Happy Birthday to me – The Ghoul, not the site.  Getting older has been an interesting process of feeling more mentally accomplished than ever, but at the same time feeling my body slowly crumbling around me.  

Getting Older

I cannot escape the fact that I am, in fact, ageing. Not rapidly. Pretty much at the same rate as everyone on the planet. But as you get older, your tastes change. It’s a weird process that I’d like to hear more people talk about. Things that hit hard as a kid lose their luster, and new genres and themes start to matter more. I see this topic come up the most when people become parents and stop really vibing with entertainment that puts kids in danger.

For me, it shows up in other ways. Mostly relating to stress.

I have a day job. It’s something I love dearly, but it’s very real and grounded. It requires me to focus on serious topics like tariffs and war. Don’t get me wrong, I love my job. It’s just very real and sometimes that’s too much.

What Is Comfort

I’ve talked before about how different types of movies can be comforting or cozy in different ways. I find great comfort in horror; that’s probably obvious. But lately I’ve also been watching a lot of Moe and Shonen anime.  One of the reoccurring questions I tend to get, especially these days, is “aren’t you too old for that?”

While it’s not my favorite question, it’s a pretty fair one. Anything animated has long been seen as childish.  On top of that, the narrative merits and sophistication of battle anime or cute girls doing cute things may be up for debate.  Luckly for me I’m not here to debate them.  I’m here to defend the age-appropriateness of your choice of entertainment.

Brain Off Please

If I’m being honest, despite the vast amount of high-quality prestige series, what I really want to watch is some overpowered guy, or girl, get underestimated and then beat the crap of their enemies.  The bar is low for what will entertain me after a long day at the office. Look, I’ve spent countless days rebalancing costs to account for changing tariffs, the last thing I want to do at night is think. What I really want to do is feel.  What I want to feel is satisfied.

I guess that’s why I’ve been completely obsessed with Dragon Ball in all its forms.  It’s pretty hard to overthink the themes here. Goku likes to fight but not maliciously, improve himself through hard work, and make friends.  He’s honest and earnest. Goku is also one of the few protagonists that ages significantly.  There are large time skips that allow him to grow up, get married, and have kids. We don’t spend time with Goku, his family, and friends in all their mundane moments. There are still enough character moments, but that’s not what we are here for.

I’m Here for the Punching

What I want to see, and what Dragon Ball continually delivers, is Goku getting thrashed, learning how to improve from the beating, leveling up in some way, and then winning. If not winning, then achieving his goal.

There are stakes and deaths, but they can be overcome—again, through hard work and some luck. We can’t ignore that there are a couple of giant, wish-granting dragons. But even they have rules and limitations.  At the end of the day the deaths are minor inconveniences and plot devices used to challenge the characters rather than real tragedies.   I also think in the early days, Toriyama needed to sideline Goku and let the other characters grow. 

And as much as I love Goku, and he is my favorite–like I could watch him punch things endlessly—the rest of the cast is almost as fun to watch. Vegeta and their never-ending conflict adds depth, dimension, and conflict.  Especially since he’s such a wife guy when it comes to Bulma. The kids act like kids, ridiculously overpowered kids, but children all the same.   

It’s Ok to Love Simple Things

It’s a bit cliché, but it is relaxing to see the good guys win. They so rarely do in real life.  I get the need for escapist fantasy through battle.  Don’t get me wrong. I’m not looking for Goku to inspire me to get through the day. But if you need someone to inspire you, you could do worse.  Someone has to provide inspiration, and if our real-life heroes are few and far between, then why not find fictional ones?

Fictional heroes may not be perfect, but at least you won’t discover their names in some formerly redacted files.

Life is hard and unforgiving. Whatever LEGAL and MORAL means of finding comfort you can find, you should embrace. If the thing that brings you joy is binge-watching all six thousand episodes of One Piece, go nuts. I may never understand it, but I’ll die on the hill of supporting you doing it. Maybe take a break and touch some grass from time to time, or at least air out your living room, though.

As for me, it’s my birthday. Or close enough to it, so I’m going to grab my snacks, a blankie, and queue up my favorite OP boys for some stress relief and wish fulfillment.

Dragon Ball is available on streaming like everywhere.