Benjamin T. Collier's Blog

Candace and Ferb

Posted on November 24, 2013 by benjaminfrog

I think I understand now why the show Phineas and Ferb appeals to me so much. It was my sister Anna who brought this show to my attention, most likely because she saw my personality in the character of Ferb Fletcher – the quiet, reserved, thoughtful, helpful, intelligent little brother with a pension for staring vacantly into the distance. And of course the show’s sense of humour and the ongoing rivalry between Perry and Doofenshmirtz got me hooked. People might be surprised to find that my favourite character on the show is actually Candace Flynn. Why?

I relate to the characters on this show because Candace and Ferb in particular represent this duality that I’ve discovered in myself. Yes, in most social environments I am very reserved, shy, and tend only to speak when I feel I have something significant to say, and because of this people often consider me to be a profound and deep thinker. What people don’t realize is that on the inside I’m more like Candace.

Watching Candace feels like watching my inner self, in a way. The over dramatic tendency to panic, the apparent A.D.H.D., the obsessing over completing a certain task, the infatuation with the opposite sex, the inexplicable appreciation for Ducky Momo… Switch the genders around and Candace feels almost like a mirror to myself. Whereas Ferb is more a reflection of how I actually interact with the world. They’re like two halves of a whole.

At my heart I’m this nervous, obsessive, insecure, hyperactive, over dramatic, easily distracted, hyper romantic, panicking teenager. But the rest of me is so naturally reserved that what actually comes out – what people actually see – is Ferb.

I have often been so excited about a new video game that I wanted to scream like a little girl – I just don’t have the vocal cords for it. I’ve also often felt unfit for society and wanted to make some dramatic change like run away and start a new life in the jungle and live with monkeys and have monkey kids and name them Xavier and Amanda. Plus, as an autistic I have always been intellectually ahead by several years, and socially behind by several years, and I always will be. So the fact that part of me still feels like a teenager isn’t a big shock.

Now I’ve got the Ducky Momo theme song stuck in my head.

Ben is out. Peace.

Posted in Autism, Personal, Pop Culture | Tagged Asperger's, Autism, Candace Flynn, Ducky Momo, Ferb Fletcher, Phineas and Ferb | 2 Comments

Disney Graffiti 2

Posted on November 4, 2013 by benjaminfrog

Neo Phineas And Ferb

Part 1

Posted in Bite-Sized, Images, Pop Culture | Tagged Darth Vader, Neo, Phineas and Ferb, Terminator, The Hobbit, Titanic | 2 Comments

Random Posters and Pins

Posted on October 15, 2013 by benjaminfrog

Posted in Gaming, Images, Pop Culture, Random | Tagged Avatar, Bruce Lee, Pokemon, Rambo, Terminator, Wizard of Oz, Zombies | 1 Comment

‘My Life A.S. Is’ on Kindle

Posted on October 10, 2013 by benjaminfrog

Hello everyone! 🙂

Just letting you know that my book My Life A.S. Is: An Inside Look at Autism and Asperger’s Syndrome is now available in the Kindle eBook format, for those of you who have been waiting for an electronic version. I spotted it on Amazon, and you can get to it by clicking here.

I’ll also take the opportunity to thank everyone who’s read it so far for your encouraging words. You guys make it worthwhile. 🙂

Posted in Autism, Bite-Sized, My Books, My Life A.S. Is, Personal | Tagged Asperger's, Autism, Writing | 2 Comments

Iron Man 3 – (a film review)

Posted on October 5, 2013 by benjaminfrog

“You will never see me coming.”

That’s the first thing you should know going into this movie. I don’t think anybody walked into the theatre, or popped in the DVD expecting to get this kind of a movie, and expectations were pretty varied from the beginning. Iron Man 3 has a (so far) unique position in movie history of being a sequel to two movies (Iron Man 2 and The Avengers). Where does a film maker go from there?

