The Thematic Genius of Tenkaichi Budokai

[@andyghkfilm2287]

“Nice try but… you missed all my vital organs!” “RGH!! ALL OF THEM??!”

[@anthonynorman7545]

My favorite will probably always be the 1st because I have never been so engaged in a show. Plus, Nam getting the water was so sweet.

[@blazing_cactus]

Respect

[@pikablu_25]

Full power energy blast volley barrage? ... THATS VEGETAS TECHNIQUE!

[@gingeas]

love the narrative pace, contrast between humor and analysis, and the thoughtful message belying this video essay. would love to see more

[@blazing_cactus]

Thank you so much! I plan on making many more in the future

[@noirspiderman44]

Krillin should get credit as making Piccolo the tactician he is always praised as in Z. Put that fear in him as you said

[@ralonnetaph6450]

Krillin's swan song is absolutely a way to put it, he really put his all into that fight. Several of his plays put Piccolo into real bad spots where he would have taken a devastating hit if it wasn't for basically lucky dodges, and at the very end when he was practically on his feet again Piccolo was nearly shitting himself. He may not have won, and his attacks may not have had a chance to fully connect, but he put the fear of humans into that demon for a minute there.

[@blazing_cactus]

Couldn't have said it better myself

[@voiceunderthecovers]

The 22nd World Tournament is my favorite, easily. Tien Shinhan is already one of my favorite characters in the series, but it's more than just that. I was actually kinda hoping you'd bring up his development and how massive of an impact Goku, Roshi and Shen have on him in the tournament. That "WHAT AM I FIGHTING FOR?!" scene remains my favorite original Dragon Ball moment. Not to mention, Goku Vs. Krillin? Tien Vs. Roshi? Goku Vs. Tien?? Even Yamcha Vs. Tien was fun as hell! Great video btw!

[@blazing_cactus]

Thanks for your comment, man! It's probably true that the 22nd tournament is objectively superior to the 23rd one in terms of actually needing to be a tournament for the narrative to function. I agree that Tenshinhan's character arc is fantastic; I'll likely make a video about that in the future.

[@callump1996]

The 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai is one of my favourite arcs in the whole Dragon Ball franchise for its payoffs, character writing and inspiring many future fights and character arcs in the series. Goku's fights with both Tien and Piccolo are just fantastic (and two of my favourite fights in the whole franchise!) I still get goosebumps of hype when Goku takes off his shoes, wrist bands and under-shirt then does that badass warmup as Tien can only look on at how far Goku has come. I like to see it as when Goku takes off that weighted junk he is wearing (like a snake shedding its skin) It is Goku shedding his past self and giving birth (though all his wins, loses, pain, and his training with Roshi and Kami his journey has taken him) into the kind, wise, disciplined, World Martial Arts Champion he is about to become. I'm also in the camp off that I don't see Goku refusing help as selfish, when Piccolo shoots a blast though his chest.. The lad has been trying to win the tournament for the past 10 years and was his current dream! For his friends to jump in and get Goku DQ would be a disservice to the lad. Not only does Goku want to win fair and square (as he was always bought up by Roshi to do), but Goku knows damm well that if any of his friends step in, Piccolo could just easily kill them all, even in his weakened state. Goku would happily keep going through Piccolo's excruciating torture and pain over 9000 times over then let that happen to his friends. One of the best arcs in all of Dragonball and my favourite version of Goku.

[@blazing_cactus]

Damn maybe you should be writing my scripts fr

[@drunkenswordsman3373]

Sports being turned into story is absolute perfection, and combat sports are the best there is

[@cheeseisgood17]

Such a good vid. I feel like there was a tonal shift after the end of the 22nd tournament with Kirllen's death. For me, that's when I thought the series was becoming way more enjoyable as a manga.

[@blazing_cactus]

Thanks! I agree about the tonal shift after Krillin's death. There was an extremely negative energy surrounding that whole ordeal and it was the first time we got to see Goku livid out of his mind

[@StarshadowMelody]

"This fourth wall break sure is on the nose!" WHAT NOSE!?

[@chrissullivan6572]

Budokai and Dark Tournament are the only answers.

[@mechajay3358]

The Tenkachi Budokai arcs showcase Toriyama's peak as a writer. The way he craft some well told stories from them is inspiring.

[@blazing_cactus]

Absolutely!

[@The_AuraMaster]

As a Yamcha fan boy, I was really hoping he was gonna win at least one tournament, but he never did. Even with my bias aside, I think he should've won one because of his in-universe fans that hype him up. It would've made sense if he won one of them, only to be surpassed in the next two.

