I've ripped on the Dragon Ball fandom before, but this is one of the few instances where I can honestly see where both sides are coming from.
On one hand, there's no shame in wanting to pursue academics instead of combat, and I think the insistence that Gohan is less of a character for doing so carries more than a few troubling implications. On the other hand, Dragon Ball Z spent three arcs building up Gohan as the prodigal son to surpass Goku, and it's kind of weak that they would just renege on that.
No beer?! But if there's no beer, then there's no beef or beans!I mean, I still think DBO's thing of Gohan approaching ki and Martial Arts from an academic perspective, and publishing the science behind it all is still an amazing and neat concept.
Like, a filler episode where Gohan is working on his thesis, and just says that ki is something he's interested studying and researching would be cool.
I understand that people want characters to fight in a battle Shonen, but it shouldn't be their defining traits. I really do dislike how much of this fan base subscribes to What Measure Is a Non-Badass?.
It's far from universal, but it's still prominent.
A lazy millennial who's good at what he does.I just feel bad for Goku. Dude has two sons & both of them grow out of the family business to pursue other stuff. I see Goku as this lonely dad who wants to do the thing he leaves doing with his sons but they say no cause they grew out of it.
Hell when Goku does find someone who will willingly train with him, its the reincarnation of one of his greatest foes.
"I am Alpharius. This is a lie."![]()
Family business? Gotendo does help Karrot with the crops...occasionally.
Gohan was more of pseudo child soldier who got "recruited" by Piccolo to help figth against teh Saiyans while Goten lived (somewhat) normal life with his mom. If this weren't a shonen batte comedy gag manga series, Gohan would a have a ton of issues. Gohan was never a fighter like his dad is, he doesn't like to fight unless it is to protect his friends and family or just to survive. Gohan does grow more bolder as the series progresses but he is hstill a gentle guy at heart and he genuinely does want to be a scholar. Think about it this way, Adult Gohan could had become a fighter like his old man yet he still went to school and become a scholar despite no longer living with his parents anymore, what does that tell you about him? I think the problem is less to do with Gohan's fighting prowess as much as it is that his skills as a scholar hasn't utilized in the series proper what with Dragon ball being a fighting series and all.
"Mai waifu."
I'm not even sure if he enjoys it in that context. I mean, when has he ever been in a fight that wasn't deciding the fate of the entire planet?
As pointed out, Gohan is a child soldier drafted against his will. From the very start, the fights he was involved in were brutal affairs that saw lots of people dying in front of him with him unable to do anything about it. He's never fought in a safe, just for fun tournament like his dad got to do.
It was alway serious business for him.
One Strip! One Strip!![]()
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So basically Gohan treats the main thing his father's race treats as a lifelong obsession as more of a hobby to indulge in on the weekends unless its literal end of the world scenarios? Sounds legit.
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Honestly, the only legitimate in-universe reason Gohan ended up so well-adjusted is because, in my opinion, his Saiyan heritage managed to psychologically prepare him for the metric ton of crap that happened to him without him realizing it. Any regular human would have spent decades in therapy if they went through what Gohan did as a kid. I agree that Gohan would actually likes fighting, but he doesn't actively seek it like Goku and Gohan's been avoiding it because of all those world ending scenarios.
That gets a pass because it was supposed to be a nice, calm, normal tournament where the fate of planet is not resting on anybody's shoulders - aw, whoop, there's Babidi.
In terms of Goten, since watching Super I've always envisioned him as what would happen if Kid Goku actually lived in actual civilization and was smarter in things not having to do with fighting. The fact that he's become more powerful than both Goku and Gohan at the tender age of 6 without realizing it is a pleasant bonus.
edited 3rd May '17 3:40:28 PM by UdtheImp
DAMMIT MARK, STOP HITTING HELPY!!Gohan was seriously disappointed when he was told to take Yajirobe, Bulma, and Baby Trunks home because he really wanted to fight the Androids. He was also eager to train with Goku in the HTC and showed the desire to fight- if for no other reason than to save people- several times. He just comes out the HTC and suddenly has no desire to fight when it came time for the Cell Games. Just came right out of nowhere. At least it did in the English dub of Kai.
Come the Boo Saga and, again, Gohan has absolutely no issues with fighting. He fights as the Great Saiyaman, he had no issues fighting in the Tenkaichi Budoukai once he was convinced to do so, he had no issues with fighting Babadi's goons or fighting Majin Boo. Gohan has no problems with fighting outside of that bit with Cell. He just decided it'd be fine if he spends absolutely no time whatsoever training and just leaves it up to his dad to save the world.
Let the joy of love give you an answer! Check out my book!Gohan's issues fighting Cell are attributed to him thinking that the whole event was just a pointless Conflict Ball. He didn't like that Cell and his dad were both so relaxed and nonchalant about something that should be serious, and their attitude killed any dramatic tension the tournament would've had for him, until the Cell Jrs happened.
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That still doesn't really fly when Cell has made it perfectly clear, that however nonchalant he is, that he plans on killing everyone on the planet unless someone stops him. I understand him not getting Goku's attitude, but you really can't claim there was "no tension" there.
And the way he reacts to not being able to reason with Cell, really doesn't mesh with anything else he had experienced before that point.
The blackmail was just an excuse, he was still excited. His only reservations were when Vegeta was mentioning he was thinking about entering, once Goku joined in he was excited again.
The big problem I have is they are treating it as you can't be smart and fight, like a Genius Bruiser like Negi Springfield can't exist and do well. This episode actively made fun of it
edited 3rd May '17 4:24:16 PM by Memers

I don't even dislike Goten, I like him. Which was my entire sarcastic point, that it's frustrating that he basically doesn't exist. All he's really done is fight a snake and get beaten up by the Jello dude.
My various fanfics.