Asian characters in Dragon Ball

[TheGreatness25]

the word saiyan also came from the word asian , goku has always been a asian superhero with a tail , he is based on monkey king who is also asian

Best comment ever. It's incorrect, but this is still great lol

I think that it's reasonable to assume that a manga/anime that came from Japan--which is overwhelmingly Asian (98% Japanese, mind you)--intended to have its main protagonists resemble Japanese people. Otherwise, you know, the clothing and architecture would suggest the same.

But who has a problem with this? I understand children who fantasy cast people that they're used to, but is anyone really raising a big stink over this

white people stop dreaming , only superman is white

Only Superman is white? I don't think that's quite correct either...

[Drepanosaurus]

Nappa and Tullece are the only Saiyans that I consider non-Asian looking. I always imagine Tullece being a native american looking character due to his darker looking skin.

[TheGreatness25]

Nappa and Tullece are the only Saiyans that I consider non-Asian looking. I always imagine Tullece being a native american looking character due to his darker looking skin.

Does he not look like Goku with slightly darker skin? Could he not be Asian? Also, why Nappa? Does he have particular traits that differ him from other characters who "look Asian"?

[MasenkoHA]

Nappa and Tullece are the only Saiyans that I consider non-Asian looking. I always imagine Tullece being a native american looking character due to his darker looking skin.

Wut

[jjgp1112]

Nappa and Tullece are the only Saiyans that I consider non-Asian looking. I always imagine Tullece being a native american looking character due to his darker looking skin.

Nappa being consistently excluded has always been a head-scratcher. What, are there not asian people with big muscles and mustaches either??? It seems like a generation of people my age just became so bizarrely fixated on "Nappa = Bill Goldberg" that their brain is turned off from anything else.

[Anonymous Friend]

To me, unless the writer/creator specifically makes note of a character's background, I'm going to assume all characters are from the country the media comes from. Japanese animation is really the only one that doesn't disticntly make the character models look like them even when all characters are supposed to be japanese living in japan. The only time you can even be 83% sure they're not supposed to be japanese is when an anime character had blue eyes and blond hair ... and then someone has to mention they're from germany or sweden or england or wherevr.

In the specific case of Dragon Ball, it takes place in a fantasy world. One with dinosuars roaming around the countryside and a dog ruler over everything. And in the city, people live in round buildings, animal people living alongside "human" people and capsule corp capsules exist with massive storage space that can fit in the palm of your hand. Where an alien from another planet saw a posting for the job of God of that planet and decided to apply.

Did Toriyama ever state that when creating any of these characters he wanted to them represent anything specific from our world?

[Hulk10]

To me, unless the writer/creator specifically makes note of a character's background, I'm going to assume all characters are from the country the media comes from. Japanese animation is really the only one that doesn't disticntly make the character models look like them even when all characters are supposed to be japanese living in japan. The only time you can even be 83% sure they're not supposed to be japanese is when an anime character had blue eyes and blond hair ... and then someone has to mention they're from germany or sweden or england or wherevr.

In the specific case of Dragon Ball, it takes place in a fantasy world. One with dinosuars roaming around the countryside and a dog ruler over everything. And in the city, people live in round buildings, animal people living alongside "human" people and capsule corp capsules exist with massive storage space that can fit in the palm of your hand. Where an alien from another planet saw a posting for the job of God of that planet and decided to apply.

Did Toriyama ever state that when creating any of these characters he wanted to them represent anything specific from our world?

No he didn't. And I think this ethincity debate is silly.

[MasenkoHA]

.

In the specific case of Dragon Ball, it takes place in a fantasy world. One with dinosuars roaming around the countryside and a dog ruler over everything. And in the city, people live in round buildings, animal people living alongside "human" people and capsule corp capsules exist with massive storage space that can fit in the palm of your hand. Where an alien from another planet saw a posting for the job of God of that planet and decided to apply.

A fantasy world that is distinctively East Asian.

[Anonymous Friend]

.

In the specific case of Dragon Ball, it takes place in a fantasy world. One with dinosuars roaming around the countryside and a dog ruler over everything. And in the city, people live in round buildings, animal people living alongside "human" people and capsule corp capsules exist with massive storage space that can fit in the palm of your hand. Where an alien from another planet saw a posting for the job of God of that planet and decided to apply.

