Igo Shogi is a stand-up comedy duo that were 2023 finalists for THE SECOND, a Japanese comedy competition for performers that have worked together for sixteen years or more.

Daisuke Fumita and Taichi Nedate met in high school. The two were in elementary school when the Dragon Ball anime began airing, putting them smack dab in the middle of the Dragon Ball generation. "All of us tried to recreate Goku's hairstyle with shampoo at least once," they recalled fondly.

The two entertainers also talk about Dragon Ball often on their "Three Things Igo Shogi Are Passionate About" program that plays on the GERA Comedy Radio App. Their love for this series has continued into adulthood, and they're joining us today to tell us all about it!

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—You two were born in 1980 and 1981, right? So, the Dragon Ball anime started just as you two entered elementary school. What do you remember your first encounter with Dragon Ball?

Daisuke Fumita (hereafter Fumita): I've got a much older cousin who had a ton of old copies of Jump comics and other manga at his house, so I often read those.

I remember that the Dr. Slump anime was super popular at the time, so I think I started watching Dragon Ball because of that too.

Taichi Nedate (hereafter Nedate): After Great Demon King Piccolo is defeated, there's a three-year time skip, right? I have a clear memory of that, but I was only in elementary school at the time, so I didn't really get it.

I really thought there wasn't going to be any Dragon Ball for three years and was super upset. I remember telling my mom, "There's not gonna be any Dragon Ball for three whole years!"

—So, you must have been overjoyed when it came back on just like always the following week.

Nedate: Of course! I mean, Goku was now an adult and everything. But that was also so new, seeing a main character suddenly grow up in an anime.

— As members of the Dragon Ball generation, did you have a favorite storyline at the time?

Fumita: Oh, that's gotta be the Frieza Arc as a whole. That one was a real downer. At the beginning on Planet Namek, you keep thinking that Goku's going to get there and save everyone, but it takes forever for him to finally arrive. Then, in the latter half, he spends the whole time recovering in the Medical Machine.

I kept wondering why no one came with a Senzu Bean. There's also that side plot where Yajirobe goes and eats all the beans.

—I can tell that you enjoy making humorous observations about the characters.

Fumita: I remember thinking everyone else was struggling, and it's all Yajirobe's fault for overeating.

Nedate: I remember being so shocked as a kid when the villain kept transforming and getting stronger and stronger. Actually, I guess I was more angry than excited.

—Oh, you mean Frieza?

Nedate: Yeah, Frieza was super scary. We were watching it like, "How many times is this guy gonna transform? Stop bullying our buddy Goku!"

Nedate: But the most shocking was when Tenshinhan broke Yamcha's leg. It was so scary as a kid, and I swore to do whatever it took to not have that happen to me!

I mean there aren't any other depictions that make something look that painful. All the fighting and stuff like the Kamehameha are a blast to see, but that one just looked like it hurt so, so much.

Fumita: With the next chapter being called "The Cruelty of Tenshinhan", you had a pretty good idea going in how that fight was going to turn out.

Fumita: You can't help but to feel a bit bad for Yamcha at certain points. But actually, he's a super famous baseball player in the world of Dragon Ball.

There's even an episode of Dragon Ball Z where Yamcha has become a pro baseball player and hits three home runs in a row.

Nedate: Wow, really?

Fumita: The Tenkaichi Budokai prize money was 500,000 Zeni, right? 1 Zeni is worth about 1.5 yen, so if you win, you'd only get about 750,000 yen. So if Yamcha could land a 100 million yen contract, playing baseball would definitely be the more lucrative option.

*At the 25th Tenkaichi Budokai, the prize money was 10,000,000 Zeni.

—Yes, that would be quite the annual salary!

Fumita: But, in the real world, I think there are a lot of people like Yamcha.

Nedate: Yeah, I guess there aren't many Goku-types out there.

