I see a lot of people creating ultimates or skills in general that are whack or have effects like gg you become god. but what guidelines should a ultimate follow? This are the guidelines i think you should follow, tell me what you think of them. You're welcome to make your own ultimates.

1. Skill Origin and Purpose: A skill must originate from a desire and serve to fulfill that desire in some way. For example, if the desire is to eat cake, the skill could manifest in various ways depending on the user's personality:
   • Teleporting cakes from various locations using spatial magic.
   • Creating cakes from thin air using magicules.
   • Transforming objects into cakes through a magical ray.
2. Limitations on Skill Power: Skills cannot erase fundamental concepts or phenomena from existence. For instance, no skill can eliminate the concept of 'fire', regardless of the skill's power level. A world skill can stop fire from existing in that dimension, but wont erase the concept.
3. Designing Skills Based on Existing Elements: When creating a skill, you can draw inspiration from skills used by other characters. If your skill wants to use things like future sight prediction you can add it to your skill because we know its a thing that exist and its possible to have. (Not all skills seen can be on ultimates be wary)
4. Relative Power Effectiveness: The effectiveness of a skill is influenced by the relative power of the opponent. A skill that transfers damage to another person will only work if the user is significantly more powerful or if the target consents to accept the damage. Exceptions like sandalphone from kondou doing heavy dmg to a true dragon can happen but its very rare.
5. Enhancement Limits: Skills that enhance the user's stats cannot provide infinite EP or power. Enhancements might allow temporary power boosts at great physical cost to the user, similar to the Kaioken from dbz, which increases strength but you will suffer lots of dmg. A skill that gets power from defeated enemies can happen but user will eventually reach a ep cap

Buckle up dear potatoes and our T-rex Leader, I got so much tea that you'll need a truck full of cumpets !
TW : there's mention of bullying and other bad stuff.
Jesus in a bikini, where to start. Well, let's go that way, I used to be bullied in school, because I was large, not fat back then, just very squary because I always have been pretty muscular around the shoulder area (thank to years of swimming everyday of the week during vacations) I'm the shape of a wardrobe that did caused me some mockery about me not being feminine enough and when I met a friend a year younger than me, I had already chased away my bullies by kicking their buttsies (and never got in trouble for doing so, yey for me ! :D) and that poor child ? I knew she was going to have it hard :
She is a red head. Wearing glasses. Fairly little. With asthma so bad she had to go every lunch break in the director's office to breath in a machine.
That made her the perfect target for bullies of all ages and I wasn't going to let that happen. I stepped in, kicked some asses and kept her by my side like if she was my little sister. She said once that I was like her guard dog, and I felt flattered, cause I was happy to serve a purpose and prevent that girl to go through the same stuff as I did.
Time pass and I graduate, we lose contact for a moment because at the time, neither one of us had cellphones and I was forbiden by my toxic mother to meet any friends. That's a story for later.
She eventually joins me in high school a year later and we are both overjoyed to get to spend some time together as well. We both have our group of friend in our classes but since we are both staying in boarding school all week, we spend the rest of the evening together, every evenings. Since I grew older, my dad convinced my mom to let me spend time out with my friend every week end here and there and our friendship grows even stronger. I see her as my sister and I tell her that, she tells me the same.
But in about ten years of friendship, there is a LOT of things that I had let slide because I didn't saw it piled up and saw how bad it was. It had been set little by little. I was very protective of her, so she grew a huge sense of entlitement saying I would always come back to her if we fought because we're family. She was controlling a LOT of things in my life, using always the same leverage : if she get scared or stressed, she will "hyperventilate and may die". You will see later why this is between finger quotes.
There's this game, Undertale, that I like a lot, if you're in the fandom, you know there's lot of fan art and fan made song and stuff.
I couldn't have fan art of Sans the skeleton on my phone, laptop or in my bedroom : because it scares her.
I couldn't listen to music coming from the fandom : because that scares her.
I couldn't wear a t-shirt on which the friendly face of the skeleton was printed : because it scared her.
I couldn't talk a certain way, because she knew the language habit I had, I had caught it by writing a fanfic on the fandom, so i cannot do it either because it scares her.
Couldn't play some video games with her next to me because it scares her (it was tomb raider, very scary) she's a high schooler at that time mind you.
And later I found out she was playing zombie games with her boyfriend. I still fail to see the logic in that.
You name it, I had to change basicly everything and hide stuff cause it scared her. Meanwhile, since we seen each others in high school, we had started to write fanfics together, on DBZ. I had offered and she was so hyped by it. We were basicly doing the same kind of stories on repeat cause we were huge fan of the franchise. She was playing Piccolo and I was playing an OC I had created YEARS ago when I first started writing by the age of 11. But as the time passed, the characters she was playing HAD to always come on top of mine : they had to be the cleverest, strongest, most beautiful, most everything.
Mines just HAD to be inferior.
And when I pointed out certain things, like I had created my OC species to be very fertile and easily have baby to compensate the high risk of mortality among them (yeah it made sense to me back then) she got mad at me because she wanted her characters to have their babies the easiest ! So I had to basicly betray everything my character was to fit her tantrum and she would tell me "it's for the dramaaa come on i know you love it too !" and I was like "y-yeah..; sure"
She would usually demand often that I write lemons on my own, starring her character. (lemons are spicy scenes between characters) She didn't wanted to write them because she was too lazy and would say "but you write them so goooood~" and get whiny so I give in. But when I gave in she would yell at me I didn't respect her character because he placed his hand on a back instead of on a cheek, kissed with the tongue instead of with the lips, you name it. She wanted stuff writted for her, fitting her every demand to the T, but not paying for the comission....
Also she would mock one of my male characters by calling him a f*g because... He didn't want to fight. He's a pacifist, so to her, he's less than a man and a f*g.... She hated the plotwist in my original story that he saved the day because he refused to fight. Hated it.
She once said that she had all the ideas and that I was just good enough to write them.
Her "ideas" were direct plagia of the anime/book/movie she would watch. Like emerald knights, bleach, one piece, fairy tail, etc... And I couldn't call that out first cause I didn't read/watched those !
At the time, I had created many fanfictions and one over 600 pages along with the entire set of lore for my OC, I had wrote the language and how it was spoke, I had wrote it's history, basicly everything about it ! And I was proud of myself.
But I was just good enough to write HER ideas and betray my own characters so she could get a high vicariously through her's.
She had a weird sense of snobbism. Once, she was unhappy about a relationship she had, so I had drove two hours to pick her up and invite her to a Pataterie !
(All potatoes lover sit down for this one : it's a huge french franchise of restaurant FILLED on every dish by : potatoes. all kind of potatoes, mashed, fried, fries, into patties ALL is potatoe. Yes it's true, we can have an amen XD)
So I invite her to this Potatoe magic world to have a good dinner and talk, I pay for both of us. A few months later she want to go to a restaurant, but she doesn't want to pay for me, fair enough I pay for myself and it's a sort of sushi restaurant. She then says "You introduced me to redneck's food, I introduce you to elite high class food !"
... It was a sushi bar. And I won't lie, it was good, but it wasn't "elite". I rolled my eyes at least as hard as when she started bashing my phone for having shitty sound when she was used to better and clearer sound thanks to her gramophone and that I must have bad ears for tolerating such butchery...
And every fricking day, when I was telling that I was a bit unhappy, or sad, or just you know, grumpy, cause life happen. She would always turn it into a tear filled competition about who's life is the saddest, because she would undoutbly be the winner, mostly cause i refused to play. I don't like those unhealthy kind of game and I don't want a pity contest. Once I voiced this to her and she said "Heh, you don't play just because you know you're going to LOSE !"
I stopped and I dead stared at her "Your parents never abused you. You never were a victim of SA. You got health issue, of course it's bad and tragic, but stop thinking you're the only one that suffer. I was bullied as well but I had no one to protect me. The worst bullying you got was verbal, and it's bad, I got beaten up unconscious and got thrown ice in the face that splitted it open, among with the verbal ab*se. And you know what my mother said when i came home from school with spit and gums in my hair ? She said that I always bought her troubles and was such a disapointment to her."
And then again, I had to be the one conforting her because what I said hurted her. I didn't meant to hurt her, I wanted her to see my point that just because her suffering is more visible doesn't mean she's the only one that does.
She got a boyfriend for the first time in her life and she became UNBEARABLE, would throw dark stares at me when I would wave at her when her boyfriend is here. Would avoid me because she doesn't want me to "ashame her" by just... existing. They were together for a month when he suddenly ghosted her and stopped talking to her. And I was there when she called me every evening to complain about how sad she was and how terrible the situation was etc. It's at that time I got her to the Pataterie, to lift her spirits up. He came back from the ghosting and she wanted him back, I warned her that it MAY be a bad idea, cause he betrayed her trust and that she want it back very bad because he left. But she should give herself some time before taking him back cause she may not have forgave him and there is still trust that need to be rebuilt. I tell her that cause I made that mistake myself and I ended being the toxic beach of the relationship because I had not forgave my boyfriend for similar sh*t he pulled on me, didn't want that to happen to her. She told me :
"You relationship isn't as strong as ours."
I had been with my boyfriend for three years. She had been for a month. And even if it wasn't already a more matured relationship, what kind of c*nt says that ? I told her I was going back home because what she said was not okay and that I didn't wanted to talk to her for a moment, I had to process that BS. She came back crashing at my house demanding hugs because she couldn't bear me to be mad at her. And when I told her to give me space and get out, she told me "who do you think you are to throw me out ?!"
Yeah, in my own house.
But I didn't pilled up all of those hints before because they came gradually, little by little through the years. We had been "friends" for a dozen of years now and I loved her so dearly I was unconsciously spoiling her. But then, one evening, she told me something that made it all crash down.
She had faked the very first asthma crisis that got her tied to the machine when we met at school.
All this time she had been blaming a sickness and leveraging a sickness that had never been THAT bad. Now I don't know how bad it is, but the fact that she had lied about something so serious crushed me and every sense of love I had for her. I FINALLY picked every hint and red flag I told you about in this VERY LONG thread (sorry for the rant lol) and I cutted ties with her.
She told me she knew I would come back crawling at her because I was her "big sister" and I would always forgive her. When I was mad at her she would often use the "but you're my big sister" tactic to butter me up and make me forgive her.
I didn't do that.
Instead, I've erased everything we wrote from the google docs that I had the sole responsability of because she was too lazy to put in the effort to copy paste it from our phones. And I replaced all of the pages and removed her acces so she could only see it but not modify or regain access to what we had wrote. I then typed :
"I took all of my writings back since I don't do plagia and I don't want Tite Kubo (Bleach's creator) to sue me for "your ideas". I'll name a character after you in my next story but it won't have enough importance to be dealed with by the hero. Just like you don't have enough importance to me anymore to be dealed with. I will try to get it published, thanks for giving me so much matter to write about absolutly terrible people that do shitty things. I'll bring a toast to you when I reach success. Ciao"
And ended it with a nice middle finger emoji. And I intend to keep my promise if I ever get published, that will be the finale of my petty revenge. But I already know I live rent free in her head because she tried to contact me a few times since I cutted ties with her many years ago. I probably forgot a lot of stuff, but like I said, it was years ago ! Hope you enjoyed and the tea was matching your taste ! Billions of hugs everyone, living a good life is always the best petty revenge ! But I'd say, doing it with the middle finger lifted is a bonus.

General Content Warning for this entire write-up, so everyone can have a good time: - Extensive discussion of topics related to mental illness, including self-harm, suicidal ideation, mania / bipolar disorder, distortion of truth, medication, involuntary hospitalization, medical abuse in a hospital setting, and romanticization of mental illness. - Non-detailed mentions of domestic violence (implied abuse by intimate partner and parents) and sexual / gender-based violence (including rape, child sexual assault, grooming, sex trafficking and torture). These last few items feature prominently in one installment, pertaining to a work of fiction; descriptions may be a bit more specific/detailed in that segment, but not graphic. - Mentions and quotes of unchill bigoted behavior, including ableism (mental and physical), white nonsense / white fragility / racism, fatphobia, prejudice against drug users.
Additional CWs may be added at the beginning of specific segments when relevant. While these are heavy topics, the tone of this write-up is generally light-hearted and aims to entertain. If this approach sounds uncomfortable or trivializing, this may not be a good read for you; please trust your gut!
*
Picture this: it's the early 2010s, somewhere in the western world. Instagram is a novelty, Harvey Weinstein runs Hollywood, almost no one on Earth leans one way or the other about RNA vaccines, and Donald Trump is that one real estate guy you vaguely remember from Home Alone 2. New player Lady Gaga is the most interesting thing to have happened to pop since Madonna, and the whole industry is attempting to catch up; Miley Cyrus is the chick who used to be on Hannah Montana; Melanie Martinez hasn't hatched yet. The time of Oddball Concept Divas is dawning just below the horizon.
You're a Bowie-loving student who skipped goth night at the club to tag along with your art school friends for a very special evening. You're a giddy sixteen-year old rocking cat ears, purple Wet 'n Wild eyeliner, a polyester petticoat, and a coffin-shaped backpack. You're an effete theater kid who sewed his own waistcoat for the occasion, but won't dare wear it to school the next day. You're a buff, bearded dude in a Venom shirt who's trying not to look too excited, since your girlfriend supposedly had to drag you here. You're a slightly bemused parent leaning against the back wall of the venue, sipping a warm half-pint, wondering if this isn't all a bit dark for a tween. (“It's called 'Victoriandustrial', mom,” you've been told in the car, “and it's not dark, it's art.”)
On stage is a pink-haired woman, with red porcelain-doll lips and a heart painted on her cheek. Among a set of antique consoles, twee tchotchkes, teacups and plastic rats, she pounces and twirls in glittery platform boots, tattered striped stockings, and a tightly laced crystal-studded corset that looks like it's splattered in blood. This is ostensibly a concert, but there is no live band. Where one would expect a drum kit or a bass, three bedazzled burlesque vixens act as back-up singers and dancers, with the occasional vaudeville act – a fire-twirling number, a fan dance, throwing pastries and spitting tea into the audience. Lots of wholesome girl-on-girl kissing, too. The music on the backing track is a genre-bender of clanging beats and beeps, lofty orchestral strings, and the frantic hammering of a MIDI harpsichord, as the pink-haired frontlady sings of heartache and betrayal and drowning. Think if the Brontë sisters had invented industrial rock.
The audience gasps in excitement when the lady whips out a vamped-out wireless electric violin. With rockstar cool and virtuoso poise, she leans into the instrument, touches the bow to the strings, and tears out a single plaintive, impeccably distorted high note. Then her fingers go wild, and for a few seconds, everything is perfect suspended animation. Uncannily perfect, almost. Just behind you, you hear someone whisper: “Wait, is she miming it?”
*
Forgive the theatrical intro, but I had to set the stage for... the drama. And I do mean drama in the thespian sense of the term! This, ladies and gentlemen, is a Shakespeare play: wordy and confusing, but it's neat how the main character's opening lines foreshadow the tragic climax. It's a Greek tragedy for the digital age – if, instead of killing his dad and banging his mom, after becoming king, Oedipus was doomed to becoming uniquely obnoxious. It's The Rocky Horror Show under the grim direction of Samuel Beckett. Like all good theatre, this story is about how fiction bleeds into reality – through the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves, and how all the world's a stage and all that.

WHO IS EMILIE AUTUMN, AND WHAT'S THE DRAMA?

Here's the Broadway Weekly blurb, so you can decide whether the show is worth your time: Emilie Autumn, also known as EA, is a US-American alternative singer-songwriter, author, and actor. She became known in alt circles in the mid-2010s for her violin skills, unique fashion, outspoken stances on feminism and mental health advocacy, and the way she dramatized and sublimated her own life story in her art. In 2009, she self-published a semi-autobiographical book that became a sort of bible to her creative universe and fandom. She toured extensively and enjoyed niche, but considerable success until the mid-2010s – with hordes of devoted fans adopting her fashion sense and lingo, and crediting her music for getting them through dark times.
For the past twelve years or so, EA has mostly been focused on adapting her book into a stage musical, releasing two more albums of songs intended for the libretto. At the time of this write-up, it has been six years since the last album and a decade since the last live show. Although she still talks about the musical as an ongoing, Broadway-bound project, in recent years, she's often gone dark for months at a time on social media. There is no forum, no large Discord, no active community to speak of; comments are restricted on her currently-inactive Instagram and blog.
Who is she hiding from, you ask? Why, you've probably guessed it: the hordes of devoted fans whom she infuriates every time she does anything.
And what are they furious about? (Or frustrated, flummoxed, or plain ol' flabbergasted?) Well, it depends who you ask. For some, it's disappointment in her artistic and marketing choices (what are fans for?). Others cite unkept promises or absurd release delays. For others yet, it's the AliBaba merch sold at jaw-dropping markups with three paragraphs of purple prose in the product description.. Or maybe it was the angry rants on Twitter? Okay, it's the casual bigotry that she staunchly denies or dismisses. It's the criticism she can't take. It's the fact that she won't stop lying about her own life! Either way, I don't personally know of any fanbase that has been so consistently exasperated, for so many years, and for such a diverse array of reasons, by their favorite artist.
In truth, each individual mini-scandal isn't all that juicy or scandalous. Nobody died, no one got sued; nothing of significant value, other than time and sanity, was taken away from anyone. What I find interesting here is the years and years of bizarre parasocial codependency (and antagonism) between a fragile woman who became addicted to her own poppycock, and an obsessive fanbase who cared way too much not to take it personally.
Before we even get to EA's relationship with her fans, you're going to need some lore about EA herself. A “Hobby History” of sorts. Strap in! There's romance, tragedy, laughter, character development, variety numbers, numerous costume changes, (actual) celebrity cameos – and based on how long this OpenOffice doc already is at the time of my writing this, we're probably going to need several intermissions too. This write-up is link-heavy, both with receipts and with additional watching and listening material. Not all of them need to be clicked in order to understand the story; I'm merely providing the rabbit holes. I've tried to make things more easily navigable by including a little glossary about the nature of links; one emoji-indicator carries over the next link until I use a different one.
🪞 = picture / visual 🎵 = music 📺 = video 📝 = primary source / receipt 🔍 = press article / write-up / further reading 🎤 = song lyrics / spoken word audio 🐀 = anonymous fan confession 🦠 = reaction / meme

BAROQUE BEGINNINGS: THE VIOLIN YEARS

VampireFreaks: Do you ever smile to yourself knowing your old music teachers might be seeing your success? EA: I smile to myself knowing they might be dead. (Long-lost interview, late 2000s)

Born in Malibu in the late 70s, Emilie Autumn, often known as EA, was originally trained as a classical violinist.
By her account, she started playing the violin at age 4, and was homeschooled at age 9 so that she could focus on her instrument. After stints at various performing arts colleges, some rather prestigious, she dropped out of formal schooling in her mid-to-late teens to embark on a solo violin career.
In 2001, after disappointing experiences with major record companies, she created her own label, Traitor Records, and released a EP of chamber music, with minor success. The stuffy industry of classical music didn't “get” the twenty-something manic-pixie-fiddler, who played Bach just a bit too fast, but with electric stage presence – wearing period corsets, combat boots, and the occasional fairy wings. But EA evidently knew that there was an audience for that somewhere.
And that somewhere – drumroll – was Illinois.

