Final Forum Podcast

@finalforumpod.bsky.social

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A podcast for the discussion of all things Dragon Ball! Uncovering the culture and hidden history behind Akira Toriyama's seminal franchise.

A short video from Final Forum: A Dragon Ball Podcast, discussing the episode Goku's Doll and where the design of the mask of the doll may have come from (the phantos masks of Super Mario Brothers 2, the game based on Doki Doki Panic)
A short video from Final Forum: A Dragon Ball podcast wherein the hosts discuss how much like the Simpsons character Sideshow Bob Garlic Jr is. They are both villains who are constantly thwarted by the same child and well...about that tattoo on Garlic Jr's chest...
A short video from Final Forum: A Dragon Ball Podcast discussing where the design of Mr Popo comes from and the culture that birthed how blacks are depicted in anime.
What do true crime stories about pearls whose tale consists of hired murder, money laundering, and Osama Bin Laden have to do with Dragon Ball? You have to listen to this one to find out. Akira Toriyama's manga and anime phenomenon Dragon Ball Z episodes 112 through 117: "Call for Restoration," "Suicidal Course," "Extreme Measures," "The World Awakens," "Brief Chance for Victory," and "Krillin's Proposal." As we finish The Garlic Jr Arc. We compare Garlic Jr to the Simpsons franchise and Sideshow Bob Mermaid Tears aka beach glass The Pearl of Lao Tzu aka the Pearl of Muhammed aka the Pearl of Laozi A tale of death, murder, court trials, Ripley's Belive It or Not, and overvalued gems The Pearl of Puerto Mist and fog in storytelling including Irish feth fiada; Dutch Witte Wieven,; and the Norse Niflheim Japanese yokai including enenra, azuki abba, and yuki onna Lake Mashu, in Hokkaido Terragen Mists of the Marvel universe and the Inhumans and mutants/ X-Men Stephen King stories including Wizard and Glass (and The Dark Tower), The Mist, Dr. Sleep and IT Bigfoot, Harry and the Hendersons, Sasquatch Sunset, the Asylum's Bigfoot featuring Alice Cooper Mermaids and gillmen and The Shape of Water and The Cabin in the Woods, the Polish movie The Lure, the film Blue My Mind and of course the Tom Hanks-Daryl Hanna film Splash
Trunks slicing Frieza in half in a panel from the Dragon Ball manga.
A short video from Final Forum: A Dragon Ball Podcast, wherein the hosts relay the story of the Pearl of Lao Tzu, once the biggest pearl in the world and the sordid history behind it which includes bribery, extortion, and even a hired hitman. Move over, Tiger King (remember that show? Neither does anyone else) there's a new crazy murder story surrounding a seemingly innocuous subject
Barber: What do you want? Him: I need to defeat Frieza Barber: Say no more A classsic DBZ meme
Krillin x Converse
Gohan x Cell x Converse
A short video from Final Forum: A Dragon Ball Podcast discussing Kami's Lookout and how it represents Dragon Ball's afterlife, then discussing how Goku gains an audience with the god of Earth by sticking his "power pole" into a tight-fitting hole in order to ascend to the heavens and what Sigmund Freud might think of such an action.
The Korean bootleg live action Dragon Ball movie: Fight Son Goku, Win Son Goku
Cell x Converse. I love how the pattern is obviously recognizable as Cell's skin. Just a LITTLE something (maybe make the Converse logo a Dragon Ball?) to put it over the top and more readily recognizable to non-fans would be better.
Goku x Converse. Overall, these are okay, but could use more blue to add some contrast and make them pop.
Converse x Dragon Ball crossover shoes.
A short video from Final Forum: A Dragon Ball Podcast detailing the inspirations behind the Oozaru form from Dragon Ball including Journey to the West and Sun Wukong's transformations, King Kong, Ultra Q and discussing King Kong's popularity in Japan
A short video from Final Forum: A Dragon Ball Podcast where the hosts debate whether the ab windows seen on the Spice Boys in DBZ are the male equivalent of boob windows and whether they fall into the realm of latent 1980s homoeroticism that action movies of the time had.
