Invincible is American Dragon Ball

I hate anime and the Japanese, but DBZ abridged was one of YouTube's finest products.

There are ways to tell the difference between peoples. One of the best ones is to look at the art they create. Shakespeare and Dickens Vs Dumas and Hugo, for instance. The works differ in their settings, but also in the cultural expectations of their people. There is an art of war from the east, most known from Sun Tzu. There is also Machiavelli’s Art of War and Sun Bin’s manuscript. Don’t ask me about the latter, I haven’t read it. This doesn’t change the main context of what was spoken in Sun Tzu’s vs Machiavelli’s. Sun Tsu was written by a general with the total authority only granted to Eastern generals. Machiavelli, on the other hand, broke down not just the tactics of battle but also the political need for cultural upkeep, which could only be understood from a Western perspective.

See, the West has this strange quirk that creates a need for purposeful institutions to foster cohesion.

The East has a different way of understanding the world. They see themselves as part of a large collective. This leads to strange practices by Western standards, such as trying to achieve perfection in everything they do. They will spend years working at a mundane task, like trimming a bonsai tree, or practicing a martial art that will never make them any money. They do this because not doing their best makes them feel like they are robbing everyone else by half-assing their tasks.

Which brings me to the point.

I have been watching a show called Invincible on Amazon Prime. It is a show about an alien from the planet Viltrium who was sent to Earth to conquer it and ended up having a kid. Later in the show, it is revealed that he was also sent to find species he could breed with to save his race after they had been all but wiped out by a virus called the scurge virus.

Mark is the child of this alien, who gains his powers as a teenager. His father tells him about his people and reveals that he was sent to conquer Earth and bring it under Viltrimite rule. Mark refuses, and his father beats him till he is bloody, and in the course of this fight, he kills 2700 people in Chicago.

Viltrimites are bred for their basic imperviousness and massive power. They get stronger as they get older, up to 5000 years or more. They have smart cells that learn to become more impervious as they heal from damage. Basically, battle makes them stronger and tougher. They have had civil wars just for the sake of weeding out weaker Viltrimites.

There was a group of meta-humans led by the GDA, a government agency. These were the Guardians of Earth, or some bullshit, and Nolan, the father, starts off by killing most of them before he beats the shit out of Mark.

The GDA is led by an old haggard agent with a Lone Ranger complex named Cecil. He was the main contact and intelligence provider for Nolan during the years he was on the planet.

Mark eventually recovers, and his father goes to a planet full of bugs and makes another kid named Oliver.

Mark eventually recovers from his injuries and is visited by an alien named Allen. Allen informs Mark that there is a Coalition of Planets fighting against the Viltrimite expansion into the universe.

Mark is later tricked by a Thraxxan into visiting a planet where his father is with his new child. He then, for the first time, fights true Viltrimites and gets his ass kicked, and his father is taken captive.

Allen and Nolan then spend time in a Viltrimite holding center till Nolan is about to be put to death, and they escape together. They then work together using Nolan’s knowledge of the Viltrimites to help the Coalition of Planets fight back, culminating in Mark, Nolan, and Thadues (ex viltrimite leader of the Coalition of Planets) destroying the Viltrimites’ homeworld and getting their ass kicked by Thragg, who is the leader of the Viltrimites. Thragg kills Thadeus, and Allen is made the new leader of the Coalition of Planets.

For those of you who have not seen Dragon Ball Z, allow me to give a brief synopsis.

An Alien lands on Earth, is adopted by a powerful martial arts master, and is trained to fight from a young age. He is a Saiyan from planet Vegeta. His given name is Kakarot, but he is called Goku by his adopted parents.

I am not an expert or a nerd who has read the manga or watched all the original episodes, and I don’t care, so forgive me if I get some details wrong or omit things.

Dragon Ball Z kicks off with Raditz, who is Goku’s brother, showing up and kidnapping Gohan, who is Goku’s son. Goku and Piccolo (green bug person) kill him and go back to training.

Goku trains and fights because he likes testing himself and getting stronger. Not because he wants to protect others around him, but just because he wants to get stronger. The race gets stronger every time they recover from an injury.

Soon, another Saiyan shows up, named Vegeta. Vegeta works for a being named Freeza, who rules most of the universe. Vegeta overheard Goku talking about the dragon balls. The Dragon Balls are a constant McGuffin that consists of 7 balls with stars on them that, when brought together, summon a wish-granting dragon. The Saiyans have tales that say they transform into a giant ape when they see the moon.

Vegeta is the Prince of all Saiyans and almost destroys the entire planet before he is beaten by Gohan. Goku allows Vegeta to leave, and he scurries back

During this fight, a bunch of the local heroes, including Krillin (who is a small bald man who can throw energy discs and does martial arts), Piccolo, Tien (who is a chinese character who the show hates), his vampire pokemon side kick, a do nothing base ball player, and the guy who grows sensu beans (magically heal all damage) were all hurt or killed.

Piccolo was killed by Vegeta’s partner during the fight, and the Dragon Balls could only be used on Namek. So, Gohan, Krillin, Bulma, and Goku head to planet Namek to go find them.

Bulma is a scientist whose father is infinitely wealthy and provides any tech needed for the show. This includes training equipment, scouters, ships, food, and lodging.

Goku is forced to take a later ship to recover from his injuries. Goku ends up on a ship where he trains constantly under a gravity multiplier.

Krillin, Gohan, and Bulma show up on the new planet and get to finding the Dragon Balls only to discover that Vegeta and the Freiza Force are already there attempting to do the same thing. Vegeta and Frieza are wishing for immortality.