VW: What do you most hope to accomplish? EA: Everything. (‘Virtual World Radio’ Interview, 2002 📝)

ENCHANT ERA: BRUSHES WITH FAME ON FAERIE WINGS

What if I'm an ocean, far too shallow, much too deep? (...) What if I'm a siren singing gentlemen to sleep? (“What If”, 2003 🎵)

Soon, EA relocated from her native California to Chicago. There, in between odd jobs, she veered away from baroque and began performing her own “fantasy rock” stylings at piano bars, holiday fairs and local venues – and building a decent following through her LiveJournal, website, and IRL friends. People loved the whole renegade genius thing, loved the violin, loved the nightingale voice, loved the fairy wings and costumes🪞, loved the handmade merch and general disdain for The Business, loved her deadpan humor and bookish nerdiness. In 2003, she released her first LP, Enchant 🎵 – an ethereal, introspective indie-pop joint, born under the sign of Imogen Heap, with a moon in Fiona Apple and Tori Amos rising.
Everything about EA's act was exquisitely DIY, personal, and intricate. For instance, the Enchant booklet folded out into a Masquerade-style puzzle of her own design.🪞 The first person to solve the puzzle would win “the Wings, Ruff, Fan and Scepter of the Faerie Queene herself” – all lovingly handmade by EA, and depicted in peak 2003 graphic design on the booklet. For months, YEARS after Enchant came out, people poured over the cryptic metaphors and literary references, the historical symbolism and visual puns of the artwork, looking for hints and patterns. They read every fan chat, every interview, every relevant Shakespeare play, hoping to decipher the inner workings of EA's mind and find new keys to the puzzle. Sure, it's been two decades now and no one's ever managed to crack the damn thing 🔍, which is by now widely assumed to be flawed and unsolvable; still, it's the kind of zany, brainy, immersive experience that tends to cultivate a niche but hyper-invested fanbase.
So it makes perfect sense that underground aficionada and internet frontierswoman Courtney Love (she haunted public AOL chatrooms as early as 1995! 🔍) would take an interest. Just a few months after releasing Enchant, EA was off to southern France to record violin and vocals for Courtney's new solo album; a few months after that, in early 2004, she joined Courtney's band on a brief tour to promote the record.
Alas, no cigar: America's Sweetheart flopped. Maybe because most of those summer recording sessions were ultimately lost to an engineering oopsie; maybe because Courtney was having an especially rough year – and going through all the “rock-bottom moments” that she would discuss in group therapy, later that fall, when she began her sobriety journey at court-ordered rehab. EA, a former homeschool kid who had never done drugs, seems to remember the tour as a generally terrifying experience; she later stated, with some bitterness, that the experience was not worth the time it had taken away from her own solo career.
But it was a good year for TV appearances! Here she is on the David Letterman Show in March 2004, rocking out on a perfectly inaudible violin as C-Love fades in and out of her own body. 📺 She also landed a cute tutorial segment on HGTV's Crafters: Coast to Coast, making sushi-shaped soap and fairy wings. In December, she accompanied Billy Corgan for a Christmas song on a Chicago station.
All of this was chronicled in quirky, wordy posts on her blog – interspersed with late-night musings about casual misogyny in the media 📝, including against Courtney, handmade crafts and clothing auctions, candid pictures of outings with friends in Chicago... as well as periodic updates on the progress of her next opus: Opheliac.

God, too much to even begin to tell right now, and I’m recording anyway, but I can give you this update: I just finished yesterday recording violin parts and backing vocals for B. Corgan’s first single (...) More later, recording piano for my new track “GOD HELP ME”…why do I torture myself with my own self-inflicted drama…or is it a way of exorcizing…yes, I’ll go with that one for now…☠ (“Whirlwind...”, December 2004)

By that point, EA was starting to be more open about her conflicted relationship with what would later be diagnosed as bipolar disorder. The galaxy-brain moments, the trance of creative frenzies, the liminal high of going three days without sleep, the magic... the crippling sensitivity, the restless anxiety, the Zoloft that one both needs and hates, the ever-lurking suicidal thoughts. As EA gradually revealed over the course of 2004, Opheliac would be an exploration of the “mad woman” archetype. The title was a medical neologism for “the syndrome of Ophelia”, as in the tragic character from Hamlet 🔍, driven to insanity and ultimate self-destruction by the fuckboys who rule her life. Here's EA explaining it in her own words. 🎤 The album would dive into how psychiatry and romantic relationships are governed by old misogynistic tropes, and how the “mentally ill” label is used to silence and downplay the justified anger and hurt of abused women.
In a striking case of life imitating art (are you picking up on the theme yet?), this concept was about to become more painfully relevant than ever to EA's personal existence.
CW: implied partner abuse, suicidal ideation.

DISENCHANTMENT: A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS

In the lake, you will find me Behind your house, behind your house (...) My ocean is bluer than the heart you had to break My sea is deeper than your lake (“In the Lake”, 2005 🎵)

Where were we? Ah yes, the Christmas song with Billy Corgan at the end of 2004. Around that time, EA was also recording violin parts and backing vocals for his upcoming solo album. 🎵 They had presumably connected through Courtney, they both lived in Chicago, I guess something clicked.
In January of 2005, EA abruptly went off of her meds, broke up with her live-in boyfriend-slash-bassist, packed up her violin and corsets, and moved into Corgan's mansion. In March of 2005, she posted very melancholy lyrics about drowning in a lake to haunt a deceitful lover. The post was entitled“In The Lake (The Zoloft is calling my name...)” 🎤📝. Later, after the song was released as a B-side, EA disclosed that it had been intended as a public suicide note 📝.
Blog entries from that time touched on a “whirlwind of action and emotion”, “changing residences” and feeling like “you're falling through the air, but you don't know if you'll hit the water or the rocks” 📝. But, EA being an expert vague-poster, her posts remained very elusive about what was going on, who was involved, and how it impacted her. (The specifics were pieced together years later, by fan-led forensic efforts – which, obviously, involved ascertaining the existence of an actual body of water in Billy Corgan's backyard 📝).
Whatever happened over the course of those months was never disclosed explicitly by EA, but is widely assumed to have inspired songs such as “Liar” 🎤, “Misery Loves Company”, “Let the Record Show”, and “I Know Where You Sleep”, , recorded that same spring. A solid quarter of the Opheliac tracklist – which was shaping out to be decidedly darker and grittier than Enchant.

You can lie to the papers, you can hide from the press (...) I know your tainted flesh, I know your filthy soul I know each trick you played, whore you laid, dream you stole I know the bed in the room in the wall in the house Where you got what you wanted and ruined it all I know the secrets that you keep I know where you sleep

Even as her personal blog posts grew more somber, nihilistic, and generally fed-up in the face of what she called “the worst breakdown of her young life”, even as the songwriting process had her rummage through traumatic memories [CW: CSA] 🎤, and even as the Corgan-adjacent trauma was compounded by various rushed moves and broken friendships over that summer and fall, EA remained remarkably (some might say frantically) prolific.
Other than progress on Opheliac, 2005 saw multiple violin collaborations with alternative bands, numerous auctions of, mh, visually strident “punktorian” fashion pieces 📝🪞 (“STRESS COUTURE!” 🦠📺), and an updated re-issue of her 2001 poetry collection, complete with audiobook. ("...The book has been selling like crack in a limo with Courtney Love (and believe me, I know)." - Ooooof, EA. Low-hanging fruit. 📝)
In October, she started recruiting:

WANTED: Hot goth bitch to join touring band of other hot goth bitches. (...) Must be able to: sing backing vocals in a wide range with excellent pitch, growl à la Kittie, handle minimal keyboard parts, push buttons/turn knobs with killer attitude, be extremely comfortable on stage in bloomers and a corset, reside in the Chicago area, know the difference between a crumpet and a scone, have at least one hidden talent. 📝

By winter, most of her blog post titles were written in THIS FORMAT!!!!!!!! In December, she announced that “Emilie Autumn and the Bloody Crumpets” would preview Opheliac live at the Double Door in Chicago, on Friday the 13th (ooh!) of the following month. “We are coming to destroy your world,” the post threatened enticingly. "Miss it and suffer. We really don't want to hurt you.” The flyer advertised a dress code:

Masquerade, Ophelias, green girls, Victorian insane asylum escapees, princes of Denmark, bloomered harlots and rogues – general burlesque ribaldry!

Exit diaphanous butterfly wings and elven tiaras 📺, enter the haunted murder-doll with the blood-red heart on her cheek; out with Elizabethan chamber-pop, in with Victoriandustrial. The fairy had to die to make way for the iconic, the sublime, the tragic, the ridiculous, the positively bananas...

OPHELIAC ERA: LET THE RECORD SHOW

EA: What's more interesting, and what's more fun to watch, than a crazy girl's self-destruction? Nothing. Nothing in the world. (The Opheliac Companion, 2008 🎤)
If I'm going down Then I'm going down good I'm going down Then I'm going down clean (...) The prettiest broken girl you've ever seen (“Let the Record Show”, 2006 🎵)

CW: mania, self-harm, abortion, suicidal ideation, hospitalization.
If you haven't gathered as much by now, what fans were witnessing in real time on EA's blog, without necessarily seeing it, was the ebb and flow of a months-long manic episode. That's not me armchair-diagnosing: EA herself has discussed penning and recording a lot of her best material in a trance-like rush, “when you're writing on the ceiling because there's not enough paper to contain your thoughts”.

...Once I became stable and healthy, I realized that I had no memory of how a great deal of my music had been created. I had written and even programmed most of my best work in a similar manic state, and, when stark raving sane, I didn’t know how to do it anymore, because the part of me that really composes never needed to know how to do it, it just did. (2019 Instagram post 📝)

It's not an uncommon experience for artists with bipolar disorder. Before you burn so hot that you wind up in the back of an ambulance, and/or before the pendulum swings back towards debilitating depression, the boundless energy, heightened sensitivity, and unexpected thought patterns associated with mania can lead to periods of prolific and effortless creation.
Mania also has the potential to lower your inhibitions, making you more bodacious, more quick-witted – more dazzling, more fun at parties, more dramatic. All traits that are valued in the entertainment industry, especially one that, with the rise of social media, was coming to rely increasingly on parasocial engagement and “personal branding”. Why would you refrain from oversharing, overreacting, overworking, overpromising, overcurating a fantasy image of yourself... when new industry models reward exactly that?
My point is that, in retrospect, “the end was built into the beginning”: all the things that would make fans go “What the hell, Emilie!” in subsequent years were brewing below the surface before the album even dropped.
In the summer of 2006, EA said goodbye to her Chicago friends and returned to California, where she moved in with her new beau, another Illinois-born guitarist with an impressive forehead: Brendon Small, of Dethklok/Metalocalypse quasi-fame. (If you're into that sort of thing: the orchestral strings on “Detharmonic”? Yep, that's EA! 🎵📺)
In September, Opheliac was released into the world. Expectations were high... And many sources agree it was a goddamn banger. It was ultrafemme, ultradark, unhinged, hilarious and deadly and brilliant. It had gnarly kitchen-sink drums layered under angelic string harmonies, fauxperatic swells, and guttural screaming. It had sarcastically self-aware double-entendres that were also literary references that were also musical notation jokes. You get the idea: it was the album that a small, but sizable demographic of tormented millennial teens had been waiting to obsess over. Some time in late 2005 or so, EA had signed with German label Trisol Records, which gave her access to better promotion, press coverage and touring opportunities in Europe when the album came out in the fall. By winter, she was on the cover of alternative mags, and the talk of the town on underground music webzines. Within a year, she was embarking on the first of three almost-back-to-back European tours.
It was around that time that EA started giving her fanbase a more defined, aesthetically on-brand identity. EA, funnily enough, disliked the term “fan” due to its proximity to “fanatic”, and started calling individual supporters “muffins” or the "Bloomer Brigade". (After The Book came out in 2009, they would become “Plague Rats”. You know how pets get weird if you re-name them too many times? I wonder if the same is true of fans.) Meanwhile, EA's fanbase as a collective – as well as her home, her recording studio, her online forum and her inner brainspace... – became canonically known as “The Asylum”. Cue infinite jokes about her fans being “committed.”
And they really were, in a slightly more intense way than your average indie-alternative fanbase. Many fans enthusiastically adopted facets of EA's mannerisms and lingo, which gave the fandom a definite LARP-ing bend; and the official forum did, in fact, offer a subforum for Asylum-themed role-play. (In a number of ways, the Asylum was basically Juggalos for socially anxious theater goths. Substitute the clown facepaint, Faygo, and hatchets for cheek-hearts, Earl Grey tea, and obsolete medical tools.) While there was always some side-eye at the embarrassingly candid, often very young Plague Rats who took the Asylum thing too seriously (always speaking in character and worshipping the ground Mistress Emilie walked on), a lot of people were quite thrilled to play romantic Victorian madhouse with their new favorite artist. Live shows were like costume balls. The forum thrived.
It was like Opheliac had opened a portal to this vibrant and inclusive alternate dimension, which the community was now bringing to life in the real world. And each tour brought more inmates (muffins, Plague Rats, you get it) to the Asylum. “Spread the Plague!” was the name of the game.
So, on paper, in the three years that followed Opheliac, EA kind of won the high-concept-indie-artist equivalent of the lottery. After going through her own personal hell of abuse, major upheavals and serious mental health crises, she had decided to gamble on a radically different tone and musical direction. She came out the other side with critical acclaim for her soul-baring record, tons of live shows with a badass girl squad, photoshoots so iconic they pop up on random Pinterest boards to this day, snazzy corporate sponsorships (including Manic Panic and RockLove Jewelry), and an exponentially growing fanbase who couldn't get enough of whatever she had to give. And she gave quite a lot!
Within those three years, in between tours, EA released A Bit O' This & That 🎵 (a compilation of demos and back-catalogue curiosities), Laced / Unlaced (a full-instrumental double album - one side was the baroque recordings from her late teens, the other was demented, distortion-heavy classical-prog), and three EPs packed with new songs, covers, remixes and bonus content. There was also a deluxe reissue of Enchant, without the puzzle, but with a brand new booklet of handwritten lyrics and marginalia. All came in lovely inter-matching digipaks that really made you want to collect them all – much like the handmade merch 📝🪞 that EA still sold on some legs of her tours. She spent time with the fans at most shows, eventually holding meet-and-greets and private showcases for VIP ticket-holders. She also released “The Opheliac Companion”, a kind of “director's commentary” of the album – roughly 10 hours worth of lyrical deep dives, microphone specs, tangents within tangents within tangents, and whacky (tipsy, sometimes unintelligible) banter between EA and her sound engineer🎤. On top of all that, she wrote, designed and self-published a fully illustrated 200-page coffee-table book, the first print of which sold out within a year. Not bad!
Of course, things that seem to good to be true usually are: at this stage in the story, EA is never as enthusiastically prolific as when her personal life is falling apart behind the scenes.
In the three years that followed Opheliac, along with soaring success, EA got to experience: more rapid-cycling between manic phases and the pits of depression, multiple harrowing medication adjustments, an very-much-unwanted pregnancy followed by a traumatic abortion, a suicide attempt, at least one inpatient stay, and a break-up in the aftermath of it all. There were also a few physical health scares that required hospitalization. On one occasion, she had to go off all her meds cold-turkey when they were confiscated at the EU border right before the start of a tour. In some pictures from her summer 2007 festival appearances, you can make out faint self-harm scars on her thigh through the layered stockings. (Obvious CW, for the morbidly curious.🪞(But if you weren't, would you still be reading?))
So yeah. EA was not doing great.
She didn't share any of these struggles with her fans in real time; her posts were all droll banter and updates on tours and releases. Most of what I just listed was disclosed in late 2009, in the autobiographical part of The Book. (The Book gets at least one instalment of its own. Bear with me, there's a LOT to unpack.) And The Book, while never specifying a timeline, kind of really made it sound like the Bad Stuff (the abortion, the suicide attempt, the hospital stay) had taken place a while back, before the release of Opheliac. In fact, EA plainly stated as much, citing “getting locked up and being put in the asylum" 📝 as the reason for the shift in sound between Enchant and Opheliac.
She repeatedly referred to herself as “stabilized” and “now properly medicated” in interviews. As far as the fanbase was concerned, she had triumphed over her abusers, turned trauma into beauty, and lived to pass on her story of survival. And now she had found balance and community and true acceptance of herself, all that good stuff – and all was fine and dandy within the Asylum. On stage, she sang about blind rage and all-consuming despair and general hopelessness, but she didn't actually feel like that – not anymore, right?
This narrative was both inspirational and quite convenient for the fans. We love our Mad Hatters 🎵📺, our Rainmen, our manic pixies. We love and celebrate “crazy” when it manifests as outside-the-box brilliance and/or bubbly eccentricity. But in my experience, even in spaces that ostensibly focus on "destigmatizing mental illness", positivity and support can quickly turn to rejection and awkwardness when your “quirks” manifest in more challenging ways – like through erratic decisions, aggressive or dishonest behavior, or increasingly untethered beliefs about yourself and the world. No matter how much people claim to “embrace the madness”, it just isn't that fun or in good taste for a large group to play-act ~ whimsical insanity ~ with someone who is for realsies mentally falling apart.
Before time has had time to do its thing, "revisiting your trauma" is just called ruminating. And it's rarely good for you, even when you commit some of greatest art in the process.
I think fans had to assume that there was some critical distance in EA's act, that these extreme negative emotions were all theater – because if they weren't, then the Asylum wasn't an empowering performance about healing from past hurt. It was more like a years-long reality show in which a woman picked at her wounds publicly, again and again, in real time, to the cheers of oblivious strangers who thought they were watching a play.
All I'm saying is that EA was essentially still in the thick of raw trauma when she became a poster-child for overcoming it; that the last thing a person needs, at such a vulnerable stage in their life, is an intense parasocial relationship with sad goth teenagers, let alone one centered around romanticized retellings of their own darkest moments; and that if more people had declined to actively engage in pretend-play that toed the line of self-harm... there is a chance that things might have turned out differently. Maybe EA would still be a successful musician whose career isn't plagued by conflict and mutual disappointment, and maybe some fans wouldn't have wasted years getting red in the face at an over-exposed mentally ill woman for not getting her shit together.
OKAY, THAT GOT HEAVY (and preachy), apologies and thank you for your patience. I will now quit my soapboxing, resume telling the story, and let you draw your own conclusion as our dark plot unravels.

