Dragon Ball Z was at its peak of popularity in the early 2000′s. At that time, Goku and the other characters of DBZ were assimilated into African American culture.

One of the results was a transformation of the characters into “black” versions of Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo and the other main characters.

There was a popular website that sprung up to specifically showcase this perspective of African American Dragon Ball fans. It was called DaBlackGoku.com.

The site ran from 1999 to 2003. It stopped being updated shortly afterward and then got lost to time.

Luckily I was able to find the site in the Internet Archive and download the pictures that were still accessible. I now have over 320 Black Goku pictures.

Then I went through a selection process, picked the best ones, color corrected and cropped them into today’s art gallery.

Since I had already showcased a few in the original The Black Goku article, they won’t be repeated.You can read more about the phenomenon there.

This gallery is different from the others in the Dragon Ball Art series. It’s not about displaying beautiful art. The idea is to show people how Goku and friends were assimilated by children and teenagers in the late 90′s and early 2000′s to become “black.”

A lot of the art is really unprofessional. Some of it’s a little better. None of it is exceptional. But the quality is irrelevant. It’s the message behind its creation that matters.

The fact that it EXISTS is worth sharing. You can’t find this anywhere else on the internet. That alone makes it valuable.

The sociological message behind it makes it even more fascinating. Try looking past the technical side and into the philosophical side. Why was this art created? Where did it come from? Who made it and why does it exist?

What you see here is a time capsule of Dragon Ball fandom. A thin slice of a sub culture within a sub culture.

Anime was on the rise but wouldn’t become “mainstream” until around 2004. Yet these fans took Dragon Ball to their hearts and produced something the world had never seen…

A Black Goku.

The Black Goku Art Gallery

“Mr. Popo. By most views he seems to be a pretty normal guy, but look at it another way. Mr. Popo though fragile looking has out… d after god after… and this porob… er end. Could … po is acctu… true god?”

Da Black Goku is Back!

Dragon Ball Z had a far reaching and profound impact on African American youth, and Da Black Goku website was only a single manifestation of its effect. Just the tip of the iceberg.

The series is still fondly remembered by millions of fans today, including Wu-Tang founder, The RZA, as he talks about in his book, The Tao of Wu [aff].

You can see a connection between the two in the image with Majin Vegeta, where instead of having the Majin “M” on his forehead he has the “W” symbol of the Wu-Tang Clan.

I can’t help but wonder, if Da Black Goku website were around today, what type of art do you think would be up there?

Fortunately there was so much great fan art that I couldn’t showcase them all in one post, so stay tuned for another Black Goku art gallery in the future!

Post from: The Dao of Dragonball Blog

Dragon Ball Art – The Black Goku

The subject of the panel is “The Spirituality of Dragon Ball.”

Here’s the official description:

Exciting!

It’s an hour long show and there will be time at the end for questions. Plus you’ll be able to meet me in person. Who’d want to miss out on that, right?

The poem on the image above says:

“Coming…

I Am Coming Over the Mountain for You
I Am Coming Through the Stars and the Sky
I Am Coming Out From Where I Am
I Am Coming for You…”

That means I want the room packed with Dragon Ball fans. Let’s do this!!

Even if you don’t live in California, get on your Immortal Dragon and fly there!! The world is counting on you!!!

More info about the convention can be found at the AM² website, along with the other panelists mentioned on Anime News Network.

Post from: The Dao of Dragonball Blog

The Spirituality of Dragon Ball Premiering at AM2 Convention

Alternative art is difficult to define and is a subject of much debate. I define it as the creative artistic license of established characters or places.

The art takes what you already know and transforms it into something new.

But how do we distinguish “alternative” art from any other fan art? To me, what makes a piece alternative is the feeling I get inside. It has to grab me and make me think, “Oh, now that’s different!”

And that’s what you’ll find in the following images.

Created by fans from across the world, each is in a unique artistic style. Even though they depict the same characters we all love, they’re done in such alternative ways that it really grabs your attention.

For example, the image above is titled “Vegeta Over 9,000″ by Sparky del Ireland, and is a modern twist of the Over 9,000 scene from Dragon Ball Z.

Remember, if you’d like to see more of these, please Like the article on Facebook (the button is at the top of the article) and leave comments at the end. Otherwise how else am I going to know?

Now let’s jump into these Dragon Ball inspired alternative works of art!

Dragon Ball Alternative Art

“Majin Vegeta” by melhell84

“Goku” by dodoithu

“Broly” by kzbulat

“Androids 18, 17″ by kzbulat

“Goku SSJ” by kzbulat

“Recoooooome” by Hellhause

“Dragon Ball Z in Manhua” by toriman-28

“Goku” by nevreme

“DBZ Heroes v2″ by c-dubbkitari5

“DBZ Villains” by c-dubbkitari5

“Bulma” by angelcano

“Goku Kaiohken vs Vegeta Ozharu” by javas

“GOKU” by kadlamalice

“Piccolo” by Pronton Liot

“Dragon Ball Piccolo” by GODTAIL

“Dragonball Tyaozu” by GODTAIL

“Dragon Ball Kamesennin” by GODTAIL

“Re Imagigne Goku” by AlexDeB

“Son Goku” by kadlamalice

“Vegeta SSJ4″ by RedVio

“Recoome” by Gold Copper

“Mirror” by Kamikaze-666

“Monkey Boy is So Tired” by rizaturker

Alternative Views

There are as many views on Dragon Ball as there are individual artists. Two artists can depict the same character in completely different ways, and yet still capture the spirit of Akira Toriyama’s original intentions.

Or maybe they purposefully go in an altogether different direction and yet we’re still able to see how Dragon Ball inspired their art.

I have too many favorites, including the big close up of Recoome’s face and the blue and green Goku. Not to mention the gender-bending Goku and Vegeta!

Which ones do you like the most? And remember, if you want more, Like the article on Facebook and leave comments, because it’s the best way to show your support.

Post from: The Dao of Dragonball Blog

Dragon Ball Art – Alternative

You’re in luck, because over 50,000 of them visit The Dao of Dragon Ball every month, and the site now supports advertising.

Read the advertising page to learn about your advertising options and the going rates.

For starters, we’re talking about a 91% focused demographic of young men in their late teens and 20′s that are interested in anime, martial arts, philosophy, culture, and Japanese entertainment.

Secondly, they are heavy internet users and hardcore Dragon Ball fans, having been fans of the series on average for more than 10 years.

Thirdly… well, just go and read the advertising page already, why don’t ya?

