Relationships in Dragon Ball

[roscaifed]

Just today I watched one of the final episodes of the Garlic Jr. saga and the diaglog between Piccolo and Gohan almost made me cry, I'm not afraid to admit....anyway I was just wondering which other relationships in the series make you feel the same way? and which moments make you feel like the relationship is so great

[Blade]

I think Goku and Krillin's relationship in Dragonball is pretty special, not least because Toriyama really nails the bildungsroman aspects of the story in their friendship.

[RocktheDragon]

My favorite relationship has to hands down be between Gohan and Piccolo. I don't think I've ever teared up with them but I do get warm and fuzzy inside just thinking about it. Goku and Kuririn are a close second though.

[Super Vegetto]

Gohan and Piccolo, moments: Piccolo's words before he died in both saiyan saga and GT...

[Kamiccolo9]

Piccolo and Gohan is my favorite, with Goku and Krillin being next.

Honestly, this is where I thought GT had it's best moments. Piccolo's goodbye to Gohan, and Goku's last fight with Krillin were my favorite parts of the series.

[Gyt Kaliba]

Toriyama really nails the bildungsroman aspects of the story in their friendship.

The...the what now? Sorry, that's a new word for me, so some elaboration would be greatly appreciated heh. ^_^;

Hmm...I guess some of my favorites would also be Goku and Kuririn, for the same reasons that have already been stated by others; Gohan and Videl, who I feel get the only true romantic build-up in the series (it's not a lot, but it's there); and believe it or not, Goku and Vegeta's relationship as seen in the JSAT and BoG. Oh, and even though it's only BoG so it's maybe hard to call it a 'relationship', I also really like Goku and Beerus' interactions.

[TheGmGoken]

Krillin and Goku. Especially when Krillin dies. Shit broke my heart. When Goku went a SSJ. He wasn't even Goku.

[B]

Jumping in with Goku and Kuririn, but also Goku and Bulma play off each other really well.

[TheGmGoken]

Toriyama really nails the bildungsroman aspects of the story in their friendship.

The...the what now? Sorry, that's a new word for me, so some elaboration would be greatly appreciated heh. ^_^;

Basically it means coming of age. So I think Blade used the term wrong.

[Kamiccolo9]

Toriyama really nails the bildungsroman aspects of the story in their friendship.

The...the what now? Sorry, that's a new word for me, so some elaboration would be greatly appreciated heh. ^_^;

Basically it means coming of age. So I think Blade used the term wrong.

Bildungsroman refers to the moral and psychological growth of the main character. So, while it's not the term I'd personally use, it does kinda work.

I usually hear it used in reference to a novel, though.

[ABED]

I miss the Goku/Bulma relationship in DBZ.

My favorite? It's a toss up between Goku/Kuririn and Piccolo/Gohan. Both are so damn good. In general, I find male-male (platonic) relationships more interesting than female-female relationships because men don't tend to wear their hearts on their sleeves, so emotional moments feel more earned.

[Vegeta12]

Piccolo and Gohan father and son.

[Codarik]

Gohan and Piccolo, moments: Piccolo's words before he died in both saiyan saga and GT...

This.

Especially the scene in the Saiyan saga. Personally I find the FUNi dub, heck, and even the Ocean/Canadian cast dub gave that scene more emotion than the original.

[Mr. Piccolo]

I would also agree with Piccolo and Gohan’s relationship being my favorite, with Goku and Kuririn’s friendship being a close second. I would also say that Goku had a very special relationship with Muten Roshi. The power of this relationship is clear after Goku learns about Roshi’s death at the hands of Piccolo Daimao. I like the way Goku calls him “Old Man” and “Old Timer.”

My favorite emotional moment, though, involves Goku meeting his dead grandfather at Uranai Baba’s place. This was a real tearjerker moment. Unfortunately, Toriyama didn’t really develop this relationship much more. Goku spent so much time as a dead guy it seems odd that he was never shown visiting with Grandpa Gohan or even mentioning him.

[roscaifed]

My favorite emotional moment, though, involves Goku meeting his dead grandfather at Uranai Baba’s place. This was a real tearjerker moment. Unfortunately, Toriyama didn’t really develop this relationship much more. Goku spent so much time as a dead guy it seems odd that he was never shown visiting with Grandpa Gohan or even mentioning him.

That is one thing that has always bugged me as well, just because Gohan said he didn't want wishing back with the dragonballs doesn't mean that Goku couldn't visit him on the occasions that he died. Maybe he did and its just not mentioned in the manga or anime, there is a large amount of Goku's time being dead that we haven't seen.

[Mr. Piccolo]

My favorite emotional moment, though, involves Goku meeting his dead grandfather at Uranai Baba’s place. This was a real tearjerker moment. Unfortunately, Toriyama didn’t really develop this relationship much more. Goku spent so much time as a dead guy it seems odd that he was never shown visiting with Grandpa Gohan or even mentioning him.

That is one thing that has always bugged me as well, just because Gohan said he didn't want wishing back with the dragonballs doesn't mean that Goku couldn't visit him on the occasions that he died. Maybe he did and its just not mentioned in the manga or anime, there is a large amount of Goku's time being dead that we haven't seen.

Yes, I like to think that Goku did visit Grandpa Gohan, it is just that we do not see it because we don't see much of Goku's time in the afterlife. I always assumed the dead, embodied martial artists hung out with each other in the afterlife.

[Blade]

Toriyama really nails the bildungsroman aspects of the story in their friendship.

The...the what now? Sorry, that's a new word for me, so some elaboration would be greatly appreciated heh. ^_^;

Basically it means coming of age. So I think Blade used the term wrong.

Not at all. Dragonball is a coming of age story.

[Gyt Kaliba]

Ohh, all right. Thanks for the explanation guys. I'm not really sure I would call Dragon Ball as a whole a coming-of-age story, but in the case of Goku and Krillin, it definitely fits. The Z portion would definitely fit for Gohan too. It's just not all as in-depth as what one would usually call a coming-of-age story, but I'd say the term fits nicely enough...you know, now that I know what it means.

[Blade]

Ohh, all right. Thanks for the explanation guys. I'm not really sure I would call Dragon Ball as a whole a coming-of-age story, but in the case of Goku and Krillin, it definitely fits. The Z portion would definitely fit for Gohan too. It's just not all as in-depth as what one would usually call a coming-of-age story, but I'd say the term fits nicely enough...you know, now that I know what it means.

I think the first portion of the manga is definitely 100% a coming of age story - and not just for Goku, but to some extent Krillin and Bulma too (especially the latter to begin with).

I think the Z portion was intended to be Gohan's bildungsroman (heck, a proposed title for what became 'Z' had Gohan in the title!), but it kind of got lost a little bit beneath the more and more bombastic fate-of-the-universe plot lines to the point where it was more of an undercurrent than focal point. I think you can see at certain points that Toriyama tried to steer it back into being more about Gohan's coming of age, but it often comes across as being a little rushed and out of the blue - such as how the Cell arc suddenly becomes about Gohan out of more or less nowhere. But I guess the fact that Toriyama's plotting was adhoc to begin with probably didn't help with that.

[ChiChiFan]

I like Goku and Krillin"s relationship during DB more than DBZ. I felt they were closer as kids then they were as adults.