EPILOGUE: DEAD IS THE NEW ALIVE

A quick taste of the poison A quick twist of the knife When the obsession with death, the obsession with death Becomes a way of life ("Dead is the New Alive", 2006 🎵)
I am still over-glorified My reasons to live Were my reasons to die But at least they were mine (“306”, 2006)

In summation: becoming an overnight success thanks to your darkest trauma will do things to person's mind.
As EA kept hyping up how much her fans meant to her, and what an amazing and inclusive and free-thinking motley crew the Asylum was, she was also growing more and more controlling of her increasingly large (and opinionated, and overall rather young) fanbase – and more generally, of the way people ought to talk to and about her.
It was during the Opheliac era that she started reveling in made-up stories about her own life. Then came the habit of losing her shit on fans that she perceived as ungrateful or disrespectful. It was also then that massive kerfuffles became routine on the merch and planning front, and EA's creative output started to routinely fall short of her promises. The more fans started raising legitimate complaints, the more defensive and uncompromising EA became in her public interactions. The more people expressed weariness of the Asylum theme, or started questioning EA's hot takes on mental health and feminism, the harder she doubled down on the Asylum lore and fictional universe. Which is where the drama really starts.
Alright, the time has come. Let's talk about The Book.
...Actually, let's not. I'm nearing my character limit, and you could probably use a break and a stretch after making it this far. This is our intermission, and we'll get to The Book in our next instalment.
Thank you for reading! Stay tuned if you're interested in how it all comes tumbling down.

Hey y'all, this is my first post here. I've been following this franchise for several years now, and as most of you I'm very disappointed that we'll likely never get a new installment (like a proper new sequel/saga, I'm not talking about G.U. vol.5 or like an IMOQ remake, which would be *VERY slightly* more likely). And I've dipped my toes into gamemaking and played MMOs my whole life, so I wanted to share my ideas for what could be possible in a new installment. It's likely that people have already talked about several of these ideas. I wouldn't know because I've never actually searched for it, but I wanted to share nonetheless.
Now disclaimer, I know that some of these points would feel like I want CyberConnect to release a proper MMO (like they already did with Fragment), and while I would absolutely love that, it is certainly not what I'm talking about. Also, I'm always thinking low budget. Some things I have in mind would seem like I want a $100mill budget game, but I know this series doesn't have like DBZ Kakarot levels of budget (admitedly I don't know the budget for Kakarot but it's certainly higher than Last Recode). So, here it goes. Feel free to critique any points or add more. I'm just doing this for fun and to get it out of my system.

1. The ingame story would revolve around The World: R3, to justify a revamp of the game.
   1. Keep Rengeki tho that shit's fire.
2. No need for any new classes apart from the ones already introduced in G.U., although new classes would be appreciated.
   1. I would appreciate also having fewer base classes, but have them do a Job Extension to get to a higher class (for example, make Adept Rogue an extension of Twin Blade, or create a base Mage class to go into Shadow Warlock or Harvest Cleric).
3. Active combat with proper combos (I'm thinking a Devil May Cry kinda feel, with different attacks for each weapon type giving you access to different combo routes. No need to make it over complicated, with just three or four different combo routes would be enough)
4. You can recruit random people to your guild. NPCs around the map can be invited into your guild, and if they accept, you can send them to do tasks for the guild (like collecting items or money for the guild, or operating the guild shop). This would just be a menu option, like in Monster Hunter World where you send Palicoes to collect materials and after a few missions they return.
   1. These NPCs you recruited on your guild can be taken into your party for non-story missions, to level them up and have them get better rewards.
   2. Maybe make these NPCs leave the guild/game if they don't get enough attention? Like since you're not giving them anything to do or play with them they just get bored and go play something else.
5. Make dungeons and raids. These don't need to be very intricate. Have like two, max three dungeons and one or two simple raids per server. Dungeons would consist of larger areas with a bigger or unique reward at the end, and raids would be a simple two or three room dungeon with a big boss at the end. The raid boss would indeed be a more complex monster, with attack patterns and a larger health pool, but with unique drops at the end. This would be optional content, at most one raid would be mandatory for the story.
   1. The equipment you get from these dungeons and raids wouldn't just be stat increases, but actually unique weapons with unique effects. For example you could get an armor that can prevent all damage from one hit, once every few seconds/minutes, but it wouldn't necessarily have better overall stats than your average armor at that point in the game.
   2. Endgame equipment obtained from raids would have similar stats from regular equipment, but with different gimmicks allowing you to focus on a certain playstyle.
   3. I wanna make clear that I don't intend them to create 12 different unique bosses. I'm okay with them reusing bosses randomly for the raids, and/or recolor them to give the illusion of it being a different enemy, as long as it feels like a raid boss.
6. After finishing the game for the first time, a Free Play option would be unlocked, letting you create your own character and start the game at lvl 1, going through the story with that character (albeit without any cutscenes, just for fun). Think DMC3 Vergil mode. This would add tons of replayability to the game, letting you explore all different classes the game has to offer. Now don't get me wrong I absolutely adore Adept Rogue but sometimes I wish I could be a Warlock or a Partizan.
7. You cannot learn every spell in the game. Each spell has a class/stats requirement, making you choose carefully your party members (and giving you an incentive to go to the Free Play mode, to try out those spells you couldn't before).

And that's about it. I don't really care for more Avatar battles but if they would add them, I would prefer a better gameplay than just "lower defense, gap close, spam X". I didn't touch any specific story stuff because I suck at storytelling, so I decided to focus exclusively on gameplay. And maybe some of these things have already been included in different games but I don't know about it (I've only played IMOQ and G.U., watched SIGN and Roots, and read some random manga I managed to get my hands on one time). Again, feel free to tear me down or join in on this mental masturbation exercise.

So I made a oc that I want to write about. Here's his deal.
Haruki Ryou
Quirk:energy storage and release
Haruki Ryou is intp he's usually pretty quite unless spoken too. He doesn't really care for small talk and prefers to solve puzzles like rubik's cubes he almost always carry 1 or 2 in his bag as they are a comfort item for him.
The best way to talk to him is by making conversation that has purpose like training. He is self aware of himself but has much internal conflict as he doesn't know if he wants to be a hero as he knows his quirk is perfect for it but he doesn't know if his heart is truly In it.
He is very analytical and always gets high grades Many people have called him creepy as he has a tendency to watch people super carefully and it can come off as rude and creepy when he really means no harm he's just searching for weaknesses as a hobby and a puzzle.
If he's not solving a puzzle in his free time he's usually playing games or watching anime his favorite is dragon ball z but he would never be caught playing games or watching anime unless he was dead as he feels its embarrassing.
He has always had a hard time making friends and those friends he did have usually left quite quickly. He wants friends not yearns for them but feels it would he nice to have. He does not know if he wants a romantic relationship. He has trained in various martial art but not for long he has only trained in a martial art for not more then a year and a half as he wants to learn as many as possible and create his own style the martial arts he combines into his own style are Muay Thai,Taekwondo,Tai Chi,Kung Fu, Aikido,Wing Chun. He has been studying for 7-8 years he started when he was about 8 years old. In his own head he likes to call his fighting style the hermit style after master roshi and goku but in person he usually just says a form of mixed martial arts as no one really questions him about it.
Quirk:energy storage and release
He can store and release energy that he absorbs he can absorbs most energys like Mechanical energy, Electrical energy, Thermal energy,Nuclear energy,Gravitational energy,Sound energy and Radiant energy. Most energys he has not absorbed much of as it's hard to find lots of nuclear and its hard for him to absorbs energy like chemical energy as he has a hard time absorbing energy that is pact in and is ready to explode. He also has his own energy or life force energy which is the most Potent energy but it can harm him if he uses too much of it. His quirk is both a Emitter and mutant as his body's organs have changed in a way to better hold the energy that his body produces and the engine he can absorb. And because if this mutations his body is about twice as more efficient then the average.
His body automatically absorbs energy that he deems safe to absorb like light energy. But I'd he is around energy long enough his body will start to subconsciously absorb energy even if he doesn't want to as thats how his body is program to do.
The biggest weakness to his power is really his own knowledge of it. And he doesn't really have a good grasp on it has the law doesn't allow him to better his knowledge on his quirk as he can only do so much within his own home.
His second biggest weakness is that he's not always around large amounts of energy for him to use.
You can tell that I took lots of inspiration from dbz. I mean the quirk is as close as I can get to ki without being straight ki. Oh and in my story dbs doesn't exist okay it just doesn't it ended at dbz.
I know there's a lot going on with his quirk but tbh I don't think it's out of the realms of possibilities for mha but I do know it needs to be tweak. And I know it feels op but idk considering quirks like new order exist but whatever.
I tried to make it so that he fits into mha but also has some dbz mixed into it.
His name does have some meaning to it
Haruki is if I did it right suppose to have the Kanji for doge in it.(take that how you will😉)
Ryou is suppose to more or less mean lonely/loner
If I did the names wrong please tell me so I can fix it. I just used Google to find names so they might be wrong 😅
Anyway if you guys have any ideas on how to change or make it better please tell me Thanks for reading my word vomit.

First off, I want to make a caveat that this is only an opinion of mine, coming from a Dragon Ball fan that does not have a deep knowledge of the lore.
What I want to discuss is this abrupt switch from the many years of prepping and elevating Gohan's position as the new main character of the Dragon Ball franchise back to bring back Goku as the central character during the events of the Buu Saga.
Just a caveat. I am saying "Greater Buu Saga" or "Buu Saga" here as the series of events encompassing from the Great Saiyaman Saga to the Kid Buu Saga. Just easier to refer to all of it as that.
The Buu Saga, despite being a personal favorite of mine, partly due to nostalgia of watching it as a young kid during the onset of puberty, has always been one of the weakest arcs of Dragon Ball Z. It does not compare to the heights of the Cell Saga and earlier arcs, with exceptions like Vegeta's character development as well Mr. Satan's.
And I think I know why.
What I want to focus on is the reason why the writing of the Buu Saga is not only weak but confusing and the potential reasons behind it, if not going to the end of Z.
Originally, Dragon Ball Z seemed to be setting up Gohan to take over as the main protagonist, especially after the Cell Saga, where Gohan's hidden powers surpassed those of his father, Goku. This was a significant moment, suggesting a passing of the torch from Goku to his son. However, as the series transitioned into the Buu Saga, Goku reassumed his role as the central character.
There has been a few reasons that were cited throughout the Internet as to why this sudden switch occurred; including Toriyama's intentions that he stated publicly and his creative spontaneity, the immediate fan reactions to Gohan's rise, Goku's already solidified iconic status, audience expectations and loyalty, which I think all played a role and I'll be discussing but I also want to offer another perspective.
One of the most important reasons, if not the most important reason, in my opinion, for the shift in narrative focus from Gohan back to Goku during the Buu Saga is industry pressure. While there isn’t any explicit documentation or public statements from Akira Toriyama or Toei Animation confirming direct industry pressure to maintain Goku as the series' focal point, and I don't think they will ever be any, analyzing the situation within the broader context of the anime and manga industry and the time period when this was published and aired reveals plausible influences.
HISTORICAL CONTEXT
The Buu Saga was written and aired in the early 1990s. Specifically, it began in Japan in 1993 and concluded in 1995. I want to focus more on the Japanese market since during early '90s, the franchise is just picking up an international audience, which is a process that is still going to take more than a decade.
However, even during this time, there's already too many people, especially important people, within the industry that is already too invested in Dragon Ball's success as a profit-making franchise.
Goku sells.
The early '90s also marked a significant period for the shonen genre, with Dragon Ball's success setting a template for many series that followed. The archetypical shonen protagonist—optimistic, straightforward, and martially adept—embodied by Goku became a model that many series sought to emulate. This era saw the emergence of series like Yu Yu Hakusho and Flame of Recca, which, while offering their unique twists and characters, drew inspiration from the successful formula established by Dragon Ball.
And Dragon Ball has to keep itself "competitive" within this growing genre back then as well.
THE WORLD IS NOT READY FOR THE "WORLD'S STRONGEST BOOKWORM"
I was reminded of the reference to Gohan as the "world's strongest bookworm" in DBZ Abridged since it highlights this juxtaposition that many of Dragon Ball's audience during the early 1990s may have been not ready to accept yet between Gohan's scholarly pursuits with his latent martial prowess.
I believe that this contrast, while potentially rich in narrative depth, might not have resonated as strongly with the audience at the time, due in part to the broader cultural context of the period.
During the early '90s, the Internet and social media had not yet revolutionized how people, especially the "normies", interacted with media and fan communities. Geek culture was not as mainstream or celebrated as it is today, where characters like Peter Parker (Spider-Man) are embraced for their dual identity as both superheroes and intellectuals. This is also true in Japan, not just abroad. So during this time, the archetype of the physically strong hero who triumphs through brute strength or martial prowess was a more dominant feature in popular culture. It continues to do so today but there is far less room for recognizing such an unconventional main character and make it resonate with an audience that only know a very different kind of character before.
They are not prepared.
Gohan, with his intellectual bent and more reserved nature, contrasted with the traditional shonen hero archetype exemplified by Goku. Goku's straightforward, battle-focused character aligned closely with the prevailing expectations for protagonists in the genre. Gohan's character, on the other hand, offered a different kind of heroism, one that balanced physical strength with intellectual achievement and emotional depth. While this could have added a rich layer to the Dragon Ball narrative, mirroring a Peter Parker-like role where the character balances heroic duties with personal challenges, it might not have been what the majority of the audience at the time was expecting or ready to fully embrace.
The readiness of the audience to accept a hero like Gohan, who defies the traditional mold by embracing both strength and intellect, could indeed have been influenced by the broader cultural context. The early '90s were still a time when the stereotypical image of geeks and intellectuals was often the subject of ridicule. This societal backdrop could have contributed to a preference for Goku's more traditional heroism over the nuanced character development that Gohan offered.
LOST DECADES
There is also the economic part, which is a direct influence on my industry pressure argument.
The "Lost Decades" refers to the period of economic stagnation in Japan that began in the early '90s, with the bursting of the asset price bubble in 1991. This economic downturn had widespread effects on various industries, which includes entertainment and publishing.
The prevailing economic climate back then had already started influencing consumer spending on entertainment, including manga and anime.
I think this created an effect wherein publishers and studios might have become more conservative as a result of reduced consumer spending, favoring established formulas and characters that had proven successful in securing audience engagement and sales. In such an economic context, there might have been additional pressures on the industry to stick with "safe" choices. For Dragon Ball, this may have meant continuing its focus on Goku, a beloved and commercially successful character, rather than Gohan.
1993 is a very bad year economically for Japan.
So we have here a combination of the shonen genre's developmental stage in the early '90s and the entrance of competitors, the influence of Goku's character archetype on the market, and the economic pressures of the Lost Decade to provide a broader context for understanding the narrative decisions during this time, particularly the shift back to Goku as the central character.
These factors, alongside audience expectations and Toriyama's own creative inclinations, contribute to the decisions made during this time.
What I mean to say is that I am making the argument that Toriyama's decision to shift back to Goku has less to do with Toriyama making the decision himself on the fly, like his other decisions before through Dr Slump and early Dragon Ball, but more on recognizing or acknowledging external pressures from other partners and stakeholders in the business of making and selling Dragon Ball that it all influenced him to make the decision to shift the narrative focus back to Goku.
It's just not the right time and environment to be creative and experimental. Dragon Ball became something more than him at this time period.
CREATIVE FATIGUE
While there is no documentation about this that I know of personally, I also imagine that Toriyama is just getting tired of writing Dragon Ball by around this time. By the time the Buu Saga was being developed around 1992-1993, Toriyama had been working on Dragon Ball for a decade, dealing with the immense pressures of weekly manga publication and the corresponding anime production in parallel to it.
Creative fatigue could have influenced the Buu Saga's direction, as sustaining innovation and freshness in storytelling becomes increasingly challenging over time through these daily pressures of maintaining high sales volumes for manga volumes and merchandise, along with strong viewership ratings for the anime.
We also know that manga artists often work closely with their editors, who provide feedback, suggest story directions, and sometimes push for changes to align with perceived audience preferences or publishing strategies. So you have this dynamic that can always lead to creative tensions, especially in cases where the artist's vision diverges from editorial suggestions. And while Toriyama may want to continue to work on Gohan's character development, almost everyone else within the industry probably disagreed and wanted him to bring back Goku to the forefront.
I think the writing of the entire Buu Saga and the end of DBZ, if not going into GT, is a reflection of this hidden tug of war between Toriyama and other stakeholders during the entire writing process.
There's a lot of industry interference. That's why the Buu Saga is such an experimental mess.
And that's why Toriyama got tired of it all.
TORIYAMA'S RESPONSE
So how do I think Toriyama responded to these pressures?
I can deduce it through the outcome of the saga itself.
Spirit Bomb
Goku's use of the Spirit Bomb as the means to defeat Kid Buu represents a significant thematic choice. Unlike other transformations or power-ups that focus on individual strength and prowess (such as the various Super Saiyan levels), the Spirit Bomb is a collective effort, relying on the energy contributed by beings across Earth and other planets.
It's a departure from the typical "stronger transformation wins" narrative, possibly reflecting Toriyama's desire to emphasize different values at the saga's climax.
But behind this desire, I also think that this is his response, consciously or not, to the overwhelming pressures of putting back Goku as the main guy that kills the main villain.
If he's not going to get his way of making Gohan play a major role in defeating Majin Buu, then he'll feature Goku in the role of killing the villain, but not with the help of a transformation or power-up.
It's just a speculation but I can also offer another speculation. We can actually see a glimpse of a possible alternative path to the Buu Saga through what's been published itself. The original draft may have been along the lines of Gohan training with Goku and Vegeta so that he could finally defeat a version of Buu while Mr. Satan and Videl also play supporting roles in the afterlife as they watch Gohan defeat Buu through some transformation beyond Super Saiyan 2 or even through the Spirit Bomb itself.
Behind the writing of the entire Buu Saga appears to be this hidden tug of war between Toriyama and the other main stakeholders, a pro-Gohan faction vs a pro-Goku faction, where Toriyama finally caved in to the pro-Goku faction, hence the result that we've been given.
The writing process is a mess. That is why the final product is a mess.
Hail Satan! Hail Satan! Hail Satan!
Mr. Satan's involvement in rallying the people of Earth to contribute their energy to the Spirit Bomb is another element that contrasts sharply with the saga's earlier focus on Saiyan strength. Mr. Satan, a character often used for comic relief and devoid of the typical fighters' power, becomes crucial to the saga's resolution. From a certain perspective, this could be seen as Toriyama's commentary on the importance of every individual's contribution, regardless of their strength, and a subtle critique of external pressures to always focus on the Saiyans and their power-ups as the central element of the story.
But it could also be a left-over from an old draft idea of having Mr. Satan play a role in supporting his future son-in-law Gohan, as he accepts the developing feelings of her daughter towards him and vice-versa, since Gohan is supposed to be the original hero of the Majin Buu Saga.
It could have been Gohan who threw that Spirit Bomb.
Time Skip, GT and the new generation
From my perspective, the Peaceful World Saga offers faint clues towards Toriyama's original intentions in Goku's evolution towards a more mentorship role, with Gohan becoming the leading Z fighter. This is another attempt of laying the groundwork for the future in a prospective Gohan-centered present as the leading hero of the series. This is why I think we have Goten and Trunks being prepped to go alongside Gohan in future adventures in saving the world. The entire thing is obvious through DBZ's last OP and ED during this saga.
In fact, I can make the argument that Goten's existence is a coin toss due to Goku's death.
Any decision that could have kept Goku alive after the Cell Games will most likely mean that Goten wouldn't exist as that "replacement kid Goku" that offer fans a sense of continuity and familiarity, keeping them engaged in the series. But Goku's death meant that the audience have to become invested with a new Goku, and since Gohan has a completely different personality, Goten provides that opportunity. It also provides the opportunity to explore the relationship between "kid Goku" and Vegeta's son, Trunks, as well as another opportunity to explore Gohan's possible mentorship of Trunks in this main timeline that may closely resemble Future Gohan and Future Trunks' relationship in the Androids timeline. It also offers an interesting contrast with Vegeta and Goku's ongoing rivalry that might be tempered with time, which Dragon Ball Super is now showing us, as Gohan starts to solidify himself as the leading character.
Goten's existence is owed to Goku's absence in the Great Saiyaman Saga. If Gohan ever gained a sibling in this alternate plan, it could have Pan that became Gohan's sibling.
But of course, that's just my speculation.
As for Pan and Uub's appearance in the timeskip, I can speculate that the entire timeskip is itself a product of Toriyama's decision to end DBZ so that he could give way to the production of Dragon Ball GT, whose first episode was released just a full month after the end of Dragon Ball Z in January 1996.
1995 must have been the year where Toriyama decided that he's had enough.
We'll never know what happened if GT's very existence is owed to Toriyama's behind the scenes decision to pull the plug with DBZ and allowing Toei to continue to milk Dragon Ball's popularity through their own series or if it's a corporate coup in order to wrestle away part of Toriyama's control over the storyline.
But I wouldn't be surprised if drafts of Pan and Uub's characters are already been prepared a long time beforehand. They are certainly not new characters that Toriyama may have created over the course of making that time skip. But it also meant that Toriyama and the crew already know how they will end the Buu Saga and Dragon Ball Z itself, which completely stops Toriyama in elevating Gohan as the guy that will defeat Buu, for good or for ill.
As for GT, Toriyama's involvement in the production of Dragon Ball GT is not very known and discussed in detail, especially in story development.
However, I wouldn't be surprised that they've taken some of his supposed original ideas with Gohan's development and the role that the younger generation will play in a future Dragon Ball.
Toriyama just got tired of it all and allowed Toei to have their thing.
And in a shameless display of commercialism, Toei replaced someone who could be possibly be a combination of an older Goten and Trunks with a younger Pan as the main characters of a Toriyama-written Dragon Ball GT into what we know now.
And that is how it became this badly-written cash cow that utilizes Kid Goku nostalgia while doing a space-based OG Dragon Ball with a young teenager Pan as the new Bulma.
It didn't work.
And it's not a coincidence that Toriyama's more limited involvement in making GT is directly correlated to its dismal performance in ratings.
His public statements that I didn't know of didn't give any indication of anything happening behind the scenes in that time period between 1993 to 1995 that led to this shift and of course, he'll never talk negatively about his employers, in line with Japanese workplace standards, but I imagine that those two years exhausted him sufficiently that he moved away towards other projects and a less stressful lifestyle while also realizing that his work has become more than himself and he couldn't force all, if not, most of his ideas through the story writing process anymore.
As for my opinion if DBZ has the slightest chance of becoming a Gohan-centered story as Toriyama originally intended, I am not so sure about that. I lean towards the chances of it being slim as early as 1990-1991, as Dragon Ball starts to surpass the popularity of Dr Slump, Toriyama's earlier work, which I also adore.
But here is my current hypothesis.
Industry meddling, pressure and interference is the primary cause for the shift back from Gohan to Goku through a combination of the trappings of the franchise's sudden explosive popularity, the shonen genre's developmental stage in the early '90s and the entrance of new competitors to Dragon Ball that may take away Dragon Ball's preeminent position, the huge influence of Goku's character archetype on the anime market, and the economic pressures of the Lost Decade that pushes creative industries towards more conservative solutions. In retaliation, Toriyama got creative fatigue and decided to slowly move away from Dragon Ball towards other projects while giving people in the industry most of what they want to see. By 1995, it's all over.
Of course, he didn't realize how bad everything will become until he started rescuing the franchise from the dark depths of Dragon Ball Evolution.
That's all. Thank you for reading this if you ever got far. Sorry if it got too long. Please let me know your thoughts, thank you.

