Dragon Ball 35
August 2, 2008
I kind of spoil this volume, except if you’ve seen the cover to this volume at all, you already know what I’m talking about. Plus it’s Dragonball. But you’ve been warned, just in case.
Well, this was about what I thought it was going to be. The end of the battle with Cell and… well, Goku saying goodbye. Akira Toriyama explains that there was just no other way to handle the situation, but it seems to me that perhaps Goku could have made his decision quicker and saved himself. But boys will be boys, I suppose, and it made for a good end to the fight, but I could have used a little more sadness.
Actually, the part that came right after Goku’s sacrifice was my favorite part of the fight. Cell distorting into all those weird shapes and being blown up multiple times is really all I needed in my manga volume. Later, there’s time travel, and while I still can’t make much sense of the time travel element (literally, the story details just do not make sense to me), I figured I was better off not thinking about it. It doesn’t pause to consider such details anyway, and like I said, blowing stuff up is enough for me when it comes to this series. The fighting is still pretty great, still better than most new series, so… yes. I’m not going to sit here and tell you it’s bad.
August 2, 2008 at 1:39 pm
Here’s what I think I can explain. I wouldn’t swear to any of this, but…
Trunks comes from the future where Androids 17 and 18 have destroyed everything. He travels to the past to warn Goku not to let Androids 19 and 20 revive 17 and 18. But Trunk’s time travel has created a parellel time line. Trunks can save Goku’s future, but cannot save his own present. No matter what Trunks does he cannot change his future–I mean his present–his future present past. If Cell dies along with 17 and 18, Trunks does not change the future/present of his world, but it will change the future of Goku’s timeline. Meaning, the Androids (including Cell) will still be in Trunk’s future/present when he goes back to his present future past.
So why did Trunks travel back in time in the first place? Ah’unno.
August 6, 2008 at 6:16 am
Thanks, I definitely needed that. I think the motive for saving people that you know in an alternate timeline for absolutely no incentive for the actual people that you know was what was throwing me off.
So, just so I’m clear… Cell, he time travels using Bulma’s machine from the future in Goku’s timeline. He time travels so he can go back in the past and mess everything up. But the Cell that Trunks takes out when he gets back to where he belongs is a Cell that hasn’t time traveled? Right? He hasn’t absorbed anything that would make him strong and invincible, so now that Trunks has been warned about this, he just blows him up. Am I reading that right? Or at least close enough?
August 6, 2008 at 12:52 pm
Close enough. :) I don’t think Toriyama himself can untangle his own mess, which is why I think he made the following Majin Boo saga stupid simple
August 6, 2008 at 7:28 pm
the Cell that Trunks takes out when he gets back to where he belongs is a Cell that hasn’t time traveled? Right? He hasn’t absorbed anything that would make him strong and invincible, so now that Trunks has been warned about this, he just blows him up. Am I reading that right?
Yep, you got it! ^_^d
August 6, 2008 at 8:35 pm
Toriyama himself can untangle his own mess, which is why I think he made the following Majin Boo saga stupid simple
I’m not sure, [perhaps Jason T could chime in on this] American fanlore says that Toriyama was going to end it with the Cell Saga, but Jump wanted it to keep running. Now from what I was told by a Japan friend [also into DBZ], she states that the Cell Games were supposed to be the ‘end of Goku’ and Toriyama was going to continue the series with Gohan as the star. Fans in Japan didn’t respond well to this and wanted Goku back in a big way. The Babidi and Boo Saga’s came as a result of fans wanted Goku back; personally, I think this is what led to Gohan being ‘dumbed down’ in terms of power, and I too think that the Boo run was no where near as entertaining or complex as Trunks/Androids/Cell sagas.
August 7, 2008 at 4:59 am
Some people think DBZ should have ended with the Freeza saga. Maybe it should have; there can be too much of a good thing. I don’t think so. I thought the Cell saga was great, and I know people get down on the Boo/Fusion storyline, but I felt it was great stoopid fun. I mean, how can you live the rest of your life without seeing Gogeta or Gotenk’s exploding ghosts or turning the King of Demons into a cookie or ChiChi hit with a spell that turns her into a chicken egg. Better yet, how can you say you have lived until you’ve witnessed Gogeta turned into a ball of hard candy that, not only fights, but, for a time, beats the crap out of Majin Boo? Nothing’s more golden than that.
August 7, 2008 at 11:02 pm
Nothing’s more golden than that.
It’s crack I tell you! ^_^ It reminded me fondly of the insanity that was early Dragonball - with Frankenstein look-a-likes, Goku marveling at all the women missing their balls and tails, and girls named Snow.
August 8, 2008 at 3:50 am
Man, if the end to the Cell saga was supposed to be the last of Goku, that was an extremely underwhelming exit for him. I can understand why people might not be pleased with that goodbye, but maybe there’s more to it that I haven’t read in the next volume.
And I knew fusion would come along eventually, but I had no idea the Boo stuff was so insane. I mean, I could imagine crazy stuff, but not that level of crazy. Now I’m excited.