Final Forum: A Dragon Ball Podcast

Super Saiyan (S5E5)

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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.

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