Dragonball Z | The Dao of Dragon Ball Blog

The Black Goku

By Derek Padula on December 17, 2011 Categories: history

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Have you ever asked yourself if Goku is black?

When people ask about Goku’s race, they tend to think Asian or Caucasian.

That’s because Goku’s skin tone appears light, even though it varied throughout the series, especially in Dragon Ball GT when he had a darker tan.

Also because of his literary and actual origins in East Asia.

But back in the late 90’s and early 2000’s, American Dragon Ball fans started to connect with Dragon Ball and relate it to their own lives.

Some African American fans assimilated Goku and purposefully made him black, so as to better connect with their hero.

Today you’ll learn about this social phenomenon.

You’ll also see how FUNimation, the American dubbing company that licensed Dragon Ball from Japan, may have contributed to or capitalized on this trend, and how this then resulted in Americans further assimilating Dragon Ball into their lives.

Get ready to “Step into Da Grand Tour” of The Black Goku.
continue …

Tags: akira toriyama, anime, black goku, culture, dbgt, dbz, dragon ball, dragon ball z, dragonball z, funimation, gen fukunaga, goku, GT, history, japan, life, Piccolo, www.dragonballz.com

Spirit Possession in Dragon Ball

By Derek Padula on December 7, 2011 Categories: spirituality

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Would you be willing to trade your soul to achieve worldly desires, or in exchange for more power? What about allowing your body to be controlled by God, or a demon?

In Dragon Ball, Akira Toriyama incorporates spirit possession as a way to propel character development and plot.

This article explores how Toriyama was inspired by ancient belief systems and spirit possession traditions.
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Tags: akira toriyama, anime, beliefs, buddhism, China, culture, dao, dbz, deity, demon, divine, dragon ball, dragonball z, goku, invincible, japan, Kami, life, majin, Majin Buu, martial arts, master, Piccolo, possession, spiritual, Vegeta, www.dragonballz.com

Dragon Ball Tattoos – Shenron

By Derek Padula on October 30, 2011 Categories: tattoos

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Welcome to part 7, and our final day of Dragon Ball tattoos.

It took 7 days for us to gather the 7 dragon balls, and now we can summon the almighty Shenron and have him grant our wish!

“Come Forth, Shenron!”

continue …

Tags: anime, culture, dbz, dragon ball, dragon ball z, dragonball z, goku, kintoun, life, saiyan, shenron, tattoos, www.dragonballz.com

Dragon Ball Tattoos – Goku Returns

By Derek Padula on October 29, 2011 Categories: tattoos

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Welcome back to part 6 of our multi-part series of Dragon Ball tattoos! Goku is a popular guy, and there are more tattoos of him out there than anybody else, so he’s back for a second round!