Dragon Ball Thread

Another funny thing about scouters is how nobody believes them.
 
Like, they’re entire purpose is to gauge strength. The people using them are constantly bragging about their power levels, found through those same scouters. But invariably when it hits a high number their first reaction is “it’s broken!”

@Dustcan  
the only times i remember that happening were when Raditz didn’t believe Goku could track him, and when people were raising/suppressing their power levels,

@Thanotos Omega
 
There’s the memetic over 9000 moment, the Ginyus spent every other episode saying how impossible the numbers are, etc.

@Dustcan  
In-universe debate in Dragon Ball Z be like:
 
“Look brother, the last number we got from this scouter before it bricked was this much. This planet has some strong lifeforms, brother. Intel was wrong.”
 
“No I don’t believe it. There is no way this planet is that strong. Our scientists’ prediction based on the planets composition and age is spot on. This planet is weak.”
 
“But the scouter showed–”
 
“The scouter was faulty.”

Did nobody read these lines and asked “Why?”

@tehwatever  
It’s the Ocean Dub it’s not surprising they came up with a lot of weird lines to be entertaining over everything else, like how does Frieza even know what dogs and cats are.

@Dr_Osaka  
And then there’s the Your dad was a brilliant scientist thing…  
Ocean Dub I love you.

TO BE FAIR.
 
DBS Bardock seemed to be have been one of the smarter Saiyans out there. He’s low-ranked but everybody in his village held him in high regard and he’s definitely the only guy who caught up to Frieza’s plan.
 
I’m thinking that Bardock may NOT have been a full time warrior, but maybe he’s like a scout, a strategist or an intel guy. That role would makes sense given his low-ish power level. That would also explain why he behaved the way he did; cautious, analytical, logical, but also a little introspective and soft.

@tehwatever
 
I think it’s been said that they put that line in there because they wanted Goku to be more like Superman, and Supes’ dad was a brilliant scientist.

@TheDog  
Oh yeah I’m aware.  
It’s just a little funny how DBS retconned Father of Goku, which saw Bardock as this tough-as-nails bloodthirsty top tier warrior despite his pedigree, who didn’t care much about his family, much less his son. He only ever saw Goku as someone who would avenge his entire race.
 
Instead DBS Goku made Bardock closer to Jor-El than he was initially depicted in Father of Goku.
 
DBS Bardock was actually a family man, nice to his wife, was smarter than the average battle-oriented Saiyan and had the backbone to fight to protect rather than avenge. He didn’t have no future vision of Goku. He legit wanted to save his son from certain death.
 
Had DBS Bardock been an actual scientist, I think a lot fans woulda been laughing.

@tehwatever  
I’ve heard that while Akira Toriyama had a good relationship with Takao Koyama and loved the Bardock movie, he always felt Bardock was too unsympathetic and his relationship with his children too distant. DBS (and Minus) was his chance to soften him a little.

@Philweasel  
He ended up softening him A LOT.
 
Literally all of his screen time is dedicated to him worrying about someone else, whether it was the Saiyan Race or his child. And then he shared like, half of his screentime with his WIFE, and turns out he’s a good loving husband, and a concerned father too! He even was worried about Raditz for being sent on a mission with Vegeta, knowing that Vegeta is a loose canon.
 
I legit felt heartbroken that we don’t see more of this Bardock.

@Philweasel  
There’s also the “What-If” Story “Episode of Bardock”, where Bardock doesn’t die in the destruction of planet Vegeta. Instead, he goes back in time, makes friends with the race that lived on what would become planet Vegeta, and goes Super Saiyan to protect them from Frieza’s ancestor Chilled.

A few interesting things I noticed; when it comes to characters who can transform it’s usually the Saiyans and most major villains like Frieza, Cell, and an abundance of movie villains, but Zarbon surprisingly is one of the only minor antagonists/minions who can actually transform and it also requires no special methods like Cell does.
 
Also the Full Color version of the manga features a green and white version of Appule instead of purple. I know character designs differ for various versions, but it’s usually nothing this noticeable, it’s minor things like Bulma’s hair or Nappa’s armor.

This scene is wholesome omg. I love it.
 

@tehwatever
 
I still can’t get over how goku already looks like he’s four or five in that scene when he’s supposed to be an infant.

@Dr_Osaka
 
Zarbon was technically the first one to introduce transformations.

@Littlecabbit  
Well if you are going off the Bardock special then it is a little off, but manga wise they never really said or showed Goku was a baby when he left Vegeta and came to Earth so it could be speculated that he was Gohan’s age. Plus him being a little older doesn’t effect the story at all since him falling and hitting his head wiped any knowledge of who he once was.

@Littlecabbit  
I got over it. Mostly because Bardock and Gine were such a cute couple that I forgive this oversight.

@Dustcan  

 
Well technically, the first one to transform was Oolong with his various shape shifting, and Muten Roshi in the very first arc of the series. Roshi basically did a 100% Freeza transformation there to do the very first Kamehame-ha. And shortly after Goku transformed into a giant ape.  
And there was this Rabbit which transformed people into carrots, kinda like Buu transforms people into candy so many years later.

Has there been any update on Tiffany Vollmer?

@Mad Black
 
Yeah I mean technically. Transformations has been around in some form before, but Zarbon’s is the first type that fans traditionally think when the topic comes up.
 
Before you had simple bulking up (Roshi), or assisted transformation (Oozaru), or changing form but no increase in power (Oolong). Zarbon’s was more or less the first time someone could transform on the fly for a power boost.

@Dustcan  
I agree. Before Zarbon there hasn’t been anyone who had transformations that he could go to on the fly to power up. Zarbon was setting up the idea of changing form to power up. Frieza took it up to 11, and now it’s stuck, to the point that Dragon Ball Z had to always give some guys a transformation to power up.
 
DBS somehow played it down a lot, considering the only guys who transformed for power up so far has been…ZAMASU. That it. (And that’s because he took over Goku’s body. I don’t count FROST because he’s Frieza clan, nor the U6 Saiyans because…they Saiyan)
 
Beerus? didn’t transform. Hit? didn’t transform. Jiren? didn’t transform.

btw I’m gonna take the name MIA CAULIFLA as her canon full name, I don’t care.
 
It’s so good. The name just works.

The Ginyu Force was pretty much always the biggest highlight of the Frieza Saga for me.
 
The battle against Recoome is still one of the best for the show, and I much prefer the Ocean dub voice for him since it made him sound so much more intimidating.
 
Guldo’s death in the manga is also so much more intense then the anime, here are the comparisons:  
 

 
I know everyone makes fun of Burter being the fastest in the universe when compared to other characters with higher power levels, but the way I always viewed it was that Burter was naturally fast versus others had to raise their speed through powering up. I also assumed that Burter focused all his Ki on his speed so odds are he probably wasn’t as powerful of a physical fighter.