The title is pretty straightforward on what this short rant is about, and I can't be half as bothered as I wish to.
This seemingly consensual pact between battleboarding communities that 'Broly did not destroy the South Galaxy, but instead wiped out its celestial bodies over the course of many years' is, quite frankly, nothing but cope.
If I had to guess, people rejected and still reject the notion because they find that level of power too outlandish for the series at that point, but this is only a problem if you are overtaken by battleboarding brain rot or if you're trying to powerscale an isolated movie to the main series continuity for no reason.
Combine the introductory sequence with the intended target-audience of thirteen minus this movie was meant to pander to. The compositing here is pretty explicit on what the author intent is trying to convey, what with a galaxy fading from existence as soon as the film pops in and the narrator and King Kaio both expressing their shock and surprise at the South Galaxy being wrecked.
It is incredibly obvious what is supposed to be derived here from the introductory sequence on an overly simplory PG-13 movie, and it ain't "several decades of planets being slowly whittled down" lol. It is a flashy, high-paced clincher to set up an action-heavy flick.
Normally, people bring up scenes such as Goku teleporting to the ruins of the galaxy with some stars and planets left behind in it to argue against the concept, but this is misguided at best because there is no need for one to derive the idea of 'Broly obliterated the entirety of the contents of this galaxy with a single omnidirectional ki blast', which is not what is shown, but rather my carefully-worded title descriptor; 'Broly swiftly destroyed a galaxy'.
Those are similar, yet subtly different notions.
To exemplify, if I threw a fifty-megaton nuke on Los Angeles, I'd be generating a blast that'd pretty swiftly level the city and can appropriately be referred to as a city-destroying explosion, but I am not going to be looking at a smoldering crater with absolutely no leftover buildings, streets or rubble afterward. There's still gonna be plenty, which does not make the explosion any less 'quickly city-destroying' or '50-megatons'.
Likewise, the same applies here. If Broly can somehow swiftly output enough energy to encompass a galaxy and effectively destroy it in a similar way as a nuke blows up a city, you're gonna looking at lots of remains, but I bet your ass I'm never gonna see anyone referring to a nuke blast as "a several year timelapse of buildings being destroyed", because that is asinine and patently idiotic.
The fact several characters throughout the film repeatedly refer to the South Galaxy as 'that thing already destroyed by Broly', with the one exception being a statement from Broly's dad, thd guy who is actively trying to deceive Vegeta into not realizing Broly is the Legendary Super Saiyan, also reinforces my point.
If all this isn't enough to convince you of the simplory author intent behind the movie's PG-13 oriented introduction scene, then let me introduce you to Takao Koyama, the scriptwriter and producer behind all the original 13 DBZ movies, the creator of Broly. The guy is and has always been the embodiment of what you'd expect a raging Broly fanboy who derangedly screams about his power being 'Maximumer' than all in battleboards to sound like:

Q: Why did Broli come back three times? A: Because he’s the strongest. (laughs) Even including the TV anime, nobody exists in the world who’s stronger than Broli. I mean, even Vegeta, Prince of the Saiyans, was trembling in fear. (laughs) I felt that there’s no way that kind of mightiest being would die in a single outing. After all, there were kids who cried at Broli’s overwhelming strength when they saw Burn Up!! at Shueisha’s preview screening. (laughs) It’s always difficult coming up with an enemy for Goku, because I’d constantly have to escalate their strength. So, he ended up appearing three times. This is true of Broli as well, but Goku & co. are always fighting against “an unbeatable foe”. Goku must win against such an enemy, so he has no choice but to defeat him when his enemy becomes overconfident and creates an opening. There’s absolutely no way he’d be able to win against someone like Broli if he used more orthodox methods.7 (laughs)

The guy is even recorded as having written the following note to Kanzenshuu staff back when Battle of Gods came out

And so, as for substance of the issue at hand…….
In handling the scripts for the films, what I always worried about each time was the problem of what to do about the opponent Goku fights against. That’s because, at the very least, they had to be stronger than [the ones from] the previous movie. After much hard work, I was unable to come up with an opponent stronger than Broli, and fell into a rut where I made him appear three times. That is to say, there’s the matter of questioning the idea of Broli as the strongest. As you are well aware, vehement opinions on the subject have been flying back and forth on this message board, as well as a variety of [other] websites. For this time, Goku’s opponent, designed by Toriyama-sensei, was even a God of Destruction. In the world of Dragon Ball Z, that’s a setting where even Broli, before the God of Destruction, would face a gap like that between a Yokozuna and the very bottom of the sumo ranks. That Broli, reduced to a pushover.
Only, from the impression I got of the character on the screen, Broli was scarier, no contest. Am I the only one who found that Broli looked overwhelmingly frightening? Or am I just biased towards my own creation?

Rather infamously, he has maintained this opinion since the 90s. Ths is the guy who wrote the script and created the character, and that is what he sounds like when the subject concerns Broly.
With that in mind, is it really doubtful that the introductory scene of a galaxy being wiped out in this movie was clearly written with the intent to emphasize the character's "overwhelming power" by the author? There is no need to resort to fanciful explanations at that point.
So yea.

(Post was originally posted on QQ, edited and posted it here)
So Solo Levelling anime came out. Neato. I love and hate Solo Levelling. The Gamer, Nobless, Solo Levelling, and Unordinary are basically your go-to manwha introductions, like how DBZ, Naruto, One Piece, and Bleach are often Western fan's first manga.
I remember reading Solo Levelling in the earlier years before it exploded in popularity and being drawn in by the setting and art. SL popularized the Hunters and Gate tropes. The setting fascinated me because I always liked fantasy invading the modern world, like in SMT. Whenever I was reading, I wanted to know more about how the world coped with the Gates, how normal people get by and just how big a Gate gets. Unfortunately, thanks to SL's popularity it inspired hundreds of Hunter manhwa with less and less originality and Jinwoo clones.
Solo Levelling killed fantasy manhwa. You can't go anywhere without having stat screen, levels, "S-rank," and god forbid the motherfucking piece of shit SyStEm being shoved in your face thanks to hack authors trying to copy Gamer and Solo Levelling which is hilarious because they entirely miss the point of the draw between those two works.
Now to give an analogy, it was like watching a zombie movie where everybody started turning into zombies. Before Solo Levelling was adapted we had a fair mix of manhwa available to us. Fantasy, romance, etc. LitRPG stories were actually pretty few but still had some popularity. The OGs were Nobless, Tower of God, God of Highschool, I Love Yoo. The two ways you could experience manhwa were in the webtoons website or some 3'rd party scan site like Asuracans.
Now before continuing I'd just like to say, FUCK FastPass. Holy shit FastPass killed manhwa pacing so fucking much. For anyone who doesn't know, Fastpass is a feature that locks out manhwa episodes so you'd have to wait a week to see it. It was always a 1 week=1 episode but then ever since FastPass was announced the pacing of several manhwa grinded to a halt just to milk FastPass coins. Some authors are so fucking egregious they lock SEVEN FUCKING EPISODES in advanced.
Webtoons like Unordinary used to have a good pacing. We got to plot points; we had payoffs, and we had consistent action. But then ever since Fastpass came out the pacing grinded to a screeching halt so Uru-chan could milk as many fucking coins as possible. It was so sad to see. Paying money just to see what happens later down the line only for it to be revealed that nothing happened and you just wasted your money for no reason.
My strategy for reading Unordinary and other manhwa is to catch up, then drop it for months, and then catch up on the chapters before dropping it again. It feels good not having to wait weeks upon weeks when I can just binge the entire season in 1 go.
Also just to be clear, manhwa=koreans and webtoon=western manhwa, manhua=chinese. Webtoon has license agreements to translate and publish Korean manhwa however not every series get's licensed so people looking for manhwa just go to scanlaters.
During the era before Solo Levelling, we had bad manhwas and copycats. It's a meme just how bad some of these tropes can get. Otome webtoons/manhwa suffer from romance cliches and toxic relationships. Fantasy manhwa had overpowered MCs. Korean high school manhwa has the "High schoolers are the mafia" cliche often ramped up to 11. The point is that it was a pretty diverse era.
We had cult classics like Bastard and Sweet Home. We saw the rise and fall of several manhwas that couldn't make it. We saw cringe, masterpieces; we picked up and dropped many manhwa along the way.
Now obviously there were really popular tropes used like isekai and time travel. Those two were the bread and butter of manhwa no matter what genre you were in. However, it felt balanced since manhwas tried to differentiate from each other and add their own twists. The video game fantasy manhwa selection had a few series but lost popularity over time. The Gamer barely has any readers from how it's first season was.
Now if you wanted to publish your own manhwa you'd either write a web novel and pray a company picks it up or you become your own artist and publish on webtoon. Now there were tons of LitRPG webnovels that I saw like "S-class Hunters I raised", "The world after the fall", "S-class suicide hunter"and "Omniscient Reader." I read through them and enjoyed the stories but I never thought they would get adapted.
Then Solo fucking Levelling got adapted a flood of video game manhwa happened. Holy. Fucking. Shit. Imagine my surprise when all of the LitRPG web novels I read got Manhwa adaptions a few years later.
Now to reiterate, getting popular is a big deal because many others will try to copy your work to see if they can get the same success. To put things into perspective, Otome manhwa are usually romance/drama stories to appeal to female readers. There was manhwa that decided to make a twist of "what if FEMC reincarnated into a otome villainess" then another author slapped on "otome villainess game" and HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLY fucking shit the amount of "reincarnated into villainess stories" flooded into the market. That is literally the ENTIRE otome manhwa landscape right now. Just "reincarnation" and the occasional "time travel regressor" manhwa. That is what happened when Solo Levelling exploded in popularity. Even completely regular fantasy works would still have video game elements just to appeal to people.
Now, thanks to Solo Levelling's popularity, several manhwa studios are trying to copy its success by adapting several LitRPG web novels. We never had this many until Solo Levelling was adopted; some of these web novels sat on the internet for 10+ years until SL blew up in popularity. Webnovel authors who want to make a quick buck, shit out "Solo Levelling copy and paste" so they can collect royalties from the manhwa adaption. Studios even began trying to copy the Solo Levelling art style. Now nearly every manhwa feels like a Solo Levelling copy and paste without any thought put into what made Solo Levelling actually work.
To also add on, nobody thought that manhwas could get animes because Korea didn't have dedicated anime studios like Japan has. When people say "Tower of God greenlight for 13 episodes" MANY people were shocked. Nobless did get an OVA but it was just an OVA. The fact that manhwas could now get SEASONAL adaptions sparked hope in the manhwa community. Many people wanted to see their favourite manhwas get a season.
However to get an anime you need to be popular and rak in cash. So far the only manhwa that actually have seasonal anime runs are; Tower of God and God of Highschool, Why Raeliana Ended up at the Duke's Mansion, A Returner's Magic Should Be Special and Solo Levelling. All of these manhwa are extremely popular, they're classic ones that are widely known in the manhwa space with hundreds of chapters already and large fanbases. Solo Levelling is being adapted by A-1 Pictures, one of the top animation studios in Japan. It is THAT popular. Every single Manhwa fan knows what Solo Levelling is; it's a household name at this point in Korea (Slight exaggeration for comedic effect).
Gamer and Solo Levelling work on the idea of having a "what if video game in real life" but work it so that it fits into the setting while being weird as hell. The protagonists have powers that make them act like video game characters; however, the world isn't a game. It's a fantasy world with its own lore and rules. It's just that their powers warp their reality and bend the rules slightly to give them massive advantages.
In The Gamer, the world operates with a god-like entity known as Gaia that gives humans powers and brings them to the supernatural side of the world based on their characteristics. Anyone can awaken their unique ability. The MC happened to awaken the Gamer ability because his love for video games was such a defining characteristic of him that it translated into receiving video game abilities. Other characters find it completely absurd and over powered like when the MC instantly learns a skill or levels up they say "what the fu". He's a weirdo in the setting but completely fits in.
In Solo Levelling, there are actual lore reasons behind the system given to Jinwoo. It was designed with the purpose of making his body stronger in order to host the Shadow Monarch=basically emo Lucifer who rebelled against other monarchs. The monarchs wanted to have a giant war but every planet was too weak to contain their power so they flooded Earth with mana so that Earth would become their battlefield. Jinwoo was meant to be a sacrifice but turned the tables and the Shadow Monarch gives Jinwoo his powers. The System actually disappears since Jinwoo doesn't need it anymore
The reason why the system looks like a video game is because the system read Jinwoo's consciousness and designed itself that way on purpose so that Jinwoo could easily understand and use the system. Jinwoo's system goes against the setting and he's seen as a giant abnormally because he's the only one that can actually get stronger while everyone else was born with their strength.
Other manhwa that copy the above work, completely miss this point and break the suspension of disbelief whenever they have video game terminology be for fantasy worlds and protagonists just being handed dues ex machina systems by the author. There's no lore reason that fits into the world of why said protagonist would gain a system or why would medival fantasy peasants use 21st century terminology.
The author of Solo Levelling actually put some thought into how the world would work even with the few details we get. There are brief passages about how the laws, culture, and how people evolved to adapt to Gates magically appearing to spew out monsters. Everyone else just shamelessly copies Solo Leveling setting. Like holy fuck it's actually bewildering just how many manhwa copy literally every single plot beat that Solo Leveling has:

