Dragonball Gone Toriyama-less?
by "Dreamweaver"

Originally Posted: 20 March 2000

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Just about every editorial I see about Dragonball Z has been viewers' comments about the American version and their comments about FUNimation. Since everyone and their librarians have covered that subject in every possible detail, I'm going to take this opportunity to speak my mind about another highly controversial topic: Dragonball GT.

Dragonball GT is one of those shows that doesn't have a middle ground when it comes to its viewers. Either people like it, or people hate it. Most people hate it because Mr. Toriyama basically had nothing to do with the series. My take on that is, Mr. Toriyama, along with the Japanese counterparts of the complaining fans, had the most pivotal part in the creation of Dragonball GT. Why would I say such a thing? Let me try and explain...

Dragonball was Goku's story. It chronicled the first time Goku met Bulma and that resulted in his first quest for the Dragonballs. Of course he met Yamucha, Oolong, and most of the other major characters in the DB universe up to his battle with Piccolo. Until then, everyone had comparable fighting powers.

Then DBZ started with the arrival of Raditz. From that point, Dragonball took on a philosophy that 'unless you were a Saiyan, you couldn't get into a fight and win', and for this series, only one Saiyan in particular could win a fight when everything was on the line, Goku. Mr. Toriyama had planned to end the DBZ run with the Freeza story, but because of these same fans, he continued the series (thank you!).

As Dragonball Z progressed, it became obvious that the focus switched from Goku to Gohan; his proper introduction in Kamesenin's island, his training under Piccolo, his trip to Namek and what has to be my favorite story in the entire series, the story where Gohan, Piccolo, and Kuririn (or however you want to spell his name) had to save the world from Garlic Jr. and *shudder* the Spice Boys as they will be called.

The greatest realization of this was when everyone else failed and Gohan had to fight and defeat Cell, and Goku died to keep Cell from destroying Earth afterwards. The opening theme to, as I call it, the second Dragonball Z series stated as much. Gohan became the lead character, the go to guy, as it were. He was the focus of Majin Spuppovich's attack. He endured Kaiou-shin's power upgrade. He was supposed to be the one to defeat Majin Buu.

What happened?

Those same fans just couldn't bear the thought of anyone saving the world besides Goku. So he found a way to bring him back and he saved the day again.

I stated before that the Garlic Jr. series was my absolute favorite story in the series. Why? Because it didn't fall under the Dragonball standard. It wasn't always the Saiyan that won the battles, and Goku didn't have a hand in saving the day then. If you look at every other instance where Gohan had to fight to save the world, Goku's ghost appeared to lend a hand, or he telepathically gave Gohan a 'you can do it' speech. (I will admit here, that though I have seen most of the series, I haven't seen all of the TV shows or movies, so there is the possibility that I am wrong.) But in that Garlic Jr. story, absolutely NO Goku.

Now, how does this tie in to my point about Mr. Toriyama and the fans being responsible for Dragonball GT? Simple. The fans wanted Goku to beat Majin Buu and Mr. Toriyama brought him back to keep the fans happy. Dragonball GT is purely Goku's story (it should've been named Goku's Tour instead of Grand Tour). If Goku had stayed dead like he should have, and the focus on Dragonball stayed on Gohan, there wouldn't be a GT, would there? At least, not as we know it.

So don't say that Mr. Toriyama didn't have anything to do with Dragonball GT. He, and the fans in Japan, had everything to do with it.

...What? You want to know what I think of Dragonball GT? Well, I haven't seen much of the series, but I don't like where it's going. It seems that the GT creative team has taken the 'Dragonball standard' and refined it to its purest. Now, being a Saiyan isn't good enough anymore. Trunks is as much a Saiyan as Gohan, and Pan is part Saiyan as well. Yet, I haven't seen them in a meaningful encounter where little Goku didn't have to bail them out. That doesn't sit well with me.

Contact: shikima@netscape.net