A short video from Final Forum: A Dragon Ball Podcast, discussing Piccolo's Children, how they're named and just how many he actually has
A short video from Final Forum: A Dragon Ball Podcast, detailing some information on the Spice Boys, the antagonist henchmen of Garlic Jr from the filler arc of Dragon Ball, and comparing them to the Four Heavenly Kings of Buddhism
Spear fishing. Male boob windows. These are Dragon Ball things, right? They are now. Join Jelli and Bekinney as they continue breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon Dragon Ball Z by looking at episodes 108 through 112: "The Heavens Tremble," "Black Fog of Terror," "Battle in Kami's Lookout," "Fight with Piccolo," and "Call for Restoration." As we delve into a filler saga with The Garlic Jr Arc. We discuss the history of spear fishing and break down the Spice Boys who are a reference to what you think they are. In this episode: Jelli and Bekinney are trying to get back home We...liked these episodes The Spice Boys. Yes, they are referencing the Spice Girls Groups that owe their success to the Spice Girls such as No Doubt, Britney Spears, All Saints, B*Witched, Atomic Kitten, Girl Thing, Girls@Play, Girls Aloud and more The Four Demonic Monarchs...or the Four Heavenly Kings Equating each Spice Boy to a Heavenly King How the manga staff picked up Toriyama's tendencies again A note about our Bansho Fan filler episode Notes about Maron and her design as it potentially appears prior to this in Savings Soldier Cashman, a Toriyama manga that appeared in V Jump. Spearfishing, its history and how advances have led to regulation but also modern diving technology in general Math! We talk about Klein bottles, four dimensional space, and potential real-world applications for studying mathematically esoteric concepts The ab window as the male equivalent of a boob window We manage a reference to Evil Dead and Army of Darkness and more, including some general pop culture, trivia, and editorializing, as usual
A meme of a garbage can that’s white and purple with a quote from Frieza from Dragon Ball Z stating “This isn’t even my Final Form”
A short video from Final Forum: A Dragon Ball Podcast discussing the idea of characters holding back or only using certain percentages of their power and where that trope originates in the media Akira Toriyama watched during his life.
Porunga, the dragon from Planet Namek in Dragon Ball Z, saying "OK!!" to a wish.
A meme combining Seinfeld and the Kenny Rogers episode with Goku going Super Saiyan during the fight against Frieza on Namek
A short video from Final Forum: A Dragon Ball Podcast discussing how a sitcom starring Vegeta, Bulma, Hybis, Kuu and Duu (the latter three from Dragon Ball Daima) titled "The Saiyan Prince and Buu Heirs" could be the greatest show in human history, with Goku bothering Vegeta, and various moments from Fresh Prince history being replicated throughout the series
It's the end of Frieza with NO chance of him retur...he returns before the arc is over? What? Anyway, how do we feel about the Frieza Arc having reached its conclusion? We 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 finish discussing Frieza arc, and talk about pacing and intended endings. In this episode: Whether the end of the Frieza Saga was the intended ending of Dragon Ball Animation difficulties, both with continuity and quality Toriyama's workload at this time A brief note on reading burning leaves to tell the future Wrapping up the arc with grades and more including general pop culture, trivia, and editorializing, as usual Join us as we 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 anime, Dragon Ball manga, and more
A notice from the PlayStation store to an anonymous user that reads: “As of 1 September 2026 due to our content licensing arrangements, you will no longer be able to watch any of your previously purchased Studio Canal content and the content will be removed from your video library. Click here for a full list of affected titles that will no longer be supported. Thank you, PlayStation Store”
Lowcost Cosplay pretending to be Goku in the healing tank on Planet Namek
A shirt that says Dragon Dog Z in a clear reference to Dragon Ball Z, with a lot of dog-based embellishments on Goku such as turning his power pole into a bone, but I cannot begin to understand WHY this exists.