• Hunters and guilds divided by letter rankings
• Mother is sick so kid has to pay hospital bills
• MC suddenly gains a system
• Necromancy
• Monster outbreaks on an island or school
• Little sister and bro sidekick who do nothing
• Absent father
• I need to hide my power level (Because he's being hunted down by the American gang Hunter)

Now let's get this out of the way, the art carried this series. The team behind the art killed it and gave us hype after hype panels for to make Youtube AMVs. The manhwa is pure action with occasional attention to the characters. I disagree with the notion that there's no character development because even if it's minimal, the original author actually did have some story in mind when creating Solo Leveling. There's actually some surprising depth to Jinwoo that gets uncredited.
Also have to make this clear but the manhwa cuts out details from the original web novel it was adapted from. I have no idea how much but I've talked to Solo Leveling fans and they told me that Jinwoo is more human in the webnovel since you get hear more of his inner dialogue. Some changed are just to make things more dramatic and epic for when Jinwoo fights enemies.
Jinwoo's story is obviously about a weak guy becoming the strongest. He's only in the Hunter business for money and is surprisingly more human that I thought. His best friend Jinho is some low ranked guy and Jinwoo likes him because Jinho was nice to him even assuming that Jinwoo was just an E-rank. They become close enough that they consider each other brothers despite the absurd power gap. They eat out, have drinks and are seen just chilling between dungeon dives. Which is ironic because his relationship with Jinho is more developed then his romance with his actual wife, in the manhwa. Idk if it's better developed in the web novel.
Then another moment that stood out to me was during the Chimera Ant arc of the manhwa with obligatory Japanese bashing. Ant monsters invaded Jeju island and took over it for years. The Hunter organization assembled a team of S-rank Hunters to raid it and take it back. Jinwoo initially refuses to participate in the raid because he just wants to spend more time with his mom after she got released from the hospital. He only participates when things go to shit so he teleports in to fight the big bad of the arc. Jinwoo is forced to go from passivity into proactively taking action to become Earth's defender against invading monster threats. Then, he fully accepts his responsibilities as time progresses as he realizes the weight of power that he holds.
Now onto the rest of the cast. It's what you'd expect from a standard manhwa: underdeveloped characters pushed into the bench with an overpowered main character having to solve every single problem. Like, whoah, not even Dragon Ball is this bad when it comes to side characters being absolutely useless. At least they can give Goku energy for a Spirit Bomb.ther good natured Hunters keeping their morals and defending people at the cost of their lives. He learns there is value in connections and when he officially becomes the strongest, other power beings are weirded out why Jinwoo places so much value on Earth, they can't comprehend that Jinwoo finds value in lowly humans.
Now onto the rest of the cast...it's what you'd expect from a standard manhwa. Underdeveloped characters pushed into the bench with an over powered main character having to solve every single problem. Like whoah not even Dragon ball is this bad when it comes to side characters being absolutely useless. At least they can give Goku energy for a Spirit Bomb.
There was a revenge subplot where Jinwoo kills a Hunter and then said Hunters brother swears to get revenge. The Hunter is S-rank so you think "whoah Jinwoo is going to be screwed if he get's exposed" However this plot line is pushed so far into the back that I deadass forgot it existed until it was hastily concluded. The revenge arc finally happens after Jinwoo has become the strongest Hunter on Earth and defeated numerous S-rank threats, he solos an entire guild and easily kills the Hunter. It looks so ridiculously because the Hunter fucking knows Jinwoo is the strongest motherfucker on the planet and he still tries to jump him by targeting Jinho.
There was another subplot about how the Hunter association has become corrupted with greed, corporatism, politics, and how the true meaning of the word Hunter has been lost and Jinwoo could light the way and change the system...only for it to be completely erased in the final thanks to "OH MY MAGIC CUP" More on that later
Then there was Cha Hae-In, Jinwoo's obligatory love interest. This romance is bad. Not toxic level otome bad but I don't feel anything for these characters. It's under developed and I have no reason to believe that Jinwoo would fall in love with this chick. I hate how it is because it sets up and immediately trashes a potentially interesting romantic conflict;
One of the main points of Solo Leveling is that power means everything. You can't change the world or make your dreams real without power. You need it and it's an integral part of life. However, the story goes out of it's way to show that there are value in people without power. Jinwoo's most valuable people aren't fellow Hunters but just normal people, his sister, mother and Jinho are just regular people that Jinwoo likes spending time with despite him being a practically being a god. This is a huge contrast to most other Hunters we see who are greedy and only care about power and connections. They lost their humanity while Jinwoo kept his.
Cha Hae-In is different from most other Hunters by not having an ego the size of a skyscraper. She does it more out of an obligation then wanting fame or power. We're introduced to her by showing that she has the ability of super smell. She can smell mana and the smell of powerful Hunters disgust her. This smelling thing is her entire character and the reason she falls in love with Jinwoo is because he smells nice. Now I originally thought that the smell thing was some kind of soul sense where she's able to smell good and bad people but some Solo Levelling fans confirmed for me that Jinwoo smells better because his mana comes directly from the Shadow Monarch and not any other reason.
Cha first meets Jinwoo when he signs up to be a volunteer miner for an expedition that her guild was doing, she smelled him and got a crush.
Then some Gate shit happens, Jinwoo jumps in to save the day and Cha get's wet from his power. Here's the thing, Cha originally assumed Jinwoo was some random guy. A completely normal person without any Hunter capabilities at all and still fell for him. Then found out he was actually an SSS+-ranked Hunter and her opinion of him didn't change.
So let's break this down and explain why I felt disappointed.
From what we're shown, the Hunter would has become filled with greed and corporatism. People put so much value on ranks that it skews there empathy over live. Hunters dress up, do advertisements and are celebrities in the world. It's like if a bunch twitch streamers got super powers.
"Uh chat chat chat chat there's a spider monster chat oh shit I killed it chat"
"DO NOTE USE THE OUJI BOARD IN THE GATE AT 3:00 AM"
"We found a dead body in a Gate"
Cha is shown to be self-aware of how shitty the Hunter world is. She isn't into the celebrity culture as the other Hunters. There are tons of guys who want her as a girlfriend because of the status of having a S-ranked Hunter girlfriend. The anime even has an original scene of Cha stopping a robbery and leaving quickly when a crowd gathers. Cha isn't a Hunter for the fame but out of an obligation to protect humanity.
Her smell is symbolic of this, she's grown sick of "smelling" the modern Hunter world. Smelling them is disgusting because Cha finds them to be disgusting. She hates how top ranked Hunters look down on others, how they only think about money and fame, how they will gladly let lower ranked people die, etc. From what we see, a lot of top ranked Hunters (B~S range) are insane and have a warped sense of life, the previous antagonists that Jinwoo killed would justify Cha's view point. So Cha, being one of the only female S-ranked Hunters would be a target of affection for many guys. Like in Aladdin where Jasmine is targetted by many sires and the conflict of the movie is that "only a prince can marry a princess", in Solo Levelling world, it would be the norm for powerful Hunter couples to marry and have kids to continue their legacy. Cha would no doubt face pressure and be a high value marriage partner from numerous suitors.
Then Cha falls in love with a normal guy who isn't even a Hunter. For the first time, Cha doesn't smell any disgust. She's one of the few that has value in normal humans and finds value in this completely normal guy. If Jinwoo didn't have a system and was an E-rank bum then this romance would have been interesting. An S-rank Hunter is interested in dating someone of lower rank then them. Cha and Jinwoo would have to face pressure from her guild and societal pressure on her romance with a nobody. Remember those female streamers that got hate for having a boyfriend? Imagine Cha dealing with that shit in a world where Hunters are giga celebrities and Jinwoo having to deal with dating someone out of his class.
But this idea get's shot down before it even starts when Jinwoo get's revealed to be an SSS-ranker few chapters later. Now there is no societal taboo for Cha and Jinwoo to date. Of course it makes sense for two S-rank Hunters to date. Go power couple woohoo. Ya know, it's not like the entire story was pushing the idea that you can find value in the most insignificant things and shows that Jinwoo, despite being a fucking SSS-ranked God holds value in humans despite their powerlessness.
But then you think, wait a minute maybe this could be interesting. Maybe Cha get's afraid that the first guy she's interested in is the same as all the other fuckface Hunters she has to work with. Maybe she thinks Jinwoo is a terrible person only to learn that he still kept his humanity despite all of his power. But no, nothing like that. She's just gets wet after he slapped his Big Shadow Cock over an army of orcs.
Yeah this romance was a complete waste, there's no reason for them to really get together. Hell it's a complete afterthought in the ending. Oh btw in the ending, Jinwoo recieves "OH MY MAGIC CUP" to turn back time and erase every single thing that happened in the story. Sacrificing his relationships and memories with other characters to prevent causalities and kill every Monarch. He then chooses to stay on Earth because he values his friends and grooms Cha to be his wife.
Also the funniest thing about the manhwa ending was that Jinwoo says "Earth has all of my precious people" and it shows a panel of two dipshit Hunters who tried to murder him and Jinho. Lol just lol.
I don't even know what the author was trying to go for with Cha because it seems to go against the message he's pushing with Jinwoo. To reiterate;

• Entire manhwa shows that 90% of top ranked Hunters are scum because they let power get to their head
• Top ranked Hunters don't value anyone below their rank, we see Hunter dipshits using lower ranked as bait against monsters
• Jinwoo is able to keep his humanity despite his high power
• Jinwoo's most precious people are a bunch of normies. He's not friends with any Hunter and is only shown hanging out with Jinho or his sister.
• Jinwoo considered Jinho his brother just because Jinho treated him like a person under the assumption that Jinwoo was E-rank

Completely forgot to mention this, but Jinho and Jinwoo first met during a Gate raid, they both got abounded and trapped with a spider boss. Jinho, despite being pissed scared, stands in front of Jinwoo and tries to take on the boss by himself to protect his new friend. Jinwoo appreciated Jinho's kindness and have been besties ever since.
Jinwoo after killing every single Monarch, stays on Earth because those are where his loved ones are, other monsters are confused to why Jinwoo finds value in humans
Jinwoo falls in love with a S-ranked Hunter after having 1 date with her after being completely disinterested in romance for 99% of the series.
"I fell in love with you because you smell good"
Jinwoo has 0 reason to believe Cha likes Jinwoo for who he is and not his status as an S-ultra-ranked Hunter. I even had to refresh my memory of Cha from reading the wiki because she was so forgettable.
In the anime, they actually decided to introduce several characters that appeared later early on so Jinho and Cha show up early in original scenes. I have low expectations but it would be cool if A-1 had Cha and Jinwoo start their relationship earlier and build up a proper romance.
Oh yeah I also nearly forgot about Jinwoo's father plot line. Jinwoo's dad fell into a Gate and disappeared. He knew about the Monarch war and shit but only appeared at the very end of the manhwa, died in like 1 chapter to make Jinwoo sad. Useless bum spend 10 years trying to get milk in the Gates.
Oh yeah and there was also a side called the "Rulers" but I forgot them. They are the angels of the setting. They're all jobbers and had to beg for Jinwoo to save everybody from the evil Monarchs.
So yeah all in all, Solo Levelling did what it did. It gave us hype, cool fights, stellar art, and kickstarted the fucking Hunter trend that forever tainted manhwas. Shadow designs were so fucking sick though. Shadow army was one of the best parts of Solo Levelling.
Oh yeah nearly forgot but the epilogue stories are golden. We get to see how the characters live normal lives and shenanigans that happen with Jinwoo having to go through high school despite being a god. It's hilarious, especially the chapter when Jinwoo's son awakens his powers.
Also Igris best Shadow.

Picture this -- you have a character who has the ability to create anything out of light, from robots to dragons to jackhammers, and what do they choose to make? A fist. Or somehow, the battle that begins with the fighters summoning kaiju-esque avatars that can flatten mountains from 10s of miles away ends with them slugging it out barehanded as puny humans.
I hate this stuff because it always seems to take away from a characters concept in order to show a more intimate version of a brawl. I think an archetypical version of this is Mahito from JJK. JJK is interesting because half the fighters are brawlers and half use more trickster-esque abilities. Speaking on that, trickster abilities are abilities that prioritize versatility over directly hitting the enemy physically to cause damage, often these abilities lack force application at all. For example, in One Piece, Ceasar's abilities are more of the trickster type, focusing on evasion and attacking from odd angles/methods as opposed to someone like Magellan, who focuses on lobbing as much poison as possible at his opponent.
Anyway, Mahito is the most trickstery of the cursed spirits, who tend to be more on the trickstery side in general. His melee attack isn't a punch, but attempting to touch his enemy to transform them in a bad way (normally into a bomb). Its a 1-hit kill without being brawl-y. But throughout most of his fights he doesn't even touch his opponent until the end (because him touching his opponents IS the end) and instead uses transfigured civilians as tools for attack and defense. First he turns them into tiny pods for transport, then retouches them for use. Upon use he can turn them into walls, projectiles, monsters or minions, plain old bombs, etc. Add this to his ability to edit his own body into whatever he wants to attack or evade, and Mahito is incredibly difficult to pin down. He even clones himself at one point.
But when it comes time for the Mahito's final fight to end he conveniently runs out of people pods at the same time he discovers "the true form of his soul" and transforms into a super mode. The super mode, despite looking much more like a cursed spirit then normal Mahito, explicitly lacks the their trickster-y abilities. In it, Mahito cannot transform other people, and he can't transform his own body anymore to evade attacks without transforming back to normal mode first. It solely improves his physical stats at the cost of everything else, and the fight ends with him and Yuji brawling.
The same can be said for All For One and Shigaraki (probably because they're very similar in concept) in MHA. Despite his diverse use of quirks when it comes to creating/controlling minions, teleporting, and even basic sense, his combat style is incredibly boring. How much more interesting would it be if, instead of combining his quirks to make a big ass cannon, AFO fought All Might by... using the sewing ninja's quirk and stabbing him through his vitals in a bunch of places? Or using the mushroom quirk to restrain and suffocate him? Or some other combination of stuff that didn't amount to "Punch real gud". When compared to other characters whose ability is to "have all the abilities" like Chrollo from HxH, AFO looks positively flat by comparison.
There are a lot of other examples of this convention, like Piccolo's stretchy arms and Cells people-sucking abilities from DBZ (RIP Toriyama) which conveniently disappear after 1-2 uses despite being incredibly useful so they can brawl it out with the heroes, but this rant is already getting long so I'll move onto the inspiration for it: Synduality Noir.
Synduality Noir is my favorite new anime this season. Its a show filled with mecha references with some new flavors thrown in. The biggest change is the "Magus", a unique way of adding a magic system to mecha. Magi are androids that are used to help in a lot of different tasks, from hard labor to acting as the targeting computer in coffins (the mecha). All of the coffins are built with 2 pilot seats, one in the front for the actual pilot, and one in the back for the Magus (side note, there doesn't seem to be anything that would prevent a magus from piloting normally, but it is never shown in the show). The best magi (for military use) have the ability to manipulate energy as a weapon typically in an elemental fashion. Its interesting because when using these abilities in the coffin, they make a holographic projection of themselves that flies out from the coffins back to cast the ability, like a Stand but instead of a Human with a monster thing appearing behind them, its a giant robot with a human appearing behind them lol.
The first of these "Type Zero" Magi we see is Schnee. Schnee is seen wandering the alien-infested wasteland alone without a coffin -- which should give you an idea how scary she actually is. Once she meets up with her partner and their coffin Gilbow, she's a force to be reckoned with, firing ice blasts to kill aliens and doing something that no other magus has been shown to do since: Controlling the terrain. Other Type Zeros have elements like Fire and Electricity, which don't leave anything physical behind, but ice remains after its generated. This allows Schnee to create a massive ramp out of ice for Gilbow to run up and hit aerial targets, an incredible skill in a setting where the mecha don't fly. Gilbow is shown to be special in the first place because it has thrusters on its feet for hovering or jumping instead of wheels like the rest, but even so without Schnee's ramp it could never have reached that height.
Yet, when they reappear as antagonists in the second season to duel with the heroes, the Gilbow has been upgraded with a flight pack, allowing it to fly independently of Schnee's ramp. Schnee does nothing during the fight until the very end where she uses her ice to shield from a big explosion. In fact, it is the heroes this time that use a conveniently fallen pipe as a ramp to get to them. And the combat is all bog standard mecha stuff. Run around and shoot at each other, etc. Heck, the heroes use their Type Zero abilities more than Schnee. And it was just... disappointing. The main charm of the Gilbow had been its unique use of ice to do things that no other coffin could do, in the skilled application of its magus skills. While on paper giving it the ability to permanently fly no magus required makes it more threatening, it also flattens the style that had made the Gilbow and Schnee so memorable. And I can't think of a better way to describe the issue in its entirety than that.

I heard about Akira Toriyama’s passing at work (I work in a high school). I didn’t get to process how the world’s loss of a fantastic creator was also a loss of a part of my childhood. However, I immediately thought of one of my special education students whose love for DBZ parallels my own at his age. He’s always wearing DBZ merch, playing the games on his phone, or reading the manga. On my lunch, I printed out dozens of DBZ print-outs (mostly meditative coloring pages) and created a little folder for him. When I gave it to him, he asked me to watch a YouTube video with him memorializing Akira Toriyama. I watched a few minutes with him before it really started to hit me. I had other students to attend to, so I had to stop watching. I have video game consoles in my classroom, so when I returned I saw him playing Dragon Ball FighterZ and he called me over to watch him. He then thanked me for the folder and I suddenly, in a very selfish way, realized I got to be the adult I needed when I was in school. Rest in Peace, Akira Toriyama. You have changed lives in ways I doubt you had the opportunity to realize.