A fantasy world that is distinctively East Asian.

Yes. Is there some official rules on what can be fantasy?

[jjgp1112]

.

In the specific case of Dragon Ball, it takes place in a fantasy world. One with dinosuars roaming around the countryside and a dog ruler over everything. And in the city, people live in round buildings, animal people living alongside "human" people and capsule corp capsules exist with massive storage space that can fit in the palm of your hand. Where an alien from another planet saw a posting for the job of God of that planet and decided to apply.

A fantasy world that is distinctively East Asian.

Yes. Is there some official rules on what can be fantasy?

No, but there is some common sense and cultural respect.

Dragon Ball is a work written by a Japanese author in a world steeped in Asian iconography with a basic premise and main character ripped from an Asian folktale through the lens of a popular genre of Asian cinema. It stands to reason that if somebody were doing an adaptation, they'd ought to preserve as much of its cultural ID as possible.

Let's look at it like this. Say you have a series written by an Irish author. It's setting isn't our Earth, but it's a mix of the modern world and old folksy Ireland. It's main character is based on some Leprachuan from a folk tale with a character design modeled after Connor McGregor but with goofy hair. A third of a way into the story, he's revealed to be an alien from a race of guys who all have the same leprechaun characteristics and abilities.

And then in an adaptation, someone casts him as a Spanish guy because HeS nOt hUMaN hE hAs nO rAcE. That would be pretty ridiculous, right? Why pluck this guy who fir all intents and purposes is a fantastical mascot of Irish culture AWAY from said culture.

Author intent and cultural background matter, especially when the story is so steeped in it. It's important that a country as diverse as America doesn't whitewash its imports.

Remember: Dragon Ball was never made for us (Us being Westerners). We just hopped on the bandwagon.

[nhienphan2808]

A fantasy world that is distinctively East Asian.

Yes. Is there some official rules on what can be fantasy?

No, but there is some common sense and cultural respect.

Dragon Ball is a work written by a Japanese author in a world steeped in Asian iconography with a basic premise and main character ripped from an Asian folktale through the lens of a popular genre of Asian cinema. It stands to reason that if somebody were doing an adaptation, they'd ought to preserve as much of its cultural ID as possible.

Let's look at it like this. Say you have a series written by an Irish author. It's setting isn't our Earth, but it's a mix of the modern world and old folksy Ireland. It's main character is based on some Leprachuan from a folk tale with a character design modeled after Connor McGregor but with goofy hair. A third of a way into the story, he's revealed to be an alien from a race of guys who all have the same leprechaun characteristics and abilities.

And then in an adaptation, someone casts him as a Spanish guy because HeS nOt hUMaN hE hAs nO rAcE. That would be pretty ridiculous, right? Why pluck this guy who fir all intents and purposes is a fantastical mascot of Irish culture AWAY from said culture.

Author intent and cultural background matter, especially when the story is so steeped in it. It's important that a country as diverse as America doesn't whitewash its imports.

Remember: Dragon Ball was never made for us (Us being Westerners). We just hopped on the bandwagon.

Agreed. I always think you can think of any different race and culture for your characters all you want, but it's tricky. Dont get butthurt and hate on said characters and author when they are still in development and characterization consisting of very distinctive cultural and racial contexts and implications that you don't understand.

Vegeta and Chichi are the prime examples of whose cultural contexts being completely ignored and twisted, because unlike Goku they are traditional and strict. Only difference is Vegeta's strong personality is viewed in a very Western len, so the "Western" version of him is celebrated in fandom (both Japanese and American). I have never seen an American like him as much as a VERY brutal, archaic Japanese warlord who has traditional Japanese views of society (family is an extension of himself, his classism and pride ect). While Chichi's more passionate mother traits are like universally treated as negative, and much more so in the Western fandom, because Asians can get that about her and her marriage better (even if Goku really didnt kiss her, which i believe is untrue, my mom and dad belongs the generation of Asians when kissing on the lips is still a foreign, embarrassing thing)

[Anonymous Friend]

A fantasy world that is distinctively East Asian.

