Final Forum: A Dragon Ball Podcast

By Final Forum Podcast

Dragon Ball has a wealth of cultural context and inspiration that’s often overlooked because the fights are cool. Though not averse to fawning over animation and allowing for the Rule of Cool, Jelli a... more

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FAQs about Final Forum: A Dragon Ball Podcast:

How many episodes does Final Forum: A Dragon Ball Podcast have?

The podcast currently has 145 episodes available.

Final Forum: A Dragon Ball Podcast episodes:

August 25, 2026The Driving Episode! (Goku's Traffic Safety) (S5E11)
The greatest filler episode in anime history PLUS: A very special surprise. WHAT MORE DO YOU NEED?!?!?!

Join Jelli and Bekinney as they continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon Dragon Ball Z by looking at episodes 124 and 125: "Z Warriors Prepare," and "Goku's Ordeal." As we take a look at perhaps the greatest filler episode in anime history.
In this episode:
Jelli and Bekinney are ready to leave again
The best episode of DBZ. Periodt.
Details about Japan's traffic and road history
Statistics about car ownership in Japan
The explosion of paved roadways in Japan from 1950 to 1965
The commensurate explosion in traffic accidents and fatalities over this time period
PSAs: what are they, and why were they a thing
Our super special surprise!
and more, including some general pop culture, trivia, and editorializing, as usual
Join us as we continue to uncover the cultural meanings, publication facts, inspirations and more behind the wildly popular Dragon Ball franchise.
https://www.facebook.com/FinalForumPodcast
https://bsky.app/profile/finalforumpod.bsky.social
discord.gg/KGGeyt2jWD
https://www.youtube.com/@finalforum8985
https://www.instagram.com/finalforumpod/
...more
55min
August 11, 2026Nepotism and Cyborgs (S5E10)
What happens when the most evil man alive is revealed to just have Daddy issues? No, this episode isn't about Donald Trump; we're talking about Frieza and the revelations that he's a nepo-baby.

Join Jelli and Bekinney as they continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon Dragon Ball Z by looking at episodes 118 through 123: "Frieza' Counterattack," "The Mysterious Youth," "Another Super Saiyan?" "Welcome Back Goku," "Mystery Revealed, and "Goku's Special Technique." As we begin the Androids Saga. We discuss nepotism's history in Japan and get into cybernetic enhancements, such as they are in 2026.
In this episode:
Jelli and Bekinney are ...back?
A very good-looking batch of episodes
Bulma's underrated look
Gohan's tutor and the meaning behind his name
King Cold and what he represents
Nepotism's history in Japan, with the imperial lineage tracing its way back 2600 years, lines of patriarchal succession in the Edo Period, and the continued heritage of "political families" in Japan even in the post-war era
Toriyama's potential social commentary, but also his potential inspiration points such as Star Wars, the Six Million Dollar Man, and the kaiju film Gorgo
Mecha-Frieza's possible design inspirations from DC's Cyborg and Marvel's Deathlok
How this trope has influenced other storytellers moving forward, including, possibly, Star Wars
A brief history of mecha and cyborgs in kaiju cinema including Gigan, Mechagodzilla, and Zone Fighter
A discussion of cybernetic appendages and their use in the modern world
A reminder that current-day cyborg technology is not as cool as it seems in fiction
and more, including some general pop culture, trivia, and editorializing, as usual
Join us as we continue to uncover the cultural meanings, publication facts, inspirations and more behind the wildly popular Dragon Ball franchise.
https://www.facebook.com/FinalForumPodcast
https://bsky.app/profile/finalforumpod.bsky.social
discord.gg/KGGeyt2jWD
https://www.youtube.com/@finalforum8985
https://www.instagram.com/finalforumpod/
...more
59min
July 28, 2026Pearls and Fog (S5E9)
What do true crime stories about pearls whose tale consists of hired murder, money laundering, and Osama Bin Laden have to do with Dragon Ball? You have to listen to this one to find out.