Post from: The Dao of Dragonball Blog

Advertise on The Dao of Dragon Ball

I recently interviewed the Kirby brothers of K&K Productions to learn more about this project and share it with the Dragon Ball community.

Haven’t heard of Dragon Ball Z: Saiyan Saga?

Here’s their Dragon Ball movie introduction video to bring you up to speed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ylf3Fg7rPbE

They’re running a fundraiser at IndieGogo, so be sure to contribute.

Today you’ll learn where the idea for a live action Dragon Ball Z movie came from, why Dragon Ball Evolution failed to please fans, how the brothers made their casting choices for Goku and Vegeta, and discover what it’s like to film a special effects laden film on an independent’s budget.

Now let’s turn up the heat and go Kaio Ken x4!!

Get Ready! The Saiyans Are Coming!

Isky Fay gets into character as Yamcha

Derek: Hi Harry, George. Thanks for taking the time to speak with me today.

Harry: Hello, Derek.

George: Good morning.

Derek: There are a lot of Dragon Ball fans who are looking forward to Dragon Ball Z: Saiyan Saga, but not everybody knows about it yet, so I want to get it out there. I love Dragon Ball and want to share this with others.

As a general intro for those who don’t know, who are K&K Productions?

Harry: We’re two brothers, Harry and George Kirby. We both used to work in television, for Sky TV, a big broadcaster in the UK. I worked there first for 6 years and then my brother was there for 3 years. During that time we were kind of doing our own stuff and we realized that we could do it on our own.

We started our company about 5 years ago and we’ve been full time with it for the last 2 and a half. We started with corporate work and recently music videos, and we always entered into film competitions and 48 hour challenges.

George is very good with special effects, and doing those films helps us improve those effects. Pushes us farther.

Derek: What originally got you into film? Why make that your career?

George: We both grew up watching film, a lot of anime, played computer games, those sorts of things. That made us a very visual based type of imaginative people. Harry, being older, went to university and did live TV production, something media related. I kind of followed up and that was our entry in.

Brandon Ly will play Goku's son, Gohan

Derek: You did that for a few years and decided enough is enough, let’s do it our way. Now here you are making Dragon Ball Z: Saiyan Saga. Where did the inspiration for this film come from?

George: We always said, “It’d be so cool if we could.” We would mess around with effects with energy, Ki blasts, things like that. We thought it would be cool to do a full on production, but years ago we didn’t have the skills, the technology or the time. It’s always been in the back of our minds.

Harry: We’ve hit the point where our production company is doing well, and now we know we’ve got the friends, crew, and equipment. Now’s the time.

If someone had said to me 5 years ago that you’re going to have all this equipment and the resources you have now, I would have jumped on it to make Dragon Ball Z. It’s the first thing that comes to mind. And now that’s what we’re going to do.

Plus with Dragon Ball Z there’s so many great characters and so much amazing content right there. No one, apart from the Evolution movie, had tapped into it. All that great stuff sitting there waiting to be made into live action.

Derek: Why do you think Dragon Ball Evolution turned out the way it did? And how will your film succeed where Evolution did not?

Harry: I think they just missed the point entirely.

George: I just want to say one thing. Why did they call it Evolution? What is it evolved from? It was the first film! I don’t understand that point. Sorry, that just really got to me when it came out.

Harry: We felt the casting was wrong with the film. There has been a lot of debate on YouTube and elsewhere whether the characters should be Asian or not. It was a Japanese cartoon originally and we always saw the characters as Asian, but I mean, they were drawn in a way that you could interpret them however you want.

[In any case] they changed characters, they changed relationships, and missed the point of the story. Plus, it skips on the action. There are a lot of great stories in Dragon Ball Z, but people love the action.

George: It could be said that it’s tentatively based on Dragon Ball, not Dragon Ball Z, but you still need the Dragon Ball Z essence that people have come to expect. The high action, high impact, the hype and visuals that should have been in it, but weren’t.

Harry: The key thing is what we said before. There’s all this material just laid out for film companies to make stories out of that were massively popular across the world. And the first thing they do is go, “Okay, let’s change them.” Why change it when it’s already great?

Obviously we’ll have to make slight adaptations to make it into live action, but for the most part we want to see what we, as fans, want to see on the screen. That’s the whole point.

Derek: I think you’re absolutely right. I don’t think there were more than even a few minutes of fights in that entire movie.

Harry: You’re seeing a white Goku diving over the bonnet of a yellow Mustang or whatever, and I’m thinking, this isn’t even remotely like the world of Dragon Ball.

George: It was very Americanized. It obviously appealed to the mass American market, that’s what film companies do, but it skipped over the whole fan base of anime. It was too Americanized and missed the mark.

Michael Amariah Becomes Piccolo

Derek: I agree. So what’s your goal with Dragon Ball Z: Saiyan Saga? You said you want to stay true to the spirit. What is your message and why do you want to create a live action Dragon Ball Z movie?

Harry: First of all, yes, our key message is that we want to stay true to Dragon Ball. Watching Evolution, my thoughts the whole time were, “Where is this, why is this missing, why have they not done this?”

You know, you come across videos on YouTube, for example, the Mortal Kombat fan film, and you want to share it with others. I love that feeling, discovering something that a fan has made, you want to share it with your friends, and that’s a great feeling. Our main thing is to give the fans that chance. We want to give that feeling to Dragon Ball fans. When you see a bit with Krillin, or when Goku goes Kaio Ken, you’ll want to share it.

George: That was the whole point of wanting to do a trailer rather than a short film. It’s high impact, really exciting for fans, each and every scene with all the great moments. It will be longer than a regular trailer, but that’s so we can fit more of the action and characters in for the fans.

Harry: We wanted to try and sum up the whole saga and its feeling. With a trailer format we can cut back and forth to all the great scenes, and create an overall summary of the saga. We posted an anime version of what we’re trying to do and that’s getting a good reaction.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcmgtgya-fw

Derek: It sounds like what you’re saying is that you want to connect with people, give to the Dragon Ball community and enjoy it together.

On your IndieGogo page, a contributor named Marjorie wrote, “I’m a life-long fan of Dragonball and it is amazing to know how many more hardcore fans are out there! I really think this movie looks like it will capture what DBZ is and how it feels, because it was made by people who love the anime and not just producers who see a market for DBZ but understand nothing about what it’s about.”

I feel that really expresses the hopes of a lot of Dragon Ball fans, including myself. How would you respond to that statement?

