Final Forum: A Dragon Ball Podcast

Quarks! Quantum entanglements! Relativity! Non-Einsteinian simultaneity! What do these have to do with Bulma making a phone call from Namek to Earth? Everything, it turns out. Join Jelli and Bekinney as they continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon Dragon Ball Z by looking at episodes 46 through 50: "Defying Orders," "Namek's Defense," "The Hunted," "The Prince...

We've still never heard of editing but we HAVE heard of Dragon Ball this time...kind of. Join Jelli and Bekinney as we catch up after just a couple weeks. Bekinney discusses a new book series he's reading, while Jelli delves back into Japan, walking through Osaka, Dotonbori, Tanuki statues, the Orix Buffaloes, Expo 2025 (which leads us into a brief discussion of the movie Gamera vs Jiger) the Curs...

How do you pad for time between arcs? Are those Crows? What awaits us as we begin a new story arc? Join Jelli and Bekinney as they continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon Dragon Ball Z by looking at episodes 41 through 45: "Look Out Below," "The Search Continues," "A Friendly Surprise," "Brood of Evil," and "Frieza Strikes." We begin discussing the Namek Saga a...

Dragon Ball? Editing? Never heard of those things. Join Jelli and Bekinney as we catch up after six weeks of not talking much. Bekinney discusses a family reunion and riding sketchy rides on the boardwalk, including the Himalayan, and Jelli regales everyone with the first week of his trip to Japan, with his usual penchant for rambling and self-indulgence We also discuss Superman, Thunderbolts, Cap...

What would have happened if they saved Hitler's brain and put it in the body of a robot with a bubble-dome? What does the film Phantasm have to do with Dragon Ball? How did we manage to work in a reference to the Aum Shinrikyo cult that carried out multiple poison attacks on Japanese public transit in the early 90s?  The answers to these, and similar questions, abound as Jelli and Bekinney continu...

We've reached the end of the Saiyan Arc. How do we feel about it having reached its end and being primed for the next adventure? Jelli and Bekinney continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon Dragon Ball by jumping into comparing the Dragon Ball anime to the Dragon Ball manga. We continue discussing Saiyan arc, and talk about pacing. We also discuss five episodes o...

How do you handle introducing a rival? Why does Vegeta always call himself the Prince of All Saiyans? Is there any basis for this character in the story Journey to the West? Join Jelli and Bekinney as they continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon Dragon Ball Z by looking at episodes 30 through 35: "Goku vs. Vegeta," "Saiyan Sized Secret," "Spirit Bomb Away!" "He...

Could Akira Toriyama have pulled inspiration from WWE for Dragon Ball Z? Did he really have nothing to do with the anime portion of the show? What happens when we come across five more stellar episodes of DBZ? Join Jelli and Bekinney as they continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon Dragon Ball Z by looking at episodes 26 through 29: "Nappa's Rampage," "Nimbus Sp...

Join Jelli and Bekinney as we continue looking at Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball franchise by tackling a discussion of where we sit currently at Final Forum. Recapping where things stand in the animated area of the franchise, and just providing a general update for the upcoming couple weeks. Bekinney discusses watching Full Metal Alchemist and then Jelli gives an SEO-friendly (hopefully...gotta get...

It's our 100th Episode! And we didn't want to celebrate on our own, so we brought in some new friends, Spencer and John from the show Eric Hates Dragon Ball Z to do a commentary-slash-reaction to the second live-action bootleg movie, Taiwan's Dragon Ball: The Magic Begins. In this episode: Jelli and Bekinney are celebrating 100 episodes We reveal our title and instruct listeners where to find this...

Could Akira Toriyama have pulled inspiration from The Thing for Dragon Ball Z? What would the effects of Saiyan space travel be if it were real? What happens when we come across five stellar episodes of DBZ? Join Jelli and Bekinney as they continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon Dragon Ball Z by looking at episodes 21 through 25: "Counting Down," "The Darkest D...

What do centuries of isolation with only a monkey as company do to a martial arts master? Is the blue catfish man really a martial arts master? What's with all the dad jokes? Join Jelli and Bekinney as they continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon Dragon Ball Z by looking at episodes 16 through 20: "Plight of the Children," "Pendulum Room Peril," "The End of Sna...