Yes. Is there some official rules on what can be fantasy?

No, but there is some common sense and cultural respect.

Dragon Ball is a work written by a Japanese author in a world steeped in Asian iconography with a basic premise and main character ripped from an Asian folktale through the lens of a popular genre of Asian cinema. It stands to reason that if somebody were doing an adaptation, they'd ought to preserve as much of its cultural ID as possible.

Let's look at it like this. Say you have a series written by an Irish author. It's setting isn't our Earth, but it's a mix of the modern world and old folksy Ireland. It's main character is based on some Leprachuan from a folk tale with a character design modeled after Connor McGregor but with goofy hair. A third of a way into the story, he's revealed to be an alien from a race of guys who all have the same leprechaun characteristics and abilities.

And then in an adaptation, someone casts him as a Spanish guy because HeS nOt hUMaN hE hAs nO rAcE. That would be pretty ridiculous, right? Why pluck this guy who fir all intents and purposes is a fantastical mascot of Irish culture AWAY from said culture.

Author intent and cultural background matter, especially when the story is so steeped in it. It's important that a country as diverse as America doesn't whitewash its imports.

Remember: Dragon Ball was never made for us (Us being Westerners). We just hopped on the bandwagon.

Aren't those chinese wuxia movies that heavily influenced this series chinese fantasy? Also, aren't all the mystical abilities of the characters fantasy? Isn't channelling you inner power to create energy blasts and fly in the air fantasy?

Star Wars, with it's people moving things with their mind and creating lightning through their fingers, and laser swords, is consider fantasy, but not Dragon Ball?

[jjgp1112]

Yes. Is there some official rules on what can be fantasy?

No, but there is some common sense and cultural respect.

Dragon Ball is a work written by a Japanese author in a world steeped in Asian iconography with a basic premise and main character ripped from an Asian folktale through the lens of a popular genre of Asian cinema. It stands to reason that if somebody were doing an adaptation, they'd ought to preserve as much of its cultural ID as possible.

Let's look at it like this. Say you have a series written by an Irish author. It's setting isn't our Earth, but it's a mix of the modern world and old folksy Ireland. It's main character is based on some Leprachuan from a folk tale with a character design modeled after Connor McGregor but with goofy hair. A third of a way into the story, he's revealed to be an alien from a race of guys who all have the same leprechaun characteristics and abilities.

And then in an adaptation, someone casts him as a Spanish guy because HeS nOt hUMaN hE hAs nO rAcE. That would be pretty ridiculous, right? Why pluck this guy who fir all intents and purposes is a fantastical mascot of Irish culture AWAY from said culture.

Author intent and cultural background matter, especially when the story is so steeped in it. It's important that a country as diverse as America doesn't whitewash its imports.

Remember: Dragon Ball was never made for us (Us being Westerners). We just hopped on the bandwagon.

Aren't those chinese wuxia movies that heavily influenced this series chinese fantasy? Also, aren't all the mystical abilities of the characters fantasy? Isn't channelling you inner power to create energy blasts and fly in the air fantasy?

Star Wars, with it's people moving things with their mind and creating lightning through their fingers, and laser swords, is consider fantasy, but not Dragon Ball?

...what exactly are you trying to argue here? That just because it's fantasy, it makes it okay to erase the REAL culture that goes into it? That would of course be ridiculous and narcisstic.

[Hulk10]

The setting looks Chinese at first glance, but it’s actually an entirely fictional locale. The era is all over the place! And I think that’s fine. That’s because I can draw what I like, and whatever it turns into is fine! In other words, it’s “anything goes”, my specialty.

-Akira Toriyama, 'The Making Of Dragon Ball', 1984

Yeah it's a fictional world just like how Avatar the last Airbender is a fictional world. Doesn't mean we can't tell what the races of the characters are supposed to represent.

In 6 pages of talk about Toriyama's intentions, it was the first quote taken from him, and you immediately took the chance to argue with it.

The creator said "anything goes", not "Asian goes", in regards to world setting, which would further extend to the characters within that world. Personally i would take that to mean that the characters can be asian, black, white, mexican, pokemon, ambiguous children's cartoon characters, maybe even aliens, but it doesn't imply they can't be any.

