There are few multimedia franchises capable of boasting the sort of successDragon Ballhas enjoyed over the last four-plus decades. And as long as it’s able to find its footing without Akira Toriyama’s guidance, the series' popularity shouldn’t wane any time soon.
Dragon Ball’s iconic cast of charactershave starred in some of anime’s most memorable moments, and their impact on the landscape of battle shōnen can still be felt today. Any fan, either long-time or new,would likely pick a different scene as their favorite, and very few would question their taste regardless of their choice.
However, there is one moment that stands out for reasons beyond influence or flashy entertainment, and it can be argued thatDragon Ball, or any other shōnen series since, has not been able to top it. Goku and Gohan’s Father-Son Kamehameha isn’t just one of the series' most entertaining moments,it’s also Akira Toriyama’s finest moment as a writer.
Dragon Ball Has Yet to Top the Cell Saga’s Climax
Cell’s Defeat Wasn’t Just Exciting, It Packed an Emotional Punch
Dragon Ballis a simple series, and that isn’t a bad thing. Its compelling characters, led by the endlessly endearing Goku, make it practically impossible for the audience not to become invested in their ongoing battles. When a major villain is defeated, it communicates a sort of triumphant feeling, and relays the central message that hard work and having good friends can win the day.
It rarely gets any deeper than that, but when it wants to, the series can hit hard. An example beingGoku giving in to his Saiyan roots on Namek, and realizing he can’t make friends of everyone when Frieza tries to land his final cheap shot. The frown that follows that moment remains one ofDragon Ball’s most iconic images.
However, the finale of the following arc stands out not only because it’s another triumphant victory over evil, but because it’s one ofthe series' most emotional moments as well. The passing of the torch from father to son with an attack that wasn’t Goku’s own, but rather one he learned only because of the people around him, is a masterful bit of writing.
Goku’s strength has never been his alone. Instead, it was forged by all those he connected with and learned to care about on a planet he was initially meant to destroy. That power being passed to Gohan, who was the only living being capable of defending those friends and loved ones, may very well be Toriyama’s best writing moment, and for a variety of reasons.
Dragon Ball’s Cell Saga Was a Bumpy Ride For Its Creator
Behind-the-Scenes Hurdles Make the Cell Saga Even More Impressive
Akira Toriyama’s writing style has become somewhat infamous in the years sinceDragon Ball’s conclusion. The legendary artist would draw chapters week-to-week without much of a plan of where to go next, a method that editors and manga publishers likely wouldn’t even allow today. Nevertheless, it worked for Toriyama, but it did cause some issues.
Beyond the minor oversights of certain characters or lore,Dragon Ball’s creator had quite a bit on his plate at all times, and the tangled time-travel narrative of the Cell Sagawas particularly difficult to manage under time restraints. On top of that, feedback from editors forced him to change the arc’s main villains several times before he landed on Cell.
Nothing about the creative process during this period was smooth for Toriyama, yet he managed to deliver a coherent time-travel story, another iconic villain, new transformations, and meaningful character growth for a few cast members. Most impressively, Gohan’s ascendance into the role of main hero wasn’t just shoehorned in.It felt like a natural progression.
Though it might upset some passionateDragon Ballfans, Akira Toriyama was right to swiftly remove Gohan from the leading role.Dragon Balljust doesn’t quite function properly without its kind-hearted yet super-powerful protagonist.
The payoff to Gohan’s character arc, which began steadily building a number of arcs before, was executed to perfection with the Father-Son Kamehameha. Never again hasDragon Ballreached such heights in so many different areas.
Modern Dragon Ball Is Great, But It Has Failed to Deliver On Gohan
Following His Best Moment, Gohan Was Left Behind
Though it might upset some passionateDragon Ballfans, Akira Toriyama was right to swiftlyremove Gohan from the leading role.Dragon Balljust doesn’t quite function properly without its kind-hearted yet super-powerful protagonist. However, abandoning Gohan entirely following his moment in the spotlight wasn’t exactly a great move.
The epic passing of the torch, as well as the main lesson Gohan learned during the arc,were both forgotten when moving intoDragon Ball Super. Beyond inheriting the role of hero, the Cell Saga also taught Gohan that strength is necessary in order to protect loved ones. Unfortunately, that lesson was forgotten time and time again as the series progressed.
2022’sDragon Ball Supertaught it to him once again by pitting him against Cell Max, and forcing him through a mirror moment of his original Super Saiyan 2 transformation. However, without the arcs of character building that preceded that initial explosion,Super Hero’s Beast Gohan just doesn’t quite hit the same highs.
Nevertheless,Dragon Ball’s Father-Son Kamehameha remains the series' finest writing moment, even if the lesson learned didn’t quite stick. Not only was it masterfully executed, but the circumstances in which Akira Toriyama pulled it off make it all the more impressive. It isn’t a stretch to say that no battle shōnen moment has matched it since.
Dragon Ball
From the creative mind of Akira Toriyama, Dragon Ball is a mega multimedia franchise that spans back to the 1980s. Dragon Ball expanded quickly, starting as a serialized manga for Weekly Shonen Jump in Japan. It made its way overseas via manga and an anime adaptation that is enjoyed worldwide. Dragon Ball was the initial starting animated series that followed the adventures of the young Son Goku as he sought after the Dragon Balls. These mystical orbs would grant the wish of any who gathered them together. Then, the series would branch off into the immensely popular Dragon Ball Z, which followed Goku as an adult and featured high-intensity battles and Goku’s never-ending search to be the strongest. The series has also enjoyed several popular video game adaptations and continues to release several new animated series and theatrical films up to the recent popular Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero.