I was initially just going to post the Funimation VAs but fuck it this man's reach was generational and I saw so many tweets that I'm including everyone and at the time of me writing this Sean still hasn't said anything yet but I'm constantly checking his Twitter so whenever he makes a statement I'll add it. And if I missed anyone from the Funimation cast or Ocean cast be sure to add it in the comments and I'll add it to the post.
Sean Schemmel: Link to an archive of his stream
Chris Sabat: See you in Other World, legend. #RIPAkiraToriyama 💜
Vic: Link to his video message
Sonny Strait: Link to his video message
Tiffany Vollmer: I owe my life to the genius that was this man. Iam heart broken RIP Akira Toriyama Thank you for creating this wonderful world we got to live in for 20+ years! Honored to be apart or your legacy
Wendee Lee: Devastated by the sudden loss of the great @/AkiraToriyama, driving force behind countless creations defining a genre of animation. Intimately by our sides throughout the journey of localizing US dub of the amazing game & series @/sandlandgame. We honor your great legacy Sir 💔🙏🏻
Kyle Herbert: A legend whose creations catapulted straight to the hearts of generations of fans worldwide. I have a career thanks to his amazing storytelling. His work not only entertained me but literally changed my life. #riptoriyama
Kara Edwards Part 1: I’m stunned. We never met and yet you shaped my entire life. I’ll find better words with time, but for now I’ll simply say Thank You. For a story that brought a world together and made us a family. Thank you.
Kara Edwards Part 2: At a time when there were so few female superheroes on tv, you gave us one with strength, drive, compassion, loyalty, and vulnerability. A superhero we could see ourselves in, I believe the most 3-dimensional in the series. One that changed my life. Our lives. #RIPAkiraToriyama
Eric Vale: Without you, many of us have little. But because of you, we all have joy. Safe passage and thank you. #RIPAkiraToriyama
Mike McFarland: Thank you, Toriyama-sama, for sharing your mind, heart, and stories with the world. The number of lives you have touched, shaped, and forever changed is astronomical. And certainly includes my own. Rest in peace.
Chris Rager: A sad day. Just honored to ever have been a part of what he has created. He will be greatly missed.
Colleen Clinkenbeard: I was so full of stress over my travel woes, then woke up this morning to the news of Toriyama’s passing. Everything slowed down and my perspective shifted. Take a moment to breathe in the gift of a creative legend. What a legacy. Thinking of the DBZ family across the globe today
Cherami Leigh: Every storyteller and creator dreams to impact and inspire. But very few would dare to dream they would ever be lucky enough to impact a fraction of the people #AkiraToriyama has reached. What a legend. We are grateful for your genius and will remember your legacy always.
J Micheal Tatum: And the artist laid down his pen. Rest in peace, Akira Toriyama. Our debt to you is unfathomable.
Alexis Tipton: 😔….DBZ was something my brother and I bonded over as children and getting to step into the role of Kid Trunks later in life was an incredible honor. It truly changed my life. Thank you, Toriyama-San, for bringing such joy and creativity into the world. You will be missed.
Felecia Angelle Part 1: Thank you for everything. 💔
Felecia Angelle Part 2: Toriyama-san's works have brought so many lovely things into my life. They helped me make friends, over and over. Instant connections established, bonding over favorite characters and intense moments and art and music. The last line of the song my husband wrote to propose was "If I had the Dragon Balls I'd wish you would marry me.". Being any part of those worlds would have been more than twelve-year-old Fee could have dreamed. But to have had the absolute honor to play a character whose purpose is to care for, keep, protect and take joy in the stories and characters of the Dragon Ball universe is a gift I treasure. I'm so incredibly thankful.
Leah Clark: I'm so grateful to have been a small part of the world he created DBZ helped birth Funimation... which became such a strong staple in my life. I hope he knew how many lives he changed because he was brave enough to let his imagination run free. Thank you rest in peace Akira Toriyama
Lauren Landa: We are all mourning the loss of a legend today. I am so saddened to hear this news. Thank you for your amazing work Sir, and for a world and characters so many of us have loved. I've been a fan since I was a kid and I am honored to have been a part of it as well. Rest In Peace
Krystal LaPorte: I shudder to think about my life without Dragon Ball. Without it, I wouldn't know what anime was. I wouldn't have gone to cons. I wouldn't have met Chris. I wouldn't have met Chris once. Rest in Power, Akira Toriyama. You deserved the world, yet you gave it to us. I'm devastated, of course for the world, but mostly his family. He seemed like such a positive person and the light of so many lives. He touched so many profoundly, without even meeting.
Daman Mills Part 1: Devastated in a way I can’t yet express. This man’s creative works have hugely impacted the lives of so many, including my own. There are no words. #RIPAkiraToriyama 💜
Daman Mills Part 2: honestly don't think my life would be the same without Dragon Ball. In childhood, the universe and its characters enchanted me. It gave me a place to escape. It taught me to play. It taught me to be strong even when faced with adversity. As I got older, the English dub helped fuel my inspiration to pursue voice acting. Years later, the very same cast that inspired me has welcomed me with such incredible warmth. It feels like a family. To this day, so many friendships and bonds have continued to be forged through our shared love for the series Akira Toriyama created. I am forever grateful to him for both gifting us this world, and to have been lucky enough to be a small part of it.
Daman Mills Part 3: Toriyama-sensei gave us one of the coldest villains ever, created as the embodiment of his own greatest fears. I will do my best to cackle maniacally, torment the Saiyans, and vaporize planets in your honor, sir. 💜
Clifford Chapin: Deeply saddened to hear of Toriyama-sensei's passing. Dragon Ball Z was the first anime I ever watched. I've been trying to collect all of his works for years. To say the man's stories influenced my life's path is an understatement. Thank you for everything, Toriyama-sensei.
Jason Douglas: Learned this morning of the unexpected passing of creator of the Dragon Ball franchise, the legendary Akira Toriyama. Fans constantly tell me how their lives have been impacted by his work. We have been grateful to play in his world...our hearts are heavy. 💔
Sarah Wiedenheft: Dragon Ball was a huge part of my childhood and losing you feels like losing a piece of myself. Thank you so much for gifting us with your stories, they will be cherished always. #RIPAkiraToriyama 🕯️
Ricco Fajardo: Oh, what a strange feeling? Toriyama’s art has been around my whole life and- almost mystically- has appeared at my most formative moments. Ever-present, foundational. Thank you #AkiraToriyama for sharing your gifts. Here is my favorite & a character I had the honor to voice ❤️
Brittney Karbowski: DBZ had been so much to so many. Rest in peace. Thank you for sharing your art with the world.
Dani Chambers: No way. Heartbreaking. Thank you for helping make our childhoods awesome ♥️♥️♥️
Brittany Lauda: I remember doodling DBZ characters in 1st grade & catching it on TV after school all the time. I forgot most of the plot as I got older, but the last two years I have dedicated so much time to producing VO on DBZ content. RIP Akira Toriyama, and thanks for all you gave us 🧡
Matt Shipman: Wow man. You just never expect it. The afternoons I spent watching DBZ on tv as a kid were formative, if I’m being honest. All good stories leave their mark on us, and his left a big one.
Zeno Robbinson: Dragon Ball was my life as a kid. It was one of my first anime. THE gateway anime for me. I had every game. Every toy. It helped me bond with my first friends, who are my family now. I’m so honored to have been able to play in your world. Thank you Toriyama-sensei. Rest easy 💔. Your impact on my life through your work was foundational. There aren’t enough words in the Twitter limit that I could say to describe that. It gave me so much of what I am today. Not just honored. The blessing of a lifetime. Thank you for everything. You’ll be dearly missed. From practicing Kamehameha’s on the playground to performing them in the booth. Crazy. Cant believe it. really trying to find the words. Dang this one hurts. devastated. wear that halo strong, sensei.
Aleks Le: Thank you for being my introduction to the incredible world of manga & anime. I wouldn’t be where I am now without your influence. I knew Dragon Ball before I knew how to speak. I’m honored to have gotten to be a small part of your story. Your legacy will live on forever 🐉🧡
Alejandro Saab: I would not be where I am without the influence of Dragon Ball Literally me pretending to be Goku or Goten when I was a kid growing up in South America to making content on YT to now being a small part of your universe Rest in Peace Akira Toriyama. You'll be missed by so many💔
Kellen Goff: God. That's a blow. I don't know what to say. Dr. Slump got me through grade school. He had more stories to tell. My god. Well... thank you for all you did. You made the world fun. Rest in peace.
Sean Chiplock: I think what truly breaks my heart about Akira Toriyama's passing is that nearly every photo folks shared of him just shows what a passionate, enthusiastic goofball he was compared to his most famous work. Seeing an *elated* smile like that, knowing it's now gone, hurts so much. That's not a smile you can fake. Every detail - from the eyes to the teeth to the crease in the cheeks - further reinforces just how EXCITED he was to be doing this, almost like he was in disbelief that something he himself geeked over was also being loved worldwide. Goddamnit.
Kaiji Von Tang: Thank you for adding so much magic to our lives. We'll never forget your stories. I'll hold the time I spent in your world close to my heart forever.
Suzie Yeung: Deeply saddening. I and many others grew up with his work. A legendary artist and our childhood hero. ❤️
Alan Le: He's had such an impact on so many of us. I can't believe I'm reading this. Rest in peace... Man, I know I'm getting old now...
Charles Martinet: It is such a privilege to have been given the chance to be a small part in your universe. #RIPAkiraToriyama
Veronica Taylor: Very sad news indeed. What a legacy Akira Toriyama leaves behind. Deep condolences to his family and the Dragon Ball family around the world.
AJ Beckless: The black community really has a lot to be thankful to toriyama for. A pioneer. To this day i buy every dragon ball game that comes out, no exceptions, because of how much i love this show. Modern Shounen/Anime in general, wouldnt be what it is today without him. Rest well man
Evan Michael Lee: Damn 😔
Tiana Camacho: He was only 68 years old. I have always envisioned him older, because I've never known a time without DragonBall. 0h God.
Bill Butts: RIP Toriyama...
Michelle Ruff: Tragic tragic loss.
YoungYea: I can't fathom this loss, the influence Akira Toriyama's work had in my life is immeasurable. Rest In Peace, you legend of legends.
Kayli Mills: Thank you Toriyama-sensei
Chris Niosi: ...I'm gonna need a really long time to unpack with this. This man inspired me for over 25 year and he will continue to for as long as I'm alive.
Belsheber Rusape Jr.: This was too painful to read…Toriyama’s work and influence has had a profound impact on me my entire life, I can’t believe this is actually real. Thank you for changing the whole world with your creative vision. Rest in Peace😢
Kayleigh McKee: Akira Toriyama is the reason I'm an artist. Thank you Toriyama-San. Rest in Peace.
Brandon Acosta: Dragon Ball altered the course of my entire life. I was that kid who wanted to be a Super Saiyan, who thought he could fly if he tried hard enough, who learned from Goku to treat every obstacle as an opportunity to better myself. Thank you, Akira Toriyama.
Bradley Gareth: It is difficult to explain just how much influence Akira Toriyama had on anime and popular culture over the last 30 some years. I know Dragon Ball really influenced the course of my life. I probably wouldn’t be in anime work without it. Thank you Toriyama. Rest in peace.
Anthony Sardinha: It doesn't feel real. Rest well, legend. Thank you for creating a world that brought so many together.
Anthony Bowling: DragonballZ was my gateway drug. It lead me to a wonderful career where I’ve met so many of my friends. His influence and contributions will always be a cornerstone of the industry. Thank you Toriyama-sensei. Rest well. 🐉
Ryan Colt Levy: When I was in 4th grade, a kid on my school bus shared his Dragon Ball manga with me. I couldn’t have imagined how much my life would be truly changed by that moment. Thank you for everything #Toriyama 💜
Bryn Aprill: Thank you for letting us peek into the magnificent, magical, enthralling world of your dreams. Rest in power. #RIPAkiraToriyama
Bryson Baugus: The anime/manga world has lost yet another one of its most iconic creators. It is indeed a sad day for fans all over the world. R.I.P. Akira Toriyama
Kristen McGuire: Most anime fans and industry professionals were influenced by Akira Toriyama in some way or another. To inspire, entertain, and connect people to one another on such a massive scale is a truly special gift. RIP Toriyama-sensei. Thank you for everything.
Elizabeth Maxwell: We didn’t have cable as a kid, so I didn’t grow up with Dragon Ball. But we did have SNES. And my favorite game was Chrono Trigger. I poured hours into that game, playing it over & over again. I fell in love with the characters. I cared for them deeply. They became friends. And they were all designed by Akira Toriyama. Dragon Ball changed my life as an adult. But Toriyama-sensei nestled deep into my heart long before then. It feels almost surreal to lose such a titan of our culture. But I cannot look at one of his creations, and not smile 🧡

Warning - this is a very long post. For TLDR, scroll down to the bolded paragraphs at the bottom of the post.
There’s lots of discussion about canonicity on DB subs - and let’s be honest, a lot of it can be quite toxic. Countless comments and posts that bring up canonicity in a gatekeeping context - things like “yea, but that’s not canon”. Even I’m guilty of it at times. I hope my post can broaden your perspective on what canonicity is, how many apply it to dragon ball and a proposal for a different way to talk about this series.
What does Canon mean?
The term canon comes from a Greek word meaning “rule” or “measuring stick”, and has been used in religion to describe a set of texts that a community considers to be valid or part of the same narrative.
The reason why the term exists is because throughout history, there have been a multitude of different religious texts that clearly contradicted each other, despite being more or less equally ancient or significant.
For example, in Christianity, the Gospel of Thomas seems to refer to Thomas as the twin brother of Jesus himself - which completely contradicts other prominent gospels. Another example is the Gospel of Judas, which presents Judas (the one who betrays Jesus in other gospels) as the truest follower of Jesus, and even suggests there are two gods (one evil creator god, and one good but hidden god). For this reason, there was a need to clarify which texts were “true”, and so biblical canons came to be.
It’s important to note that different religious communities had their own biblical canons. Some traditions considered the two gospels I mentioned above as canon, while others like the Catholic Church did not. There are even differences among today’s churches in what they consider to be the biblical canon. The Catholic, the various Orthodox churches, and various Protestant churches all consider different texts to be part of their biblical canon. There is more or less constant debate about this, though most traditions have had their views cemented for a while.
To show just how messy and problematic canonicity can be, even within a single biblical canon there can be contradictions. For example, the Gospels of Matthew and Luke say Jesus was born in Bethlehem, but the Gospels of Mark and John say he’s from Nazareth. Yet, all of these gospels are (for many churches) part of the same biblical canon because they have a common narrative and common teachings.
Why does this matter to DB?
The nature of how manga and anime are made has resulted in many variations to the story of Dragon Ball. Things happen differently in the original manga and the anime, partly because of creative decisions and partly because of the use of filler in anime. There are also TV Specials that expand on the story. Then there are the original movies. There’s the re-release of the anime as DB Kai. There’s DBGT. And with modern DB, there’s not only the Super manga and anime which differ quite a bit, but also all of the movies. In addition to all these releases, there are also tons of interviews with Toriyama, Toyotaro, DB’s editors, anime staff, and so on where they reveal new things not expanded upon in the various releases above. And that’s not to even mention the plethora of video games.
So what is “canon” in Dragon Ball?
Well, there are many different criteria people use for what they consider to be “canon” in DB…
Perhaps the most agreed upon is chronology of events. The DBZ movies take place in moments that are incongruous with the plot of three original manga - therefore they cannot be part of the same continuity.
Another criterion that’s import, but that is more divisive is the legitimacy of a release. Below I outline two common examples of this type of criterion - manga purists, and Toriyama purists.
Manga purists consider the manga to be the “one true canon” of DB, often disregarding information from interviews with Toriyama that may contradict the manga. So, what’s the problem with that?
While most people use the original DB manga as a North Star, it’s important to note that the manga was also highly influenced by the anime. Over time, Toriyama’s rounder and softer art style in the manga started to become sharper and more angular partly due to the influence of the anime (Source). The Bardock TV special had such an impact on Toriyama that he decided to draw a scene from it in the manga (Source). Toriyama even thinks of Nozawa’s voice when he’s writing for Goku (Source). So the problem with original manga purism as a criteria for canonicity is that it’s impossible to remove the original manga from the original anime entirely.
On the three hand, Toriyama purists consider everything that Toriyama has written or spoken about DB to be part of the “one true canon”. So, what’s the problem with that?
Well, there are a few - the first being that despite public opinion, Toriyama’s is not the only vision that contributed to the DB story. Toriyama’s editors played a huge role in the shaping of the DB story, successfully challenging the direction Toriyama wanted to take the it, perhaps most famously in the Cell arc, but also throughout the series (Source). Furthermore, many fans claiming to be Toriyama purists overlook the fact that much of the filler from the original anime came from Toriyama’s own ideas, designs, or corrections, which is even true for the infamously “non-canon” DBZ movies (Source). Additionally, Toyotaro plays a significant role in crafting or designing original content for the Super manga (Source 1, Source 2). For example, the idea for the Granolah arc was submitted by Toyotaro (Source). If Toriyama purism is the sole criterion for DB canonicity, then unfortunately even parts of the original manga and Super manga become illegitimate releases - while anime filler content may contend for legitimacy.
Another major issue with Toriyama purism is in Toriyama’s forgetful nature about his own work, and his tendency to contradict his own story in interviews and other materials. He infamously said in an interview that Majin Buu has always existed (Source), which contradicts the multiple times the manga states Buu was created by Bibidi (even stated by Buu himself). The problem with using this as a sole criterion for canonicity is that it would mean Toriyama can alter already published content by simply making a joke or blunder in an interview.
The problem that both manga purists and Toriyama purists see with going against their perspectives is that it would open the door for releases such as DBGT to be condensers for what they consider to be the “one true canon”. And yet, despite these perspectives, it is important to note that DBGT was in fact released as an official DB product, much like the DBS manga an anime. In fact, all of the DB serializations and series (including the infamously contradictory DBZ movies) have had varying degrees of involvement and approval from Toriyama himself.
Where does that leave us?
Ultimately, the problem is with the misinterpretation and misuse of the term Canon.
We can see that Biblical canonicity that canonicity is based in large part on narrative - and when I say narrative, I mean the meaning that people derive from a story rather than the chronology of the plot itself. One community’s biblical canon is different from another’s because of the values that resonate most with them. In other words, there is no such thing as a universal god-given truth - just different stories with different meanings to different peoples.
Based on the context above, I propose that canonicity In Dragon Ball should be determined by theee criteria: (1) its status as an official release of the franchise; (2) its chronology of events; and (3) it’s resonance with the audience. If we apply this framework, we can only come to one conclusion. There is no such thing as “one true canon” in DB. Instead, there are many stories that are official releases, have different chronologies, and have different resonance with different audiences.
Examples: The original DB manga is legitimate to consider as its own standalone canon if Suoer and GT don’t resonate with you. The Super anime is also legitimate to consider a canon - one which recognizes original DB as part of it. DBGT is likewise legitimate to consider as a canon. And so on.
To conclude, we shouldn’t be arguing about what is and isn’t canon - rather we should be sharing why certain canons of DB do or don’t resonate with us. We should be inclusive to people’s perspectives and experience, not gatekeeping what we think DB should be about. At the end of the day, the point of fiction is to help us learn about ourselves, to be entertained by a story, and to connect with others.
PS. If you think this is overkill or that I’m taking things too seriously - I don’t care because I enjoy writing things like this, and want to improve the communities I engage in.

