A Reunion with Grandpa Gohan | My Moment of Z

To celebrate the life of Akira Toriyama, I pick a Dragonball moment that’s stuck with me through the years

The death of a treasured public figure is always a tough one. Despite the effect that their contributions to the world might have had on my life, I don’t know them and haven’t interacted with them, so my feelings are usually fairly muted upon hearing the news. There can sometimes be exceptions, like strong feelings of sadness at the lost potential of someone taken too soon, feelings of anger when a life is lost due to injustice, or even what many of us felt when Thatcher died (anniversary is coming up soon, don’t forget to bring bottles 🎉).

Another exception came when I woke up to the news that, fittingly in the year of the Dragon, we had lost Akira Toriyama, the creator of Dr. Slump and the iconic and hugely influential Dragonball franchise as well as multiple other successful projects. While there was that feeling of sadness, my emotional response was similar to the one I had when we lost Chadwick — this immense sense of gratitude and awe.

As was the case for many, Dragonball Z was one of the first anime I ever watched as a child, and it was the first manga that I ever read from beginning to end. The story of the ever-optimistic monkey boy, Son Goku and his friends was everywhere, in my house, on the playground, and — crucially — in so many of the other stories that would shape my adoration of storytelling.

So in order to process my feelings on the passing of such a huge figure in my obsession with stories, I figured the best thing to do would be to pick a moment from his 40 years of work that truly resonated with me almost 20 years after I first read it. And to truly honour the spirit of Akira Toriyama, despite how sad this day is I’m still gonna tell a my usual dumb jokes purely because I find them funny.

So let’s get into my pick, Dragonball Chapter 108: Son Gohan

Some Background: A Monkey Boy in the Mountains

At this point in the manga, little is known about the life of our protagonist, Son Goku. Many who began the franchise with Z might not have known this, but the revelation of Son Goku’s alien heritage was something of a retcon; up until that addition to the lore, Goku was simply a monkey boy from the mountains in a world of talking dog presidents, shapeshifting pigs, and a rabbit who can turn people into carrots and now lives on the moon (that bunny has been vapourised at least twice btw).

What we knew was that Goku had been raised in the mountains by his loving grandfather who found him, nurtured him, taught him martial arts, but he had tragically been killed, leaving Goku completely alone. In a cruel and yet darkly funny twist, we also discovered that Goku had been the one to unknowingly kill his grandfather having ignored Gohan’s warnings not to look at the full moon, leading him to turn into a Great Ape and kill the only figure in his life.

For me, Goku’s background highlights exactly why he became the blueprint for so many iconic fictional protagonists. It is undeniably sad for a little boy to be left alone in the mountains after the death of his father figure, by all means, Goku’s backstory is a tragic one, and in another manga, it might have led to a protagonist racked with guilt and regret, but the relentless optimism in the face of adversity is exactly what drew so many of us to the character.

Ultimately, Gohan’s passing is not what Goku focuses on, Goku instead honours his grandfather by treasuring the things he treasured and living by the teachings he was taught with love.

The Reunion

So how does the big reunion happen? To find the location of the final dragon ball and revive his friend’s fallen father, Goku and his friends enlist the help of Master Roshi’s sister, Fortuneteller Baba, who tells them that they must compete in a martial arts tournament to get what they desire. The champions are largely Halloween-themed, with our heroes fighting a vampire, an invisible man, a mummy, and a devil man; but curiously enough, the final fighter seems to be a simple old man in a mask with a halo over his head.

It’s important to note just how masterfully Toryiama’s character design philosophy works here. Toriyama has spoken previously about how purposely he selects the shapes that make up his characters. During early works like Dr Slump and Dragonball, Toriyama would design his characters with much rounder and softer shapes to convey a more childlike, playful, and innocent tone with them; it was only when he wanted to convey power, and danger and to introduce a more serious tone that he began to draw more angular and muscular characters. This is on show for Baba’s champions, upon introduction, many of them are quite angular, broad, and menacing, emanating a sense of danger until they’re defeated; however, Baba’s final mystery champion is the exact opposite. He appears as a small and simple old man wearing a cute fox mask, with rounded features and a polite disposition, the only sign that he’s a threat is that by now we know not to underestimate characters based on their looks, and the fact that he’s Baba’s last champion.

Before the fight, it’s clear that there’s something special about the old man, Master Roshi seems to recognize his voice while also commenting on his powerful presence, the mystery man chides Goku for not bowing to his opponent before fighting, and the only comment that we get from Goku is adorably this:

Throughout the fight, it’s clear that the old man is formidable, but what continues to surprise Goku and his friend is how the mystery man seems to know things he shouldn’t. It’s only when he uses Master Roshi’s iconic Kamehameha, and seems to know that Goku’s tail is his weak spot, that Roshi deduces that he must be Goku’s long- deceased grandfather, Son Gohan. Once Goku’s tail comes off, the old man concedes the fight and reveals finally reveals himself to Goku.

Goku’s Tears

I think by far my favourite thing about the reveal of Grandpa Gohan is Goku’s reaction and what that reinforces about him as a character.

