Kame Sennin and Kume Sennin – The Perverted Hermits
Every Dragon Ball fan is familiar with Kame Sennin, the perverted martial arts master. But how many of you have heard of Kume Sennin, the original perverted hermit?
Many of the characters seen in Dragon Ball were inspired by traditional or pop culture. It’s well known that Goku was inspired by the Monkey King from Journey to the West, as well as martial arts actor Jackie Chan.
But not all of the characters’ points of origin are as easy to see.
Today I will reveal for the first time the original inspiration for Kame Sennin.
You’ll learn who Kume Sennin is, hear his legend, and see how his transformation into a Japanese pop cultural figure was later emulated in cinema and then once again by Akira Toriyama in Dragon Ball.
You’ll also learn why this legend is so essential to the Dragon Ball story, and how it’s so well integrated that you may never have realized it.
continue …
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Dragon Ball Cosplay at Anime Expo 2011
Dragon Ball was alive at the 2011 Anime Expo in Los Angeles!
My fiancé and I snapped some pictures of a bunch of the Dragon Ball cosplayers.
I also wrote an article about the Anime Expo for The Epoch Times newspaper, which includes some great pictures and an interview with Dragon Ball fan, Nick Kossman.
Hang in There, Japan!
Goku says, "Good Luck!!"
The recent earthquake in Japan has caused a lot of grief and heartache. Akira Toriyama wrote a message to the Japanese people wishing them good luck in their recovery. He said:
Hang in there~!!
To all the victims,
This is truly awful, but please don’t give up,
and hang in there no matter what!
- Toriyama Akira
(Translation by Hujio, from Kanzentai.com)
The Weekly Shonen Jump Editors also wrote a message below Toriyama’s illustration, wishing everyone a speedy recovery.
In Toriyama’s illustration, Goku and Arale-Chan from Dr. Slump ride aboard the Kinto-un while a golden Immortal Dragon flies behind them and the 7 dragon balls follow our hero upward into the sky.
Goku’s cheerful appearance and the overall symbolism imply an optimistic rebirth and a long life; an eternally youthful state of perseverance and rising ever higher.
Japan, perhaps now more than ever, needs the dragon balls and a hero like Goku to save the day.
Update! (Mar 28, 2011)
Shueisha and Toriyama have collaborated along with other manga artists in a relief effort.
Shueisha released a video that allows people to contribute their “genki” to the genki-dama (spirit bomb) and send it to Japan. By watching the video Shueisha will donate a small amount of money to the affected areas.
Toriyama also drew some new art along this same theme, found on the Japanese Shonen Jump site, where it can be downloaded as a wallpaper.
The art contains a drawing of Goku holding the genki-dama above his head, and Mister Satan is cheering the world on, saying “Thank you everyone!! The genki-dama is getting bigger and bigger!!”
Side by Side – Krillin
Krillin Holds up the World
By reader request, here is an excerpt from The Dao of Dragon Ball that focuses on the character Krillin. This excerpt is from the Side by Side chapter in the Journey to the West section, where the characters from Dragon Ball are compared to those of Journey to the West.
Please note that the final version in the book may change.
Images seen in this blog post are not included in the book.
San Zuang / Krillin: A Warrior Monk
Young Krillin (created by "Rexobias")
Speaking of warriors, another character who represents San Zuang in a few noticeable ways is Krillin, a monk from Orin Temple (Japanese: ???, Orinji).
Krillin is comparable to San Zuang most evidently because they are both monks. San Zuang is a Buddhist monk of a Tang Dynasty China sect with Idealist origins, and Krillin is in the order of Orinji. His shaved head and outward appearance are testament to the discipline and strength of his character. These are traits cultivated in the temple environment and would aid him both in life as well as death (the afterlife). He is 13 when first introduced.
Krillin’s Japanese name (????, Kuririn) alludes to his martial monk heritage: “Kuri” means chestnut (as a pun expressed in the funny shape of his bald head), and “rin” means tree. His name references the Shaolin Temple of China, as Shorin is the name given to the Shaolin School’s branch in Japan. The Shorin Temple is a Zen Buddhist school that uses martial arts as an aid to its spiritual cultivation method of Buddha Law cultivation.
His name has other humorous aspects as well. “Shorin” in Japanese is written as ??, which in English means “Few Trees” or “Young Forest.” “Orin” in Japanese is written as ??, which in English means “Many Trees” or (essentially) “Expansive Forest.” So his name is an inverse spoof on the Shorin. Orinji also sounds like the borrowed English word “orange,” which is another of the countless and clever food references created by Toriyama.
Overthinking Dragon Ball
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:
- Why Overthink Dragon Ball?
- On Chosen Ones and Super Saiyans
- Metonymy and Metaphor
- Dragonball Abomination Z
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.
New Dragon Ball Book Cover
The new book cover
The theme for the book cover was to try and capture some of Goku’s personality in a simple and clean way. I borrowed the orange from the color of his dogi, the blue from his boots, belt and shirt, and the yellow from his Super Saiya-jin hair.
The logo consists of the orange star from Orange Star High School combined with a Daoist yin-yang in the colors already mentioned.
And I chose a simple but large font that was easy to read from far away as well as in the form of a tiny thumbnail, such as you might see on Amazon books.
The characters below the yin-yang are “Long Qiu Dao” (in Chinese) and translate as “Dragon Ball Dao,” or in other words, The Dao of Dragon Ball. This way it becomes clear at a glance that the book contains East Asian content, and perhaps that will fascinate someone long enough to open the book or read the back cover.
For comparisons sake, you can also check out another mockup I created for the cover in June of 2009.
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