I can tell you what I was expecting. I was dreading the typical lame-ass third act where it’s all talk, talk, talk and drama and no action building up to a climactic final battle that ultimately disappoints. Iron Man 2 followed the tradition of Part 2s by having more action than the original while sacrificing story, so I feared Iron Man 3 would become the classically disappointing Part 3. I can tell you instead that Iron Man 3 has more action than the first two combined, while not sacrificing a well-written story that is actually engaging. This movie set a new precedent for what a trilogy of films can look like, and I hope Hollywood takes note.

I did not know this until afterward but Iron Man 3 was made by the same guy responsible for the Lethal Weapon movies – which made a lot of sense. It isn’t just that there’s more action in this movie, there is a particular tone and flavour to it that sets it apart from the kind of Iron Man action we’ve seen before, while still being uniquely Iron Man. This presentation of elements that are fresh yet familiar is probably why IR3 resonates with audiences as well as the first one did. This is what reinventing the wheel looks like.

I am particularly impressed with the mechanics introduced in the new suit. It is the perfect, next logical step from the Mark 7 in The Avengers, and I can see it being referenced or copied in future sci-fi tales. The only drawback is the extreme vulnerability. It seems to come apart more easily than it should for the Invincible Iron Man. As you may have seen from the previews, there is more than one new suit, but only one suit in particular gets extensive camera time – not including Iron Patriot (right) which is described as being War Machine with a paint job.

I know Pepper fans went ballistic over her character stepping up in this movie, in a number of ways. I especially noticed the change in relational dynamics between her and Tony now that they’re an item. She had an authority to her before, but now he actually listens to her. That’s a definite switch.

Let’s address disappointments. IR3’s portrayal of the Mandarin is a divisive factor between audiences. I think it works brilliantly if you’re looking to Iron Man 3 as just a good action movie, but if you are familiar with the Iron Man comic books (which it’s fair to say a lot of Iron Man fans would be) then there’s a lot of confusion and disappointment over not seeing a more classical portrayal of the Mandarin. My own conclusion on it this is: it was a brilliant idea, but the wrong movie. This was something to be done with a new character of the writer’s own invention, not a well known and beloved character who is completely different. It meant dropping a huge disappointment on the core audience in order to appeal to a more general audience. That being said, if you can get past all that, it is a very interesting villain that’s worth watching.

Personally, I was disappointed that there wasn’t more of the work of progressing through the different kinds of suits, which was a heavy element in the first Iron Man movie and has been displayed less in every movie since. IR3 features it even less, though I recognize that a theme in this movie is taking Stark back to his roots, forcing him to get outside of his “shell” and handle things from there. I realized quickly that this was a different kind of movie.

There is a section of the movie where a kid shows up. That part gets everybody worried, but it doesn’t last that long, and Tony maintains his personality throughout this middle act, so, try not to panic.

Cautions for Christians and parents

If you’ve seen the previous Iron Man films then you know what to expect. If not then, well, innuendo. There isn’t as much of it this time around, nor is it as strong. The innuendo is reserved mostly for references to his past as a playboy. Which reminds me that I’m also happy with the way the movie acknowledges his past without diminishing his satisfaction with now being in a committed relationship. I thought they balanced that well.

There is also some profanity and mild language. There is violence including people exploding, but it is kept mostly cartoonish.

Then there’s that giant stuffed bunny… with those things that are either paws or boobs, and you can never quite tell which. Maybe it’s one of those things where you see what you want to see.

Posted in Pop Culture, Review | Tagged Christian review, Iron Man, Iron Man 3, Iron Patriot, The Mandarin | 1 Comment

Dragon Ball Z – Season 9 – (a TV review)

Posted on September 27, 2013 by benjaminfrog

At this point the show stops making any sense whatsoever. I think the writers took this final season as a victory lap, throwing logic to the wind and just enjoying the ride. There is still a lot of fun to be had in the final season. The many character developments of Buu make for a progressively more interesting villain as his various forms are revealed. Each of the Saiyan heroes reach new levels of power. Even Piccolo is given some spotlight as a strategist, if not a combatant.

