#topic 5

Like what if Toriyama did Yamcha dirty and decided he's not strong unless he does not want to fight?

Good question. Yamcha is still a fighter, for me. He never really gave up, even though what DBS showed us seems to say otherwise. I can't accept the fact that he threw in the towel, that was never like him. Yamcha always shows to us, in his own way, that he still has a passion for martial arts. Get it? Martial arts. That thing that long ago in Dragon Ball was the leitmotif of the whole story.

However, I don't think Yamcha has really stopped believing in his potential. It is virtually impossible to do so after reaching such a power level that makes him literally one of the strongest human beings in the world. Plus if we consider the fact that, between him, Tien and Kuririn, Yamcha's features are the most "normal" (he's got a nose and only two eyes) we can also safely say that Yamcha is the strongest human being in the world.

Okay, this is a bit of nonsense that I sometimes like to bring up.... But think about it, it might as well be so if we have to be really precise.

«JUST LOOK HOW SERIOUS HUMAN MY FACE IS!»

So, I would just be happy if his warrior attitude, that was never really buried, was put on display again. Even a little sentence, a hint, a tiny scene where he is seen fighting or training with one of his friends... That would be enough for me.

Yeah, something like that... Dragon Buddies.

For example, I am so glad that he made his return in Moro Arc as a Z-Fighter; I would like to see the animated version of his moment. Unfortunately, I think this is not the beginning of his rebirth. I have always thought that Yamcha's only enemy is Yamcha himself, and partly so, but the truth is that the real villain of his story is Akira Toriyama himself. It pains me to admit it, but it is so. I can't understand why he is pandering so much to the idiocy of the DB fandom making fun of Yamcha.

Yamcha laughing at memes about Yamcha knowing that he could destroy everyone with one finger.

The hell, even in Majin Buu Arc he was amazing. All right, I know, they're fillers, but you want me to be honest? The fillers took better care of him than the canon episodes and the manga. I mean, at the beginning he was presented to us as a 40-year-old man who had now given up martial arts for good, wearing a banana yellow suit, expensive and sadly unsuitable for battles. He just doesn't seem to want to hear about it. But then, after several episodes of him goofing off or being a fanboy in the stands, like everyone else Yamcha dies, and it is in the afterlife that his will to fight is reawakened after so long. As it was with King Kai before. For those who have followed him from the beginning of Dragon Ball, to be able to see Yamcha again happy, excited and strong, with his uniform on like the old days, is a joy to behold.

Relative joy.

Guys, I can't accept the fact that Yamcha has to be dead to feel even more alive, or even worse that his existence depends only on fillers. Yes, I know, it's still better than nothing, though...

Another good job was also done by the OVA Dragon Ball: The Return of Son Goku and Friends!, probably the last work that remembers that Yamcha also exists and especially treats him as a very valuable fighter. I'll talk about it.

This moment is still one of my favorite. It is one of the most badass things about Yamcha, plus it reminds me so much of a scene where Tarzan does the same...

Look! On one side we have the ape man (no, not a saiyan), on the other side the wolf man... Damn, I love it! Well, maybe I'm digressing, but it is curious to notice how the act of undressing is cathartic for both characters. They both strip off a garment that does not really belong to them and wildly bring out their true nature, their animal instincts, but most of all their desire to protect those they love. That's Yamcha. After all, who says Yamcha has to save the world to redeem himself as a character? He can also do so by protecting someone. That is something he can do very well, and I will prove it to you. Anyway, I sincerely hope that his role in the world of Dragon Ball will also be recognized in DBS. I also hope he can use again even his sword, but unfortunately he became a meme and, apart from the Moro Arc, we only saw him slaughtered and humiliated even by his own friends. This is the saddest thing that could have happened, also because in OG Dragon Ball it would NEVER have happened. There is no more demeaning thing than seeing Goku completely ignore one of his close friends, one of the first, and treat him as if he were worth less than zero. Seriously... WTF?! The Goku I love would never have done that.

Alright, that's the real Goku! Thank you!

I mean, maybe Goku wouldn't have invited him to the Tournament anyway, but at least he would have stopped in front of him to say a few comfortably words. As he once did.

Because, you know, that's what you do with friends and those who have been there for you in the good and in the worst of times. Let us remember that Yamcha took care of Goku together with Chichi when the virus struck him in the heart...

Well, I try hard to think that this is all a joke, though I doubt it. I strive to think that the whole attitude that the characters have had in DBS toward Yamcha is just the result of a studied plan to piss him off and spur him to undress again and howl like he used to. But... I know it's not.