Join Jelli and Bekinney as they continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon Dragon Ball Z by looking at episodes 112 through 117: "Call for Restoration," "Suicidal Course," "Extreme Measures," "The World Awakens," "Brief Chance for Victory," and "Krillin's Proposal." As we finish The Garlic Jr Arc. We discuss humanity's fascination with giant pearls, discuss the use of mist and fog in legends and folklore and wax poetic about cryptids and mythology and what it means to believe in such things.
In this episode:
Jelli and Bekinney are going to force their way back
We...liked these episodes
We compare Garlic Jr to that lovable villain of the Simpsons franchise, Sideshow Bob
Mermaid Tears, aka beach glass
The Pearl of Lao Tzu, aka the Pearl of Muhammed aka the Pearl of Laozi
A tale of death, murder, court trials, Ripley's Belive It or Not, and overvalued gems
The Pearl of Puerto
The use of mist and fog in storytelling including Irish feth fiada, a mist that ensures elvish supernatural beings known as Tuatha de Danann remain invisible to humans; Dutch Witte Wieven, mysterious figures of wise women; and the Norse Niflheim, which translates as World of Mist
Japanese yokai including enenra, azuki abba, and yuki onna
Stories of Lake Mashu, in Hokkaido
Discussing the Terragen Mists of the Marvel universe and how important it is to the Inhumans and mutants/X-Men
Stephen King stories including Wizard and Glass (and The Dark Tower), The Mist, Dr. Sleep and IT
Bigfoot, for some reason, and we talk about Harry and the Hendersons, Sasquatch Sunset, the Asylum's Bigfoot featuring Alice Cooper
Mermaids and we talk about gillmen and The Shape of Water and The Cabin in the Woods, the Polish movie The Lure, the film Blue My Mind and of course the Tom Hanks-Daryl Hanna film Splash
and more, including some general pop culture, trivia, and editorializing, as usual
Join us as we continue to uncover the cultural meanings, publication facts, inspirations and more behind the wildly popular Dragon Ball franchise.
https://www.facebook.com/FinalForumPodcast
https://bsky.app/profile/finalforumpod.bsky.social
discord.gg/KGGeyt2jWD
https://www.youtube.com/@finalforum8985
https://www.instagram.com/finalforumpod/
...more
1h 1min
July 14, 2026Spice Boys (S5E8)
Spear fishing. Male boob windows. These are Dragon Ball things, right? They are now.

Join Jelli and Bekinney as they continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon Dragon Ball Z by looking at episodes 108 through 112: "The Heavens Tremble," "Black Fog of Terror," "Battle in Kami's Lookout," "Fight with Piccolo," and "Call for Restoration." As we delve into a filler saga with The Garlic Jr Arc. We discuss the history of spear fishing and break down the Spice Boys who are a reference to what you think they are.
In this episode:
Jelli and Bekinney are trying to get back home
We...liked these episodes
The Spice Boys. Yes, they are referencing the Spice Girls
Groups that owe their success to the Spice Girls such as No Doubt, Britney Spears, All Saints, B*Witched, Atomic Kitten, Girl Thing, Girls@Play, Girls Aloud and more
The Four Demonic Monarchs...or the Four Heavenly Kings
Equating each Spice Boy to a Heavenly King
How the manga staff picked up Toriyama's tendencies again
A note about our Bansho Fan filler episode
Notes about Maron and her design as it potentially appears prior to this in Savings Soldier Cashman, a Toriyama manga that appeared in V Jump.
Spearfishing, its history and how advances have led to regulation but also modern diving technology in general
Math!
We talk about Klein bottles, four dimensional space, and potential real-world applications for studying mathematically esoteric concepts
The ab window as the male equivalent of a boob window
We manage a reference to Evil Dead and Army of Darkness
and more, including some general pop culture, trivia, and editorializing, as usual
Join us as we continue to uncover the cultural meanings, publication facts, inspirations and more behind the wildly popular Dragon Ball franchise.
https://www.facebook.com/FinalForumPodcast
https://bsky.app/profile/finalforumpod.bsky.social
discord.gg/KGGeyt2jWD
https://www.youtube.com/@finalforum8985
https://www.instagram.com/finalforumpod/
...more
58min
June 30, 2026Frieza Arc Manga Review (S5E7)
It's the end of Frieza, forever, for real, with NO chance of him retur...he returns before the arc is even over? What? Anyway, how do we feel about the Frieza Arc having reached its conclusion?
Jelli and Bekinney continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon Dragon Ball by jumping into comparing the Dragon Ball anime to the Dragon Ball manga. We finish discussing Frieza arc, and talk about pacing and intended endings. We also discuss six episodes of the anime, episodes 102-107, "Duel on a Vanishing Planet," "Pathos of Frieza," "Frieza Defeated!!" "Mighty Blast of Rage," "Namek's Explosion...Goku's End?" and "Goku's Alive!!"
In this episode:
Jelli and Bekinney prepare to return to their own universe
We recap the story
We discuss whether the end of the Frieza Saga was the intended ending of Dragon Ball
Animation difficulties, both with continuity and overall quality
Toriyama's workload at this time
A brief note on reading burning leaves to tell the future
Wrapping up the arc with grades and comparing the manga to the anime
and more, including some general pop culture, trivia, and editorializing, as usual
Join us as we continue to uncover the cultural meanings, publication facts, inspirations and more behind the wildly popular Dragon Ball franchise, and unspool what we all love so much about Goku, the Dragon Ball franchise, the Dragon Ball anime, Dragon Ball manga, and more.
https://www.facebook.com/FinalForumPodcast
https://bsky.app/profile/finalforumpod.bsky.social
discord.gg/KGGeyt2jWD
https://www.youtube.com/@finalforum8985
https://www.instagram.com/finalforumpod/
...more
1h 5min
June 23, 2026BONUS: Journey to the West (1986) Continued!
The Yellow Robed Demon King? Who is that? Does he remind us of Goku Black? Or Baby from Dragon Ball GT? OR Captain Ginyu? What makes the 1986 adaptation of Journey to the West so endearing?
In this episode, Jelli and Bekinney take another look at 1986 Chinese television event, Journey to the West. It began as part of our October viewing where we take a break from breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon and delve into times our franchise's creators have "put on a costume" and worked on other shows and movies. Now, it's extending into BONUS ROUNDS, where we'll occasionally look back at the show and see what else we can discuss.