Overall it is still an enjoyable season, I just kinda tune out after Episode 272 – after that the various explanations of Buu’s powers, how they work and why certain forms are stronger than others completely falls apart with self-contradictions. For one thing, after everything we’ve come to learn about Buu they expect us to believe that he has a complex, human-like system of organs like a digestive tract complete with intestinal worms. I don’t buy it.

Before I go much further I just wanna let you know that the puppy is okay. See? He’s right here. He’s fine.

Gotenks is a fun character. He fights just like two kids in one body. The Super Ghost Kamikaze Attack is never explained, so when you see it and say “What the crap is that!?” don’t hold your breath.

I have to say Piccolo is back in his prime as a teacher. He brings a wisdom and practicality to the role that no other DBZ characters can offer. I mean, who else in all of Dragon Ball has ever looked at a mushroom cloud where an enemy once stood and said “Don’t celebrate just yet. Let’s wait until the smoke clears.”? Nobody – that’s who.

As a bizarre fighter that can do practically anything, Buu’s attacks get increasingly disgusting. Although the evolution of Buu is interesting, I like his second (or technically third) form the most. All his other forms lack a certain elemental creepiness that reaches its peak in that form.

As a send off for the series, the last few episodes do a good job of touring the homeland, letting you know how all the characters are doing and where they might go from here. A number of characters we haven’t seen in ages make cameos as well. Audiences will likely be annoyed by some of the choices the characters make. These guys are not family-oriented at all.

Violence: apart from the usual, somebody gets shot. There is some strong violence against Buu, but it’s like savagely beating up a wad of bubblegum – not very disturbing. There is also an egg that gets stepped on – it doesn’t sound like much but you’ll know the potential for emotional scarring when you see it.

Nudity: This is the longest nudity list yet. All male though. Goku’s, Goten’s, Trunks’ and Gotenks’ butts, a Super Saiyan butt, and Baby Goku’s butt & junk.

General inappropriateness: Gotenks gives Buu the finger. Buu gives the finger to no one in particular. Roshi rubs Bulma’s can… again. Also that one guy at the end who’s remeniscent of South Park’s Mr. Slave.

Quote of the Season

“Okay, on to Plan B… whatever that is.”

– Goku

Fusion Reborn

This is one of my personal favourites of the DBZ movies. The story concept and villain are both interesting, plus it introduces a new hero not seen anywhere else in the Z series, though his appearance is brief.

Basically the story line involves a malfunction with an Otherworld device resulting in some kind of super-demon and a breakdown of the barriers between the universes, resulting in the dead coming back to life. Why bad souls being sent to hell would need to go through a purifier machine first is beyond me, but who cares. Crazy zombie fight time.

A number of long dead villains make a reappearence in this movie. Gohan fights Frieza, Hercule fights random zombies, and Trunks and Goten fight Hitler. The action is fast and inventive. There are some moves in this movie that I haven’t seen anywhere else in DBZ.

Timing this movie was a bit tricky, but I figured the best place is exactly halfway through Episode 254. During the commercial break even. That might seem odd since we haven’t seen that much of Gotenks yet. The locations of the various characters are not perfectly lined up, and the story seems to have been written after the first occurrence of the Super Ghost Kamikaze Attack, but this is the best time to watch this movie without interrupting the flow of the season.

Language: Hell mentioned as a location. An occurrence of the finger.

Nudity: A fat guy’s butt.

Wrath of the Dragon

This is an odd one, though it’s still fun to watch. And I believe it’s a fan favourite due to it’s significance for Trunks. The story line feels very RPG for a Dragon Ball narrative, with mystery characters who play enchanting music and hold terrible secrets and long lost families and great powers that have been divided up and sealed away. Because of these mystery elements I don’t want to give to much of the plot away. It’s a different flavour for a Dragon Ball movie, but a welcome change.

Shenron only grants one wish. What’s up with that?

The old villain does some kind of alien-ninja-chanting. Apart from that I didn’t notice anything that might concern Christian viewers.

I’d place this movie between Episodes 287 and 288. I think that’s all the characters nicely settled into where they’re supposed to be when the movie starts.

