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An Ode to Dragonball
Kame hame ha!
I have been a hardcore Dragonball fan in my growing up years, owning dozens of Chinese-translated comic books and at one point, thousands of collectible cards spanning across the anime timeline. I also watched some videos (on VCR) of the anime (both owned and rented), though strangely they were dubbed in Cantonese (likely for the Hong Kong market).
Dragonball is the brainchild of Akira Toriyama, a Japanese artist and character designer. Incidentally, Dragonball was created the year I was born, which could explain why I like it so much.
The short version of Dragonball in my understanding is the journey of protagonist Son Goku, originally belonging to an extraterrestrial race called the Saiyans but sent to Earth and grew up as a typical human. Goku would go on to progress as a fighter and becoming one of the strongest fighters on Earth, battling opponents like Piccolo, other Saiyans like Vegeta and bigger villains like Frieza and Cell.
What strikes me about the character of Goku is his good nature and kindness despite going to become one of the most powerful…
