(no subject)
Eh... I can't sleep. I'm bored. And I haven't essayed about Goku in a long while.
There's been a mild uproar amongst the 393 fans since one of Minekura's most recent chapter releases. You can find it at radiofreebanri if you so care to follow the guidelines and friend the user.
Basically, two things happened to cause this:
1) A youkai girl asks Goku about his parents; he replies that he's never had any, but thinking about it, he guesses Sanzo is "kind of like a parent."
2) The youkai girl's brother teases Goku a bit; telling him not to lay a hand on his sister. Goku freaks out and blushes, and later thinks to himself that, whilst talking to the girl, he'd never "felt like that" before.
Both actually affect how I've been playing Goku thus far--and at this point I'm only making guesses from an ongoing canon, but up unto this point I think I'm still playing him fairly accurately. I don't believe how he feels for Sanzo has to change in any manner, and I feel justified in his crushes on some girls in camp.
Addressing the latter is easy: Goku is still a young man. A young man--he's not a little boy any more. Naive, yes--what else can you expect from someone who can't remember what may have been the first 13 (give or take five centuries) years of his life? He has a very simplistic way of thinking that many also dismiss as childish stupidity.
But he's a young man now. Goku has proved this several times; he can stand on his own two feet (as when protecting Kon and the villagers in the second and third RELOAD manga), he can kick the ikkou back into shape (as in the Kami-sama arc, during the Mahjong chapters), and he can earn respect from prejudiced people (as in the Hazel arc, when he issues a challenge and gets Hazel to call him by name--something Hazel had, up until that point, only done for Sanzo).
And this is just proof that Goku's hormones are coming into play.
Until now, Goku's sexuality has never really been addressed, except in the anime. In the anime, they played up what was in the manga a bit, so it appeared Goku had a thing for Houmei. There was also an episode where he clearly crushed on a youkai girl though that episode was, honestly, so godawfully OOC that I pretend it doesn't exist. But I've always felt that Goku didn't really care what gender the person was--in fact, I might even label him pansexual. Goku likes people in general--he doesn't care about race, gender, sexuality, anything, so long as he can get along with someone in any way.
So the fact Minekura may be hinting he likes girls doesn't surprise me at all. Goku is more than old enough to date--it's just that he never really had the chance, what with living with Sanzo for five years, then traveling for another one or two up until the current manga canon. Camp, in a way, provided the manga scenario quicker--Goku wasn't traveling, he actually hung out with girls, and he had time to get to know them. So he developed a couple minor crushes on the first Sakura and the current Rosalyn.
So that's easily defended. And really, so is the issue concerning Sanzo.
Firstly, I want to bring up something that my creative writing teacher has told me every quarter I've taken his class--the careful writer or artist has a reason for everything that goes down on paper. Minekura has brilliantly tied in things from Gaiden and Saiyuki and RELOAD--I believe she is a careful artist and writer.
So if Goku says, "Come to think of it, Sanzo's kind of like a parent," then that's what it is--Sanzo's like a parent. He's not a parent. Only like one. And really, knowing Sanzo, it's probably only in the sense that Sanzo feeds Goku and looks out for his well-being; Goku in no way, shape, or form treats Sanzo as though they are familial. Even if Minekura tries to explain it away like that, I'm going to have my doubts--there is far too much hints throughout the manga to dismiss the two as "just family" or "just friends" or even "just companions." I don't think the pairing will ever be canon, but then, I don't think any solid pairing amongst the four main characters will ever be canon.
There is too much behind Sanzo and Goku to dismiss it as family, and I know that's what some people will try to do. That silent bond they have, it isn't familial. Their willing to risk their lives for each other, despite their talks of bravado--that's close and possibly familial, but somehow doesn't have that ring to it. Goku has threatened several people before; "If you even think about touching Sanzo, I'll make you regret it." In the beginning of their journey, after a fight, Goku would sometimes go straight to Sanzo and ask if he's okay. He was willing to travel hundreds of miles in the scorching desert, carrying a deadweight Sanzo on his back, if that was the only way to get him to town and save him. The majority of Goku's serious conversations are with Sanzo.
Basically, if people want to say Sanzo and Goku are like family, then what are Gojyo and Hakkai? Gojyo and Goku bicker like brothers. Hakkai looks after Goku like a mother. Looking at those two relationships, how can Sanzo's possibly be just familial? He does argue with Goku, but also backs down sometimes. He's constantly scolding him, but Goku's turned the tables on him and Sanzo's taken it.
Put simply, I don't think there's an issue at all with what Goku said. If the adage is true, then actions speak louder than words, and actions are what Goku and Sanzo communicate by, and from that point of view, Sanzo and Goku's actions are anything but familial.
Besides, he never even thought the words "Sanzo" and "parent" in the same sentence until the youkai girl brought it up.
So... interesting for him to say? Yes. Life-changing? Hardly.