[@blazing_cactus]

Absolutely. It's a real shame Yamcha never made it past the quarterfinal; I love his character and he never deserved all the crap he went through in the series.

[@renaschlegel2487]

Genius!! Incredible video!! Love your insight! ❤

[@silversoul2770]

What I love about these Tournaments is that they served as great development for the rest of the cast. You see not just Goku, but the rest of his friends show their growth and what they've accomplished. 21st tournament is when everyone is a green horn. Goku and Krillin need to learn a lesson in not growing too confident in their skills and Yamcha doesn't have much skill to get far, Jackie Chun humbles him quickly. By the 22nd Tournament, Krillin and Yamcha have learned the Kamehameha, Yamcha is more of a martial artist, and Goku is much more competent with showcasing his skills. 23rd, everyone is at their top shape. Krillin putting up a beautiful fight against Piccolo Jr., Yamcha's spirit ball, Tien's multi form technique and desire for a fair match with Goku, and Goku's overwhelming strength staying a mystery till his final fight. Peak tournaments.

[@blazing_cactus]

Totally agree. Yamcha's Soukidan is incredible

[@wxchief6737]

the witty commentary had me crying. 15’ is hilarious

[@BrunoZaigot]

The 22nd was my favorite. Yamcha getting brutalized to show how strong Tien was (Sorry yamcha), Roshi stepping aside for the next generation for better or worse (much better), krillen getting to show that he is actually amazing (by beating the secondary antagonist, and by appearing to hold his own against Goku), the fantastic fight scenes, and finally the redemption of Tien which also shows how great of a teach Roshi was. Truly amazing. I have always loved the tournament arc and Toriyama showed everyone how it worked.

[@blazing_cactus]

@@BrunoZaigot Very true, the 22nd is a classic

[@YaichiroLP]

How the hell do you not have more subs? That was an amazing and entertaining Video. Great Summary, great Editing and amazing Humor. I subbed after 5 Minutes. Piccolo vs Goku is the best of those fights and the 23rd was the best tournament. Predicatable but we have to face the facts. Now excuse me while I scour through the rest of your Videos.

[@blazing_cactus]

@@YaichiroLP Thanks man! That’s super kind

[@ChaddyFantome]

23rd Tenkaichi Budokai and Red Ribbon were always my fave arcs in DB. Easily the peak. Goku vs Majunior is my fave fight in all of DB.

[@blazing_cactus]

Great takes my guy

[@tylerdiggs9174]

Goku's loss in the 22nd tournament definitely adds to the catharsis of winning the 23rd, but I wouldn't say the series dwells on his failure in the moment all the much. It's more used to underscore how much Tien has developed through his humble and sportsman-like reaction to the win

[@batfreeze56]

The Tenkaichi Budokai arcs have always been my favorite parts of the whole Dragon Ball series. They expand on the world, how Goku reacts to it, and how the world reacts to Goku. They came at a time when Dragon Ball was still an ensemble show, before the Saiyans and Gods made my favorite characters look like fodder. Even the Baba tournament is great. I'd love to see Devilman vs Frieza.

[@blazing_cactus]

Dude I love Baba's tournament!! I kind of agree it's a shame that the side characters got shafted later on, but I think Z handled it well because at least it never tried to pretend like they could match up to the Saiyans and Gods. Super on the other hand tries to give attention to the side characters, but that attention is completely nonsensical and unwarranted in terms of power scaling most of the time.

[@Tylearned]

Loved this vid bro keep it up

[@blazing_cactus]

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it

[@8in974]

Man this video was just recommened to me and i didnt expected much because of the number of views but damn thats a really high quality and entertaining video. You just gained a follower mate keep up that work

[@Riptide27]

Tremendous video! Subscribed, and looking forward to how far you can go!

[@blazing_cactus]

Thank you thank you!!

[@felman87]

The Budokai's really show Toriyama at his best. It's a shame we never get more of it after Dragon Ball. Totally Not Mark explains how great the Budokais are in, ironically enough, the Martial Arts tournament that happens in the Buu Saga. Claiming that Toriyama's themes for the tournaments always have a narrative purpose, he doesn't randomly put fighters in the path of our heroes for no reason. Well, for the most part. Who the hell is Panput? Even Giran's fight had something to show up. Both that Goku's Nimbus Cloud wasn't supposed to be used in the tournament and also that he's stronger with his tail. What did Goku learn from Panput? Nothing. At least with Nam, we got to see that Goku had indeed passed human limits (which Master Roshi claimed they would need to do under his tutelage).

