My God... 29 years already?: Dragon Ball GT's first episode was released a day like today...
So how do I start with this post? Let's see, I think by confessing two things; briefly... First, there is absolutely no other anime that has marked my life and my childhood as much as Akira Toriyama's most symbolic and powerful creation: Dragon Ball. However, being immersed in that niche of anime, which in essence, is a world where we kids are the ones who make life more present, I think that my opinion about Dragon Ball GT will not be very popular...
You see, for me, the story that Toei Animation brought to the screen, together with Fuji TV and Toriyama's approval, strangely does not enjoy the endorsement of the community. Simply put, it is not ‘canon’. Oh, that word that divides so many waters in so many places? Now, I won't come here and tell you what is good and what is not.... What I will definitely do is describe my love and devotion to DBGT and why what happened 29 years ago, on a day like today, is so important in my life, and in millions of others.
We all remember that epic ending in Boo Dagger. With Goku gathering the energies of the entire Universe to defeat Majin Boo in his most evil version. That beautiful monologue where he acknowledges the strength within Boo's evil and how hard it was for him and the Z Warriors to defeat him. From that episode, with the division of Boo into Majin Boo (good) and Oob, and the peace on Earth, we were all left with that feeling of emptiness that is hard to explain but that I know we all share?
1996 finally arrives, and on February 7th, but in 1996, literally one year after the end of Dragon Ball Z (1995) comes the definitive ‘final’ story of the characters that would change my life. This time, it would be Goku, Trunks of the Present (not the epic of the Cell Saga) and Pan. Which we saw, tentatively, in the final chapter of DBZ. We see how Gohan, Vegeta, Krillin, Piccolo and even Mister Satan hN evolved. Sadly, Gotens character loses value and strength within the plot but all in favour of Goku's (never before explored) relationship as someone's caretaker. In this case, his granddaughter, Pan. And Trunks, as the anchor to sanity and serenity.
I must confess that the first 20, 25 chapters are a bit dense. Excessively shonen, even as a girl, but they work to explain several plots. The villains, like Baby, Super Android 17 and the Dragon saga are epic, I must admit. Not to mention the beauty of Goku SSJ4's transformation, for god's sake, I still remember frame a frame how it all happened. And how powerful/happy I felt watching it. And the opening of Dragon Ball GT? Uff, it's crazy, how good that tune is. In Latin America, where I'm from, we know it as ‘My enchanted heart’ and it's to this day one of the best openings ever made. I still don't think it's been 29 years since my life changed. It's a snap, everything happens...