Dragon Ball GT: The Honest Truth

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Bro just casually dropped the best gt Analysis Ever💀

Boundless Goku really is peak fiction 😢my boy achieved Nirvana just like the original Son WuKong. I need this to happen again. It never gets old 😭

GT is wildly underrated. The thing I love best about the ending is that Goku finally got the world he always wanted to see: one that isn't constantly under threat from one unstoppable force or another, where people have more or less chosen peace, and where martial arts tournaments are once more for the love of the sport rather than life-or-death battles. Goku got to see that the world finally made it to that point, and he can leave knowing that it doesn't need him or anyone like him. There's an aspect of freedom in that to be sure; but I imagine Goku sees it more as, the earth is safe and that's what matters.

One thing I like about GT is how it introduced real tension into the narrative without giving our heroes a cop out and made an honest attempt to explore the Universe and different Alien cultures.

I just love how much you love Dragonball. All these analysis, all his power scaling, all these long ass discussions, all of them come from a place of pure love and admiration for Dragonball. And I'm glad that you're sharing with us what you are getting from DB.

GT is downright nostalgic, warm and feels more down to earth and personal than super does... dunno why it felt that way, probably because of the time I watched it for the first time...felt like a lovely innocent experience and it also has probably the most appropriate dragon ball ending one can have...

I like to think that the shadow dragons are punishers. Wether if they spare the characters intentionally or not, they're kept alive in order to be pummeled for their sins over abusing the dragon balls. Arguibly, nobody used the dragon balls as much as the Z warriors, it's "logical" for them to suffer the most of consequences. That makes GT ending even more satisfying, while the whole gang is confronted with the mistakes they comitted, Goku also receives the ultimate redemption and is able to ascend between the realms.

This wasn't the powerful ending we desired, but it's the power we needed.

Wow this video actually made me tear up, Seth you've outdone yourself, not the typical gt bad but you actually watched the shoe and then felt emotion and conveyed it beautifully to us all.

If nothing else SS4 looks really cool and I want to see them adapt it for Super.

One of the great aspects of GT is how the power ceiling is established with Baby (SSJ4) and beyond that we just know there's not much else to do other than smart usage of the available skills and powers the sayans have at their disposal. Which makes a whole lot of sense, and leads to things feeling somewhat real and having a sense of tangibility. Because of this, there's also more unpredictability, as "getting a new form to beat new foe" isn't in the cards. One other amazing thing are the poetic undertones of the SSJ4 resembling a monkey, referring back to Sun Wukong's journey to the west, and drawing those symbolic parallels of "Monkey VS Dragon" that nourished Dragon Ball for so long. I wish GT had continued for one extra arc, where Piccolo would have received some sort of power up (either warrior like or sage like) and thus unravelling a final catharsis for the whole story. Possibly with Gohan as a protagonist, as he had always been meant to be the vanguard of a new, final arc that would wrap everything about the series, and set the tone for a future which would not be told (stories always have to end). There's so much that could have been done with this narrative, but writers just love to cheapen everything out. In its current iteration (Super), Dragon Ball resembles a cheap western Marvel/DC shtick, which is meant to never really end, and to have characters become static, and permastuck in "their thing" (same old habits, same old personality, same old shtick, endless repetition of the same patterns for all eternity), as the stories get milked forever.

Also, the Shadow Dragon arc is quite possibly my favorite arc in Dragonball. As you alluded to, Seth, the Shadow Dragons never really seemed concerned with getting revenge for misusing the Dragon Balls, but instead to test Goku's resolve and his "worthiness" of ascension, something that is very common in Eastern mythology. Goku has a stronger connection to the Dragon Balls than anyone in the series despite all the people who coveted them above all else. The 4-star ball especially is essentially the physical manifestation of who Goku is fundamentally as a person, and their incessant use of the balls represented Goku's inability to let things go whether it be a friend's death or the idea that evil may triumph over him. But in order to defeat the Shadow Dragons, Goku had to let it go. He had to let it all go. Goku's Spirit Bomb was exactly that: his spirit, his hopes, dreams, desires, love for his friends and family, basically the very essence of himself as a mortal. When Goku let go of that Spirit Bomb and by extension all the feelings and emotions that would cause someone to seek out the Dragon Balls, he passed the test and became worthy.

What I like about SS4 is that it is literally a physical mutated transformation. Just like the Great Ape form where they completely change. SS1-2 it's just a hair color change along with SS3 with just a loss of eye brows but SS4 looks like a humanoid Ape mutation and the user also appears "in control" compared to the Great Ape. It's a uniquely creative design which imo through its own appearance displays the peak of Saiyan power.

I rewatched all of GT for nostalgias sake a few years ago and I shed a tear on the last episode. When you watch Goku absorb the dragon balls and fly away, it’s like a parent died. Cause he was the personification of hope and goodness, even though his lessons were taught and learned, he was still gone, as far as we knew.

This is far and away my favorite piece you've done. What a wonderfully insightful take on the show, and it doesn't feel like it's reaching at all. I'm going to go rewatch it now with a more open mind.

I think the ssj4 transformation and the focus on the great ape was really cool. I think it was the most raw transformation since ssj1, and I kind of wish ssj God tied into the ape forms too. I think the idea that wishes have consequences was great, too. Contrast to super where bulma wishes for cosmetic upgrades... I think the ending as you explained it makes sense, too. I do wish that maybe it was made a little more clear for the western audience.

I have been avoiding GT for my whole life but the last few minutes spoiling the ending actually made me tear up and regretting not seeing it earlier.

Love Seth's narrative analysis videos, don't always agree with his takes, but they usually make things slot together in my head in a new way. Hope he keeps making them.

Something that makes me happy is that GT is recently getting more praised and analyzed deeply, instead of being harshly judged as the black sheep of the DB franchise, it's actually a good show and I will fight people over it, yes it has its flaws (just like Z and DEFINITELY like Super) but that ending to me it's one of the best things ever done with the name DB in it. It's not just a Disney type of ending and they lived happily ever after...it's actually a deep and profound ending that no one exactly know til this day what it means.