The Yellow Robed Demon King? Who is that? Does he remind us of Goku Black? Or Baby from Dragon Ball GT? OR Captain Ginyu? What makes the 1986 adaptation of Journey to the West so endearing?

In this episode, Jelli and Bekinney take another look at 1986 Chinese television event, Journey to the West. It began as part of our October viewing where we take a break from breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon and delve into times our franchise's creators have "put on a costume" and worked on other shows and movies. Now, it's extending into BONUS ROUNDS, where we'll occasionally look back at the show and see what else we can discuss.

In this episode:

• Catch-up time! Do we have any further news about Dragon Ball Age 1000 or the return of Dragon Ball Super? What plans do we have for the our show right now? Join us to find out!
• We discuss YOUR results from the poll YOU voted in!
• We discuss why we chose to look at Journey to the West
• The reception of the show and its legacy
• Plans to continue breaking down the show in the future
• ...and more, including some general pop culture, trivia, and editorializing, as usual

Join us as we continue to uncover the cultural meanings, publication facts, inspirations and more behind the wildly popular Dragon Ball franchise...

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Note: The audio is less than ideal for Jelli during the opening 3 minutes, but improves drastically during the topic-of-discussion.

It's one of anime's most iconic moments, but did you know it has its basis in Buddho-Daoist traditions and the yin-yang cycle of energy? Let's talk about SUPER SAIYANS in today's episode!

Join Jelli and Bekinney as they continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon Dragon Ball Z by looking at episodes 91 through 95: "Embodiment of Fire," "Trump Card," "Keep the Chance Alive!" "Power of the Spirit," and "Transformed at Last." As we continue on into the Frieza Saga, we focus on Goku's transformation into a Super Saiyan and the importance of the moment.

In this episode:

• Jelli and Bekinney CAN escape...but SHOULD they?
• A slight step down for episodes, as the pacing really hurts some of what's happening here
• Focusing this discussion on Goku and Vegeta for reasons that will become clear
• Dragon Ball as a story about growth, even if that growth is incremental
• Why Dragon Ball's spectacle is not empty and how having something underneath spectacle makes the fireworks all the more satisfying
• The key conflict of the Frieza Arc
• A narrow mind vs an open mind
• How Goku brings these two ideas together and how that helps him transform
• Goku's philosophy of pushing himself to his limits and beyond and how Frieza's ruthlessness gives Goku no other choice but to transform
• A discussion of yin and yang and the taijitu
• How older Daoist texts refer not to black and white, but to red and blue
• Blue and red make...gold?
• Sudden enlightenment in Buddhism, satori, and how that influences the Super Saiyan transformation
• Attempting to rank the three biggest/most memorable Super Saiyan transformations against one another
• and more, including some general pop culture, trivia, and editorializing, as usual

Join us as we continue to uncover the cultural meanings, publication facts, inspirations and more behind the wildly popular Dragon Ball franchise.

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