Episode #0269 (21 August 2011)

[VegettoEX]

Episode #0269 (download MP3) (rss feed) (subscribe in iTunes)
77:11; 96 kbps, mono; 53.3 MB

Episode #0269! VegettoEX, Meri, Julian, and Jeff all dive in to Volume 41 in our "Manga Review of Awesomeness". With just two volumes left to go in the series, these chapters are jam-packed with all sorts of transformations, hero swap-outs, and even still a bit of character development! Is Toriyama's whimsy still at its best, or are we about ready to close the book on this series? Referenced sites:

• "Ultimate Blast" Name News @ andriasang.com
• DBZ "Graphic Novel" Vol. 25 (Viz) @ Amazon
• DBZ "Viz Big" Vol. 9 (Viz) @ Amazon
• DB Kanzenban Vol. 33 (Shueisha) @ CDJapan

41 down... 1 to go...!

[songohan619]

Downloading. I`m really looking forward to Uub`s introduction.

[JulieYBM]

Oh wow, Jeff's bringing up Future Trunks made me think...what if Future Trunks had replaced Tenshinhan in this volume?! O.o

[Chrono Trigger]

I feel like it made perfect sense for Tenshinhan to show up. He possesses enough skill to not be killed by Buu's Genocide attack. He sensed the battle going on and decided "Well I might not be much help but I'm not gonna sit here and wait to die either"...Yeah he didn't do much, it didn't add much to the story, and probably "wasted" a few panels but when you think about it...it makes a lot of sense...

[BlazingFiddlesticks]

I totally expected Jeff to be a bit... neutral to a lot of the volume, but not in the form he did ("Ultimate Gohan" and Tien = Blah, Human extinction = Whoa), just because of how wacky it gets. As for his predictions...

(I appreciate your four years...!)

As for me, I can't stand the absorptions or Gotenks breaking SS3 (Devalues the whole thing; not like the kids haven't been doing that already), but Gotenk's randomness (tempered by knowing that he actually did intend a finishing blow this time), Gohan's finally walking into a fight with intent to actually kill something (I found maxing out his hax with more hax only to backfire because he has no more hax to be brilliant from the first) and Tien's real final kikoho were great. Everyone dying somehow meant more to me this time than in the Sayain fight, that might have been the Buu arc's randomness and Goku's being dead coming back around for actual dramatic effect. One mans sporadic randomness (Which it is) is another man's cruelly desperate, "Oh come on!" drama, I guess.

[MetaMoss]

Great manga review, as always! It's bittersweet to be coming in the final stretch. That cherry pop is probably gonna exert a few megatons of force .

I'm gonna have to disagree with Jeff on Tenshinhan showing up. I mean, sure it seems to be in the vein of fanservice, but I think him showing up makes a ton of sense. What would you do if you had a considerable amount of power copared to most people, and then the rest of the planet's population gets wiped out by something that threatens the whole universe? I would definitely help out the fight against that threat, even if it meant I couldn't even do anything but be a distraction. Plus, Tenshinhan is always cool in my book.

[DragonBoxZTheMovies]

Been looking forward to this episode for a while, although I kinda knew what you guys were going to say. Really looking forward to next review now. Is it just gonna be a regular 'Manga Review of Awesomeness' episode, or is there going to be something special? Be sure to check out the last few episodes of the Anime as well. SSJ2 Goku vs. Kid Buu and episode 291 have some spectacular animation and the episodes where Goku is forming the 'Genki Dama' features some nice cameos from Lunch, Giran and Namu. Also, I was listening to some earlier episodes and I noticed you were dropping hints at an upcoming 'GT' review.

[AgitoZ]

Well, another volume closer to the end, as much as I look forward to the MRA, I'm gonna be disappointed when it finally ends. Hopefully the new review series will be just as enjoyable.

I can see where you guys where going with Toriyama needing someone to hold him back, or at least help with the pacing. I always like to bring up George Lucas as an example. Although he did think of many ideas for Star Wars, it was also the work of the Fox writers and editors that gave the original trilogy its high quality. Although I'd say the Boo-arc is not as offensive to previous material like the Prequels were.

Also, I'm interested in what you'll do in the final installment. Will you also show Jeff the Kanzenban ending? Will you bring back Meri's Top 5 and have everyone's favorite volumes or arcs?

Either way, I look forward towards Vol. 42 and maybe how reading over the entire manga (the second or third time for some) has changed your thoughts about it.

[Rukura]

Awesome podcast as always


I was wondering...why can't Jeff make the usual predictions after the review of the final volume? The new segment could be the "GT Review of Mediocreness"

Maybe review all the movies and the Jump Special with Jeff?

[TrunksTrevelyan0064]

As a Tenshinhan fan (they are indeed still around), I loved to see him again even if it's for only 3 pages. So yeah, it's definitely fanservice if nothing else.

[batistabus]

So once you guys finish the manga...maybe you could review the movies? I'd love to hear your perspective and that of a newcomer. I enjoyed the review of the post-Cell tournament filler, and I figure this could work similarly.

Edit: Yeah...what Rukura said...but not GT.

[kaialone]

Oh man, manga review of Awesomness cant end... I´ll miss Jef... Cant you make a "GT review of Awesomeness" or something? It would be very interesting to see what Jeff as a (not-so)newcomer (anymore) will think about it.

[sailorspazz]

Wow, hard to believe that the Manga Review of Awesomeness is really almost over. It sure hasn't seemed like 4½ years to me. I'm sure you already have your own plans, but as others have said, I'm kind of expecting a "GT Review of Something-other-than-awesomeness" next. Especially since you guys said you would watch the whole thing within 3 years back in the year....2006?

Jeff managed to sum up the feelings I have about Gohan quite succinctly: "I just don't like Gohan." I know there are lots of Gohan fans, but I share Jeff's feeling that, though he was often forced into the spotlight, aside from the Cell Games he never really did that much for the story. The only time I find him interesting is in regards to his relationships with other characters, like his mentor-student dynamic with Piccolo. By himself, he's just very meh to me.

Kind of a strange thing to take note of, but were you guys censoring yourselves this time for some reason? For example, I noticed near the end Meri said, "FUCK YEAH! I mean, heck yeah." Since the members of the podcast have never really backed away from using colorful language, that just stuck out to me as being a little odd. What is this, a TV version anime dub?