru? maybe I missed the explanation with so many repetitive, boring scenes.

That's one of the few things in this section I think is artistically vague rather than "we don't have a clue what our story is and hope you don't notice if we power through it" vague. It's never explained, but it seems clear enough it's supposed to be a hint that Giru actually is a good guy. He's the one who's been operating the dimensional ejection system after all. Giru's medal goes through with the Dragon Balls as well, so it's not even too subtle.

What makes it difficult to understand is some appallingly bad direction in that scene, which does a poor job of conveying what's happening. We view a scene of some kind of bizarre landscape where three Dragon Balls and the medal pop through. Then we cut to Pan, having just been ejected. A few moments later, a single Dragon Ball rolls to her. Just one. No medal. It even cuts to a wide shot, and nothing else is visible anywhere around her. So it's a little unclear at first glance if it's even supposed to be one of those same balls we just saw. By the next episode, Pan is holding one ball and has two little lumps in a sack on her belt. The medal is never seen or addressed by Pan, which is weird given that the logic would suggest he sent it through as a message to her. It's never seen or addressed again at all, to my memory. You can definitely connect the dots, but the show almost seems to be knocking the pen out of your hand the whole time.

[Gaffer Tape]

Three Doofuses and a Baby - Dragon Ball Dissection: The Baby Arc Part 10

Were you placing your bets onto when Baby would show up in this arc? Well, we're here! On Dr. Mu's planet, the heroes learn to do the twist. What's Giru been doing? Twist. Trunks? Twist. Dr. Mu? Baby twist. Baby? Mu twist. Don't get whiplash in today's Dragon Ball Dissection because it's nothing but twists! Almost literally. No logical storytelling. Just twists.

[dragonballhero]

The Abusiveness of Pan - Dragon Ball Dissection: The Baby Arc Part 8

Really took out the dissecting scalpel for this one. I feel it's pretty common for the fanbase to find GT Pan annoying. There's a lot I like about her, but her weirdly abusive behavior towards Giru is not one them. So let's take a deep dive into this relationship, comparing it against the relationship it's clearly trying to emulate: Blooma and Oolong. Why is one funny when the other is... decidedly not? Hope you enjoy!

I know I'm pretty late to say anything relevant about this episode, but as someone who always likened Pan (GT) to be a female version of pre-Red Hood Jason Todd for years, this episode was pretty cathartic to see, at least in regards to breaking down just why Pan (GT) kind of... well, sucks.

Which is a real bummer, because I WANTED to like Pan in GT so badly, but TOEI modeling her after Bulma was definitely the greater of two evils. It's all just another reason why Super Hero amazes me for what it did with Pan. Still though, it probably helps a great deal that Pan in that movie was under Toriyama's pen (for the most part)...

[Cipher]

Episode 22 sure does get by on the rule of cool to explain why characters aren't more proactive--and it easily could have been written, even with largely similar direction, so that they were (just have some kind of barrier protect Dr. Mu while he works, explain that they can't risk blasting it until Baby's dead or it could awaken him, etc.; anything)--but damn if its direction isn't so cool that it makes up for it, because those points have never bothered me before, and likely wouldn't on rewatch.

A flaw for sure, and in general I think I'm just more forgiving of GT operating on Saturday morning cartoon logic given its origin and overall style, but it really speaks to just how well the episode is directed visually.

(Also unclear, and not brought up in the video, is why Trunks was convinced Baby was so dangerous anyway, considering he's perfectly convinced they all dispatched him easily with their blasts. Just needs a line or two indicating that Trunks expects Baby to have come out stronger with proper development, or that he was keyed into his special non--combat abilities. Ah well.)

The Dragon Ball being in Dr. Mu's head is a doozy. You have to try to make sense of it on your own, because the show sure never does.

A lot of head-scratchers, and you're right on the money in terms of how the entire outing could have been utilized much better as the culmination to Pan and Giru's plot lines, but I enjoy this batch of episodes regardless. They may be a little gangly, but they're never boring.

[RandomGuy96]

A behind the scenes documentary of GT's production could be pretty interesting even though it's never going to get made. Amidst your speculation I have to wonder what the production team was thinking week to week.