In this episode:
Catch-up time! Do we have any further news about Dragon Ball Age 1000 or the return of Dragon Ball Super? What plans do we have for the our show right now? Join us to find out!
We discuss YOUR results from the poll YOU voted in!
We discuss why we chose to look at Journey to the West
The reception of the show and its legacy
Plans to continue breaking down the show in the future
...and more, including some general pop culture, trivia, and editorializing, as usual
Join us as we continue to uncover the cultural meanings, publication facts, inspirations and more behind the wildly popular Dragon Ball franchise...
https://www.facebook.com/FinalForumPodcast
https://twitter.com/finalforumpod
...more
39min
June 16, 2026Ki Control (S5E6)
Have you ever wondered why Goku can sometimes punch someone and it blows up a mountain nearby and other times blast someone with a full power Kamehameha and it barely ruffles anyone's hair?

Join Jelli and Bekinney as they continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon Dragon Ball Z by looking at episodes 96 through 101: "Explosion of Anger," "Namek's Destruction?" "A Final Attack," "Approaching Destruction," Gohan Returns," and "The Last Wish." As we continue on into the Frieza Saga, we focus on Goku and Frieza's battle and talk about their ability to control their ki.
In this episode:
Jelli and Bekinney are face-to-face with....something new
A slight step back up for the episodes, because despite the pacing still being slow, the plot has things happening
Toriyama's Dragon World as spiritual, rather than religious
Ki as a metaphysical energy
Metaphysics. What is it? Why is it important? What is the difference between a spacetime relativist and a spacetime absolutist?
The difference between energy, ki, and power
Ki as a Daoist idea and the concept of the infinite, both outside ourselves and within
The connotations of Ki
How ki refinement can change one's aura
How the ideas of ki control are built from Dragon Ball's foundations, and how this is important to understand for everything moving forward
Goku's ability to control his ki vs Frieza's inability and how their external struggle is a manifestation of their own internal battles
and more, including some general pop culture, trivia, and editorializing, as usual
Join us as we continue to uncover the cultural meanings, publication facts, inspirations and more behind the wildly popular Dragon Ball franchise.