Harry: I completely agree and I hope that’s what we can do. There’s so much great stuff you can do with Dragon Ball Z.

George: The thing is, what they missed, was what a huge fan base Dragon Ball Z has got all over the world. They don’t need to sell a new idea to people, it’s already there. You don’t need to change it. That’s what we’re trying to do. Take what is already there, interpret it into live action in a way that fans will relate to and love.

Harry: A good example is the kind of respect Christopher Nolan gave to Batman. He looked to the concept, to the fans, and took it seriously. And he delivered something that the fans now really love. The Evolution guys didn’t take the content seriously, didn’t realize the fan base they had. If they hadn’t changed it so massively, then the fans would have loved it.

Derek: Sounds like they didn’t respect the content.

Now I’d like to ask you about your project funding, your goals, and how you’re going to do it.

Funding and Development Goals

Dorset, the Battle Ground for Dragon Ball Z: Saiyan Saga

Derek: Your IndieGogo funding campaign had the goal of $5,000. Congratulations on reaching that goal well ahead of the deadline! It’s now over $6,000 with over 20 days left. Does the production still need more funding, or are you all set to begin filming?

Harry: Basically we are set. But the fact that more funding is coming in has given us more options. At the moment our actors and crew are working for free.

I drove to Dorset, to the main location, to sit down with a guy and plead that we don’t have much money. Originally he wanted to charge us 5,000 pounds a day. We couldn’t do that, and I think he thought we were a big production company. We explained to him what we were trying to do, and he lowered the price. So at the moment everything is being done as tightly and quickly as we can. We’ve only got one day there, and only one day in green screen. We have to stay in budget.

With the extra funding we can give ourselves a little more time, do some more elaborate shots. One potential thing is to do our wire work at Pinewood studios, a famous British studio where they did the Bond films. If we could go there then we could do much more elaborate wire scenes and make the action much better. Our next goal for funding is to have enough to go there. Right now we’re really limited with what we can do with flying, and it’s such a big part of the series. If we can get in there, we can stay more true to the series.

Derek: That sounds great. Are you going to open another campaign fund or keep this one running?

George: I think we’ll keep this one running. People told us about Kickstarter after we started this one, but we’ll stick with IndieGogo because we still have time left on this one, and…

Harry: We don’t want people to think we’re greedy. We’re not conning anyone. But if they see us trying to run two funding campaigns people might think we’re just trying to raise extra money, or taking liberties with the fans. We’ve been thinking about it, but it’s not right.

For instance, we had someone donate $1,000 on IndieGogo for a set of Saiyan armor, and I don’t want to go on another site, add some extra perks, and then make them feel it’s kind of unfair.

Derek: Okay, I’ll make it clear to the fans that even though the green bar is full, it does not mean that they cannot contribute, and that you guys are very appreciative of any funds that come your way.

Derek: What are your eventual plans for distribution? Online, DVD, or at conventions?

Harry: The first plan is online, on YouTube. The people that have contributed will get a behind the scenes DVD. If we sell DVD’s it would break fair trade, so we’re not sure if we can do that.

George: We’ve been contacted by an anime and manga convention in Canada, so it will get played there. We want to find other avenues where we can show it.

Harry: I think there are a lot of people who will give contributions, and it will be free online to watch.

Tech Specs and Special Effects

Michael Amariah wearing Piccolo eye contacts

Derek: From a technical standpoint, what equipment are you using to film? Are these digital cameras?

George: Yeah, we’re shooting DSLR, Canon 5D Mark II’s. HD with prime lenses, really nice set. We’ve got the 30 foot Jib, the crane. A company called Artisan Films is coming down to help for free as well. The scene we shot with Isky Fay (Yamcha) was done with them.

Harry: We’ve got a steady cam, track and dolly, a lot of options and types of shots. We want to try and do some creative shots.

Derek: The series tends to be very light and positive in its color scheme, with bright colors and uniforms. And the landscapes look like they’re coming out of a Chinese scroll. Does this conflict with typical action movies that tend to be dark and shadowy, like the Batman films you mentioned?

Will the original color scheme be kept in-tact with your film, or is it necessary to change it in order to make it more appealing to today’s viewers?

George: We’re going with a contemporary feel. Kind of darker, grittier, more real world. We did talk about going bright and colorful like the anime, but this is live action. We didn’t want to replicate the anime in terms of color, because you might as well just watch the anime.

Harry: But we are using the same color scheme and colors. Goku’s clothes will be orange, but a more dulled down, earthy looking version.

George: We thought if, with a lot of things, especially the costumes, if they matched the colors from the anime it would just look tacky, cheap. We thought we’d go with something more realistic and earthy.

Harry: Piccolo will be wearing purple, but a little more earthy. We are staying true to the colors, just toned down.

Derek: That makes sense, I understand.

I’ve read concerns from fans over the application of special effects. The anime is so packed with all this action and stuff flying across the screen. They’re worried that if done at a low level of quality, it will ruin the film. How would you respond to these fans?

George: We’re very conscious of that as well. We want to deliver something good.

We’re always playing with them, trying to do what’s best. When it comes to the final thing we’ll spend a lot of time to make sure it looks right.

Harry: One of the key reasons we haven’t set a release date is so we can spend as much time as we need to get the effects right. The finished product will be something that we’re happy with.

As a fan, if I see something that looks like rubbish, it ruins it for me. We want to make sure that doesn’t happen to the fans.

Derek: I’m sure that answer will satisfy them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pd1BIAsPc9M

You mentioned flying and wire work. What other types of special effects can we look forward to? This is the Saiyan Saga so there’s a lot going on. Can we see the Kaio-Ken? Obviously there’s going to be a Kamehameha. Will there be a Flying Nimbus, Goku’s cloud?

George: The Nimbus? No. For us, the Nimbus was something brought over from Dragon Ball.

Harry: The first episodes we saw were when Raditz just showed up. Piccolo and Goku were fighting him, and the Nimbus was around and I know it’s important to people, but in terms of Z, for us…

George: The reality is that he was using the Nimbus as a taxi to get to the fight, from Kami’s Lookout to the battlefield. In terms of the trailer we don’t need to see that happen. He’ll just be there.

Harry: Plus it would be a rather elaborate special effect in terms of budget.

George: But you can expect the Kamehameha, the Tri-Beam, the Sōkidan (Yamcha’s move), the Kienzan (Destructo Disc).

Harry: Vegeta’s Galick Gun. You can expect…

Derek: Well don’t give away everything!

