Derek Padula’s Dragon Ball Z “It’s Over 9000!” When Worldviews Collide – Indie Book Spotlight

Hey Readers, how’s the Fall weather treating you?

This month’s review is an interesting one. A little different than the stuff I usually go for as I tend to stick to fiction and this is a slightly more academic affair; as academic as you can get when breaking down a meme inspired by an anime.

Anyone who’s known me more than ten minutes or so will immediately identify that I’m a fan of Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball franchise. So, when I was browsing Facebook and happened across a commercial for an independently produced book about one iconic scene from the show, promising a greater insight into not only the scene in question but the cultural phenomenon that is the “It’s Over 9000!” meme? I was all in. This book was published in 2012, so, a little older now but the source material hasn’t significantly changed since the line was originally delivered and the meme was produced. There’s a forward written by Ryo Horikawa, the Japanese voice actor behind Vegeta’s dulcet tones, and an interview with Brian Drummond, who did Vegeta’s voice for the Ocean Dub, from where the line as it’s presented in the meme comes originally. Could you possibly need more?

So, let’s power up and get ready to battle our way through an in-depth break-down of that one marvelous line from the Saiyan Saga.

Book Stats

Author: Derek Padula
Formats: Kindle, Paperback, and Hardcover.
Price: Free via Kindle Unlimited, $4.99 otherwise. $9.99 for the paperback. $14.99 for the Hardcover.
Length: 104 pages
Number of books in the series: This is a standalone title but there are many other books by Derek Padula on Dragon Ball.

Basic Premise

This book is broken into three distinct parts.

Part one breaks down the meme itself. It talks about the delivery of the line originally and how the voice-over industry works in regards to having its actors match words to the lip flaps of the characters on screen. The original line as dubbed by Ryo Horikawa was a little different to what we know it to be in the English dub and there’s a specific reason for this. (This is expounded upon in greater detail in an interview towards the end of the book with Brian Drummond. If you have any interest in the dubbing and voice actor career path, it’s a fantastic bit of insight.) It goes into detail in regards to the meme as it first appeared on Youtube and does a thorough job of tracking its movements across the digital plane, from 4Chan to VGCats to the surge in Google searches for “Over 9000” and more.

Part two talks about the meat and potatoes of why this line resonates so loudly within the confines of the story. This is where we get an in-depth look into who Goku is as a person and how the culture of the Dragon Ball Earth influenced him to be something other than was originally intended. (He was sent to Earth as an infant as kind of a reverse Superman, to destroy all life on Earth so his Saiyan people could sell it off to the highest bidder for their evil galactic overlord, Frieza. While he was on his way here, however, his people and planet were destroyed by their evil galactic overlord, Frieza. Because he’s… y’know. Evil.) This gets into some really interesting territory in regards to how Akira Toriyama modeled Goku on The Monkey King from the classic Chinese tale, Journey to the West, and how the Buddhist religion plays such a large part in the story. Not overtly, but in the way people, especially martial artists, relate to one another and the world within the confines of Dragon Ball. It’s an inward-looking philosophy, where enlightenment and growth come from within first and through external struggle as a motivating force. In Goku’s world, hard work and goodness always win out in the end.

He talks too about Vegeta’s very alien philosophy of fixed judgment based on external factors only; namely, Vegeta’s use of the scouter. That piece of machinery attached to his ear that gives him a screen by which to judge inherent battle power in one’s enemies or subjects. He sees Goku as trash as only lower-class Saiyan babies are sent to do adorable genocide on faraway planets. He, however, is the most super-elite Saiyan of them all. (Be gentle with him. He doesn’t know about Broly at this stage.) It’s classist and narrow-minded.

When these two come together as pure-blooded Saiyans we see these worldviews collide, as is suggested by the title of the book. It’s the ultimate expression of nature vs. nurture.

It gets more in-depth than that, but I don’t want to give the whole thing away.

The author also goes on to provide some testimonials from Dragon Ball Z fans who have experienced personal growth through their relationship to the series. Be it an affinity for Vegeta’s personal pride and confidence, or the uplifting presence of a gentle-hearted warrior like Goku in their lives, this show has touched, uplifted, and entertained millions.

Part three is primarily a summary. Closing statements and a focus on the narrative’s role in society. He talks about the depth and breadth of Dragon Ball’s influence across the globe (There’s apparently a Church of Goku in Spain.) and how memes are now such a relevant part of our culture. He also talks about his other works as this is only a small part of a much greater story and he’s put out a number of books on the subject, along with his website.

My take

Honestly, I was really surprised by this book.

There’s a lot of subtexts you tend to absorb when watching and reading Dragon Ball in its many incarnations. These are strong archetypes and this is evidenced by the fact that this one work spawned an entire genre of anime and manga. Newcomers to the genre may disregard it for being older and for newer iterations being structurally weaker (I love you, Dragon Ball Super, but you’re not as good. Not by half.) but it was the original. It had to exist to spawn any of the other shows and comics you love in this genre so it’s deserving of your respect. If you doubt that, then I highly recommend reading this book.

Part two outlines things you tend to understand on some level but you’d be hard-pressed to verbalize unless you make a habit of dissecting the media you enjoy. (Which is a blessing and a curse.) And to be fair, there are a lot of really amazing people who have spent years breaking down story beats and characters in Dragon Ball. This is just one of the more concise and engrossing versions of that.

The first part is a really interesting break-down of memes and how they spread. Not WHY. I don’t think science has really determined that, yet, but the how. The level of detail discussed in regards to where and when this meme popped up and gained popularity is really enlightening.

The foreword and interview with two of Vegeta’s voice actors, too, is really great and honestly a must-have for any fan.

All in all, with the holidays coming up, if you have any fans of Dragon Ball in your life, this may be a perfect stocking stuffer. If you yourself are a fan, you’re going to want to add this to your collection.