Warning - this is a very long post. For TLDR, scroll down to the bolded paragraphs at the bottom of the post.
There’s lots of discussion about canonicity on DB subs - and let’s be honest, a lot of it can be quite toxic. Countless comments and posts that bring up canonicity in a gatekeeping context - things like “yea, but that’s not canon”. Even I’m guilty of it at times. I hope my post can broaden your perspective on what canonicity is, how many apply it to dragon ball and a proposal for a different way to talk about this series.
What does Canon mean?
The term canon comes from a Greek word meaning “rule” or “measuring stick”, and has been used in religion to describe a set of texts that a community considers to be valid or part of the same narrative.
The reason why the term exists is because throughout history, there have been a multitude of different religious texts that clearly contradicted each other, despite being more or less equally ancient or significant.
For example, in Christianity, the Gospel of Thomas seems to refer to Thomas as the twin brother of Jesus himself - which completely contradicts other prominent gospels. Another example is the Gospel of Judas, which presents Judas (the one who betrays Jesus in other gospels) as the truest follower of Jesus, and even suggests there are two gods (one evil creator god, and one good but hidden god). For this reason, there was a need to clarify which texts were “true”, and so biblical canons came to be.
It’s important to note that different religious communities had their own biblical canons. Some traditions considered the two gospels I mentioned above as canon, while others like the Catholic Church did not. There are even differences among today’s churches in what they consider to be the biblical canon. The Catholic, the various Orthodox churches, and various Protestant churches all consider different texts to be part of their biblical canon. There is more or less constant debate about this, though most traditions have had their views cemented for a while.
To show just how messy and problematic canonicity can be, even within a single biblical canon there can be contradictions. For example, the Gospels of Matthew and Luke say Jesus was born in Bethlehem, but the Gospels of Mark and John say he’s from Nazareth. Yet, all of these gospels are (for many churches) part of the same biblical canon because they have a common narrative and common teachings.
Why does this matter to DB?
The nature of how manga and anime are made has resulted in many variations to the story of Dragon Ball. Things happen differently in the original manga and the anime, partly because of creative decisions and partly because of the use of filler in anime. There are also TV Specials that expand on the story. Then there are the original movies. There’s the re-release of the anime as DB Kai. There’s DBGT. And with modern DB, there’s not only the Super manga and anime which differ quite a bit, but also all of the movies. In addition to all these releases, there are also tons of interviews with Toriyama, Toyotaro, DB’s editors, anime staff, and so on where they reveal new things not expanded upon in the various releases above. And that’s not to even mention the plethora of video games.
So what is “canon” in Dragon Ball?
Well, there are many different criteria people use for what they consider to be “canon” in DB…
Perhaps the most agreed upon is chronology of events. The DBZ movies take place in moments that are incongruous with the plot of three original manga - therefore they cannot be part of the same continuity.
Another criterion that’s import, but that is more divisive is the legitimacy of a release. Below I outline two common examples of this type of criterion - manga purists, and Toriyama purists.
Manga purists consider the manga to be the “one true canon” of DB, often disregarding information from interviews with Toriyama that may contradict the manga. So, what’s the problem with that?
While most people use the original DB manga as a North Star, it’s important to note that the manga was also highly influenced by the anime. Over time, Toriyama’s rounder and softer art style in the manga started to become sharper and more angular partly due to the influence of the anime (Source). The Bardock TV special had such an impact on Toriyama that he decided to draw a scene from it in the manga (Source). Toriyama even thinks of Nozawa’s voice when he’s writing for Goku (Source). So the problem with original manga purism as a criteria for canonicity is that it’s impossible to remove the original manga from the original anime entirely.
On the three hand, Toriyama purists consider everything that Toriyama has written or spoken about DB to be part of the “one true canon”. So, what’s the problem with that?
Well, there are a few - the first being that despite public opinion, Toriyama’s is not the only vision that contributed to the DB story. Toriyama’s editors played a huge role in the shaping of the DB story, successfully challenging the direction Toriyama wanted to take the it, perhaps most famously in the Cell arc, but also throughout the series (Source). Furthermore, many fans claiming to be Toriyama purists overlook the fact that much of the filler from the original anime came from Toriyama’s own ideas, designs, or corrections, which is even true for the infamously “non-canon” DBZ movies (Source). Additionally, Toyotaro plays a significant role in crafting or designing original content for the Super manga (Source 1, Source 2). For example, the idea for the Granolah arc was submitted by Toyotaro (Source). If Toriyama purism is the sole criterion for DB canonicity, then unfortunately even parts of the original manga and Super manga become illegitimate releases - while anime filler content may contend for legitimacy.
Another major issue with Toriyama purism is in Toriyama’s forgetful nature about his own work, and his tendency to contradict his own story in interviews and other materials. He infamously said in an interview that Majin Buu has always existed (Source), which contradicts the multiple times the manga states Buu was created by Bibidi (even stated by Buu himself). The problem with using this as a sole criterion for canonicity is that it would mean Toriyama can alter already published content by simply making a joke or blunder in an interview.
The problem that both manga purists and Toriyama purists see with going against their perspectives is that it would open the door for releases such as DBGT to be condensers for what they consider to be the “one true canon”. And yet, despite these perspectives, it is important to note that DBGT was in fact released as an official DB product, much like the DBS manga an anime. In fact, all of the DB serializations and series (including the infamously contradictory DBZ movies) have had varying degrees of involvement and approval from Toriyama himself.
Where does that leave us?
Ultimately, the problem is with the misinterpretation and misuse of the term Canon.
We can see that Biblical canonicity that canonicity is based in large part on narrative - and when I say narrative, I mean the meaning that people derive from a story rather than the chronology of the plot itself. One community’s biblical canon is different from another’s because of the values that resonate most with them. In other words, there is no such thing as a universal god-given truth - just different stories with different meanings to different peoples.
Based on the context above, I propose that canonicity In Dragon Ball should be determined by theee criteria: (1) its status as an official release of the franchise; (2) its chronology of events; and (3) it’s resonance with the audience. If we apply this framework, we can only come to one conclusion. There is no such thing as “one true canon” in DB. Instead, there are many stories that are official releases, have different chronologies, and have different resonance with different audiences.
Examples: The original DB manga is legitimate to consider as its own standalone canon if Suoer and GT don’t resonate with you. The Super anime is also legitimate to consider a canon - one which recognizes original DB as part of it. DBGT is likewise legitimate to consider as a canon. And so on.
To conclude, we shouldn’t be arguing about what is and isn’t canon - rather we should be sharing why certain canons of DB do or don’t resonate with us. We should be inclusive to people’s perspectives and experience, not gatekeeping what we think DB should be about. At the end of the day, the point of fiction is to help us learn about ourselves, to be entertained by a story, and to connect with others.
PS. If you think this is overkill or that I’m taking things too seriously - I don’t care because I enjoy writing things like this, and want to improve the communities I engage in.

Warning - this is a very long post. For TLDR, scroll down to the bolded paragraphs at the bottom of the post.
There’s lots of discussion about canonicity on DB subs - and let’s be honest, a lot of it can be quite toxic. Countless comments and posts that bring up canonicity in a gatekeeping context - things like “yea, but that’s not canon”. Even I’m guilty of it at times. I hope my post can broaden your perspective on what canonicity is, how many apply it to dragon ball and a proposal for a different way to talk about this series.
What does Canon mean?
The term canon comes from a Greek word meaning “rule” or “measuring stick”, and has been used in religion to describe a set of texts that a community considers to be valid or part of the same narrative.
The reason why the term exists is because throughout history, there have been a multitude of different religious texts that clearly contradicted each other, despite being more or less equally ancient or significant.
For example, in Christianity, the Gospel of Thomas seems to refer to Thomas as the twin brother of Jesus himself - which completely contradicts other prominent gospels. Another example is the Gospel of Judas, which presents Judas (the one who betrays Jesus in other gospels) as the truest follower of Jesus, and even suggests there are two gods (one evil creator god, and one good but hidden god). For this reason, there was a need to clarify which texts were “true”, and so biblical canons came to be.
It’s important to note that different religious communities had their own biblical canons. Some traditions considered the two gospels I mentioned above as canon, while others like the Catholic Church did not. There are even differences among today’s churches in what they consider to be the biblical canon. The Catholic, the various Orthodox churches, and various Protestant churches all consider different texts to be part of their biblical canon. There is more or less constant debate about this, though most traditions have had their views cemented for a while.
To show just how messy and problematic canonicity can be, even within a single biblical canon there can be contradictions. For example, the Gospels of Matthew and Luke say Jesus was born in Bethlehem, but the Gospels of Mark and John say he’s from Nazareth. Yet, all of these gospels are (for many churches) part of the same biblical canon because they have a common narrative and common teachings.
Why does this matter to DB?
The nature of how manga and anime are made has resulted in many variations to the story of Dragon Ball. Things happen differently in the original manga and the anime, partly because of creative decisions and partly because of the use of filler in anime. There are also TV Specials that expand on the story. Then there are the original movies. There’s the re-release of the anime as DB Kai. There’s DBGT. And with modern DB, there’s not only the Super manga and anime which differ quite a bit, but also all of the movies. In addition to all these releases, there are also tons of interviews with Toriyama, Toyotaro, DB’s editors, anime staff, and so on where they reveal new things not expanded upon in the various releases above. And that’s not to even mention the plethora of video games.
So what is “canon” in Dragon Ball?
Well, there are many different criteria people use for what they consider to be “canon” in DB…
Perhaps the most agreed upon is chronology of events. The DBZ movies take place in moments that are incongruous with the plot of three original manga - therefore they cannot be part of the same continuity.
Another criterion that’s import, but that is more divisive is the legitimacy of a release. Below I outline two common examples of this type of criterion - manga purists, and Toriyama purists.
Manga purists consider the manga to be the “one true canon” of DB, often disregarding information from interviews with Toriyama that may contradict the manga. So, what’s the problem with that?
While most people use the original DB manga as a North Star, it’s important to note that the manga was also highly influenced by the anime. Over time, Toriyama’s rounder and softer art style in the manga started to become sharper and more angular partly due to the influence of the anime (Source). The Bardock TV special had such an impact on Toriyama that he decided to draw a scene from it in the manga (Source). Toriyama even thinks of Nozawa’s voice when he’s writing for Goku (Source). So the problem with original manga purism as a criteria for canonicity is that it’s impossible to remove the original manga from the original anime entirely.
On the three hand, Toriyama purists consider everything that Toriyama has written or spoken about DB to be part of the “one true canon”. So, what’s the problem with that?
Well, there are a few - the first being that despite public opinion, Toriyama’s is not the only vision that contributed to the DB story. Toriyama’s editors played a huge role in the shaping of the DB story, successfully challenging the direction Toriyama wanted to take the it, perhaps most famously in the Cell arc, but also throughout the series (Source). Furthermore, many fans claiming to be Toriyama purists overlook the fact that much of the filler from the original anime came from Toriyama’s own ideas, designs, or corrections, which is even true for the infamously “non-canon” DBZ movies (Source). Additionally, Toyotaro plays a significant role in crafting or designing original content for the Super manga (Source 1, Source 2). For example, the idea for the Granolah arc was submitted by Toyotaro (Source). If Toriyama purism is the sole criterion for DB canonicity, then unfortunately even parts of the original manga and Super manga become illegitimate releases - while anime filler content may contend for legitimacy.
Another major issue with Toriyama purism is in Toriyama’s forgetful nature about his own work, and his tendency to contradict his own story in interviews and other materials. He infamously said in an interview that Majin Buu has always existed (Source), which contradicts the multiple times the manga states Buu was created by Bibidi (even stated by Buu himself). The problem with using this as a sole criterion for canonicity is that it would mean Toriyama can alter already published content by simply making a joke or blunder in an interview.
The problem that both manga purists and Toriyama purists see with going against their perspectives is that it would open the door for releases such as DBGT to be condensers for what they consider to be the “one true canon”. And yet, despite these perspectives, it is important to note that DBGT was in fact released as an official DB product, much like the DBS manga an anime. In fact, all of the DB serializations and series (including the infamously contradictory DBZ movies) have had varying degrees of involvement and approval from Toriyama himself.
Where does that leave us?
Ultimately, the problem is with the misinterpretation and misuse of the term Canon.
We can see that Biblical canonicity that canonicity is based in large part on narrative - and when I say narrative, I mean the meaning that people derive from a story rather than the chronology of the plot itself. One community’s biblical canon is different from another’s because of the values that resonate most with them. In other words, there is no such thing as a universal god-given truth - just different stories with different meanings to different peoples.
Based on the context above, I propose that canonicity In Dragon Ball should be determined by theee criteria: (1) its status as an official release of the franchise; (2) its chronology of events; and (3) it’s resonance with the audience. If we apply this framework, we can only come to one conclusion. There is no such thing as “one true canon” in DB. Instead, there are many stories that are official releases, have different chronologies, and have different resonance with different audiences.
Examples: The original DB manga is legitimate to consider as its own standalone canon if Suoer and GT don’t resonate with you. The Super anime is also legitimate to consider a canon - one which recognizes original DB as part of it. DBGT is likewise legitimate to consider as a canon. And so on.
To conclude, we shouldn’t be arguing about what is and isn’t canon - rather we should be sharing why certain canons of DB do or don’t resonate with us. We should be inclusive to people’s perspectives and experience, not gatekeeping what we think DB should be about. At the end of the day, the point of fiction is to help us learn about ourselves, to be entertained by a story, and to connect with others.
PS. If you think this is overkill or that I’m taking things too seriously - I don’t care because I enjoy writing things like this, and want to improve the communities I engage in.

Its time to put this to rest for eternity! Let's adress it and have the final word once and for all.
I'm surprised to continue seeing this debate years later, but here are facts from the manga and anime that prove Goku, as soon as he kills Kid Buu, is the strongest in DBZ.

1. Gohan's fans live in their own world, ignoring everything that happens after Goku and Vegeta say they wouldn't fight Super Buu inside him. But I think they forget that Goku lies throughout the saga. He says he is on par with Vegeta, says he wouldn't beat Fat Buu, says he wouldn't beat Super Buu, etc.
2. Super vs Kid: Gohan's fans always try to argue that Kid Buu is the most dangerous, not the strongest. In the anime, there's no debate, several times it is affirmed that Kid Buu is the strongest, therefore, SSJ3 is stronger than Ultimate in the anime without much effort. Now, let's go to the manga. If you take the original panels in Japanese (and practically any language), the Supreme Lord Kai STATES that the Kais inside Buu (Super Buu with Fat Buu absorbed) DECREASE HIS POWER. It doesn't talk about danger, menacing, nothing like that, it talks about POWER. This is affirmed and Gohan's fans resist. Moreover, when Super is turning into KID, Goku and Vegeta STATE that his ki is rising. Gohan's fans try to say the madness that it's because he's turning into Buff Buu (LOL). It seems crazy to think that once the South Kai is inside Fat Buu who has already left, but okay. Even if it is, the above statement from the KAI shows that if there are Kais inside, it becomes weaker. This is a GIVEN fact.
3. In the fight with Kid, naturally, Goku and Vegeta STATE that Goku SSJ3 at his 100% is more powerful than Kid. End of story. Seems simple, right? Yes, but Gohan's fans juggle to try to focus only on what Goku said inside Super Buu, and try to argue that Super Buu is stronger, even though the MANGA IN ALL LANGUAGES states otherwise. Search for the pannel of the original in Japanese translating showing the Kai STATING that Super Buu had reduced power and that turning into Kid the power is obviously greater.
4. Let's go to the official materials: In Daizenshuu 2, at the time of Kid Buu's death, the guide calls Goku and Kid Buu "fellow strongest in the universe" And yes, at that time Gohan is alive on Earth, the guide shows this statement saying that AT THE TIME GOKU IS GOING TO MAKE THE FINAL FORCE WITH THE GENKI DAMA, HIS FEELINGS COULD ONLY BE UNDERSTOOD BY WANTING TO FIGHT AGAIN FOR KID BUU IF FELLOW STRONGEST IN THE UNIVERSE... It doesn't get any clearer.
5. Also in Daizenshuu, right at the end of the work, in an interview with Akira he states that Goku is the strongest in the universe saying who is his favorite character at the time. "Goku, the always pure strongest in the universe, Goku is #1 after all." The interview is in the year right after finishing the work, naturally, there was no Dragon Ball Super, and obviously, he says this because at the end of the confrontation with the supreme villain at the time, Goku became the most powerful.
6. Some Gohan fans cry saying that the Daizenshuu or another guide calls Gohan the mightiest Warrior. I went after and saw that OBVIOUSLY it says that there, at that moment, the mightiest Warrior alive emerged to fight Buu (Goku was in the Other World). Naturally, it's just using the minimum sense of history to understand. Not for nothing, they call Buutenks the " Most Powerfull Majin", and we all know thats not the case. Not for nothing agains, further on in the same guide, It says that Goku and Buu are fellow strongest in the universe as I mentioned before. it's pretty obvioues that mightiest warrios means from the ones available.
7. It is necessary to have a minimum notion of storytelling. It is obvious that Goku ends Z being the strongest. This is implicit (in an obvious way despite the stubbornness of Gohan's fans) in DBZ Battle of Gods, where, CLEARLY, everyone treats Goku as the most powerful. In movie 13 ultimate Gohan is devastated by Hirudegarn and who wins is SSJ3. Then they say that the movie is filler. LOL of course it's filler, but would they make a crazy filler where it doesn't make any sense with the series? Thinking that is insanity. They simply created a movie and thought "Who is the only one who can beat the enemy? Obviously the strongest, Goku SSJ3''. Again, it seems obvious but stubbornness happens.
8. Not to mention thousands of other points such as for example Vegeta STATING "Kakarot became the undisputed strongest in the universe after defeating Buu" in episode 2 of Dragon BallSuper. Here's the continuation and conclusion of the translation:
9. It's just about having the minimum sense of story (and grammar to read the mangas) and seeing that indeed Goku SSJ3 is the strongest without fusion in Z when he is at his 100%.
10. Want more? OK. How about the V Jump Scan from 2019 directly stating that by absorbing Gotenks and Gohan, Buu gains powers ON PAR with SSJ3 Goku.
11. Daizenshuu 7 DIRECTLY calls Goku and Vegeta as 1 and 2 most powerful at the end of the Buu saga.
12. How about Vegeta in the manga saying that ONLY GOKU could fight Kid Buu. No one but him. Or saying he is the NUMBER 1. Akira throwing in your faces what he wanted in the script and you insisting. What Vegeta wanted to say, I think Akira Toriyama can answer AGAIN in the interview to Daizenshuu calling Goku the PURE STRONGEST IN THE UNIVERSE. GOKU IS #1 AFTER ALL.
13. How about the manga guide STATING that Goku in SSJ3 decides to fight against a POWERED UP BUU. Again, right in the face, isn't it?
14. More direct still? OK, we've already had THE OFFICIAL GUIDE calling Goku and Kid fellow strongests in the universe but ok... How about the second volume of the super exciting guide STATING AND PUTTING A GRAPH ALONG, that the Ki of Goku at his 100% SSJ3 is unparalleled with any other Ki in the universe, that when he raises his ki, he has the BEST KI IN THE UNIVERSE. LOL very direct as well, right?
15. In the end, it's just about understanding a bit of storytelling to know that, in terms of POWER, at his 100% Goku SSJ3 is the most powerful character, without fusion, of Dragon Ball Z.