In Conclusion

I don’t have much to say as a wrap up. This is a seriously inspiring show. It has impacted me as a writer/storyteller and as a fiction fan in general. It would take an in-depth look at each season to adequately go over all of the different things the show has meant to me over the years. Speaking of which…

Of course if I had to pick a particular season that has impacted me the most, or on the most personal level, it would have to be Season 6. I had written a whole blog post about a major plot point from that season before I’d even started this season-by-season review. You wouldn’t expect major spiritual revelations to be found in a show like this, but they’re in there.

Thank you for reading. 🙂

Posted in Dragon Ball, Pop Culture, Review | Tagged Buu, Dragon Ball Z, Gotenks, Janemba, Piccolo | Leave a comment

Spam Collection

Posted on September 9, 2013 by benjaminfrog

Sometimes it’s unclear whether or not a comment is just spam,. Then sometimes it’s more obvious. If you look up the posts that these comments are supposedly responding to, you will probably come to the same conclusion that I did. Then again, maybe people really do like me this much. : )

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Part 2

Posted in Random | Tagged Grammar, Spam, Spelling | 3 Comments

Dragon Ball Z – Season 8 – (a TV review)

Posted on August 30, 2013 by benjaminfrog

This is better. Season 8 goes back to the action we’ve come to know and love from Dragon Ball. By now the new enemy has been identified as the wizard Babidi and his monster Buu. This is the beginning of a new flavour for Dragon Ball, with evil forces coming from all corners of the universe and beyond, the villains in this season are a bit more Doctor Whoish. The Buu monster is definitely a change of pace for this show, but the action is still good, and entertaining, even if it’s not quite what you’d expect.

(I assume it’s not a spoiler for me to say that the insanely powerful being the bad guys spend half the season ranting about will eventually show up. That’s generally how it goes on this show. If Goku were in Lord of the Rings he would hand the ring to Sauron just so he could fight him at full power.)

There is a sense at first that our heroes are just going through the motions, and that they are even a little bored. This is before the situation becomes more serious. There is some intriguing character development in this season, to say that it’s so late in the show’s life. The episodes focusing on Vegeta are my personal favourites.

One frustration to get over is the strategic logic of the Supreme Kai, which consistently amounts to “Don’t do anything, because something might happen if we do. Our best option is to wait until something happens anyway, and then die.” I don’t understand how this guy came to be in charge of the universe.

Also, when the situation gets dire the heroes are pretty indifferent about letting everybody die because they can just be wished back with the Dragon Balls.

On a side note: Babidi has one of the happiest smiles I’ve ever seen.

Language: “Hell” mentioned as a location. Babidi gives someone the finger.

Gore: Hazardously excessive head inflation. – One of Babidi’s magic tricks.

Nudity: Close up of Yamcha’s butt. Kid/Baby Goku’s butt. Goten’s butt.

Sexuality: Roshi finds himself in close proximity to Eighteen’s chest and takes advantage of the situation. That’s as graphic as I wanna say. Then she retaliates. Also a giant dragon licks Bulma’s behind, though it’s not with sexual intent.

(SPOILERS)

I wanna talk specifically to Christian audiences for a minute (though anyone is welcome to listen in).

Christian viewers might be uncomfortable with the character of Majin Vegeta because of the similarities to demon possession, and take issue with the fact that Vegeta overcomes Babidi’s control through the sheer force of his pride, and I would agree with the concerns. I can get over it by looking at the differences. Babidi is not exactly a demon but some kind of alien-wizard-mole. The rules aren’t necessarily the same. But I would understand the discomfort because I felt the same way.

If you can get past those issues then there is a very deep and significant element to Majin Vegeta’s story, for us Christians in particular, because this is our story.

Vegeta had found himself in a peaceful life surrounded by family and friends – loved and safe – but he believed in his heart that he was missing out, that he wasn’t all he could be. So he made a bargain, tapping into a forbidden power to become what he felt he should be, turning his back on the life of love that he knew, convinced that his new power was the better deal. He got what he wanted, and for a time he reveled in it. But he realized, too late, that what he had given up to become this powerful was what he truly wanted more.