Throughout all of Dragonball, the audience and the characters constantly marvel at the sheer power of Goku; he begins the series by lifting Bulma’s car over his head and only continues to shock and awe everyone with his incredible strength. Even in moments where he’s defeated, whether by Jackie Chun, or the assassin Tao Pai Pai, it’s clear that Goku is already close to the level of the martial arts masters, and even if he isn’t, he inevitably will be. Shortly before Baba’s tournament, Goku single-handedly wipes out the world’s most dangerous evil army and he dispatches of Baba’s most menacing champions with ease, forcing the characters to remark on just how unbeatable and how strong he is.

So it’s important that after all of the build-up of Goku’s reputation, upon seeing the grandfather that he lost so long ago, Goku’s immediate reaction is to run into his arms and cry from happiness.

It’s the perfect reminder of the very thing that made Goku so endearing right from the beginning. Despite all of his power, his ability to bring down an army by himself, and despite the way he plows through all obstacles, at this point Goku is ultimately a small child who missed his grandfather.

In a series where Goku’s other-worldliness is constantly speculated about and then ultimately confirmed, the young martial artist is allowed a moment where appears to be just as human and vulnerable as any of us, and I think there’s something truly beautiful about that.

Since the beginning of the series, Goku’s love and devotion to Son Gohan have been clear for all to see. He continued to practice the martial arts that Gohan taught him, upon meeting Bulma he constantly referenced the lessons Gohan had passed down about how to handle social interactions, and of course, there’s the four-star dragon ball, Goku’s most prized possession that he soon hands down to his own son, also named Son Gohan. It’s through the ways that Goku expresses his love for his grandfather and values his teachings that Gohan’s influence in the story never wains, even now as we face all-powerful cats and Frieza after he’s done 10 push-ups.

There’s also a lovely little interaction between Roshi and Gohan where the latter quickly asks his former master if Goku has transformed into the Great Ape, before being reassured that the moon, along with the magical talking rabbit inhabiting it, has been destroyed. When Goku enquires as to what the two of them are talking about, they quickly hide the subject of their conversation; it’s a funny but also bitter-sweet moment where even after his death, Gohan shows his love and protective protectiveness over his grandson and protects him from learning a gruesome truth.

Gohan and Gohan: Goku The Father

To finish off, I’d like to quickly mention another reason why I think of this scene so fondly. Over the years it’s become somewhat of a meme to portray Goku as a terrible father to his sons Gohan and Goten. Most of this comes down to his lack of presence in his son’s formative years (spending much of his time either dead or training) and his decision to restore the monstrous Cell to full health before forcing Gohan to fight him to the death.

Look, I get it, things pick up steam on the internet and they become the widespread interpretation among the majority, often without real critical analysis (this is why someone people will unironically tell you that the real villain of The Devil Wears Prada is Andi’s boyfriend). It also doesn’t help that Dragonball Super tended to lean into certain popular fan sentiments like the pure-bred Saiyan royalty, Vegeta, somehow being the underdog against the low-class Saiyan nurtured in the mountains through traditional martial arts, Goku.

While I don’t think Goku will be winning any Father of the Year awards (although how many fathers have sacrificed their lives to save their sons twice? Some anime fathers just be standing on cliffs looking east while their son is fighting for his life) it’s clear that throughout his life, father figures like Gohan and Master Roshi have shown Goku affection and care through the sharing of martial arts. This is why it’s so fitting for me that Goku’s grandfather chooses a martial arts tournament as the perfect time to reunite with Goku: fighting is their love language. Goku bonds with young Gohan in an era where martial arts is not just a philosophy and way of life, it’s now the only way to protect the things that they care about from impossibly powerful threats that only they are powerful enough to stop, so I would argue that the year they spend training together in the lead up to the Cell Games is the purest way in which Goku knows how to show his love for Gohan.

Goku’s actions, motivations, and faith in his son become much clearer if you understand how he was raised by his grandfather (who taught him martial arts but not how to read, write, or count so wasn’t exactly perfect either), and while I won’t spend any more time going into it, I do think that there’s a beautiful humanity in Goku failing to understand that while he believes that he’s showing his son love the way he’s shown love, his son doesn’t necessarily have the same “love language” (Goku is basically a Disney original movie dad, just replace “death matches” with “basketball”).

Besides, if you want to see an example of how the love we pass down remains for generations, look no further than the old man in the fox mask.

Final Reflection

I think the reason that I chose to write about this scene in the wake of Akira Toriyama’s passing is that it covers so many thoughts that came to mind when I heard the news like legacy, love, death, family, friendship. I find it somewhat fitting that in the same way Son Gohan accepts that his time in this world has passed and hears the ways in which the small four-starred bauble that he nonchalantly picked up changed the life of his beloved grandson, we think of the ways our lives were changed by Dragonball.

The final thought I’d like to end this piece on comes from the work of one of the many people inspired by Toriyama’s passion and creative genius, One Piece mangaka, Eiichiro Oda:

“When do you think people die? When they are shot through the heart by the bullet of a pistol? No. When they are ravaged by an incurable disease? No. When they drink a soup made from a poisonous mushroom!? No! It’s when… they are forgotten.”