Super Saiyans are Real

On Feb 14, 2012 a young boy named Jalen tried to turn into a Super Saiyan on film and then posted it on YouTube. The video instantly went viral!

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

super saiyans are real jalen youtube 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

super saiyans are real jalen goku ssjHere’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!

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Gen Fukunaga Hints at More DBZ

On October 6, 2011, FUNimation streamed a live interview on YouTube to help promote the Blu-ray release of Dragon Ball Z on November 8.

The guests included Gen Fukunaga (Founder and CEO of FUNimation), Matt O’Hara (Manager of DVD, Blu-ray and video production), and Christopher Sabat (voice of Vegeta, Piccolo, Yamcha, and also the ADR Director behind the English voice cast).

During the interview Gen hints that he would love to have more Dragon Ball Z in the pipeline, and has been trying to collaborate with TOEI and Shueisha to make that happen!

What does this mean for the series, and for fans?

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Overthinking Dragon Ball

Goku-Thinking-Upside-Down-in-the-Afterlife

Goku Thinks Deep Thoughts

I prefer to write all of my own content and create original posts. That’s why sometimes it takes a little while for a new article to find its way to the blog. But I just discovered some gems of Dragon Ball related philosophy that had to be shared.

These beauty’s are from the Overthinking.com site:

All the articles are written by the same author, Fenzel, and they each explore a different aspect of the Dragon Ball series.

They are also poignant because sometimes I am accused of over thinking Dragon Ball. Now I know there is at least one other person out there willing to take the time to write articles like this. I’m not alone!

On their podcast he said there would be 48 posts, but so far there are only 4. Luckily they are well written and thought provoking.

Why Overthink Dragon Ball?: Fenzel discusses the inherent value of the Dragon Ball series and how it does so many things well that are often overlooked.

On Chosen Ones and Super Saiyans: The “Chosen One” story path and the concept of determinism are discussed in light of pop culture stories like Star Wars, The Matrix, and why Dragon Ball is a prime example of how to do it right.

Metonymy and Metaphor: An educational lesson on advanced literary techniques espoused through the lens of DBZ.

Dragonball Abomination Z: Here Fenzel analyzes the Dragonball: Evolution movie and talks about the ways he felt it failed.

All of them are worth reading for a deeper look at the series.

Unfortunately their comments are disabled on older posts. So, if you feel like sharing, then please do so in the comments below. There’s certainly a lot of fuel for the fire.

Dragon Ball Director Praises Shen Yun

James Wong Director of Dragon Ball Evolution At Shen Yun

James Wong at Shen Yun

The Shen Yun performing arts company finished its encore tour in Los Angeles on July 11. James Wong, the director of Dragonball: Evolution was in the audience with his family and praised the Shen Yun show.

An article was written for The Epoch Times newspaper to convey his feelings.

From the article:

James said, “I think it’s incredible. The dancers are amazing, the synchronicity of the dances, the tradition, the traditional dances, along with the costumes, is fantastic. I’m really impressed.”

“His most recent film, Dragonball: Evolution (20th Century Fox) is based on the hit comic book and animated series Dragon Ball that finds its roots in traditional Chinese and Japanese culture, notably from Journey to the West, a Chinese classic. The triumphant climax of the epic Journey to the West is retold in Shen Yun as the final performance of the show. The Buddhist Monk Xuanzang and his faithful guardian, The Monkey King, make a glorious return to Tang Dynasty China where they distribute the Buddhist teachings to future generations.”

As a contributor to The Epoch Times I was asked to write this article because of its relationship with Dragon Ball. Shen Yun’s display of authentic traditional culture incorporates The Monkey King legend that inspired Akira Toriyama to create Dragon Ball. And I was happy to help with this unique synchronicity.

The full article: Hollywood Director Recommends Shen Yun: ‘It’s Spectacular’

Dragon Ball Zee or Zed?

Dragon Ball Z. How is it pronounced? Perhaps you never asked yourself the question, but it turns out there are a few different ways to say it. All because of the Z.

For example, is it pronounced Dragon Ball Zee, Dragon Ball Zed or something else entirely? The title of the show represents a linguistic problem with various answers that depend on where you live and what language you speak.

Why does it matter? Because the show is an international phenomenon with no agreed upon standard for how to pronounce its name. And the differences stand as another example of diversity seen within the localized versions of the Dragon Ball series.

To really understand why this is the case we have to learn a little about languages and world history from within the Dragon Ball perspective.

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Dragon Ball’s Bloody Pond of Hell

Welcome to the "Bloody Pond" from DBZ episode 13

Welcome to the "Bloody Pond" from DBZ's Hell

Have you been to the Bloody Pond of Hell?  It’s a great place to visit… They have row boats.

Many fans of Dragon Ball may be aware of the Bloody Pond in Dragon Ball’s Hell, but how many of them know that you can actually visit it?

It turns out that there is a real Bloody Pond in a city of Japan, and that it was the most likely source for Dragon Ball’s version.

This Bloody Pond also has an interesting part to play in traditional Japanese culture and society.

What is the Bloody Pond and why does this matter in Dragon Ball?  And where exactly did Toriyama receive the inspiration for his Bloody Pond?

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5 Communist and Socialist Elements in Dragon Ball

Hitler Heil's Hello in DBZ Movie 12

Hitler Heil's Hello in DBZ Movie 12

There are many unique aspects to the Dragon Ball series and several may contain socialist and communist elements.  In this article I will introduce 5 of them.

They are the following:

  1. Red Army
  2. Stars
  3. Hitler
  4. Hooked Cross Z
  5. One World Government

The elements on this list are the results of watching the Dragon Ball series and seeing what is already there.  I am not making any of these up.

This article is not only here to reveal what was in front of us all along, but to also help explain how and why.

Red Star Hammer and Sickle

Red Star Hammer and Sickle

Please keep in mind that Dragon Ball is above all else a fun and lighthearted show with a heavy dose of silliness and martial arts antics.  These socialist and communist elements do not detract from the Dragon Ball experience in any way.

It’s possible you may disagree with some of the inherent meaning behind these elements within the series, and a lot has been said about one of them in particular, but that does not take away from the fact that they are there to begin with and left for us to explore and understand.

If you have any thoughts on their meaning and why the creator’s put them in, then please state your thoughts in the comments below.

Now let’s begin our adventure. continue …