We’ve all done this, to some degree or another. This was Adam’s story, and it’s ours as well. We’ve all thrown aside something precious for what seemed like a good deal, for what we were convinced we really wanted, and realized too late that we’d lost what was better. It’s in our nature to assume we’re missing out, until we know better. And in most stories like this there is no second chance – not once you’ve turned your back.

But you and I have been given a second chance (and third and fourth and so on as the saying goes). Even after making a complete mess of our lives.

Vegeta ends up paying with his life, trying to correct his mistake and save his family from what he helped to unleash – with no hope of redemption. That is where our story differs. Our loving Father has already paid the cost to correct our mistakes, and our redemption is assured.

What I find admirable about Majin Vegeta – meaning, what sets him apart for me from other anti-heroes – is that he has the sense to realize his mistake, own the fact that he was wrong, and try to do something about it, whereas most characters in his position would remain willfully oblivious to what they’re feeling inside.

On another note: as if the ending of the last season wasn’t bad enough, this season ends with a puppy getting shot. Although, if you’re okay reading the spoilers then I’ll also let you know that in the next season the puppy is fine. 🙂

Quote of the Season

“There’s no reason to demolish planets, regardless of personality defects.”

– Piccolo

Bio-Broly

The second ill-conceived attempt at a Broly sequel – again, featuring Trunks and Goten as the main heroes, except this time neither Goku nor Gohan shows up to help.

The story this time is that Broly’s DNA was recovered from the crash site of his escape pod from the beginning of the last movie, and used by scientists to bio-engineer the perfect fighters. And also this weird bio-liquid that covers a Broly clone and mutates him.

The premise for this movie is actually not a bad premise, just poorly executed. A character like Broly lends well to accidents of engineered mutation. Broly identified himself in the first movie as “a freak”, referring mostly to the state of his inner self. So being horribly mutated into something that reflects on the outside the nature of his inside is an interesting place to go for this character. But again – it was poorly executed. The resulting creature is not even recognizable as Broly, in neither appearance nor personality nor behaviour. It just feels like a generic monster villain. The biggest threat for the heroes though is not even Broly but the mystery liquid that threatens to melt everyone.

I placed the chronology of this movie between Episodes 226 and 227. It almost fits perfectly if you assume that Trunks and Goten have severe A.D.D., which I consider plausible. The only glitch is a little clip at the end that places Goku back in Otherworld.

Language: The finger.

Nudity: Broly’s Butt. Trunks’ butt & junk. The enemies are gross, naked, veiny guys, but they don’t really have anything going on down there.

Posted in Dragon Ball, Pop Culture, Review, Spiritual | Tagged Babidi, Broly, Buu, Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Majin Vegeta, Vegeta | 4 Comments

Disney Graffiti

Posted on August 16, 2013 by benjaminfrog

My nephews got me hooked on Phineas and Ferb. That’s all the explanation I’m giving.

Part 2

Posted in Bite-Sized, Images, Pop Culture, Random | Tagged Graffiti, Phineas and Ferb, Phrases | 3 Comments

Dragon Ball Z – Season 7 – (a TV review)

Posted on July 29, 2013 by benjaminfrog

This is by far the worst season. Firstly, there’s getting over the big disappointment that Gohan grows up to be (although his mother is probably happy now), plus there’s very little fighting compared to other seasons. The few fights that are in this season are not up to par, and there’s a complete lack of an overarching story.

Really though, this season was written mostly as an introduction to the new era of the Z Fighters. Everyone has aged by seven years at this point. Kids are adults and babies are kids and the adults have pretty much stayed the same. Although in Bulma’s reintroduction she’s dressed like an international superspy, which I think we all saw coming.

The lack of action is probably intended to give the audience time for a breather before getting into the next round of epic battles, which resumes in the following season. This is also a much more light-hearted season, focusing more on comedy and warm family moments. Which makes the disturbingly violent end of the season even more jarring. I’ll talk about that more later.