Harry: Haha, right, I was about to say. They’ll see all the favorites. That’s the idea. It’s also one of the reasons we released the video update with Yamcha. We always loved the rest of the Z fighters and we want to give each of them a chance to show off a core moment of who they are.

Derek: That way everybody is going to be happy.

George: Exactly.

The Script

Isky Fay, who plays Yamcha

Derek: In regard to the script, you’ve created the template in anime form. Is the dialogue going to follow the Japanese original, an English dub (like from FUNimation), or your own translations with your own dialogue?

George: This is something we’ve been debating a lot. Obviously we want to appeal to the biggest audience, which is in America, and that’s the fan base that has responded the most to our project so far. We grew up watching the American English dub. But a part of us wants to stay more true to the fact it’s a Japanese anime and do it in Japanese. But we’re not sure if people would like that.

From our point of view we’re making the version we grew up watching. We didn’t grow up watching the Japanese version, so for us it would be a bit strange. So far, the comments on the videos have been mostly in English speaking countries, so it seems to make sense.

Harry: We’ve toyed with the idea of recording all the audio in both Japanese and English. But again, with time constraints, we don’t know if that will be possible.

George: In terms of the actual dialogue, it is going to be pretty much as-is in the anime. The anime version we’re basing the script on is the Kai version because it was a lot faster for us to go through that.

Derek: I think that’s much better because the dialogue there is more true to the original Japanese.

George: Right, exactly. We were talking about that today, how the Destructo Disc was changed back to Kienzan. That might help appeal to more fans.

Derek: Definitely. People are always asking this, I see it all over the place. You’re making an extended trailer, but people are asking if it’s a full film. You’ve already responded to that, but do you have plans for a feature length script, has that been written? Because of constraints, I imagine you’re filming just the parts that are necessary for the trailer.

Harry: Right. We see this as hopefully a jumping point. If fans continue responding to it as they have, then the film will get a lot of hits and that will give us an excuse to make more movies.

Ideally of course we’d love to make a feature. If this does well and people like it, then we can make another funding page to make the second one more elaborate. People would have more confidence in us after this one.

Derek: That makes perfect sense and sounds awesome. I think fans out there would love to have every saga made in this fashion.

Let’s jump ahead to the casting and what it’s like to be an independent film developer.

Z Warriors Assemble

Ryan Oliva's battle scarred chest, as Nappa

Derek: Personally, I think you should be applauded for finding such great look-alikes, who not only practice martial arts but are also big fans of Dragon Ball. Seems like it would be one in a million, and yet you found one for each character. I’d like to know where you found them and what the audition process was like?

Harry: We have been ridiculously lucky. We started off by looking for their appearance and martial arts skills, along with the roles they played. That way we’d see a pool of people in the search results that were a good match for the film. Then we went character by character through the results, contacted them, and asked if they’d like to be part of a Dragon Ball Z film.

We got responses from some of the guys saying that “Oh my god I love Dragon Ball Z. I’d love to be part of the project.”

Just the fact that these guys love Dragon Ball Z, it helps us so much. They know the character and what we’re talking about. They can get into the character instantly. It’s not like telling a complete stranger, “This is Goku,” and having to show him episodes to teach him.

Derek: You already have a language you can communicate in.

Harry: Exactly. They know the character and love it themselves. As actors they’ve dreamed about acting like these characters, so it was already in them at the start.

Derek: Is there anything in particular you looked for when casting Goku and Vegeta? We haven’t seen them in action yet, and I’m sure they’re great martial artists, but can you give us some insider info on how they landed the lead roles?

Harry:

Goku being the good guy and sweeter character, I don’t know. Vegeta was just so much more defined in terms of what people would want to see. The arrogance and look. I was looking for that in the actors eyes, that arrogance coming through. Also if they had enough hair, because we didn’t want to use huge elaborate wigs, we wanted it to be natural.

Aaron was staring down the camera in his photos and looked like Vegeta. Plus, immediately, he loved Dragon Ball Z and wanted to play Vegeta.

Aaaron Ly has Vegeta hair

He’s been doing martial arts since he was 8 years old and has over 15 different disciplines of martial arts. He’s been staged in screen fighting and knows what looks good on camera.

Derek: Sounds like he’s perfect for the role.

Harry: Yeah, he’s perfect. Goku was a similar situation. We thought Peter had a good build. In the photo’s we have out now at the moment, he’s smaller than he is now. He’s been training really hard and is larger now.

He’s really nice in real life and has the Goku-esque attributes, plus he’s friends and family and loves Dragon Ball Z. Of all the actors he’s the one that has studied the cartoon the most to learn how Goku acts. He also had a similar martial arts background to Aaron.

Peter Peralta will play Goku

George: Peter has his own production company, does his own acting and those things.

Harry: Being at the level of martial arts these guys are, and being local to the UK, a lot of them have already worked together and are friends. That’s really good because they’ve worked as stunt men together.

Derek: That will help the energy and communication.

Have there been any legal issues with Toei, Shueisha or Dragon Ball license holders? Do they know about this project?

Harry: They don’t know about it so far. But from what we’ve seen from similar projects, as long as we don’t make a profit from it, and we won’t because it’s not a profit making exercise, then legally we’re okay. If it comes up, then we’ll cross that bridge when it does.

Derek: Seems like it’s fair use and there’s not much to worry about. I was worried about it for my book, but legally it is fair use, so you’ll be just fine.

I was going to ask about the issue of race again, but you’ve already touched on it and it’s your choice on how you perceive it, so I don’t think we need to dig into it much more.

Harry: Can I just say one thing on it quickly?

They’re drawn in a way that is open to interpretation. Asian people watching it may interpret them as Asians, while Australians or Americans may interpret them as white or European. I don’t think that matters much, it’s just how we saw it.

Derek: That’s an even better answer. Thank you.

Dragon Ball Fandom

Lee Edward Jones is Krillin

Derek: There seems to have been a large response to your announcement of the film’s production, and it was only a short while, and yet people are already screaming, “Oh my god, take my money, I can’t wait for this!” What are your feelings on the response of fans so far?

Harry: It has been absolutely amazing. I honestly didn’t expect it. We knew people would be interested because there’s a big Dragon Ball fan base out there, but when we put up the first video with pictures of the cast and location, there was no evidence that we would actually follow through with it.

I was saying to George that I didn’t think people would donate to this, and then over the weekend the first $2,000 dollars rolled in. It was amazing, I couldn’t believe it. That’s why in the second video we wanted to show people some evidence that this is really happening and to let them know that we are taking this seriously and really do want to do this.

