Il a une tête de daifuku !

. last dance 

Tea-drinking Space Pirate 

I meant to write this ages ago, as a reply to dragonhakuryuu.

The first time Bosatsu knocked out the ST like a fly and about to put another blow to the ‘chibi’ as she called him. Saying ‘Don’t think badly of me for this’. Konzen flipped his shit and landed a hard punch to Bosatsu’s face. He got kneed in the gut for it but he picked up the unconscious ST and took him away from the chaos. 

But what you’re really looking for, as a literal action of kindness to the ST is this: 

this is my piece for DragonBall 30th Anniversary / Akira Toriyama Tribute gallery!

edition 1 of 1 giclee w/ hand embellished gold & silver ink 13”x19”

Saiyuki Reload 7-33.

You know, I think I never really understood these pages until now: I never really understood what was the ‘something’ breaking. I blame it on the French edition.

I could see Sanzo’s world break apart in that first page –  and, to some extent, that’s what happened – but from Goku’s point of view, that didn’t make any sense. In that second page (I didn’t include the pages in between), Goku’s thoughts in the French text read like this (translated literally): ‘The sound of something breaking… Tell me this isn’t true… Was it this fragile?’ Was it this fragile? What was ‘it’? In the book (but not in the scanlation) the ‘You’ve gotta be kidding’ panel shows the Sanzo-ikkou: was ‘it’ the Sanzo-ikkou? To some extent, that’s also true.

And then I stumbled upon this English scanlation. It doesn’t say ‘Was it this fragile?’ but ‘Was I this weak?’ and that’s so much clearer for me. I often wonder what Goku, Gojyo and Hakkai know about Sanzo’s past and feelings: the monk isn’t exactly the sharing type. They do know that he can’t stand weakness but do they know how sensitive this particular trait of personality is? How it comes from an irreparable wound? Well, it doesn’t matter because the result is the same anyway: Sanzo won’t embarrass himself with weak companions. And when Goku falls before Sanzo, Goku breaks Sanzo’s n°1 rule: ‘The moment you show weakness is the moment I get rid of you.’ Could the ‘something breaking’ also be Goku’s heart? He falls from the attack, yes, but doesn’t he also fall from grace in Sanzo’s eyes?

And gotta think like Goku too. ‘If I’m too weak.. How can I possibly protect Sanzo and the others?’ And remember the time he went up against Kougaiji in the desert with a poisoned Sanzo? Goku didn’t have time to waste on Kou with Sanzo’s time running really short. So what was a guy to do? Go batshit insane as the Seiten Taisei of course and beat everyone up. 

But after that happened, Goku was obviously depressed about it. Hakkai cheered him up. Then the kami-sama arc happened and Goku even though he was depressed, pulled himself out of it and helped out his friends. 

What I am getting at here.. Is Goku probably felt like a beaten up, broken, useless hunk of junk and no matter how hard he tries, it’s not enough. He didn’t sense Ukoku even two meters! No one did. But Goku felt like he should have, that he should haven’t to resort to the seiten taisei to do anything for him. 

I guess I tend to forget Goku's inner turmoil because he's so cheerful and strong and wonderful all the time. But his own personal tragedy (without even mentioning his lost memories) is to be left alone so yes, to think he's the cause of the ikkou's disband must be crushing.

And speaking about his lost memories...  when Goku first came back after being the Seiten Taisei in Saiyuki 3, he remembered some feelings:

'I remembered that I had something I really wanted to protect.'

Eternal Dragon

my piece for the Qpop Shop's DBZ/Akira Toriyama Tribute show!