It would have been a lot better to not just tell Gohan at the last minute he was fighting Cell or again giving him a heal or just taking another bean himself and just tag team cell. The arena is gone does it matter if it is a one on one or not fight anymore at that point.
"Shall I use you, or make you mine... I'm not so sure what I'll do." - DorthyYes, that would be better. My point isn't that Goku didn't make mistakes with the situation, it's that many of the things people call mistakes on his part just don't logically make sense as mistakes given the information he had, and using that entire situation to paint Piccolo as "the better father" or whatever has several holes in it.
edited 22nd Apr '18 7:04:55 PM by LSBK
You can't really blame people for that though since the show makes a point that you're supposed to be think "Goku fucked up", even if it was necessary at the time.
Truthfully, that whole sequence never made much sense to me. Why try to make a big deal out of Goku making a mistake if said "mistake" was the only option they had. I don't get what Toriyama was going for that and the entire issue is extremely muddled because of it.
A lazy millennial who's good at what he does.Negative writing...
Pesky insecurities when Gohand becomes the primary...
Rules of the Internet 45. Rule 45 is a lie. Check out my art if you notice.I'm pretty sure I know what he was going for, and I know why people like it. It just doesn't work well to me.
I think he was going for the idea that a father should "put his children ahead of everything else" and thus he shouldn't have had Gohan fight Cell despite it literally being the only way to keep the entire world (including Gohan) from dying.
Considering the situation and the World of Dragon Ball, something like that just doesn't work, but people want it to. It's the same reason people go "Chichi has a point" even though the "point" she has really isn't what people think it is.
Is that why Gohand was acting the way he was?
Rules of the Internet 45. Rule 45 is a lie. Check out my art if you notice.![]()
It just doesn't work well for me because of how it is framed.
That Gohan is informed last minute.
That they keep to a one on one format or Goku waiting till it was to late to heal up.
Definitely would look better for the two to just fight cell together.
Chi Chi does have a point to a degree and that is one should have an education and not spend all their time training. She just takes it to far since one should not neglect their physical training.
"Shall I use you, or make you mine... I'm not so sure what I'll do." - DorthyInformed of what?
That he was gonna be fighting Cell?
Kakarrot didn't tell him anything that he shouldn't have already known.
edited 22nd Apr '18 7:45:41 PM by randomness4
Rules of the Internet 45. Rule 45 is a lie. Check out my art if you notice.Unnecessary Twist/shock reveal...
Indeed.
edited 22nd Apr '18 7:57:01 PM by randomness4
Rules of the Internet 45. Rule 45 is a lie. Check out my art if you notice.Honestly, it probably would have worked better if Goku had told Gohan offscreen. That way, while the audience (and the other Z Warriors) are still in the dark, Gohan is aware that he'll be fighting Cell (but doesn't really believe his dad can lose).
It also makes Goku's revelation that he's stronger than him better: Gohan has been told, but he doesn't buy, and since he's assuming that his dad is still pulling his punches (like he did in canon) he still gets a surprise when Goku tells him that the reason it seems like Goku is holding back is because he's comparing him to himself.
And that, combined with Gohan actually going into the fight taking on a now re-powered Cell, makes Gohan get that his dad was right, just like canon.
Gohan being in on it, but not fully buying it until he gets some more context could help a lot if you ask me.
One Strip! One Strip!If Gohand still ends up not actually fighting...it wouldn't really matter.
Rules of the Internet 45. Rule 45 is a lie. Check out my art if you notice.Because I don't feel like using the correct names anymore...
Eh eh eh...and stuff.
Rules of the Internet 45. Rule 45 is a lie. Check out my art if you notice.Goku not telling Gohan in advance makes perfect sense for his character. It's the crux of his mistake: that he thinks Gohan is just like him. To Goku, he doesn't have to tell Gohan. Gohan's going to be chomping at the bit to fight Cell, just like he would be. Goku thinks Gohan's reaction is going to be,
"Really?! SWEET! Let me power up and I'll jump right in to fight him! This is my birthday and Christmas all rolled into one! I can't wait to get started! I'm going to punch this go so hard, it's going to be awesome!"
It's easy to recognize that Gohan would never react like that if you know the kid, but that's the point of the scene: Goku doesn't. Not really. He looks at Gohan and sees Goku Jr., and it's only after Piccolo calls him out on it that he recognizes where he screwed up.
My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.That only works if you assume that Goku does see Gohan as "Goku Jr." which I don't think had been implied, well, ever.
Unless I'm remembering incorrectly, Goku flat out says he knows that Gohan wants to be a scholar and all that at the same time he's telling him that he's stronger than him. He was not oblivious to this.
edited 23rd Apr '18 12:10:57 AM by LSBK
Kakarrot wasn't simply seeing his son as eager to fight as him, the plan was that he would just fight Cell without holding back...
The other thing is that he thought Cell would push Gohand to anger rage boost and that would guarantee that he had the advantage...because insecurities...
edited 23rd Apr '18 12:20:11 AM by randomness4
Rules of the Internet 45. Rule 45 is a lie. Check out my art if you notice.No, Gohan comes to that conclusion while still trying to rationalize why Goku picked him. It doesn't mean he's correct and it is in line with his disbelief that he had surpassed Goku.
Goku never indicates that he was relying on Gohan's rage boost. Once Gohan starts getting beaten up by not fighting back, he says that their only hope is Gohan's rage boost, but he doesn't seem sure on relying on it.

Just because the story says he screwed up doesn't mean you have to agree with it (or at least the way it did).
Piccolo's logic in telling Goku off really just doesn't fit (especially coming from him), and the entire thing kind of goes against the general idea that Goku doesn't "get" family in the first place: if Goku didn't see Gohan differently from other people he never would have had that "epiphany" in the first place.