It’s become a full time job for me to interact with fans on Facebook and Twitter, and I love the enthusiasm on all the platforms. Watching people on Twitter share with their fans that they have to look at this. The Dragon Ball Z fans have been great.

George: It’s a really good community. Everyone is looking to share any kind of content they can about Dragon Ball Z.

Harry: They’re saying stuff like, “These guys are doing it for us.” They’re helping share it and make it more popular.

George: We really appreciate everyone’s support.

Harry: We can’t say that enough. The other thing are the role playing guys who talk to eachother as if they are the characters. There’s a guy on Twitter who calls himself Goku who has like, 75,000 followers. He tweets about the project and then we get 300 or 400 more followers, so I say, “Thanks, Goku,” as if it were really him, and it’s a lot of fun.

Derek: You’re right, the Dragon Ball community will share anything they can find, they get so excited by it. And when it’s something of high quality they’ll share it even more. That’s what they’re doing with your project.

Obviously there are a lot of dragon Ball fans out there, and there’s something in Dragon Ball for everybody. Every fan has their favorite character. Some like Goku, while others prefer Vegeta, Piccolo, Gohan, Tenshinhan or Krillin. Some even love Yamcha! Why do you think that Dragon Ball is able to appeal to so many different types of fans?

George: I’m a Tien man, myself!

Derek Siow is Tenshinhan

Harry: I think when it comes to liking the different fighters, one of the reasons that people love Piccolo is that he’s really strong, but he’s always a slight underdog to the Saiyans. You’ve got that type of character, the underdog. Also the really strong ones, Goku being the sweet guy and Vegeta being the epitome of arrogance and a bad guy. There are completely different types of characters that everyone can relate to.

Derek: Seems like there’s a lot of humanity in it. Even though at the same time it’s this crazy, off the wall, explosive action packed anime, it’s still relatable somehow, and very touching.

Harry: At the end of every saga it pretty much ends up with Goku going back to Chi-Chi, Gohan, Krillin and them standing around. That’s what it was about, they were fighting for their friends and family. It has that human element.

Karen Tiew will play Goku's wife, Chi-Chi

George: When it gets to the Cell Saga you have that whole relationship with Trunks and his father, trying to get Vegeta’s approval. People can relate to that, making their parents proud.

Derek: I think you’re right.

Do you feel that Dragon Ball is a meaningful series? Some people look at it and say, “Oh, it’s just a simple, stupid young boy’s action comic that was turned into a cartoon and then they milked it for all it’s worth. That’s all it is, so don’t look into it, it’s not that deep.” But I find a lot of meaning in it and I want to ask if you think it’s a meaningful series as well.

Harry: I think it has both. There were episodes where you’re watching Goku and go, “Woah, cool!” and are blown away by the action. But if it was so simple, then you wouldn’t care. You have to care about the characters, what happens to them and their relationships.

You wouldn’t care about two guys fighting if you don’t care about the characters. That was the problem with Dragon Ball Evolution. I didn’t care about the characters. But in Dragon Ball Z I did. You laugh when Vegeta gets angry with Goku. It has loads of moments like that.

Wrapping Up

Raditz gets his hair done

Derek: If you could show a screening of the finished film to Akira Toriyama, what do you think he would say afterward?

George: “Give me my money.” Haha.

Harry: I hope he’d say cool, you obviously love something I love so much that you put this much effort into making it.

George: He may have some qualms about certain elements, but everyone has their own interpretation of it. We hope he’d appreciate the amount of passion and effort that we put into this to make it as good as we could.

Harry: Especially if we can tell him this was a film made by and published by his fans. I hope he’d take it as a compliment.

Derek: If Nappa asked Vegeta what the Scouter said about this films power level, what would it say?

Harry: Hahaha. Well, we obviously know the original amount and then the amount that everyone has come to expect. If we were to do it, then I suppose we’d go with Over 9,000. Haha.

Derek: Can fans expect to see the Over 9,000 scene in your film, or is the joke too played out?

Harry: Let’s just say that they will see it in one way or another, if not in the actual trailer.

Derek: This blog is mostly read by Americans but has an international readership, so is there a message you’d like to share with the global Dragon Ball fan base?

Harry: Sit back and enjoy! Get involved. We all love Dragon Ball Z, so enjoy it. Simple as that.

Derek: Great. If fans have more questions, I know that you’ll be providing more video updates in the future, right?

Harry: Yes. This was brilliant. We really appreciate this Derek. It was cool.

Derek: Have a good night and I’m looking forward to seeing the finished product.

George: Cheers.

Arrival

Ryan Oliva as Nappa, the Saiyan

There you have it. Live action Dragon Ball Z is on the way!

Filming begins in May, and I’m looking forward to the updates from Harry and George at K&K Productions as production continues.

If you want to see this film get made, then please support it with a tax-deductible donation on IndieGogo. The more the better, because that means they can do more wire work and special effects, really bringing the true spirit of Dragon Ball Z to life.

That’s the whole point of Dragon Ball Z: Saiyan Saga, and it’s what Dragon Ball fans across the world have been waiting for.

Post from: The Dao of Dragonball Blog

Dragon Ball Z: Saiyan Saga Interview

Have you heard of this before? The internet is abuzz.

In this Google Trends image you can see that searches for “dragon ball hoshi” became a noticeable trend in July, 2011. Searches rose sharply in August before taking a dip, and then increased dramatically in early November to December.

So what is it about? Is it even real?

Today you’ll learn what Dragon Ball Hoshi truly is and find out why it matters so much to Dragon Ball fans!

What is Dragon Ball Hoshi?

The official FUNimation forum has the first verifiable post discussing Dragon Ball Hoshi on June 10, 2011. It states that other forums had been discussing it for a while, and traces it back to a DeviantArt profile that has since been deactivated, named “Goku9.”

Here is the exact rumor often added to YouTube video descriptions.

“Akira Toriyama is to be making a new Dragon Ball series alongside mangaka Naho Ooishi, the creator of the 2008 Dragon Ball Z special, “Yo! Son Goku and Friends Return,” called Dragon Ball Hoshi. Ooishi will be making a manga that continues the Z Manga past the Buu saga. It will have a newly designed Super Saiyan 4, and even a Super Saiyan 5. Akira Toriyama will be assisting her and backing off. The events in Japan (earthquake, tsunami) slowed this down. Now Toriyama is taking care of that. Launch in 2012, 2013.”

Wow, a new Dragon Ball series?! Time to get excited!!

