Let me start out by saying that one of our goals with the podcast
in general is simply to spawn some intelligent conversations. I'm extremely excited to see it happen from time to time ^_~.
Taku128 wrote:I think you should of talked about the Garlic Jr Saga a little, but I know you hate it, so I wasn't suprised when you skipped it.
Not mentioning the Garlic Jr. saga had very little to do with our personal feelings on its artistic merit and general qualities. As you heard, we didn't delve much into GT, either; we stuck primarily with canon events and filler items that built themselves
directly off of those canon events. Our goal was to go with the author's vision for the character as best as we could.
That said, I can totally understand the position of wanting to include it. While I'll never sit through that stuff again, I completely "get" the whole "Goku-isn't-the-hero-for-once" scenario people long for, and it is indeed nice to see someone else in the spotlight for a bit. There are lots of other things you could add, so feel free so! That's what
you're here for
.
Kirbopher wrote:I especially liked the thoughts about where the story could've ended if the manga stopped at X point like originally intended. I never stopped to think about that aspect for that type of scenario.
Cool! Was there anything in particular about those "ending points" that you think could be further explored from what we mentioned?
Majin Buu wrote:<snip Gohan vs Vegeta, Oozaru, etc. material>
You're totally right in saying that we glossed over that material. For me personally, however, I don't feel that any single thing that Gohan did or said at that point had any additional relevance to his character arc for that period. He still needed constant prodding, and while there were a couple moments when his spine started to show, they all continued to be examples of "Too Little, Too Late". Gohan going Oozaru had absolutely
zero to do with his character arc, and was nothing more than a plot device to finally defeat Vegeta. I can totally get where you're coming from on a couple of those items (Gohan fighting Vegeta, bouncing the Genki-Dama, etc.), but like I just mentioned, I don't feel they tip the scale in favor of anything more than I proposed in my initial opinion.
One thing I
will say in our defense is that no-one's going to listen to a three-hour discussion about Gohan, so we quite honestly had to leave out SOME items. Fortunately, that's where you all and this forum thread come in
.
Majin Buu wrote:I've also noticed that it's usually Gohan fans that don't like the Buu saga because Gohan's not the focus anymore and Goku's the hero again. Well, I like Gohan too but Dragonball has always been about Goku from the beginning, it's Goku's tale really. All the buildup for Gohan did pay off, he had his time in the spotlight and did something great, it's not like the Buu saga neutralizes that. Goku comming back into prominance is only natural since he's always been the star of the seires.
I think you
totally missed the
entire point of that section. You
kind of address it (see red above), but then everything else you're saying ignores that very statement.
My question proposed to the other hosts was simply whether or not the build-up and plot development the Buu saga contained somehow "cheapened" or "downplayed" the character arc of Gohan up until that point. It's got
nothing to do with whether you
like Gohan or not, and it has
nothing to do with how you feel about Goku being the main character. We understand all that, but it's irrelevant to the question.
I like your school of thought (even if I don't necessarily agree with it) about the Buu saga not "neutralizing" his build-up thus far; I don't think you're taking that far enough, though. Elaborate off of that.
.
