Growing Up With Dragon Ball Z: Goku, Vegeta, and the Lessons That Stayed With Me

Dragon Ball Z was the first anime I really got hooked on.

I started watching DBZ when I was in grade school. It would come on Toonami on Cartoon Network, and that became my introduction to a completely different kind of animated storytelling.

I started around the Saiyan Saga, with Raditz, Nappa, and Vegeta. From there, I kept watching and followed Dragon Ball Z through the different sagas as the characters, threats, and world continued to grow.

At the time, I didn't think deeply about why I connected with it. I was a kid. The fights were awesome, the characters were larger than life, and there always seemed to be another transformation or impossibly powerful enemy waiting around the corner.

Looking back as an adult, though, I realize Dragon Ball Z gave me more than entertainment.

Goku and Vegeta as Father Figures

My parents had divorced when I was growing up, and in a strange way, Goku and Vegeta became almost like fictional father figures to me.

They couldn't have been more different from each other, but I think that's part of why they both had an influence on me.

Each represented a different kind of strength.

What Goku Taught Me

Goku represented never giving up.

It didn't matter how powerful his opponent was or how impossible the situation looked. He trained. He struggled. He got knocked down. Then he found a way to stand back up and keep fighting.

He also believed strongly in protecting the people he cared about and fighting for what he believed was right.

There was always another level to reach.

As a kid, I wasn't consciously thinking, Goku is teaching me perseverance. I just knew I admired him.

But the message stayed with me:

Keep going. Keep improving. Don't give up just because something seems impossible.

What Vegeta Taught Me

Vegeta represented something very different.

He was tough, proud, independent, intimidating, and willing to face realities that weren't always comfortable.

Goku often looked for the good in someone. Vegeta was more likely to recognize that sometimes you're dealing with a genuine threat. Not every situation can be solved by simply being nice and hoping everything works out.

Sometimes you have to stand your ground.

Sometimes you have to fight.

And sometimes you need the strength to recognize something for what it really is.

But there's an interesting contradiction in what Vegeta taught me.

Vegeta Changed

When I first started watching Dragon Ball Z, Vegeta wasn't one of the heroes.

He arrived during the Saiyan Saga as an enemy. He was ruthless, dangerous, incredibly proud, and responsible for terrible things.

Yet I followed him from there.

Over time, Vegeta changed.

He didn't suddenly stop being Vegeta. He remained stubborn, competitive, angry, prideful, and obsessed with becoming stronger.

But his reasons for fighting began to change.

He formed relationships. He had a family. He developed attachments he probably never imagined himself having when he first arrived on Earth. Eventually, he became willing to put himself in danger for people other than himself.

So there's something almost contradictory about the lesson I took from him.

Vegeta showed me that you sometimes have to accept that a person in front of you is dangerous and can't simply be talked out of what they're doing.

But Vegeta himself also showed me that people can change.

Those two ideas can exist together.

You can recognize someone for who they are right now without pretending you know who they'll be forever.

Understanding DBZ Differently Now

None of this was going through my head when I was sitting in front of Cartoon Network watching Toonami in grade school.

I just knew that I loved Dragon Ball Z.

It was only when I got older that I could look backward and recognize some of the qualities I had absorbed from these characters:

Persistence. Strength. Loyalty. Pride. Protecting the people you care about. Standing up for yourself. Getting stronger after being knocked down.

And maybe most importantly, the idea that becoming stronger isn't necessarily about never struggling.

Sometimes struggling is how you become stronger.

From Toonami to SynapticFox

Dragon Ball Z ended up being my gateway into anime.

Years later, anime is still part of my life. Now I'm experimenting with anime video edits and AMVs, thinking about how music and scenes can carry emotion, and building SynapticFox into my own den on the internet.

It's strange to think that part of what I'm creating today can be traced all the way back to being a kid, turning on Toonami, and watching Goku, Vegeta, and the rest of the DBZ characters fight battles that seemed larger than life.

Back then, I thought I was just watching an awesome show.

I didn't realize that some of it would stay with me.

But it did.

— Jesse G Allen / SynapticFox