Fumita: Even if you think to yourself, "I'm a Yamcha", maybe you just need to look somewhere else to find what you're really good at. I probably got my courage to change paths in life from Yamcha.

—Are there any characters that either of you have a special fondness for?

Nedate: This isn't my favorite character but... my dad really liked King Chappa.

King Chappa only appears in Dragon Ball, so once Dragon Ball Z started, he would chime in with "No King Chappa today, huh?" all the time.

—Why do you think your dad liked him so much?

Nedate: I don’t really know... Maybe he thought he looked cool?

Fumita: Speaking of which, in that fight with King Chappa, Goku busted out a brand-new technique. He exhales with incredible force, and the force of it allowed him to dodge King Chappa's attack. I remember thinking it would really be possible to do that if you had enough lung capacity.

—Wow, I'm impressed that you remembered that detail!

Fumita: There's also that other one Goku only did once. When he was burying Vegeta, he looked at the ground and then, poof! There's a big hole there.

Nedate: Yeah, was that a real technique?

—Mr. Fumita, do you have a character that you like?

Fumita: Oh, that'd have to be Krillin. Since he can truthfully tell his kid that he's the strongest earthling.

Nedate: Krillin was the first in the Kame School to use Buku-jutsu (Levitation Technique), right?

Fumita: Speaking of which, when Goku was tackling Serpent Road, at first he was traveling via Buku-jutsu (Levitation Technique), but after a while he starts running and says, "I used up too much power in flight...!", right? I remember when I saw that I thought, "Geez, flying must be exhausting."

Then I remembered that during the Tenkaichi Budokai, Tenshinhan and Chaozu used the Buku-jutsu (Levitation Technique) to watch the match from high up. I thought they must have been showing off or something, floating like that even though it's exhausting.

—Are there any other scenes that have stuck with you?

Fumita: I really liked Gohan's one-handed Kamehameha. Oh, and I also loved Tenshinhan's one-handed Kikoho. They were both so cool, I tried to do them myself a lot as a kid.

Nedate: There was also that scene in "Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection 'F'" where Frieza is left hanging in a flower garden. I was surprised to find out that Frieza's least favorite place (which becomes the version of hell he is confined to) is a merry garden full of beautiful flowers.

—We hadn't really had the opportunity to see what's going inside Frieza's head, or how he thinks.

Nedate: Yeah! That's why this scene has stuck with me for so long. It's also why I was so excited to hear Maximum the Hormone's song, "F".

—I think there are times as comedians that you take on competition similar to how Goku and crew take on battles. Are there any lines or scenes that come to mind when you're in those kinds of situations?

Fumita: In the Dragon Ball anime, the title card changed when the Tenkaichi Budokai was going on. In it, the character "Bu" (lit. "warrior") appears bit by bit until it fills up the whole screen. It's so cool, so I always think of that one.

Nedate: This is super cliché, but I think about when Goku went Super Saiyan. Just thinking about it makes get me pumped up.

Only when Goku went Super Saiyan did he refer to himself differently. Totally different than when he's just Goku. I'd like to copy that shift.

—Well, of course the fun of Dragon Ball is talking about it with your friends like, "I want to copy that!" or "That was awesome!" and so on.

Nedate: Also, ever since I was little I've always wondered, "Would I be able to ride Kinto'un?

You've got to be "pure of heart" to ride Kinto'un, right? So, throughout my life at various times I've wondered "If I do this, would I still be able to ride Kinto'un?"

—Dragon Ball has really had an impact on how you live your life, hasn't it!

Nedate: I think it's pretty cool that after all that happens, the people of Earth have only really heard of Mr. Satan. Even though the Z-Fighters fought so hard, no one knows about any of it.

Fumita: That's not true. They know of Yamcha because he's a famous baseball player and he makes lots of money.

Nedate: Yes, I suppose Yamcha's one of the few famous ones!

Interviewer/Writer: Hayato Inui
Photographer: Ryo Tsuchida