| toriyama's WTF?!? page |
| wherein in-jokes, similarities to other works, and general jokes in the Buu Saga will be explained by Rivka |
| Kibito/Shin relationship shtuff... 1.) Robert Jordan. Toriyama seems to have an affinity for Western fantasy and sci-fi and alluding to it directly or indirectly in his work. Thus, Wheel of Time readers, which are probably few and far between in the DB fandom, will be able to recognize the Kibito/Shin relationship as a Warder/Aes Sedai-type one, the only exception being Kaiooshin-sama is male. (More specifically, Kaiooshin is Moiraine Sedai's counterpart, and Kibito is Lan's, Moiraine's Warder.) Umm... to explain to you non- WoT peeps....an Aes Sedai is a woman who is trained to wield the power fo the Univers, and a Warder is her bodyguard of sorts. They are linked by a strong bond, and if the Aes Sedai dies, the Warder will often lose his will to live; if the opposite happens, the Aes Sedai will be very grief-stricken, but in time, will bond to a new Warder. See WoT Mania for more stuff. 2.) Feudalism in Japan. In the feudal era, samurai were a.) expected to be totally loyal to their masters/lords and b.) live by a strict code of honor and duty known as bushido. We know from documents, fictional and non-fictional, from the Japanese feudal period, that much of the behavior betwen samurai and other samurai or feudal lords was homoerotically charged. ^^ Japan has a rather lenient stance on homosexuality; it doesn't really exist if we were to use the Western definition, because Japanese, by our standards, live totally "closeted" lives. But, in Japan, you could "fool around" with anyone provided you ended up in a het relationship and had children. 3.) Christianity, parodying. I always imagined Kaiooshin-sama as a Jesus-type figure...and Kibito as one of those holy rollers who claims to know Jesus (but in this case, actually does!). But the thing is, Kibito keeps on worshipping his Kaiooshin-sama even after he shows human weakness. and think about it- Christianity is kind of a homoerotic outlet for male parishioners. I mean, think of Communion...you're eating the body and blood of a half-naked guy on the wall in front of you!! 4.) It's All in the Name. "Kibito" is a Japanese pun deriving from "tsukebito" (sometimes pronounced with "ki" instead of "ke"), which, in turn, derives from the verb tsukeru, which has 5 main clusters of meanings: 1.) "to attach, join, fasten" 2.) "to accompany, partner" 3.) "to follow (a person or teachings)" 4.) "to watch over/guard/keep [an eye on]" and 5.) "to establish [a relationship]". (-Bito (original form "hito") means person, and so a tsukebito is a person who does these things...loosely, "dedicatee", "partner", "assistant", "disciple", "guard", "instigator/dominant [in relationship]", etc. (This may not always hold; this is just one theory I've heard. "Kibito" is written in katakana [syllables for foreign words], so we may never know what Tori meant...) 5.) Gohan/Shin? Kewl! There's some evidence for that...Gohan trying to protect the little guy...Kaiooshin getting back to Kaiooshin-kai with him (and Kibito being jealous and pissed as hell)...ah, you be the judge... The Deities Themselves 1.) Nishi-sama and Amaterasu. Amaterasu-oo-kami is the Shinto sun goddess, and ascendant of the Japanese Emperor, and there are a lot of parallels in behavior between her and Nishi-sama. For one, both are rather playful, but easily tricked or defeated. And they are represented wearing the same colored clothes!!! :) 2.) The existence of mortal failings. Shinto is a rather anthropomorphic pagan system, so OF COURSE they're going to put that in there! Another point to parody. (Although Shinto isn't bad as Greco-Roman...) Other 1.) The Obvious Pun. The names "Bibidi, Babidi, Buu" are taken from Cinderella. 2.) Fat/Kid Buu's appearance is almost EXACTLY like that of a large unchi [poo] from Toriyama's other manga, Doctor Slump. |