[Gaffer Tape]

Baby On Board - Dragon Ball Dissection: The Baby Arc Part 11

It's Phase 3 of the shift from DBs to Baby! We're balanced on a razor edge. It's equal parts adventure and action. Baby's On Board! Oh, and Pan makes friends with a deer. Listen to me somehow give this iconic (???) scene all the attention it deserves. Check it out now! I hope you like it!

[Gaffer Tape]

Baby, Come Back! - Dragon Ball Dissection: The Baby Arc Part 12

We're back to Earth in Dragon Ball Dissection! Chichi's beating the crap out of Goten for no good reason. Vegeta's glorious mustache has stories. It's a Fashion Extrrravaganza and so much more! Check it out now! Time to find out if I'm the only person who was just completely floored by how Chichi treats Goten here. Even by her standards, she's out of control!!!!

[FoolsGil]

I will never, EVER, understand Japan's comedy stylings of overbearing and annoying housemothers. Any tolerance and understanding of ChiChi, I got from western fans who were able to look past this tiger mom and pointed out the good attributes.

[Gaffer Tape]

I will never, EVER, understand Japan's comedy stylings of overbearing and annoying housemothers. Any tolerance and understanding of ChiChi, I got from western fans who were able to look past this tiger mom and pointed out the good attributes.

I definitely think there are good attributes to her. I think there is merit/potential for comedic contrast in the idea of her being a tiger mom. But like with Pan and Giru, GT just doesn't seem to thread that needle of comedic violence in a way that Toriyama seemed far more adept at. Goku accidentally knocking Chichi through their house? Hilarious. Chichi slapping her son into furniture? Uncomfortable.

[Ssj3Engels]

Goku accidentally knocking Chichi through their house? Hilarious.

I thought that was filler/anime-only. No?

Also, this thread has inspired me to re-watch GT for the first time since childhood (well, so kinda 20 years ago at this point...). I will definitely do so from the moment on when I am finally able to muster the energy!

[Zephyr]

Goku accidentally knocking Chichi through their house? Hilarious.

I thought that was filler/anime-only. No?

Nope. Chapter 336.

[Ssj3Engels]

Goku accidentally knocking Chichi through their house? Hilarious.

I thought that was filler/anime-only. No?

Nope. Chapter 336.

Oh, my bad. Thanks. I never actually got to Cell stuff in the manga.

[Gaffer Tape]

The Complete Saiyan/Tsufruian History - Dragon Ball Dissection: The Baby Arc Part 13

Who are the mysterious Tsufruians? Despite their sparse appearances their story has changed a lot, and I tie it all together for this extra-long episode of Dragon Ball Dissection. From Toriyama to DBZ to Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans to GT, I cover it all.

This one was a crazy one to try and make. Just from the outset it required a lot of note-taking and compiling of different sources. Herms's History of Ever was certainly a fantastic help to being able to visualize where everything went. But on top of that, I was working on this when all my hard drives crashed. I had to start a lot of this over from scratch and edit it on a new computer with new editing software. It was definitely a lot. So I hope you enjoy it!

[FoolsGil]

Since Super was brought up a couple of times, I thought to point out that with the Super Anime canon, based on Super: Broly, Vegeta is now the 4th, and King Vegeta was the 3rd. So they may not ever be mentioned in Super, or perhaps ever again, but if there was a war against the Tuffles for the Planet, it would have been Vegeta's great grandfather who lead the charge, and became the first King.

[Gaffer Tape]

Since Super was brought up a couple of times, I thought to point out that with the Super Anime canon, based on Super: Broly, Vegeta is now the 4th, and King Vegeta was the 3rd. So they may not ever be mentioned in Super, or perhaps ever again, but if there was a war against the Tuffles for the Planet, it would have been Vegeta's great grandfather who lead the charge, and became the first King.

See, I've been hearing this multiple times, but why is that the assumption? Why would the Saiyans have to be in charge of the whole planet before they start naming a Vegeta line?

[Scsigs]

I never understand why the English dubs changed "Tsufruians" to "Tuffles." It's honestly one change I wished they'd revert since Kai's dub started, but I don't think they have yet. It's so dumb. They changed so many things needlessly in the old DB dubs.