[@blazing_cactus]

Very astute points! I totally agree that the Budokai tournaments are the manifestation of Toriyama's peak, but I can understand why they don't show up again, given the scale of everything that happens in Z not really allowing for that kind of setting. In some ways, the Z-Warriors (if you subscribe to that nomenclature) outgrew the Tenkaichi tournaments, and it was a wonder that we even got one for Piccolo Jr., as ridiculously powerful the scaling already was by that point. I did very much enjoy Mark's explanations on them, as well as the weird one in the Buu saga, and even his wonderful video of trying to predict who would've won the 25th tournament if it weren't interrupted by Spopovich and Yamu's energy-snatching shenanigans. Great observations about Goku's fights with Giran and Nam, btw.

[@sarcasticsuperjerk18]

Goku _does_ learn something from his fight with Panput, just not from Panput himself. Panput is gassed up as the next big thing, the greatest human fighter, and then Goku beats him in like 6 punches. Afterwards Roshi tells him and Krillin that they’re in a whole different level of power than just “human.” This is essentially passing the torch as Earth’s defender to Goku and Krillin. They’ve ascended beyond his own strength and the strength of even the strongest regular human, and the threats they’ll face will be just as strong, if not more.

[@kingvonafterdark]

this is why og db is peak

[@thelittlebosniaexperience8181]

@juanvasquez3299didnt toriyama once say that mr satan looked up to chappa as a young fighter? He should have been better.

[@RudestJade]

Absolutely loved this video. Love when early Dragon Ball gets love from western fans since that seems to be so rare. Especially the Tenkaichi Budoukai. One thing that was kind of implied, but not explicitly mentioned is the clear escalation with the finales of the tournaments arcs. Gokuu fights his mentor (pretty low stakes), Gokuu has to fight a rival martial artist who is a rude jackass (higher stakes), Gokuu has to fight the spawn of the demon king to save the world (highest stakes possible). And since, in the anime, thats the end of that series, its a very perfect bookend for Gokuu as a character. Training with God himself, to not only save the world but win the tournament that he'd been so close to winning for 6 years. And, minor nitpicks (please don't take these too seriously, I loved this video): - I know this was a joke, but Nam making it into the games makes a lot of sense to me. He's one of the first people to actually be a bit of a challenge against Gokuu. The only time before that being Yamcha and that was only because Gokuu was hungry. And also, is one of the few characters to make it to the Semi-finals of a tournament. - You call Majunior "Demon Junior" and I understand why, but I think its not quite correct. In Japanese, his name is written as "マジュニア" the Ma just being the phoneme Ma, and not the actual Ma (魔) character that means Demon. It is meant to allude to Demon without actually being Demon. Also, 22nd Tenkaichi Budoukai all way. I love the theming of having to fight evil versions of Yamcha and Kuririn and the fact that the stakes overall are lower makes the ending more of a surprise than a foregone conclusion. But I love the 23rd. One of my other favorite arcs.

[@blazing_cactus]

Thanks so much for the kind words! I love your analysis regarding the escalation of the tournaments. And yes, no disrespect toward Nam; honestly, I was just searching for something funny to say about that fight, and the video game thing was an easy thing to point at. One of my best childhood memories is struggling to beat that "Ceiling vs. Ground" fight on Budokai Tenkaichi 3 for the Wii. Also, I appreciate the Majunior correction. Given that I used "Anonymous" for Chi-Chi, I should've stuck with the in-tournament naming convention. Lastly, I am inclined to agree with you on the 22nd tournament being the best, especially after reading some of the other comments singing its praises. It does feel like the most complete one that actually needs to be a tournament in order to function as a narrative, and Tenshinhan's character arc throughout it is fantastic. Thank you again for your awesome comment, and rock on!

[@RudestJade]

@@blazing_cactus This might sound like a random question but have you watched MistareFusion's Dragon Ball Dissection series? Whenever I come across an early Dragon Ball enjoyer, I always try to promote my favorite Dragon Ball content creator. I don't think anyone is making DB videos as good as them.

[@blazing_cactus]

@@RudestJade MistareFusion...I haven't heard that name in years... xD Joking aside, yes I have seen a couple of his videos, but it's been a hot minute. I should totally go back and check those out. Appreciate the recommendation.

[@dizzyallen1481]

Personally i don't have a favorite tournament, i absolutely love all 3. The original Dragonball is my favorite series out of all dragonball canon mostly because of the tournaments. The way gokus growth is shown, both as a fighter and a person, is just really cool to watch, and the tournaments do a really great job of showcasing that growth. I love seeing goku being naive and playful, but always ready for a fight at the earlier stages of the show, to being so serious and mature, and the way he studies the fights and fighters in the last tournament.

