#gokulma

sketches gokulma/gobul idk

Yeah. Don't you hate that feeling when a ship has no sortable reason not to be canon and very apparent in the narrative that both complement each other and have meaningful development but get stripped away at the last minute from a very contrive and convoluted story changes or introduction of new half-ass love interest? (The worst-case scenario is poor execution on the already preestablished ship before the obvious choice.)

Yeah, me too.

Most of the time, I find it funny that Magna editors and anime writers always introduce these pairings just for the original creator to oppose the ship.

Yes, granted, it is their story and characters, so they have the right to do whatever they want. However, sometimes I swear the amount of wasted potential of engagement writing in arcs is gone because they didn't go with the obvious route.

I find it interesting that allegedly creative leads (like the anime series directors or editors) of each series had plans for these pairings at one point but ultimately were scrapped.

For Dragon Ball Context: Akira Toriyama's editor had planned and shipped Goku and Bulma, but the idea never happened and shut down. (It is mentioned on a page in Dr. Slump Manga in an Author Note for curious people interested in the source.)

However, remnants of this idea remain in the original Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z anime, primarily in the Funimation Dub for scenes of Bulma seeing Goku more favorably. Sometimes, the idea appears as a quick gag or background element.

The 23rd World Tournament, Namek Arc, and Post Buu Party are the most apparent of GoBul teasing.

For Sailor Moon Context: Allegedly, Kunihiko Ikuhara is rumored behind most of the Rei/Usagi pairing teases.

“Training with Dad is going about as well as I imagined...” 😓

I head canon that Goku’s way of training Gohan is to just make him as durable to out of nowhere sucker punches from him as possible. Learning from his own experience of the magnitude of enemies trying to get the upper hand this specific way.

And when Super Buu tries to hit Gohan out of nowhere, much to little effect, Gohan just shrugs it off stating “Huh, guess dad was onto something. Go figure!”

Thus giving Buu the classic elbow to the stomach blow.

Context: I talking about Dragon Ball GT: Episode 35

I loved this scene because it showed how deep-rooted the relationship between Goku and Bulma is, so seeing Goku hurt by Bulma can't recognize him because she's possess while also telling him off hurts the heart.

Also, hearing Goku say he would never forgive Baby for doing this shows how personal this is to him, especially with his glance toward Baby. You can see how much he cares for Bulma.

Also, it is a nice contrast to most Gobul scenes of caring because it is mainly from Bulma's perspective of her thinking, concern, or reaction to Goku (from OG-Z), so when the vice versa happens, it feels so satisfying.