But wait, hold on. There are a few problems with this rumor.

The first is that it’s an outright lie in every single way!

It’s not mere speculation or even grapevine gossip originating from an official source. It’s a bold faced lie! None of it is true.

The second is that it would be illogical for Toei to announce “a newly designed Super Saiyan 4, and even a Super Saiyan 5” before it actually appears in a new series, as this would ruin the story, build up and development of the characters. They would lose viewership and profits.

The third is that you can be guaranteed that a new Toei produced Dragon Ball series would have an extremely specific launch date. Not some vague “in a year or two” like we’ve been hearing about the rumored Dragon Ball AF over the last 15 years.

There would also be an enormous marketing push, with press releases, media coverage, and so on. None of this has happened.

To state clearly, there have been no official announcements of any kind regarding Dragon Ball Hoshi or this rumor.

But that hasn’t stopped people from looking for Dragon Ball Hoshi news.

According to Google AdWords Keywords Tool, there were an average of 49,500 global monthly searches for “dragon ball hoshi” over the last 12 months and 18,100 for “new dragon ball series.” But because these numbers are an average, and the number has recently risen sharply, I believe the current numbers are higher.

In short, a lot of people are hearing the Dragon Ball Hoshi rumor and looking for news on the internet.

What are they finding and then sharing with others?

Let’s take a look.

Dragon Ball Heroes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7fHmw6pQUo

This is labeled “New Series Dragon Ball 2012 Hoshi *All Trailer* Original”

What is it really?

Dragon Ball Heroes, an arcade game in Japan where players insert collectible cards to perform moves or summon allies.

The game has had several big marketing pushes, each one accompanied by a short promotional video with newly animated scenes, like you see above.

Did you notice that the singer continuously repeats the jingle, “Dragon Ball Heroes,” as the videos play? This is because it’s the name of the game, Dragon Ball Heroes. NOT Dragon Ball Hoshi.

As you’ll find with most of these videos, they are missing the beginning and ending. This is done on purpose so that you don’t see the title cards and identify what the animation really belongs to.

The main character of Dragon Ball Heroes, named Hero, is the one you repeatedly see interacting with Goku. He’s a new character made specifically for this game.

Most of the videos you’ll see here are by the same small group of people, primarily the YouTube users “DragonBallHoshi1,” “SuperDragonBallAf2″ and “DBHoshi.” They may even be the same person, as the videos have the same descriptions.

They have created multiple videos with misleading titles, all aimed at building up hype and confusing viewers.

Sometimes if you try to comment on their videos to tell people the truth, the comment has to be approved first, and it never will be. Only the “I’m so excited” and “Dragon Ball Hoshi looks awesome!” type of comments are approved. Or comments are disabled outright.

This is not Dragon Ball Hoshi.

Dragon Ball Online

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ph9ZY2C5E3Q

This video is labeled “Dragon Ball Hoshi New Series 2013 Original.” It has 1.4 million views.

And you know what it really is? It’s the intro to Dragon Ball Online, the new MMO currently being played in Korea and Taiwan.

Dragon Ball Online is an official video game that continues the canon Dragon Ball story. It takes place after the end of the original Dragon Ball manga (DBZ anime), and completely ignores Dragon Ball GT.

Akira Toriyama is involved in its production. He spent over 5 years working on the character and world designs.

The game is massively multiplayer and allows you to select from several races and classes from within the Dragon World, including some new ones, and then train them to have different skills. You take your character and go on adventures, team up with others, make friends, and chase after the dragon balls.

An English release has not been announced, but there are English modifications that allow you to play the Korean version.

This is not Dragon Ball Hoshi

Yo! Son Goku and Friends Return

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nu1oMJ6LrIw

This video is labeled “New Series Dragon Ball Hoshi 2012.”

It’s actually “Yo! Son Goku and Friends Return,” an animated special from 2008 in Japan. It tells a short story about Goku and his friends battling against a new bad guy and introduces Vegeta’s long lost younger brother, Tarble.

This is not Dragon Ball Hoshi.

Dragon Ball Z Ultimate Tenkaichi

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AplTH454H7c

Here’s one called “New Series Dragon Ball 2012 (Dragon Ball Hoshi) Real Full HD).” It has 2.8 million views.

What is it?

It’s the opening for Dragon Ball Z Ultimate Tenkaichi [aff] in slow motion, because apparently that makes it better.

The two characters fighting Goku are personifications of the types of characters you can create in the Hero character customization mode.

This is not Dragon Ball Hoshi.

The Episode of Bardock

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIoxUjhjiBc

This video is titled “New Series Dragon Ball Hoshi Episodes 1 Real Full HD 1080p.” It has 214,000 views.

But what is it really?

The Episode of Bardock.

A single animated episode based on the 3 chapter manga created by Naho Ooishi, that tells an alternative story of what happened to Bardock after Freeza killed him and all the other Saiyans.

Instead of dying, Bardock goes back in time and faces off against Chilled, Freeza’s predecessor. In the process, he becomes a Super Saiyan.

The manga had appeared in V-Jump, Shueisha’s Video Game magazine, between August to October, 2011.

Why a video game magazine? Because Bardock was going to be transformed into a Super Saiyan for the very first time in the new update of Dragon Ball Heroes, the arcade game mentioned above.

As you can see in this image, Bardock, Chilled, Freeza and King Cold are positioned next to the Dragon Ball Heroes arcade unit.

The Episode of Bardock premiered in Japan during the Jump Festa event from December 18 to 19, 2011. It then streamed live on Bandai’s website for another week.

These guys on YouTube recorded the stream, added subtitles, and then labeled it Dragon Ball Hoshi.

This is not Dragon Ball Hoshi.

The Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans

Want the official version of The Episode of Bardock? It was distributed on a disc as a bonus in the March 2012 issue of Monthly Saikyo Jump, published by Shueisha.

Also included on the disc is the recently re-animated film, The Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans. This is a special film that originally appeared as animated clips on a Dragon Ball video game for the Playdia console in Japan in 1993, called Zetsumetsu Keikaku (Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans).

The scenes were reanimated as a bonus for Dragon Ball: Raging Blast 2 [aff] on Playstation 3 and Xbox 360, and this is the first time it has been published outside of the game.

This film was also streamed online, on Sheuisha’s Official V-Jump Website. But it’s region blocked for those in other countries.

Naturally, The Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans is also passed off as Dragon Ball Hoshi, as you can see in this clip where they overlaid all the sound with Dragon Ball Heroes music.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Cqm6cPZPCE

This is not Dragon Ball Hoshi.