https://www.facebook.com/FinalForumPodcast
https://bsky.app/profile/finalforumpod.bsky.social
discord.gg/KGGeyt2jWD
https://www.youtube.com/@finalforum8985
https://www.instagram.com/finalforumpod/
...more
52min
June 02, 2026Super Saiyan (S5E5)
Note: The audio is less than ideal for Jelli during the opening 3 minutes, but improves drastically during the topic-of-discussion.
It's one of anime's most iconic moments, but did you know it has its basis in Buddho-Daoist traditions and the yin-yang cycle of energy? Let's talk about SUPER SAIYANS in today's episode!
Join Jelli and Bekinney as they continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon Dragon Ball Z by looking at episodes 91 through 95: "Embodiment of Fire," "Trump Card," "Keep the Chance Alive!" "Power of the Spirit," and "Transformed at Last." As we continue on into the Frieza Saga, we focus on Goku's transformation into a Super Saiyan and the importance of the moment.
In this episode:
Jelli and Bekinney CAN escape...but SHOULD they?
A slight step down for episodes, as the pacing really hurts some of what's happening here
Focusing this discussion on Goku and Vegeta for reasons that will become clear
Dragon Ball as a story about growth, even if that growth is incremental
Why Dragon Ball's spectacle is not empty and how having something underneath spectacle makes the fireworks all the more satisfying
The key conflict of the Frieza Arc
A narrow mind vs an open mind
How Goku brings these two ideas together and how that helps him transform
Goku's philosophy of pushing himself to his limits and beyond and how Frieza's ruthlessness gives Goku no other choice but to transform
A discussion of yin and yang and the taijitu
How older Daoist texts refer not to black and white, but to red and blue
Blue and red make...gold?
Sudden enlightenment in Buddhism, satori, and how that influences the Super Saiyan transformation
Attempting to rank the three biggest/most memorable Super Saiyan transformations against one another
and more, including some general pop culture, trivia, and editorializing, as usual
Join us as we continue to uncover the cultural meanings, publication facts, inspirations and more behind the wildly popular Dragon Ball franchise.
https://www.facebook.com/FinalForumPodcast
https://bsky.app/profile/finalforumpod.bsky.social
discord.gg/KGGeyt2jWD
https://www.youtube.com/@finalforum8985
https://www.instagram.com/finalforumpod/
...more
1h 6min
May 19, 2026Frieza (S5E4)
You may know Frieza is based on real estate agents, but do you know why? Do his design quirks point to a deeper cultural connection to Japan's history with relating to outsiders (aka foreigners aka 'aliens')?
Join Jelli and Bekinney as they continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon Dragon Ball Z by looking at episodes 86 through 90: "The End of Vegeta," "The Ultimate Battle," "Clash of the Super Powers," "Frieza's Boast," and "Bold and Fearless." As we dig into the Frieza Saga, we focus-in on the man himself and dive deep on discussing Lord Frieza.
In this episode:
Jelli and Bekinney are trying to plan an escape from the swirling dimensional vortex
An overall solid batch of episodes, and we discuss why they seem more tolerable at the pace we've been going than they have in the past
A reminder about Demon King Piccolo and how his children were born in the past
Toriyama's decision to draw Frieza as purely evil in his first appearance and how that influenced his style of speech
Frieza being partially modeled after Yu Kondo, and a promise to cover Toriyama's second editor in a future episode
A discussion of oni, largely because Frieza has horns, but also because he can transform, and is alien
How oni folklore in Japan has its roots in a fear of the unknown and outsiders
A brief mention about The Devil, aka Satan, aka Lucifer from Christianity but not much discussion: we trust our listeners to pick up on the obvious symbolism there
Frieza's basis in Japanese culture as a real estate developer/land prospector
The Japanese Bubble Economy, its history, how it happened, how it burst, and the fallout
Nui Onoue, Japan's Bernie Madoff, who wound up billions of yen in debt due to bad investments
Shusuke Kaneko's (director of the Heisei Gamera trilogy, as well as Godzilla: GMK) own Bubble Economy movie: Linking Love
The Godzilla movie that reflected the Bubble Economy: Godzilla vs King Ghidorah from 1991
Frieza's transformations
Frieza's biggest comparison point in American comics, in our opinion, Mr. Sinister from the X-Men franchise
and more, including some general pop culture, trivia, and editorializing, as usual
Join us as we continue to uncover the cultural meanings, publication facts, inspirations and more behind the wildly popular Dragon Ball franchise.
https://www.facebook.com/FinalForumPodcast
https://bsky.app/profile/finalforumpod.bsky.social
discord.gg/KGGeyt2jWD
https://www.youtube.com/@finalforum8985
https://www.instagram.com/finalforumpod/
...more
54min
May 05, 2026Piccolo & Namekians in DBZ (S5E3)
Is Piccolo his own person or a re-incarnation of Demon King Piccolo? If he's his son why does he have his memories and his connection to Kami? If he's a reincarnation why does he become good and speak of himself as if he's a different person?
Join Jelli and Bekinney as they continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon Dragon Ball Z by looking at episodes 81 through 85: "Deja Vu," "Frieza's Second Transformation," "Another Transformation?" "Dende's Demise," and "The Renewed Goku." We begin the Frieza Saga, and focus on the person who has had their context changed most by these adventures on Namek: Piccolo.
In this episode:
Jelli and Bekinney are still alive
A decent batch of episodes, but some pacing issues to be sure
A reminder about Demon King Piccolo and how his children were born in the past
Piccolo Jr as contextualized by the Shinto concept of a bunshin
How Bunshin compare to Buddhist reincarnation cycles
How reincarnation cycles lead to the concept of a mindstream, which is akin to the Olympic torch, but for one's thoughts and soul
What concepts from Daoism influenced Piccolo giving birth to Piccolo Jr by spitting up an egg
Some symbolism with Goku destroying the Demon part of Demon King Piccolo
The way this relates to Namekians, the Namekian concept of fusion, and Nail and Piccolo's fusion
Namekians, their name puns, their physiology, and how that may all be influenced by the decision to name them after slugs
Guru's (or Grand Elder) unlocked potential ability
and more, including some general pop culture, trivia, and editorializing, as usual
Join us as we continue to uncover the cultural meanings, publication facts, inspirations and more behind the wildly popular Dragon Ball franchise.
https://www.facebook.com/FinalForumPodcast
https://bsky.app/profile/finalforumpod.bsky.social
discord.gg/KGGeyt2jWD
https://www.youtube.com/@finalforum8985
https://www.instagram.com/finalforumpod/
...more
49min

FAQs about Final Forum: A Dragon Ball Podcast:

How many episodes does Final Forum: A Dragon Ball Podcast have?

The podcast currently has 145 episodes available.