Therefore, even though Moro Arc slightly brought our Z warrior back to the forefront and confirmed that Yamcha is still very strong, I still do not consider myself satisfied. What I would like more than anything else is just a confrontation between him and the protagonist, Goku, in which the saiyan helps him believe in himself again. And if it is not Goku, someone else is fine as long as Yamcha is reconsidered with dignity.

I don't think I'm asking for that much. Goku has helped so many people, dinosaurs, mice, monkeys, strangers he has met only once in his life, even bad guys... So why not help the first character who consciously believed in his abilities?

...Guess I have started a new topic. I will definitely talk about the relationship between Yamcha and Goku as soon as I can. Being the main character, a positive assessment of Yamcha by Goku could change the current idea of this character and make him much stronger as a result. I mean, Goku is the Mr. Satan of the real world. What he says is the truth, so it is only up to him to make sure that Yamcha can come back stronger than before.

Theme: Identity

Identity is a theme seen in much of the literature and films that we consume.

In multicultural literature, this theme is often correlated to a person/character’s culture, religion, and family. There are examples of how our identity is expressed that are extremely commonplace, like a son being named after their father, a daughter having their grandmother’s names as their middle name, children attending the same alma mater as their parents did, and young adults choosing to pursue the same careers they grew up watching their parents do (or taking over a family business). In “Chike’s School Days”, one reading from this topic, we read about the many names given to a child that reflect the cultural identity of his family, and how that affects how he relates to members of other cultural communities as he grows up and meets new people.

Identity is multifaceted, but it could be said that the first thing in our life that affects our identity is the name we are given by our families. They may reflect our parentage, culture, the values of our families, or a mix of several things.

For teachers:

By using my own twitter account I am presenting one way of understanding this social media platform. Gershon explores the idea that the use of any platform may vary between individuals through ethnography of the arguments that occur over the acceptability or reality of an online breakup (2010).

Gershon, I., 2010. The Breakup 2.0: Disconnecting Over New Media. London: Cornell University Press.

Miller, D., 2015. Photography in the Age of Snapchat. Anthropology and Photography, [online] 1. Available at: <https://www.therai.org.uk/images/stories/photography/AnthandPhotoVol1.pdf> [Accessed 18 January 2020].

Miller, D., 2016. Social Media In An English Village. London: UCL Press.

Miller, D., Costa, E., Haynes, N., McDonald, T., Nicolescu, R., Sinanan, J., Spyer, J., Venkatraman, S. and Wang, X., 2016. How The World Changed Social Media. London: UCL Press.

While I have focused on twitter alone a major theory within digital anthropology is that of polymedia (Miller et al. 2016), the idea that social networks cannot be understood in isolation and that people use different sites to communicate in a variety of ways.

Research looking at social media from different geographical locations have found that some of the uses of social media reflect the preexisting cultural ideas of the local context. Miller describes Facebook as appealing to the British desire to be close but not to close to others (Miller, 2016)

Personally the use I make of different social media sites is influenced mostly by who is able to view and connect them to me. It is also a factor that has changed through time.

High school = friends used twitter and Whatsapp

still how I interact with friends from then

Youth group = Facebook and messenger

later also Instagram

College = Facebook and messenger

Instagram used to share images of parties

now to see clips of lives around the world

Don’t use Snapchat as my friends don’t

The first part of my day on twitter corresponded with the end of MLK day in the USA. Mostly I am on twitter in the late evening which means my feed is a mix of American and British tweets. Twitter also can be set to show the most popular tweets first which partly removes the effect of time zones.

On twitter I see American and British politics with the occasional mention of worldwide events. While I mostly see tweets in English occasionally there will be a tweet in another language.

Due to my interest in student campaigns I follow many people involved with them. This means that even though twitter is a platform that exists worldwide much of the news and information I see is restricted to London based events.

I have also found that because I follow people with the same political views as I do many of them also follow each other. The internet is described as an echo chamber and this is true of my twitter. My experience reflects the conclusions found in How the World Changed Social Media in that politics online reinforces politics offline (Miller et al., 2016).

Twitter offers a range of ways to interact socially and the ways these are used can change your experience.

Liking and retweeting

most common form of interaction

passive

share information

shows appreciation

Polls

collect information

often used for jokes

Replying

Public conversation

Often won’t get a response if you contact someone famous

Variation = Quote tweet

Comment on someones tweet

Mostly used to display information you disagree with

Direct messages

Private

Can be between groups

Can choose to only receive them from people you follow

The various methods of communicating on twitter can be used to make conversations more or less private and detailed. 

Personally I rarely speak to anyone but my close friends on twitter. It is a place for me to read other peoples thoughts and though I may retweet them I would not tweet my own.