Dragon Ball SD

The first issue of Monthly Saikyo Jump was also the premiere of a new, official, Dragon Ball manga, called Dragon Ball SD.

This one is actually real!

The manga is done by Naho Ooishi, with supervision by Akira Toriyama. The series retells key moments of the Dragon Ball series in a SD (Super Deformed) style, where the characters are shrunk down and cute. It’s made to appeal to little kids.

Saikyo Jump was released as a quarterly magazine for 1 whole year before it turned monthly on December 3, 2011. The Dragon Ball SD manga therefore had 4 chapters. The story retold Goku’s training with Kame Sennin, his fight against Freeza, against Cell, and against Majin Buu.

Now that it has appeared monthly, it has returned to the beginning of Dragon Ball and is retelling the story in a cute style.

It’s unknown how many issues are planned.

Luckily nobody is trying to pass this off as Dragon Ball Hoshi because it’s a manga. But just to make it clear…

This is not Dragon Ball Hoshi.

Dragon Ball SSSS

In early January, Bandai announced a new project called SSSS, which stands for Saikyou Super Saiyan Secret.

This is a collaborative project with Toei to do cross promotional Dragon Ball video games and animation. The streaming of Episode of Bardock was the first result, and they are working on new video game titles.

Since it’s a secret, very little else is known.

There are already videos out there being titled SSSS that consist of other content. So don’t be fooled in the future when you see more.

This is not Dragon Ball Hoshi.

Why does Dragon Ball Hoshi Matter?

By now it should be obvious that Dragon Ball Hoshi is none of the things you’ve seen above.

So I’m sure you’re dying to know, what IS Dragon Ball Hoshi?

The truth is that there is no such thing as Dragon Ball Hoshi. It was a lie from the beginning!

That’s right, the cake is a lie!

Dragon Ball Hoshi merely consists of recycled clips from other Dragon Ball properties. That’s why most of them are so shallow and there are never any title screens.

It’s not even a fan made creation like Dragon Ball AF, where people have created new characters, illustrations, manga, action figures, original videos, and even video game modifications.

Nor is Hoshi like the other fan creations, Dragon Ball AE, Ultimate Z , V, SF, X, Absalon, Neo, or H, that contain stories or illustrations.

Dragon Ball Hoshi is nothing. It is an empty name devoid of substance.

Dragon Ball Hoshi only matters because it exists so prevalently.

Put an End to Wild Rumors

Even with Dragon Ball Hoshi clearly explained, you may still wonder, “Why then is there all this content on the internet labeled as Dragon Ball Hoshi, and so many people talking about it?”

I would ask, “How can something so fake still fool so many people?”

Is it because of the animation quality? Because of the crafty editing and withholding of valuable information? Because of the deceptive lies?

Sure, these contribute. But the real reason is because Dragon Ball fans inherently WANT to believe that there will be a new Dragon Ball series.

Deep in their hearts they seek to relive the same experiences from the first time through Dragon Ball, and they want to reconnect with their favorite characters. Everybody wants a new Dragon Ball series!

Dragon Ball is still relevant to its fans, and the new releases of films, video games, and re-animated works like Dragon Ball Kai continue to excite their interests without fully satiating them.

Unfortunately, just like those who promulgate Dragon Ball AF as the next official series, these YouTube guys are con-artists and attention seekers. They either want you to click on whatever they are advertising, or watch their videos and be fooled into believing it so they can get a laugh.

Or they’re just plain dumb and honestly don’t know what they’re doing.

Just look at this conversation on the unofficial Dragon Ball Hoshi Facebook page, which has 3,858 likes.

Mason says, “They are making a new dbz series.” Robin replies, “Mason, they are not..” and the owner of the page says, “if dragon ball hoshi was fake than why did they make it. Common sence if i was fake i wouldn’t of putting this page in the first place. Duhhhh.”

Yeah. I rest my case.

The same thing happened with AF between 1999 and today.

To point, the Dragon Ball Hoshi rumor is so prevalent because once a rumor is started on the internet, it’s hard to kill.

Spreading rumors and gossip is wrong in the first place, and knowledge of truth is the remedy. So now that you know, please stop believing and telling others about it.

There is no value to Dragon Ball Hoshi’s existence.

Unless a new Dragon Ball series is finally made, the rumors may never die. But let’s try to end them, shall we?

When official news comes down the pipeline you’ll be sure to see it across the web on legitimate news sources. There’s no need to make up stories.

Remember, all you have to do the next time you see something labeled as Dragon Ball Hoshi, is close your eyes, tap your heels together three times, and think to yourself…

“This is not Dragon Ball Hoshi. This is not Dragon Ball Hoshi. This is not Dragon Ball Hoshi.”

Then you’ll be whisked away by Kinto’un and magically wake up from this illusory dream.

Resources

The Truth About Dragonball Hoshi

Dragon Ball Hoshi New Series 2012 (New Character)

New Series Dragon Ball Hoshi 2012

Daizex.com forum post on “New Dragon Ball Series

Saikyo Jump Official Website

Kanzentai.com article on Dragon Ball SD

FUNimation forum post about Dragon Ball Hoshi rumor

Dragon Ball Hoshi Facebook Page

Post from: The Dao of Dragonball Blog

Dragon Ball Hoshi Explained

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYxCrugJj_o

The video was so popular that “Super Saiyan” trended worldwide on Twitter.

People everywhere were talking about Super Saiyan’s and Dragon Ball. Retweeting how they loved the show when they were a kid, or laughing in response to his video.

Jalen’s YouTube name is KillerKarisma, and on the KillerKarisma YouTube page Jalen has the following description. “im a very strange character, i like performing social experiments, its hard to put me in one category and im random but i always do things for a reason you never know what to expect from me……..”

This makes me wonder if the whole thing was one big social experiment. I contacted him for an interview and am waiting to hear back.

The next day on Jalen’s Facebook page he said this:

“alot of ppl ask me if i was faking or sincere……….its kind of hard to explain….i have multiple personalities, so the one in that video believed what he was saying, but a part of me did it as a social experiment just to see how ppl would react, all in all, i believe there are powers that we can achieve if we stop limiting our thinking, i believe u can achieve anything with the power of your mind, and that goes for ANYTHING, not just being a super saiyan. if not in the literal sense, we have super saiyans among us everyday, army troops that fight and die for us everyday are super saiyans, single moms struggling to raise kids on their own are super saiyan? know what im saiyan??”

I guess this means he really does have multiple personality disorder.