Dragon Ball Daima is over. The dub has been released in full. What now? Where does the franchise go from here? Where CAN it go from here? What would we LIKE for it to do now? Join Jelli and Bekinney as we continue looking at Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball franchise by tackling a discussion of Dragon Ball's "State of the Union." Recapping where things stand in the animated area of the franchise, the...

Do you walk this lonely road? Is it the only one you've ever known? Do you not know where it goes? But it's home to you and you walk alone? Join Jelli and Bekinney as they continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon Dragon Ball Z by looking at episodes 11 through 15: "Terror on Arlia," "Global Training," "Goz and Mez", "Princess Snake," and "Dueling Piccolos." We c...

What does it take to be the 'man' sitting in front of the entry to the afterlife, judging souls? Why did we accidentally slip in to a discussion of the Ox King? Join Jelli and Bekinney as they continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon Dragon Ball Z by looking at episodes 6 through 10: "No Time Like the Present," "Day 1," "Gohan Goes Bananas," "The Strangest Robot...

What could Goku's next challenge possibly be now that he's the Strongest Under the Heavens? A sibling rivalry? Is that really all you got, Toriyama? Join Jelli and Bekinney as they continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon Dragon Ball Z by breaking down episodes 1 through 5: "The New Threat," "Reunions," "Unlikely Alliance," "Piccolo's Plan," and "Gohan's Rage."...

It's FINALLY time for Dragon Ball Z! Kind of! Jelli and Bekinney continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon by ...getting into our first DBZ discussion by tackling the 1989 movie, Dead Zone. In this episode: Jelli and Bekinney recuperate from their hard-fought battle We sync up our audio commentary for the listeners We discuss some of the production facts about th...

Jelli and Bekinney continue their break from breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon, and pivot away from tearing into the manga and anime that are the most crucial parts of the Dragon Ball franchise to have a little themed fun! In this episode: It's TOURNAMENT SEASON! Kick off your shoes, relax, and listen as we break down 32 of Dragon Ball's most popular (?) character...

WILL we find out why Piccolo is here? Is Super Saiyan 4 really canon now? Does that matter? What's the meaning of canon? What's the meaning of life? Why are we here? Does anything matter? Are we just on a big ball of entropy careening towards the heat death of the universe? Join Jelli and Bekinney as we continue looking at Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball franchise by tackling a discussion of Dragon B...

Jelli and Bekinney take a break from breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon, and pivot away from tearing into the manga and anime that are the most crucial parts of the Dragon Ball franchise to have a little themed fun! In this episode: It's TOURNAMENT SEASON! Kick off your shoes, relax, and listen as we break down 64 of Dragon Ball's most popular (?) characters and di...

It's Summer Convention Season! You think it's not, just because it's winter? Well, tune in to find out why it is! Jelli takes you into the world of our summer conventions by presenting one of the panels we held this year, at Colossalcon Texas in Austin, TX (well, technically Round Rock, TX) from Colossalcon. This panel was also presented at Anime Weekend Atlanta (AWA) in (obviously) Atlanta, GA an...

What happens when Vegeta goes even further beyond? When will we find out why Piccolo is here? What's Daima's terrible behind-the-scenes secret? Join Jelli and Bekinney as we continue looking at Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball franchise by tackling a discussion of Dragon Ball Daima, and its next five episodes: "Legend," "True Strength," "Surprise," "Taboo," and "Third Eye". Why is Majin Kuu best boi?...

Jelli and Bekinney have no time to continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime Dragon Ball. In this episode: The climactic battle! Join us and find out if we will ever continue to uncover the cultural meanings, publication facts, inspirations and more behind the wildly popular Dragon Ball franchise, and unspool what we all love so much about Goku, the Dragon Ball franchise, t...

A LIVE-REACT COMMENTARY?!?! What is the hidden mystery of this episode? Jelli and Bekinney are still on a break from Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon (don't worry, it's still Dragon Ball related this time) by pivoting slightly and taking a look at the 1990 film: Dragon Ball: Fight Son Goku, Win Son Goku, aka Dragon Ball: Zero. In this episode: Jelli and Bekinney are closing in...

What was Toriyama's manga like before he made the big time? What was bubbling in his brain even while he was working on Dragon Ball? Jelli and Bekinney take a break from Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon (are we ever getting back to that?) by breaking down some early manga from the man himself. We're talking about Akira Toriyama's Manga Theater....welll...most of it In this epi...