Frieza begins mass-murdering the planet's inhabitants, and Vegeta is doing the same.

Krillin and Gohan eventually cross paths with Vegeta after mixing it up with some of Frieza’s men. They begin working together to gather the Dragon Balls till they run into the Ginyu Force (Elite Soldiers). Vegeta, Gohan, and Krillin are no match, but Goku shows up just in time to save all of them. Goku fights the leader and is injured, and has to recover.

Freiza loses all his men and is forced to fight Vegeta, Krillin, and Gohan alone. He is handling them well and has the group on the ropes till Goku shows up.

After Goku gets a Zen-Ki boost from almost dying again, he achieves a new status; his hair flashes gold, and his eyes turn blue. He becomes the legendary “Super Saiyan”.

While this is happening, Vegeta is weeping and telling Goku that Freeza enslaved his planet and forced its people to fight for his empire. He continues and explains that Freiza destroyed thier home planet, killing everyone. This was because he feared what they could become.

Frieza shoots Vegeta and kills him. Goku buries Vegeta on the planet and proceeds to knock Frieza onto queer street. Goku communicates telepathically with the gods and the people back on Earth, and a plan is set for a Namekian to use the Dragon Balls to wish that everyone killed by Frieza and his men be brought back to life and back to Earth.

The reason for the Earth thing was that the planet had been hit by a force ball from Freiza and was about to explode.

Goku allows Frieza to power up, then breaks him. It culminates in Frieza being cut in half by his own attack. Goku allows him to live and heads to the ship to escape.

This is only part of Dragon Ball Z because, well, this is only part of Invincible.

So why do I think these are the same shows? Just one is Eastern, and one is Western. Given the structure, Dragon Ball and Invincible are (of course) derivatives of Superman. Which are derivatives of well, Jesus, and Hercules. A non-mortal child born to a mortal mother, who then saves the world through tasks.

Getting away from the original material, though, we can look at the basic story and see the similarities and why the plot serves as a cultural lens into the people who made it.

The characters of Vegeta and Nolan, for instance, who go from conquerors to begrudging heroes, are essentially the same. Nolan will later be revealed as the rightful heir to Viltrum.

Bulma and Cecil are both plot devices that provide the tech and intel the heroes need.

Freiza and Thragg are basically the same character. Thragg is (of course) a wiser, more calculating version. But they are both long-living conquerors who rule a universal empire full of meta-humans.

Gohan and Mark represent children looking to their fathers, who are seen as the strongest creatures on earth. Goku is constantly battling and training, dying and leaving Gohan with Piccolo or his mother, who expects him to do his school work and get into college. The young, looking at the old, are traumatized by the unmet expectations. Raised in a world where comfort was the norm till it wasn’t, Nolan showed his son, through brute force, what the world really was. Using Mark’s body to kill humans, staining him with their blood. Goku tossing Gohan to the wolves, watching him train and fight against monsters.

The expectations being unmet in Japan in the 1990s, after the disco 1980s in Tokyo, the power suit, power tie, and power steering, led to stagnation. In modern America, the bling bling go shopping or the terrorists win the 2000s, leading to the stagnation of the 2010s.

But the whys and hows are where the culture really shines. Goku, Gohan, Nolan, and Mark are all how they are because of their blood. But the power is spreadable in the Dragon Ball universe. Ki, which is the life force shared by all living creatures, can be harnessed through meditation and practice. Skill and control are the goal, not victory. Krillin is just a human, so is Yamcha, and Gohan’s girlfriend learns to fly and control her Ki.

Vegeta tries to get better to keep up with Goku.

Vegeta says this in Dragon Ball Z Kai, I think:

“You want to know what your big mistake was, Black? It’s that stolen body! Every muscle, every cell! His body was built from a lifetime of intense battles! But you took it! It’s all secondhand! You feel the power of those Saiyan cells, but you don’t truly understand it, because you didn’t build it! AND YOU’LL NEVER LEARN TO THINK LIKE THAT CLOWN!!!”

In Dragon Ball, a ton of time is spent on training. In Invincible, almost no time is spent on training. There is an episode where Mark is shown lifting weights and practicing, but it is mostly just him being a person.

Invincible is about having the humility and ability to “Be human.” The Viltrimites are evil because they do evil things. They are strong because they are bred to be strong. There is no spiritual growth. The show’s character arcs make it great. There is Nolan’s relationship with Oliver, which has recovered. There is Debby becoming a tiger mom. There is Mark’s girlfriend, Atom Eve.

Let me get this out quickly. She got pregnant before he left to go fight in the Viltrimite war, and while he was gone, had an abortion. He comes home completely traumatized and broken as a human. She informs him that she had an abortion. He apologizes to her and says, “ He should have been there.” You know what makes a war worth fighting? Your fucking children. This bitch. Like what the fuck. I like a thicc chick, so don’t get me fucked up. This female literally killed an integral part of the universe. One of 34 viltrimites left in the entire universe. She killed it. Why, you ask? Because she couldn’t imagine being a single mom. And he apologized to this bitch. He should have slapped her and gone and found a new bitch immediately. What type of simp fuck shit is this?

This is the cultural thing I am talking about, too. Bulma got pregnant by Vegeta, and he rolled out: she ain’t kill the kid. She just put on her big girl pants and raised him. Chi chi raised like two more kids, and Goku is broke. They live with her dad. She wants more kids. Cultural aspects. Same structures, different cultures.

In summation, I think these are the same basic show with different cultural angles. I’ve been thinking about this for a couple of days. Tell me what you think.