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If one had to describe Dragon Ball, the series that many consider to be the late Akira Toriyama's magnum opus, in the simplest of terms, they'd likely refer to the sheer amount of fighting in it. That's not a slight to those people, either. In the world of Dragon Ball, combat is often quite literally everything. It's a method of self-expression, connection, and competition. It is a pursuit that can lead to ruin just as easily as it can lead to the world (or the universe) being saved. It is the language shared by most of the cast, and spoken most fluently by the main character, Goku, who has his entire ethos supported by the will to train and fight and never give up.
Despite this, the Dragon Ball franchise relishes in a kind of sincere humanism. It's what ultimately makes it a very graceful, optimistic work. The manga itself is definitely a spectacle of fantastical combat - few are more adept than Toriyama at battle manga pacing and the illusion of movement between panels. However, it's the thematic throughlines that carry Dragon Ball's most promising features, and the franchise is far from simply being "The Goku Show." Instead, it's about how much we need one another to survive and the bonds that we form through trial.
Goku is certainly a "Chosen One" character, a prodigy surrounded by those that consistently underestimate him. This is most true in the early stages of the original Dragon Ball, in which the knee-high Saiyan warrior spends most of his time thrashing anyone foolish enough to pick a fight with him. However, as the series evolves into the martial arts trappings that will later come to define it, Goku has to evolve, too, and he does that through the support of others. Alongside fellow trainee Krillin, Goku is put through the ringer by his Master Roshi, a man who (when he isn't ogling pretty girls) sees a lot of promise in the twerpy Super Saiyan-to-be. From these introductory moments, one thing is clear: Goku won't be able to succeed alone.
Article continues belowRoshi himself even defies expectations that Dragon Ball is fueled by bloodlust. During the 22nd World Martial Arts Tournament, entered under the alias of Jackie Chun, he forfeits his battle against Tien (a future rival-turned-peer of Goku) because he senses that it isn't his purpose to beat the newcomer. That is better left for the next generation of fighters. One can find shades of this understanding and embracing of the future years later when Dragon Ball Z ends and Goku offers to train the young Uub, a child that he sees promise in. As Dragon Ball shows us, gaining power and skills is great, but passing them on is at the forefront.
Battles are rarely won alone, even if Goku usually stands front and center. His fight with Vegeta only ends thanks to the help of his friends. When Goku goes Super Saiyan for the first time against Frieza, he does so because of the anger he feels over the pain Frieza has caused his friends. The attack that he uses to finally defeat Kid Buu needs energy from around the world. When Gohan lands the finishing blow on Cell, his explosive Kamehameha is backed by the support of his dad (from the afterlife).
Even Vegeta, who enters the series as its most ruthless villain yet, eventually changes his ways and comes to relish in not only fatherhood but the ways in which companionship can help him. Does having strong friends mean that training against them can specifically make you stronger? Sure. But that's Dragon Ball, and it's more of a feature than a bug. When Piccolo is left to train Gohan after Goku is killed by Raditz, his disillusion is slowly turned into a dutiful warrior's compassion.
Akira Toriyama's legacy is vast, spanning every genre and medium that he touched. Dragon Ball excites us with its grand, unstoppable energy while also teaching us that we're often at our best in this world when we don't have to go it alone, and that's just one thing that Toriyama's left us with. But for countless fans of the iconic series, it's a critical message, something that you can take out of the pages of a manga or the screen of an anime and carry into real life. You don't have to do a Kamehameha in order to be like Goku.
With one small change the One Piece anime is now finally living up to the legendary manga.