In any case, in the video, Jalen gives a speech about how he believes people can go Super Saiyan in real life. It is very obvious that Dragon Ball strongly influenced his life.

Jalen’s Super Saiyan Speech

Here’s his speech, transcribed from the video.

“What’s up YouTube. This is something that’s been on my heart for a long time. All I ever wanted to be in life was a Super Saiyan. Ever since I was a kid I used to always look up to Goku and Vegeta, Gohan. I used to look at them and wonder, “How come I’m just a human being? I’m so worthless. Oh, what can I do? I can run, I can jump, I can flip.” And we are just so limited as human beings. And I feel like, when I see superheroes, why can’t life be that exciting and that awesome? Why can’t I wake up, and if I’m late for school, just teleport there and just be on time?

But I feel like, during that time of meditation and just thinking about it, I realized something. All of that is possible and more. It’s in here [points to his head], it’s all in your mind. Think about anything that you ever tried to do. You thought to yourself, “Man, I could never do that.” But then when you practiced it, guess what? You got better at it and you actually achieved it, didn’t you? It’s the same thing when you look at super powers. Of course it sounds absurd when you first look at it. But if you try it! If you actually set your mind to it and believe, you can achieve it.

I saw a Chinese man set a piece of paper on fire with just the power of his hands! Now you gonna tell me that that was fake? No it wasn’t fake! He channeled that energy from within, and he believed, he channeled that energy through the creation of his mind, what his mind believed and what he spoke into existence, of the power that he had! You understand what I’m saying?

I feel like anything that you set your mind to, your mind can create that force, because your mind is just this powerful machine, and whatever you set it to, and you believe, and you work towards achieving it, you can do it! You can do it.

And I believe I can be a Super Saiyan.

So this is my first time exposing this side of me to the world. And I know a lot of you are laughing, but the people who really, who are on my level of intellect, they understand what I am saying. And thank you all for understanding.

I’m going to attempt to go Super Saiyan on film, and I’m gonna upload it to YouTube. This is my first attempt. Now I’m believing. And I’m going to create that energy and channel it through my mind.

Now I might not turn full Super Saiyan, I might turn full Super Saiyan, or you might just see a glimpse of it, of that power. But this is my first attempt, I’m going to turn the music on. Super Saiyan 3 Goku theme.

This is it. Alright.”

Jalen turns on the Super Saiyan 3 Goku Theme music, by Faulconer Productions, featured on the American Dragon Ball Z, and starts to power up!

Transforming into a Super Saiyan

Jalen centers himself.

The power surges through his body. He starts snapping his head back like Goku when he first turned Super Saiyan while battling Freeza.

Then he SCREAMS!

And he screams louder!

He crosses his arms and separates them, while powering up and screaming like crazy.

Jalen stands up, takes his shirt off, stares into the camera and starts screaming even louder!!

“AAAAAAGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

AAAAAAAAAAGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

He plays the part exactly like Goku when he transforms into Super Saiyan 3.

And then all of a sudden he stops…

The music stops.

His eyes roll into the back of his head for a moment and then he stares at the camera.

“My name is Jalen,” he says. “And I am a Super Saiyan.”

The video immediately ends.

AWESOME.

The Reaction

What type of reactions did people have to Super Saiyans are Real?

Most of the comments and reactions were laughter and jokes, making fun of Jalen and calling him names.

Jalen said on his Facebook page, “when these ppl insult me i wonder if they think they’re actually effecting me or hurting my feelings. LOL i was brave enough to put myself out there for everyone to see, you honestly think your little snide remarks is gonna make me cry or commit suicide? LOLOLOL BITCH im a super saiyan u cant harm me!! NOPE!!”

But some people really understood what he was trying to say and do.

For example, “I take this video as a form of inspiration. i don’t think you’re being serious while doing this, but i do believe you are being serious on trying to make a point. that us as human beings limit ourselves to so many things. but you my friend, will open many peoples eyes into seeing they can achieve what they want. at least i know i can now.”

There were also several video reactions.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNzYsjd-UVg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxtQeKtMuyo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2JlQ0s4k9E

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mBqZX5Fox8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhFpBrG_K3g

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXQLrcPIlTw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUng_9Chfaw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uyf0CAvuYeE

People on Twitter continued to talk about it for the next 48 hours, continuously retweeting the video and laughing like crazy about Dragon Ball Z. On Feb 17, 2012, Super Saiyan was still trending.

At 8 pm PST, the rapper Teboe sent me a new song about Jalen via The Dao of Dragon Ball Facebook page. He wrote and mixed a custom track called Super Saiyan, featuring Jalen’s voice, the Super Saiyan 3 music, and audio samples from the American Dragon Ball Z. Listen to it now because it’s awesome.

Human Dynamo Jack Chang

In case you’re curious, this is the video that Jalen referred to when he said, “I saw a Chinese man set a piece of paper on fire with just the power of his hands!”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gid-Ag082lo

It’s from the History Channel’s special on Spontaneous Human Combustion. There are longer videos available online.

This is a video that inspired his belief in Ki / Chi and Super Saiyan powers.

Still Going Viral

It’s too early to say what the results of this will be. Although over 323,328 views in 3 days and dozens of video responses is already pretty big!

And it’s too early for any analysis.

But I can’t help but ask, why did this video go viral? Why was it so popular across the world?

It’s because Dragon Ball is a global phenomenon and because everybody, across the world, WANTS to go Super Saiyan!

The amazing thing about Jalen is that he had the guts to explain his beliefs, film his attempt, and then actually put it on YouTube after failing!

Also because of his amazing performance, the fact that he rips his shirt off half way through, and acts just like a screaming Saiyan the entire time. Perfect!

That is the confidence and absolute belief of a young man. Even in the face of potentially millions of people, he wasn’t afraid to say what he believed and then LIVE it.

The very shonen spirit that Dragon Ball represents… Jalen represents in real life.

In the description of the video Jalen says, “add me on facebook, good luck becoming a super saiyan as i did!”

Indeed, good luck in becoming a Super Saiyan!

Are Super Saiyans real?

On rapper Lil B “The Based God”‘s Facebook page, Jalen wrote, “THANK U BASED GOD IM A MEME ON THE INTERNET NOW SUPER SAIYAN BASED KID!! OMG!!”

Jalen may not have succeeded at becoming a Super Saiyan, but his video did go Super VIRAL, and that’s a real accomplishment all its own!

Post from: The Dao of Dragonball Blog

Super Saiyans are Real