Originally intended as a light, comedic riff on the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West, Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball soon outgrew that modest ambition and became one of the most popular action-adventure serials in modern storytelling. Soon expanding into a multimedia franchise, the Dragon Ball saga was spun off into at least twenty theatrically-released anime films; Ryan and Latisha discuss one of these movies in this recording. The topics in this episode's dialogue include Dragon Ball's roots in Asian folklore, how the storytelling in Dragon Ball emphasizes delayed gratification, how the character arc of Vegeta is (for many) substantially more relatable and satisfying than Goku's, and how Dragon Ball's subtextual points about interracial relationships and mixed race children conflicts with common assumptions about the franchise's ties to fascist ideology. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ryan-valentine3/support