Push-Ups, Sit-Ups, and Juice.

I think Vegeta and Bulma have one of the most interesting fictional romances, and judging by how many Vegeta and Bulma fans there are on the internet I don’t think I’m alone. My hypothesis is that there are four key reasons why the romance is so captivating: power, danger, mystery, and character development.

Vegeta and Bulma are the definition of a power couple. Bulma is a legendary scientist. Vegeta is the second most powerful hero in the entire Dragon Ball series. Both of them have a huge influence on what happens in the story. In contrast, Goke and Chi-Chi aren’t a power couple. Relative to Goku, Chi-Chi has a minimal impact on the events in the story.

When Vegeta first shows up, he is dangerous. He kills a bunch of characters, and it’s not many years later that Vegeta and Bulma start dating. Dangerous romance has always been intriguing. Certain stories base their entire plot around a girl loving a dangerous boy (Twilight).

Brilliantly, Toriyama doesn’t wast a lot of time divulging the details of Vegeta and Bulma’s romance. It’s mysterious. Trunks is the evidence, so we know what happens, and there are some cute moments between the two of them, but there are never any dates. This mystery has led fans to fill in the gaps themselves. Combine this mystery with the two details I brought up before (power and danger) and you have the foundation for really interesting stories and art.

Finally, the character development the romance represents is extremely captivating. Good character development is hard to find,  but people love it. I think the reason why a character’s changing personality and goals are so captivating is because humans change so much in real life. Vegeta changes so much in Dragon Ball, and seeing him turn from sociopath to good guy is really cool. It’s especially cool because his romance with Bulma seems to be what brings him the furthest along. Likewise, Bulma grows up from being a teenager, and Vegeta seems to be the culmination of that growth.

To summarize; power, danger, mystery, and character development are the three things that make Vegeta and Bulma’s romance so interesting.

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