In fact, I love that particular chapter, because I feel it gives me far more ground to stand on when it comes to how I play Goku.
There's been a mild uproar amongst the 393 fans since one of Minekura's most recent chapter releases. You can find it at radiofreebanri if you so care to follow the guidelines and friend the user.
Basically, two things happened to cause this:
1) A youkai girl asks Goku about his parents; he replies that he's never had any, but thinking about it, he guesses Sanzo is "kind of like a parent."
2) The youkai girl's brother teases Goku a bit; telling him not to lay a hand on his sister. Goku freaks out and blushes, and later thinks to himself that, whilst talking to the girl, he'd never "felt like that" before.
Both actually affect how I've been playing Goku thus far--and at this point I'm only making guesses from an ongoing canon, but up unto this point I think I'm still playing him fairly accurately. I don't believe how he feels for Sanzo has to change in any manner, and I feel justified in his crushes on some girls in camp.
Addressing the latter is easy: Goku is still a young man. A young man--he's not a little boy any more. Naive, yes--what else can you expect from someone who can't remember what may have been the first 13 (give or take five centuries) years of his life? He has a very simplistic way of thinking that many also dismiss as childish stupidity.
But he's a young man now. Goku has proved this several times; he can stand on his own two feet (as when protecting Kon and the villagers in the second and third RELOAD manga), he can kick the ikkou back into shape (as in the Kami-sama arc, during the Mahjong chapters), and he can earn respect from prejudiced people (as in the Hazel arc, when he issues a challenge and gets Hazel to call him by name--something Hazel had, up until that point, only done for Sanzo).
And this is just proof that Goku's hormones are coming into play.
Until now, Goku's sexuality has never really been addressed, except in the anime. In the anime, they played up what was in the manga a bit, so it appeared Goku had a thing for Houmei. There was also an episode where he clearly crushed on a youkai girl though that episode was, honestly, so godawfully OOC that I pretend it doesn't exist. But I've always felt that Goku didn't really care what gender the person was--in fact, I might even label him pansexual. Goku likes people in general--he doesn't care about race, gender, sexuality, anything, so long as he can get along with someone in any way.
So the fact Minekura may be hinting he likes girls doesn't surprise me at all. Goku is more than old enough to date--it's just that he never really had the chance, what with living with Sanzo for five years, then traveling for another one or two up until the current manga canon. Camp, in a way, provided the manga scenario quicker--Goku wasn't traveling, he actually hung out with girls, and he had time to get to know them. So he developed a couple minor crushes on the first Sakura and the current Rosalyn.
So that's easily defended. And really, so is the issue concerning Sanzo.
Firstly, I want to bring up something that my creative writing teacher has told me every quarter I've taken his class--the careful writer or artist has a reason for everything that goes down on paper. Minekura has brilliantly tied in things from Gaiden and Saiyuki and RELOAD--I believe she is a careful artist and writer.
So if Goku says, "Come to think of it, Sanzo's kind of like a parent," then that's what it is--Sanzo's like a parent. He's not a parent. Only like one. And really, knowing Sanzo, it's probably only in the sense that Sanzo feeds Goku and looks out for his well-being; Goku in no way, shape, or form treats Sanzo as though they are familial. Even if Minekura tries to explain it away like that, I'm going to have my doubts--there is far too much hints throughout the manga to dismiss the two as "just family" or "just friends" or even "just companions." I don't think the pairing will ever be canon, but then, I don't think any solid pairing amongst the four main characters will ever be canon.
There is too much behind Sanzo and Goku to dismiss it as family, and I know that's what some people will try to do. That silent bond they have, it isn't familial. Their willing to risk their lives for each other, despite their talks of bravado--that's close and possibly familial, but somehow doesn't have that ring to it. Goku has threatened several people before; "If you even think about touching Sanzo, I'll make you regret it." In the beginning of their journey, after a fight, Goku would sometimes go straight to Sanzo and ask if he's okay. He was willing to travel hundreds of miles in the scorching desert, carrying a deadweight Sanzo on his back, if that was the only way to get him to town and save him. The majority of Goku's serious conversations are with Sanzo.
Basically, if people want to say Sanzo and Goku are like family, then what are Gojyo and Hakkai? Gojyo and Goku bicker like brothers. Hakkai looks after Goku like a mother. Looking at those two relationships, how can Sanzo's possibly be just familial? He does argue with Goku, but also backs down sometimes. He's constantly scolding him, but Goku's turned the tables on him and Sanzo's taken it.
Put simply, I don't think there's an issue at all with what Goku said. If the adage is true, then actions speak louder than words, and actions are what Goku and Sanzo communicate by, and from that point of view, Sanzo and Goku's actions are anything but familial.
Besides, he never even thought the words "Sanzo" and "parent" in the same sentence until the youkai girl brought it up.
So... interesting for him to say? Yes. Life-changing? Hardly.
In fact, I love that particular chapter, because I feel it gives me far more ground to stand on when it comes to how I play Goku.