Introduced to Dragon Ball Through the Anime

—Tell us about your first encounter with Dragon Ball.

Shupei: I saw the anime first. As far back as I can remember, they were airing the original Dragon Ball around dusk, and Dragon Ball Z later at night (Wednesdays at 7:00 PM), so I watched both. It was my weekly routine. Set the channel and wait for Dragon Ball to come on. Whether I was eating, not eating, or playing, I was watching Dragon Ball. I watched it all!

Shoinji: Which part of the story was your favorite?

Shupei: Has to be the Cell arc. I really thought Cell was going to be undefeatable. You know during the Cell Games when Cell makes an arena that looks totally different from the Tenkaichi Budokai one. That part of the story unfolded in such an unexpected way, and honestly, it was pretty scary.

—The enemies could be pretty scary when you're a kid.

Shupei: It definitely scared me. I really thought everyone was done for... As a kid, I couldn't help but think that it might be the end of Dragon Ball.

Shoinji: Yeah, for sure.

Shupei: And also, the father-son Kamehameha scene. The scene where Goku appears behind Gohan who's shouting. Since Goku's dead, it's now all up to Gohan to take down Cell.

Shoinji: That takes me back. I used to watch Dragon Ball Z at the same time, Wednesdays at 7:00 PM. I think I started watching from the Frieza arc, right around when Vegeta gets taken out by Frieza. From that point I watched it all as it aired. Then later, I rented the DVDs for the original Dragon Ball series. You know who I really like? Tenshinhan. He feels so different from the other characters. When I first started watching the show, Tenshinhan was always hanging out at North Kai's place with Yamcha and Chaozu. I was always thinking, "When is this guy gonna do something useful?" Then, in the Cell arc, when Cell enters his Second Form, Tenshinhan comes flying in with a slightly different outfit. I was so excited to finally see Tenshinhan do something (laughs)! Then he starts firing off Neo Kikohos.

Shupei: Oh, I remember that!

Shoinji: He was so cool at that moment. I wanted Tenshinhan to just go ahead and finish off Cell, but of course that was never going to happen (laughs). All he could do was slow Cell down for a while, but the Neo Kikoho he used was so cool.

—Later on, did you go back and relive the Tenshinhan versus Goku fight in the original manga or anime?

Shoinji: I did. I like all the characters, though, not just Tenshinhan. I liked the part where Trunks and Goten become Super Saiyans so easily. Also, the scene where Gohan tells Goten to stand at the line he drew on the ground and to throw rocks at him. Goten throws the rocks so fast that Gohan is forced to draw another line further away. Those little moments that are more peaceful, those are nice. I also loved the scene in the anime when Piccolo drove a car (laughs).

We Used To Charge Ki and Play Super Saiyan Tag

—Shupei, you said you liked the Cell arc, but did you have a favorite character?

Shupei: My favorite character was Goku, no doubt about it. I enjoyed the early part of the series the most, when Goku protected the Earth and saved the Earthlings. I even remember imitating the Genki-Dama and special moves he used as a kid.

Shoinji: I remember doing that too!

Shupei: Yeah, I used to yell just like him while doing it.

Shoinji: I also tried feeling Ki too.

Shupei: Using Teleportation was another one, like, "Did I just move?!" or something like that (laughs).

Shoinji: We were in training, charging our Ki, and everything.

—How did you charge your Ki?

Shoinji: Well, of course, by (doing the charging Kiai pose) yelling like this! That's why I think I have a Super Saiyan-like hairstyle (laughs).

Shupei: (Laughs). I remember one time in elementary school, there was this pretty strong guy in my class. One day, I was playing with him and the other kids, and I don't remember why, but he just lost his temper. He started chasing us and everyone screamed, "Whoaaa! He's turned into a Super Saiyan!" and ran away (laughs).

—You called him a Super Saiyan (laughs).

Shupei: We did. We were all like, "He's after us!" and ran away, trying not to get caught. It was basically a Super Saiyan tag (laughs). The one who chased us was Taku Morioka who lived near my elementary school.

Shoinji: No one knows who you're talking about (laughs).

Shupei: How nostalgic. I guess it was quite memorable to me. I also remember gathering a ton of Carddass (*1) too...

Shoinji: Wait, me too! I did that too!

Shupei: There was a vending machine where you can get a few of them for 100 yen. I put those in a Carddass folder too... I probably still have them at my house. You know, the holographic ones where you would peel the face of the card back to reveal a different card. The triple rare type of cards.

Shoinji: One card was 20 yen, right? And so, five cards were 100 yen. I always brought 10-yen coins when I didn't have any 100-yen coins.
*1: Bandai's Dragon Ball Carddass series was released in 1988. It was sold in Carddass vending machines at toy stores and such for 20 yen each, or 100 yen for a set of five. The holographic cards mentioned are rare cards, with their official name being "Prism".