A short video from Final Forum: A Dragon Ball podcast, discussing the infamous "Namek will explode in five minutes" part of DBZ and trying to contextualize why that five minutes took several episodes
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. 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
A short video from Final Forum: A Dragon Ball Podcast talking about Boss Rabbit, aka Monster Carrot, from early Dragon Ball, and why Akira Toriyama made a whole episode about a rabbit winding up on the moon making mochi in a mortar.
Goku giving his speech to Frieza after going Super Saiyan, and it’s either a cold blooded speech to Frieza about being a Super Saiyan, or a Superman-esque speech about being hope of the universe, depending on which language it’s in
A meme of the Z Fighters from Dragon Ball Z as they prepare to face the Saiyans Nappa and Vegeta with Carl and Meatwad from Aqua Teen Hunger Force added to the group, and Carl saying "He monkey man, pick this up on your scouter" as he flips the bird.
A short video from Final Forum: A Dragon Ball Podcast discussing the creature Darkness that appears when Goku is questing for the Super God Water (Ultra Divine Water) and how it may be inspired by the Japanese yokai known as the Umibozu
An alternate gi for Goku designed by a fan for a contest in Weekly Shonen Jump
What I assume is a Frieza shirt from DBZ but I don't understand why he's drippy and the horns are wrong...
Have you ever wondered why Goku can sometimes punch someone and it blows up a mountain nearby and other times blast someone with a full power Kamehameha and it barely ruffles anyone's hair? We're talking about ki control as we continue on into the Frieza Saga, focus on Goku and Frieza's battle, and talk about their ability to control their ki. Toriyama's Dragon World as spiritual, not religious Ki as a metaphysical energy Metaphysics. What is the difference between a spacetime relativist and a spacetime absolutist? The difference between energy, ki, and power Ki as a Daoist idea and the concept of the infinite, both outside ourselves and within The connotations of Ki How ki refinement can change one's aura How the ideas of ki control are built from Dragon Ball's foundations, and how this is important to understand for everything moving forward Goku's ability to control his ki vs Frieza's inability
A short video from Final Forum: A Dragon Ball Podcast discussing Goku's infamous "Hope of the Universe" speech from DBZ's dub and how it compares with the original, why this moment has had such an impact on DBZ discussion and likening Goku to Superman and why the decision was made to alter the dialogue in this moment
Goku and Frieza fighting in DBZ
A meme combining Dragon Ball Z with the Simpsons, taken from an episode of the Simpsons that had a Stan Lee cameo where he said Homer couldn’t be the Incredible Hulk because he was, In this version, Vegeta is saying that Goku can’t be the Legendary Super Saiyan because he is.
A short video from Final Forum: A Dragon Ball Podcast discussing the number of fingers Piccolo has in the manga vs the anime and why the decision was made to alter how many fingers he has, using Japanese cultural context and history of the Burakumin to explain the change
A pair of DBZ figures, Frieza and Krillin, with a...fun(?) set of poses.
A Frieza figure with an unfortunate placement for an energy blast
A short video from Final Forum: A Dragon Ball Podcast where the connections between Super Saiyan and Buddhist enlightenment are discussed, utilizing the taijitu (yin-yang symbol) as a focal point of discussion and pointing out how Goku's mind narrows and becomes more like Vegeta's in order to attain his transformation
Goku facedown, lying down, looking like he's given up.
A short video from Final Forum: A Dragon Ball Podcast discussing Fire Mountain aka Fry Pan Mountain from the early portion of the story as well as the Ox King and how he was inspired by a Journey to the West character
Goku’s eyes blanking out as he becomes a Super Saiyan for the first time during his fight against Frieza.
A meme of Principal Skinner and Superintendent Chalmers from the Simpsons (and specifically the infamous Steamed Hams scene), as if they were Goku and Frieza during their fight on Namek in Dragon Ball Z
Goku, pleased with himself after defeating Terror and Plague in a Dragon Ball filler episode
Goku facing down a tiger warrior
Goku turning the tables on Ginkaku and Kinkaku
Goku battling Kinkaku