The first few episodes are the best section of the season. The Other World Tournament is entertaining. Most of the fights are comedic, but there’s one or two that have good action. It seems the entire South Quadrant of the universe is made up of pro-wrestlers. Must be fun.

After that it’s the introduction to Gohan’s highschool life, which takes up the majority of the season until talk starts of the next World Martial Arts Tournament, which we get to see a little bit of, then the season ends with a bunch of weird exposition leading into the story arc of the next season.

The character Sharpner is strange. He’s designed to be the hot jock who gets all the girls and intimidates everyone. But then he gets the most mundane, irrelevant dialogue, and chuckles smugly to himself as he says them. How do you take a line like “He was probably on a TV spelling bee” and make it sound like a cocky threat? Sharpner found a way.

Side notes on the teachers: The English teacher in Episode 200 changes during commercials. Also the science teacher in Episode 201 looks and sounds like Sean Connery trying to play the part of Albert Einstein.

Another observation I made about this season is how blatantly it makes fun of various nationalities. Most of the characters, I’m assuming, are either Japanese or American, and have fairly generic physical traits. The Chinese are the only ones who look Asian. There is a particular audience member at the World Martial Arts Tournament who has a thick Scottish accent, which completely disappears the next time you see him. And Killa talks like a black version of King of the Hill’s Boomhauer.

Anybody who felt sorry for Krillin being the universe’s punching bag in previous seasons should take a good, careful look at Season 7. This is why the universe has been so hard on him. First, he decides it would be a good idea to take his young, attractive wife and live with Roshi. You know, the old guy who is always chasing after young, attractive women? The guy who is the only name I have to mention when warning you of sexuality on the show? That guy. Second, Krillin decides it’s a good idea to raise his daughter in the same house as Roshi, a daughter who is going to grow up at some point, and who is the daughter of Eighteen. And third, remember Krillin’s ex-girlfriend from Season 4, Marron? The light-brained, sleazy clone of Bulma? He names his daughter after her.

It’s as if the universe foresaw how stupid Krillin was going to be later in life and smacked him in the head proactively.

And if you’re wondering how Krillin and Eighteen ended up together, so am I. Perhaps it’s explained in the manga, but not in the show. I’ve also noticed that he has hair now, so my suspicion is the Dragon Balls. That she would be with him by choice would be believable if she ever actually showed affection toward him, but she doesn’t. There are minor hints of her not wanting him to die, that’s as close to a loving relationship as I can see between them.

Modern audiences might be confused by all of the cameras in the World Martial Arts Tournament being destroyed, since people can just use their phones. Dragon Ball is set in the future but was made in the 80’s and 90’s. So it’s set in a future before phones could do that. …

General Inappropriateness: Chi-Chi has a flashback to her childhood where she acts and dresses like a kinky slut. I haven’t gone over the original Dragon Ball series yet, so I can’t explain or defend why Chi-Chi used to be like that as a kid. Her father is practically half-Viking, so maybe she picked it up fashion from her mother.

Sexuality: Roshi tries to grab Bulma’s butt.

Language: Hell mentioned as a location. The F-U fist pump.

Substance Use: A number of the characters smoke.

Violence: In addition to the usual violence, which there is actually less of in this season, there is the unfortunate matter of the unnecessarily brutal violence against a young woman toward the end of the season. The abuse is not sexual, it’s just a lot nastier than what we would normally see on the show, and it goes on for a long time. I’ve actually had to set aside some time in this review to address it in more detail, because it is a problem for viewers.

Episodes 216 & 217

(SPOILERS)

It’s so annoying that I even have to talk about this. I wish this wasn’t in the show. I see it as an ugly and unnecessary blot at the tail end of what was otherwise intended to be a very light-hearted season. To have this here is confusing. But there it is, and I do have to talk about this because, without an understanding of the Japanese honour system to provide context, one can easily lose a degree of respect for the so-called heroes of Dragon Ball. I know I did.

