Between the Panels

We recently lost an absolute legend. I don’t know that there’s ever been a more influential TV show in existence than Dragon Ball Z . When news broke of Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama ’s passing, social media blew up with fan art, tributes, and heartfelt goodbyes. From his iconic artwork, to his epic storytelling, Toriyama-san blended action, comedy, and drama together for titanic battles with high stakes, and even higher power levels (over 9,000!!!) Throughout Dragon Ball, there’s tons of thought-provoking topics to delve into. Gods, aliens, death and resurrection, spending thirty minutes staring someone down screaming at the top of your lungs. But one thing about the show stands out to me as a poignant example of a principle many of us would find very challenging. Goku is a sometimes over-eager fighter with a heart of gold. As such, he squares off with all manner of colorful, disreputable, and outright malevolent foes. Yet, from the likes of Yamcha, Oolong, and Tien Shinhan, to

I am bracing myself for some retaliation after making this comment and I ask for your forgiveness, but I have not watched Dragon Ball .... Don't worry, I expect that there will be torches and pitch forks assembling by my home sometime either today or tomorrow depending how far you are from Belleville. Something that most people are aware of in Dragon Ball is the immense power that their characters have (particularly the main character Goku ).  Within nerd culture, there is a phrase that comes up from time to time "Oh...they're going Super Saiyan !" when someone is going at something really hard, almost without limits.  When people go "Saiyan" or "Super Saiyan" they glow with what looks like fire around them which is actually their spiritual energy .  This became such a popular image within anime that other shows adapted it for their use ( Bleach being one of my favourite examples with Ichigo ). While watching these Super Saiyan moments, it's