Also, ATLA's demographic can be argued easily in good faith, because they too, are ambiguously drawn cartoon characters, who have been places in an Asian setting, but within a fictional world, not a fictional Asia.

Personally though i just wanted to drop in with an actual quote from the creator, because after 6 pages of people talking about what he intended, i figured it would be nice to hear his words on the matter from when he created it, as opposed to restrospective conjecture. There's a whole website full of interviews and resources connected to this website, use them, especially if you're going to use your arguments to accuse people of racism, although i hope that track has ended now.

Anyways, that was my two cents, i dipped into this more than i wanted to in the first place. Laters.

I agree with both of these statements.

[MyVisionity]

It's not just about the setting. It doesn't matter if the world is fictional or not.

Most of the characters are supposed to be Asian. Goku, Yamcha, Roshi, Chichi, Kuririn and so on are all drawn as Asians. That's how the Asian race is often depicted in manga/anime. It's not like in series such as Naruto or Sailor Moon, where the characters are drawn as White people.

Casting a non-Asian for any of those particular DB roles would be a serious mistake, with serious consequences.

[MasenkoHA]

It's not just about the setting. It doesn't matter if the world is fictional or not.

Most of the characters are supposed to be Asian. Goku, Yamcha, Roshi, Chichi, Kuririn and so on are all drawn as Asians. That's how the Asian race is often depicted in manga/anime. It's not like in series such as Naruto or Sailor Moon, where the characters are drawn as White people..

So close to a good take then you had to just ruin it at the end.

Neither Naruto or Sailor Moon draw their characters as white people. They're drawn in a standard manga art style. Both series are explicitly Japanese with characters who are unabashedly Japanese Like the fuck?


Here's a helpful tip for everyone. If a manga/anime series is set in East Asia...the characters are East Asian unless otherwise stated regardless of what you think they look like. If the manga or anime is set in a fantasy world but it has parallels to our own but the characters behave or dress in a way that indicates they're Asian also assume the same.

[Soppa Saia People]

setsuna meioh, and haruka tenoh, famously drawn as explicitly White People.

Spoiler:

(omg naoko draws setsuna so pretty)

[MyVisionity]

Most of the characters are supposed to be Asian. Goku, Yamcha, Roshi, Chichi, Kuririn and so on are all drawn as Asians. That's how the Asian race is often depicted in manga/anime. It's not like in series such as Naruto or Sailor Moon, where the characters are drawn as White people..

Neither Naruto or Sailor Moon draw their characters as white people. They're drawn in a standard manga art style. Both series are explicitly Japanese with characters who are unabashedly Japanese Like the fuck?

Nope. They are drawn as White people.

They aren't supposed to actually *be* White people within the story (at least for Sailor Moon), but they are drawn as White people. Of course everything else about them might be Japanese.

Unlike in DB, where most of the main characters are drawn in the Asian style.

[MasenkoHA]

Most of the characters are supposed to be Asian. Goku, Yamcha, Roshi, Chichi, Kuririn and so on are all drawn as Asians. That's how the Asian race is often depicted in manga/anime. It's not like in series such as Naruto or Sailor Moon, where the characters are drawn as White people..

Neither Naruto or Sailor Moon draw their characters as white people. They're drawn in a standard manga art style. Both series are explicitly Japanese with characters who are unabashedly Japanese Like the fuck?

Nope. They are drawn as White people.

They aren't supposed to actually *be* White people within the story (at least for Sailor Moon), but they are drawn as White people. Of course everything else about them might be Japanese.

Unlike in DB, where most of the main characters are drawn in the Asian style.

Oh give me a break.

They're not drawn as white people. You're just pulling arguments out of your ass like you always do

[Ten na nGael]

Having watched the show first in subs years ago and then reading the manga I actually never thought of Nappa for example as "white" since he looked similar to muscly underlings in many other anime. I more thought of him as looking like a Yakuza strong man/bodyguard.

In general I will say that "White" and "Black" are more terms I associate with America, I don't really see myself as "white" for example even though that's what an American would call me. So that's partly why I wouldn't categorise characters in this way.