Shupei: I actually still buy Ichiban Kuji. I even won a Gohan figure around one or two years ago! I have it displayed on my hobby shelf to this day.

—Do you two collect figures?

Shoinji: I had figures or rather soft vinyl figures in the past. Oh, those chibi figures too.

Shupei: You're talking about the ones where the top and bottom are separate, right, where you have to connect the two parts like this (laughs)?

Shoinji: Yeah, those!

Shupei: Also, the ones that stand up on their own.

Shoinji: Yeah. I think we're talking about the same thing. I also had them.

—You could also get them as freebies when you went to the movies.

Shupei: That's right! I bought their pamphlets too!

With One Finger... The Secret of Shupei's Pose

—We photographed you doing all sorts of poses, but could you tell us your personal favorite Dragon Ball moves?

Shoinji: I like the Kikoho and Kienzan. That whirring sound Kienzan makes, it's cool, right? I mean, Krillin is the most powerful Earthling. Tenshinhan is a three-eyed person so he's not really an Earthling, of course (laughs).

—It seems you like the moves of the Earthling fighters.

Shoinji: I suppose you're right. I think I like the moves of the fighters who aren't the protagonists or the main stars of the series.

Shupei: I like Frieza's moves. I mean, he can destroy the entire Earth. He just points his finger up and launches his move, then bam! Super cool.

—But you seem to like super powerful moves.

Shupei: True enough. Me and Frieza, we share a bond over our use of the pointer finger...

Shoinji: Seriously (laughs). That pose of yours is so fun... And you've been hiding its backstory this whole time...

Shupei: Yeah, I just go like this, poof, and the world is gone (laughs).

—You've actually been striking a pretty frightening pose this whole time.

Shupei: The Makankosappo: Special Beam Cannon is pretty great, too. It was quite a spectacle during that fight with Raditz, with that mighty zhoom! You know I often get these spiral candies as gifts, and every time I see that spiral shape I'm reminded of the Makankosappo: Special Beam Cannon. I always want to connect a bunch of them together to make my own Makankosappo: Special Beam Cannon (laughs). Obviously some sort of Dragon Ball program was installed in my brain at some point.

Shoinji: Hahaha (laughs).

Shupei: There's also a line I really like in Dokkan Battle. In Dokkan Battle, your character transforms after a number of turns, and when Super Saiyan 4 Gogeta transforms he says "I'm neither Goku nor Vegeta... I am the one who will destroy you!" I love that line, it sounds so cool...

—That's the kind of line that gets you pumped up.

Shupei: I always get so excited when they do their Fusion, no matter how many times I see it. There's a lot of great lines in the video games, and it's neat because the games feature a bunch of characters who aren't in the manga or anime.

—By the way, today (interview occurred on February 8th) there's an event for the 10th anniversary of Dragon Ball Z Dokkan Battle, and you two will be making an appearance. You made an appearance last year, too, Shupei, and I heard the fans were going wild. How was it?

Shupei: I was responsible for getting the crowd fired up, and maybe part of it was because Osaka has a certain energy to it, but when I called out to the crowd, the response from all the guys was explosive! They were really into it (laughs). People know I play the game for real, so I think they were extra excited because they considered me one of their own (laughs). There were some really passionate fans doing cosplay, too, and they all had a great attitude. You could feel the bond everyone shared over this game they love, and it was all around a really fun event. I'm looking forward to going to the event again after this.

If You Could Have Shenron Grant a Wish Today…

—Lastly, if you could have Shenron grant you any wish today, what would it be?

Shoinji: Making a wish to Shenron? Hmmm... So many choices, Shenron can grant you anything after all...

Shupei: I'd ask him to finish up that construction in Shibuya. Then it would stop being so congested.

Shoinji: (Laughs).

Shupei: That construction has been causing congestion forever. So yeah, I'd ask him to finish it up. I'm sure everyone would be relieved if Shenron took care of years' worth of construction in a second. Nowadays, visitors from all over the world come to Shibuya, so my wish would make life easier for everyone on the planet.

—Everyone would be happy.

Shupei: There's that part in the series where they bring back everyone who was killed by Cell. That wish was also on a planetary scale, so my wish is pretty similar, right? (Laughs).

Shoinji: I'd ask for peace on Earth, no more conflicts.

Shupei: Ugh, come on.

Shoinji: Also, lately, my dog always insists on sniffing this one tree whenever I take him out for a walk. Even when I need to hurry, I'll pull the leash a little hard, but he won't budge an inch. So, I'd also like to wish for that tree to be moved.

—End all conflicts and move a tree. The scale of those wishes is pretty different (laughs).

Shoinji: Opposite extremes. But I want both granted (laughs).

—Both of them, got it (laughs). Thank you very much for taking the time to talk with us today.

Shoinji, Shupei: Thank you!