Part of the problem is that I don’t like to see women getting beaten. I think most of us would agree. I don’t like to see torture in general, but when it’s against women or children it’s even worse. Violence doesn’t bother me in the context of warriors and competition, and this is the World Martial Arts Tournament after all, so even the kind of violence that Dragon Ball is known for should be acceptable in this context. But somehow these two episodes are an exception. What starts off as a fight turns into little more than a prolonged torture sequence that is particularly disturbing to watch.

The other part of the problem is how unwilling her fiends are to step in, and how long the beating goes on due to a lack of interference. There are several specific moments where a fight like this would normally be called. In the UFC a fight is called once it’s clear that one of the competitors is unable to intelligently defend himself. Videl insists on continuing the fight, and then doesn’t defend herself. So one can argue that she brings this on herself. But a big and perfectly understandable frustration with western audiences will be the good guys refusing to step in.

The thing is that western and Japanese ideals of honour are very different and foreign to each other. We tend to admire the Japanese honour style, even if we don’t understand it, because there is a strong sense of deep-rooted respect for your fellow man, but it doesn’t always look that way unless you know the language of it.

The problem is, we watch these two episodes and we see a young, helpless woman being mercilessly beaten to near death by a sadistic bastard who appears to want nothing more than to make her suffer, and most of that is true, but that isn’t how Videl sees it. Videl sees herself as a combatant who is willingly pushing as hard as she can through a losing battle against a much stronger opponent. Despite her appearance, and what she is reduced to by the end of the fight, she is a warrior at heart, and a warrior doesn’t quit. That’s what’s going through her head in these moments, not “I’m just a helpless little girl – why won’t someone rescue me?” Despite how badly she’s losing she is determined to see the fight through to the end.

It is her honour as a warrior that the Z Fighters are concerned with, not her physical pain. That is why they do not come to her rescue. They honour her warrior’s heart too much to interfere in a fight that she willingly chooses to continue.

That won’t fly here. In the west when we see a woman getting savagely beaten by a man, we step in. That’s what our sense of honour demands. And arguments of right or wrong aside, I would be right there with you. I may be able to understand some aspects Japanese honour, but I don’t always agree with it. My stomach won’t handle that. But hopefully you can at least understand the reasoning of the Z Fighters even if you don’t agree with them.

Quote of the Season

“I don’t have time to play Super-Hero. I spent all morning working out my arms.”

– Sharpner

Broly: Second Coming

The first of two ill-conceived attempts at a Broly sequel.

I big part of what made the action in Broly, The Legendary Super Saiyan so popular was the spectacle of having all the best Z Fighters get together to take on this heaping mountain of muscle who breathed explosions. So the decision that the sequels should have Broly go up against two kids seems a bit left field, and works about as well as you’d expect. The action is largely disappointing, with a little bit of good action once Gohan arrives. That’s about all I can say for it.

The premise is that Broly survived the destruction of New Vegeta in the first movie by climbing into a nearby escape pod immediately after Goku busted him open. The escape pod brought Broly to Earth where he lay in ice for seven years until Goten’s crying wakes him up and then he goes on a rampage. Also something about a village of people who worship a dinosaur.

The village assumes our heroes are intruders until Videl clarifies, “We’re not intruders – my name is Videl,” which makes everything better.

Speaking of the village there is a guy who set himself up as the prophet and does a lot of rabble chanting. Like…a lot. It got annoying. Another thing that might be considered religious is Goten bowing to the Dragon Balls while calling for Shenron. That’s not how it’s normally done but Goten hasn’t seen how it’s normally done.

I found it funny that Trunks’ wish is for the same thing that Eric Cartmen gets after inheriting a million dollars.

The movie is almost pointless except that it is the first opportunity to see Adult Gohan put up a good fight against a strong opponent, which is something you won’t see for the entire seventh season.

General Inappropriateness: Boys urinating.

Nudity: Baby Saiyan junk (from Broly’s memories).

I would place this movie between Episodes 207 and 208, based on the story, though I suspect it was made a bit later because it assumes that Goku and Goten have met. It also seems to assume that Gohan and Videl are closer.