[@blazing_cactus]

Yeah the development of Goku's maturity especially as applied to judging others through a progressively less innocent perspective is so fascinating

[@Valientlink]

Watching them in Japanese is so much better I think personally, the announcer just hypes it up so much. I always couldn't get into anime in Japanese subbed but I can't go back now. That announcer is one of my favorite characters simply for how great the voice acting is in Japanese.

[@blazing_cactus]

Yeah, honestly both English and Japanese actors are fantastic as the announcer

[@MrAweeze]

I rarely like videos, but liked this one. One of the better DB pieces I've seen with such a low view count. Keep it up, you seem to know DB and to realize the travesty DB has become. That new movie. Oy.

[@blazing_cactus]

Thanks so much!!

[@chrissullivan6572]

The 22nd is my favorite. It made Tien my favorite character in the series.

[@beef2cho]

i think your videos are really funny and descriptive, just add a little bit of music and basic sound design but this is such a bresh of fresh air in the mist of crappy dbz video essays LMAO thank you so much for making this

[@blazing_cactus]

Thank you man! I'll be sure to add some music next time ;D

[@N.N01]

I'm a little disappointed you didn't go into Tien or Piccolo's fights a little more. Goku's pure sense of self improvement inspires Tien to relinquish his teachings, and the world being at stake yet Goku STILL wants a fair fight Piccolo shows his commitment to the arts even beyond what's reasonable. He even goes as far as to spare him because when you're at the top, who else can motivate you? That's his "someone stronger" that prevents his strength going to his head.

[@blazing_cactus]

Damn that's a good point

[@N.N01]

@@blazing_cactus great video though!

[@samuelfraley8737]

I liked this video a lot! I think you could blow up if you made videos like this and the Buu saga for more sections of Dragon ball or whatever anime you’re passionate about! Cuz I was ready to binge more dragon ball content like those two videos. I subscribed and liked them. Keep it up!

[@blazing_cactus]

@@samuelfraley8737 Thanks dude!

[@XellosNi]

It's kind of funny in his third tournament, Goku basically weaponized his past two losses to capture the win.

[@blazing_cactus]

That's certainly an interesting way to put it. I would certainly agree that Goku's previous losses allowed him to learn lessons that ultimately contributed to his victory in 756, if that's what you mean. I would love to hear an elaboration on that though

[@projectmessiah]

Toriyama didnt invent tournament arcs at all, Kinnikuman comes to mind but theres probably something before that as well. He did however refine the concept to whats still the standard to this day.

[@dr.c2195]

The funny thing is that if Goku would have been killed by Piccolo is the last match then Goku would have been world champion as Piccolo would have been disqualified.

[@blazing_cactus]

As crazy as that sounds, I think I might've accepted that ending. It's poetic in its own way, but admittedly uncharacteristic of Toriyama's style to go out on a sad note. Interesting hypothetical.

[@BigDaddyCola]

HOW THE HECK DID YOU NOT MENTION NOT ONLY DID GOKU FINALLY WIN BUT HE ALSO GOT HIMSELF A WIFE!!! easily the best arc in the series

[@blazing_cactus]

rizz goku

[@shonetrill2273]

Naw the dark tournament for Yu Yu hakasho 😆

[@cuttlefist]

I’m disgusted you even mentioned Fairy Tail’s tournament arc to begin with, but without including The Dark Tournament, THE BEST TOURNAMENT ARC, is just unforgivable.

[@blazing_cactus]

@@cuttlefist For the record I like the Dark Tournament more than the Grand Magic Games lol, I was just naming tournament arcs. I actually mention the Dark Tournament later in the video, and I’ll probably make a Yu Yu Hakusho review at some point in the future

[@Blaze-zm7zt]

good video but dude that outra music is mixed way too loud I'm not trying to wake my whole house.

[@blazing_cactus]

lmao my bad dude

[@Onepunch3245]

not the strongest remember roshi says himself he wasnt gonna enter to give all them a fighting chance

[@blazing_cactus]

Good point; I guess I just assumed that line was all part of the lie so that Goku and Krillin stay alert

[@Darkwing4L]

The volume is too low

[@voiceunderthecovers]

might be a you thing

[@Forbiddenking500]

Tien was robbed

[@TheStickCollector]

Interesting to see these claims Well then

[@cheesecake6945]

You dorks need to calm down, Toriyama's did NOT create the "Tournament Arc" ( maybe in manga ) but you read ANYTHING else besides weeb comics you would know that.