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Talk:Real-world References in Dragon Ball

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Revision as of 23:49, 18 March 2019 by Jpranevich (talk | contribs)

Notes from the Discord:

  • The car Yamcha gives the others after destroying their aircar is a Fiat-Abarth 695, a custom version of the Fiat 500. (Abarth and its distinctive scorpion logo show up a lot in Dr. Slump)
  • Kame-Sen’nin is noted by Daizenshuu 7 as driving a “Cadillac” to the airport when they set out for the 21st Budōkai, although no model is specified and it kind of looks like an amalgam of a couple different models / model years from the late 1950s to early 1960s.
  • That van from the end of the same arc is a Fiat model if memory serves (but it doesn’t so someone should confirm)
  • The Pilaf Gang are seen driving a Mercedes-Benz SL560 at the end of the Red Ribbon arc. (Guidebooks get the brand right but the model wrong, calling it an “SE550”, which doesn’t exist)
  • DONE - That plane that takes them to the 21st Budōkai is specifically a Junkers Ju 52, a Weimar–Nazi-era aircraft produced in Germany. Here’s a model kit of that plane by
  • I don’t know if it counts as a “brand”, but Bulma’s nightgown in chapters 2–4 has a patch for the First Armored Division of the U.S. Army.
  • And Kaiō’s sportscar, while identified only as such in guidebooks, is clearly a 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air, with an aftermarket hoodscoop
  • The Red Ribbon plane that takes Goku to Jingle Village is a Horten Ho-IX (aka Gotha Go-229), an experimental Nazi aircraft produced in late WWII. I have a faint recollection of one guidebook or another referring to it with the latter name.
  • I have searched in vain for a real-life version of Col. Yellow’s biplane, but have thus far come up empty-handed.
  • DONE - Oh, and there’s someone walking around the 21st Budōkai site with a “LUMA” shirt, Luma being the author’s favored brand for color ink. (He used ordinary Pilot document ink for black)
  • Oh, don’t forget the “Game Poy” in the Boo arc.
  • DONE - Oh, Kame-Sen’nin’s video shelf at Kame House in chapter 24, including (from memory) a copy of “The Goonies”. Someone with the chapter handy can put up a screenshot to identify.
  • (I also seem to remember him also having a shelf of Jump somewhere in his house)
  • Oh, Col. Silver had a Ford F100, I believe (Even says FORD)
  • There’s a dude in the 28th Budokai crowd wearing a shirt that’s a play on X Japan. I think it’s Y. Dunno if that would also be cited on your page. Probably.
  • 66: the “Powered Gun” is a Double Derringer (only two shots, which makes you wonder how he didn’t realize he was out of bullets…)
  • 55: Ford F-series
  • 56: Horten Ho-229 / Gotha Go-229:
  • Ch. 54: Fiat van?
  • Ch. 45: Oz again
  • 42: Scarecrow with a boom box, Miffy again, bald Sturgis guy
  • Oz again, this time also with Jack Pumpkinhead: (Goky w/ Giren) (This is a reference to Matsuyama’s winning entry in the 1985 Tamiya figure modeling contest: http://art-front.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Fig12.jpg)
  • Wizard of Oz crew, part 1: (Yamcha vs Kamesennin)
  • DONE - Among others, what looks like Wayan (again), King Nikochan, Miffy (?!) and what I call “Sturgis guy”, the biker type dude in a denim vest who keeps losing hair over the course of the tournament (This kind of background consistency is definitely not like Toriyama, which is partly why I attribute it to Matsuyama). Start of tournament.
    • As Dr Slump is somewhat in the DB world, I'm taking the King Nikochan appearance to be less a reference and more an early character appearance...
  • The design of this guy (between Kuririn and his former temple-mate) seems too oddly specific to be just some random dude, but I have no idea who it might be:. (n.b. I’m pretty sure Matsuyama was responsible for this sort of thing. Where’s Waldo-style imagery is right in his wheelhouse)
  • DONE - Mr. Sta-Puft: (Before the tournament)
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