So, to put this to rest for eternity, heres the official bottom line: Buutenks and Buuhan are the strongest Buus.
But when it comes to pure characters here is the correcrt order in power.
Goku SSJ3>Kid Buu>Ultimate Gohan>Super Buu.
Super Saiyan 3 Goku, at 100% power, is the most powerfull non-fused character in Dragon Ball Z.

Its time to put this to rest for eternity! Let's adress it and have the final word once and for all.
I'm surprised to continue seeing this debate years later, but here are facts from the manga and anime that prove Goku, as soon as he kills Kid Buu, is the strongest in DBZ.

1. Gohan's fans live in their own world, ignoring everything that happens after Goku and Vegeta say they wouldn't fight Super Buu inside him. But I think they forget that Goku lies throughout the saga. He says he is on par with Vegeta, says he wouldn't beat Fat Buu, says he wouldn't beat Super Buu, etc.
2. Super vs Kid: Gohan's fans always try to argue that Kid Buu is the most dangerous, not the strongest. In the anime, there's no debate, several times it is affirmed that Kid Buu is the strongest, therefore, SSJ3 is stronger than Ultimate in the anime without much effort. Now, let's go to the manga. If you take the original panels in Japanese (and practically any language), the Supreme Lord Kai STATES that the Kais inside Buu (Super Buu with Fat Buu absorbed) DECREASE HIS POWER. It doesn't talk about danger, menacing, nothing like that, it talks about POWER. This is affirmed and Gohan's fans resist. Moreover, when Super is turning into KID, Goku and Vegeta STATE that his ki is rising. Gohan's fans try to say the madness that it's because he's turning into Buff Buu (LOL). It seems crazy to think that once the South Kai is inside Fat Buu who has already left, but okay. Even if it is, the above statement from the KAI shows that if there are Kais inside, it becomes weaker. This is a GIVEN fact.
3. In the fight with Kid, naturally, Goku and Vegeta STATE that Goku SSJ3 at his 100% is more powerful than Kid. End of story. Seems simple, right? Yes, but Gohan's fans juggle to try to focus only on what Goku said inside Super Buu, and try to argue that Super Buu is stronger, even though the MANGA IN ALL LANGUAGES states otherwise. Search for the pannel of the original in Japanese translating showing the Kai STATING that Super Buu had reduced power and that turning into Kid the power is obviously greater.
4. Let's go to the official materials: In Daizenshuu 2, at the time of Kid Buu's death, the guide calls Goku and Kid Buu "fellow strongest in the universe" And yes, at that time Gohan is alive on Earth, the guide shows this statement saying that AT THE TIME GOKU IS GOING TO MAKE THE FINAL FORCE WITH THE GENKI DAMA, HIS FEELINGS COULD ONLY BE UNDERSTOOD BY WANTING TO FIGHT AGAIN FOR KID BUU IF FELLOW STRONGEST IN THE UNIVERSE... It doesn't get any clearer.
5. Also in Daizenshuu, right at the end of the work, in an interview with Akira he states that Goku is the strongest in the universe saying who is his favorite character at the time. "Goku, the always pure strongest in the universe, Goku is #1 after all." The interview is in the year right after finishing the work, naturally, there was no Dragon Ball Super, and obviously, he says this because at the end of the confrontation with the supreme villain at the time, Goku became the most powerful.
6. Some Gohan fans cry saying that the Daizenshuu or another guide calls Gohan the mightiest Warrior. I went after and saw that OBVIOUSLY it says that there, at that moment, the mightiest Warrior alive emerged to fight Buu (Goku was in the Other World). Naturally, it's just using the minimum sense of history to understand. Not for nothing, they call Buutenks the " Most Powerfull Majin", and we all know thats not the case. Not for nothing agains, further on in the same guide, It says that Goku and Buu are fellow strongest in the universe as I mentioned before. it's pretty obvioues that mightiest warrios means from the ones available.
7. It is necessary to have a minimum notion of storytelling. It is obvious that Goku ends Z being the strongest. This is implicit (in an obvious way despite the stubbornness of Gohan's fans) in DBZ Battle of Gods, where, CLEARLY, everyone treats Goku as the most powerful. In movie 13 ultimate Gohan is devastated by Hirudegarn and who wins is SSJ3. Then they say that the movie is filler. LOL of course it's filler, but would they make a crazy filler where it doesn't make any sense with the series? Thinking that is insanity. They simply created a movie and thought "Who is the only one who can beat the enemy? Obviously the strongest, Goku SSJ3''. Again, it seems obvious but stubbornness happens.
8. Not to mention thousands of other points such as for example Vegeta STATING "Kakarot became the undisputed strongest in the universe after defeating Buu" in episode 2 of Dragon BallSuper. Here's the continuation and conclusion of the translation:
9. It's just about having the minimum sense of story (and grammar to read the mangas) and seeing that indeed Goku SSJ3 is the strongest without fusion in Z when he is at his 100%.
10. Want more? OK. How about the V Jump Scan from 2019 directly stating that by absorbing Gotenks and Gohan, Buu gains powers ON PAR with SSJ3 Goku.
11. Daizenshuu 7 DIRECTLY calls Goku and Vegeta as 1 and 2 most powerful at the end of the Buu saga.
12. How about Vegeta in the manga saying that ONLY GOKU could fight Kid Buu. No one but him. Or saying he is the NUMBER 1. Akira throwing in your faces what he wanted in the script and you insisting. What Vegeta wanted to say, I think Akira Toriyama can answer AGAIN in the interview to Daizenshuu calling Goku the PURE STRONGEST IN THE UNIVERSE. GOKU IS #1 AFTER ALL.
13. How about the manga guide STATING that Goku in SSJ3 decides to fight against a POWERED UP BUU. Again, right in the face, isn't it?
14. More direct still? OK, we've already had THE OFFICIAL GUIDE calling Goku and Kid fellow strongests in the universe but ok... How about the second volume of the super exciting guide STATING AND PUTTING A GRAPH ALONG, that the Ki of Goku at his 100% SSJ3 is unparalleled with any other Ki in the universe, that when he raises his ki, he has the BEST KI IN THE UNIVERSE. LOL very direct as well, right?
15. In the end, it's just about understanding a bit of storytelling to know that, in terms of POWER, at his 100% Goku SSJ3 is the most powerful character, without fusion, of Dragon Ball Z.

​
So, to put this to rest for eternity, heres the official bottom line: Buutenks and Buuhan are the strongest Buus.
But when it comes to pure characters here is the correcrt order in power.
Goku SSJ3>Kid Buu>Ultimate Gohan>Super Buu.
Super Saiyan 3 Goku, at 100% power, is the most powerfull non-fused character in Dragon Ball Z.

Tried merging all of the Imu theories I could into one comprehensive theory that merges Christian and Hindu mythology, Ancient Rome and Egypt, Japanese folklore, real life pirates, and the Wizard of Oz.
My theory is that the ancient kingdom was the Garden of Eden. But in this version the garden of Eden is simply the largest human settlement on the blue planet. There are small kingdoms surrounding the garden, but it is home to many natural resources such as the treasure trees Adam and Eve.
Perhaps people believed this was the land all of humanity came from
The garden of Eden is located on the largest continent on the blue planet. An enormous continent called "Mu".
In real life it is a popular conspiracy theory that this continent existed and was lost under the sea in a massive biblical flood. See also Atlantis.
In the center of this immense landmass was a giant thriving city of people who had studied botany. A lush green city of trees sat at its very center. This was the kingdom of One Peace. The giant city at its heart said to be so green they called it “The Emerald City”.
But a different story was taking place on the moon...
The Lunarians (Shandians and Birkans at this point) float down to the blue planet using balloons like the Spaceys after using all the moon's natural resources.
When the Lunarians came to the blue planet they settled in the sky. All except for a few who managed to land in the kingdom of One Peace. In exchange for their awesome technology the Lunarians were worshiped as gods and became the ruling family of One Peace. There they created a thriving technopolis not unlike what we see at Egghead.
This was everyday life for the citizens of the ancient kingdom.
Over the centuries, thanks to the marvels of science, all sorts of human offshoot races were born. Some had long legs or long arms, others were new species altogether. Giants, Fishmen, Merfolk, Minks, Tontata, Oni, and more. They all were born thanks to the advancements in science.
But their greatest achievement was growing fruit on treasure tree Eve. The wishes of the kingdom's people became reality. Whatever power they wanted they could have. These abilities bonded to the user's soul and could transcend death by reincarnating into the nearest piece of fruit. This way, the power became generational and could be passed down by family members.
Being so massive, the drawback of these "divine fruits" making its user unable to swim was an easy choice to make for the people who most often ate these fruits lived comfortably in a landlocked city.
During this time, the Lunarians who served as the kingdoms ruling class, evolved to become powered by the Sun itself. Their hair and wings darkened and they could produce a "mother flame" on their backs. This seemingly limitless power supply was a manifestation of will power mixed with the solar power of the Sun.
It's no wonder the people probably worshiped these guys as gods huh?
Of course, all of this made the smaller kingdoms that surrounded One Peace jealous. They began plotting a generational coup against this kingdom where all these "degenerate new races" co-existed in harmony. Most disgusting of all were the Buccaneers. The bastard offspring of Lunarians and Giants who's mother flame had merged with their souls. This left them with an undying will and many of them took to the seas to become the world's first pirates.
​
They are basically the OP version of the Saiyans from DBZ.
While many Buccaneers were benevolent, others were terrifying. These more ruthless pirates had even figured out a way to use mutliple divine fruits. One in particular ate a fruit that transformed him into the hellhound Cerberus—a three headed dog who had three distinct personalities, which meant he no longer needed to sleep.
No idea who made this, but it's awesome.
And so the kingdom of One Peace became known as a nation of pirates. Its reputation hindered by the pain the Buccaneer race had caused. It was the ultimate shock to the world then, when the Queen of One Peace (Queen of the Nerona family) gave birth to a Buccaneer boy named Nika, out of wedlock.
Nika was agreed to be the rightful heir to the throne, but he did not much enjoy ruling. He mostly spent his days reading comic books about a silly monkey god named "Joyboy" who could turn his body into rubber, become giant, and traveled the land on a puffy white cloud helping the less fortunate.
Go watch Overly Sarcastic Production's videos on Journey to the West please lol.
So it's natural that the surrounding kingdoms get really upset when this Buccaneer Nika starts palling around with real pirates and the common people of the kingdom. They sing and dance to songs like "Binks' Brew" (a Buccaneer sea shanty) and make Nika a crown out of straw.
Anyways, while Nika is off playing silly pirate games, his older sister (and full blooded Lunarian) Kaguya is seething in the shadows. She is especially mad when she leans Nika has conjured a divine fruit to be more like his idol Joyboy. He's covered in white clouds and stretches his body and his surroundings, which causes everyone to burst out laughing at him. She finds all of this incredibly embarrassing.
He was powerful though.
So Princess Kaguya despises her brother and is sick of having to try and actually rule a country while her brother is being a dumbass. She sits down with the 19 closest kingdoms and lets them know she's also sick and tired of the degeneracy in One Peace like the slimy Fishmen, whom she especially despises. She has an odd habit of correcting herself and speaking for herself instead of as a representative of her nation. "I... Mu, and it's citizenry have grown too powerful." The other kings have even started calling her “Nerona Imu” as a sick joke on this affectation.
She she offers them a deal:
"You kill my brother and make me the unchallenged king of the world and I'll let you share in the kingdom's wealth. I'll even let you have the divine fruit. Use those how you want to gain power and I'll make sure no one can touch you."
So what the other 19 kings don't realize is that Kaguya, hating her own brother and wanting to challenge his own power manifests a divine fruit. Except this one is different. This is THE Devil Fruit, and it grants Kaguya the ability to become a shadowy cartoon devil creature in opposition to the bright and sunny Nika.
Think this guy.
But even more terrifying is the fact that this fruit is driving Kaguya slowly insane. In fact, she can use her demonic powers to became a giant serpentine dragon. Some would even call it A Leviathan.
It could even breathe and eat fire...
So Kaguya shows this form to the other 19 kings and tells them she's had the eternal youth surgery performed on her. The kings would never need to worship her because she would rule in shadow, but in return her word would be law. So, maybe out of sheer terror, the kings agree to Kaguya's deal. They brand themselves Celestial Dragons to show that they would become the gods of a new world. They adopt the dragon's hoof as their symbol to show their superiority over all others.
They use this to brand their slaves.
She also tells them that during the oncoming war that they should consolidate their power and enslave the "degenerate" races (all non humans or Lunarians), but especially the Buccaneers. This is because she plans on using the kingdom of One Peace's three great weapons to flood the world and choke out all inferior races. No one dared use these weapons for fear of their use (think nuclear war).
So this new World Government launches a war against Nika and One Peace. Nika orders the citizens to flee so he and his crew could fight the invaders. They would eventually end up as slaves or inferior to humanity. So the Nika Crew used the ancient kingdom's giant robot warriors to fight back. These robots were synchronized to Nika's heartbeat, which he called the "Drums of Liberation".
Imagine an army of these guys.
Sadly, Nika and his crew were no match for the sheer desperation of the 19 kingdoms' citizen army and were left with no other options. Nika attempts to use the giant battleship Pluton but is stopped by Zunesha, who refuses to open the borders of Wano (the country that built and house Pluton, and an allied nation). And so, Kaguya seizes this opportunity to end the war in one final crushing blow...
Kaguya gains control of the giant flying island known as Uranus. It is a floating fortress that is powered by the mother flame itself. She uses this weapon to vaporize the kingdom and Nika's crew.
This is what sucked up Capone Gang Bege’s crew.
Unfortunately Kaguya has exhausted her mother flame with this gambit. As the flame dies, her wings fall off and her eyes are stained red with blood. As she reconvenes with the other 19 kings it is clear she has gone insane. She begins speaking for the entire continent of Mu. "I, Mu". Kaguya is gone and in her place is the terrifying entity known only as "Imu"
A cold and distant psychopathic ruler. The new eternal king of the world.
And she orders all evidence of the war, and of the history of One Peace should be erased from history in the oncoming "great cleansing" flood. She begins to use the ancient weapons to carve up the continent of Mu, along with other random ladmasses, to create the red line to act as a giant dragon to circumnavigate the world. A great red serpent, soaked in blood.
A nod to Jormungandr, the world serpent of Norse myth.
The tech winds up being dumped in a foggy patch of sea BTW.
These are the robotic remains of ancient kingdom tech.
And so Imu makes the red line around the treasure tree Eve so she can monitor all new devil fruit growth. The Phantom room is the remains of its canopy. And she enslaves the Fishmen at its roots far away from the rest of the world. The world is flooded and she establishes the kingdom of Marie Jois on the new land called “Pangea”, the birthplace of the world’s new gods.
This is also why it is named the \"Florian Triangle\" after Imu.
The Gorosei were manifestations of Imu's demonic powers. They are literal devils, but also her satellites like Vegapunk has. They were born from 5 of the other kings who were closest to the original Kaguya. I believe bits of Kaguya's memory live in the Gorosei Ju Peter. The "Ju" is a reference to Judas, who betrayed Christ. Notice how shocked he was to see Imu attack and kill Kobra?
In the original folklore, the princess had five suitors whom she felt nothing for.
The Gorosei aren't like Vegapunk however and each posses their own will and desires since they were born as real people (V Nasujuro from Wano for example). They understand their roles and Ju Peter (Jupiter was the leader of the gods in Roman myth) and will eventually rebuke his fellow Gorosei in an attempt to bring the Kaguya he knows back, as he really did love her, unlike the other Gorosei who saw Kaguya as a means to an end. And then there's the story of Nika.
Somewhere inside Imu, Kaguya laments what she did to her Buccaneer brother and keeps a memento of him in a vault under the palace. Perhaps there was a world where they never had to be enemies, but fate had chosen Imu to be the creator of this grand new world.
So after the war and the foundation of Marie Jois, supporters of Joyboy who remembered the moon princess' treachery adopt the inital D. It's a half moon to symbolize that the dark night of the moon princess' reign is almost over and that the dawn will return again.
Before his death, Joyboy lamented not being able to do more but only smiled. It's said his will materialized as a divine fruit, and that it would one day choose a new king of the pirates. And it was with Nika's death that Wano attempted to defy god and tell what happened during the war. So, to deal with the traitors of Wano she sends one of the 19 rulers—Nefertari Lilly.
Lilly is a problematic ally who chose not to move her people to the new holy land, and possesses the power of a divine fruit that gives her the paws of Bast (an Alabastan goddess of protection) and lets her "push" whatever she wishes all over the world.
She is sent to send these "ponegliffs" to the bottom of the sea. Little does Imu know that Lilly is secretly a D clan member and uses her powers to send the relics all over the world. Her final act of heroism. She is killed by Imu, who assumes her dragon form and devours her and is never heard from again.
Eventually even the Lunarians try to dispose of Imu, fearing her power, but she eventually casts them out as well and brands them as "devils of the blue sea".
TLDR; One Piece is a story about the dawn of new world we can explore together in complete harmony.
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Let me know if you want a part 2 that explains how this explains what The One Piece is!
I also wanted to say that if anyone makes a video out of this theory they're welcome to with credit. I'd like to see this as a video essay, or even people pointing out the holes in my theories.