It's been said a lot that Toriyama had a "Saiyan bias." That he "just forgot all about the humans and didn't care about anyone who wasn't Saiyan or Namek." Particularly, Tenshinhan, Yamucha, Chaotzu and Kur- nah, Toriyama liked Kuririn too much to just write him off. (After all, why do you think he let him score with #18?) But for the rest of the guys, how did this all happen?

First of all you need to understand something... Akira Toriyama wanted his story "Dragon Ball" to end at the finish of the Freeza saga. When he introduced Freeza, an insanely poweful, evil and sadistic galactic tyrant anxious to become immortal and practically a god, he intended for him to be the ultimate and most powerful villain of Dragon Ball. After all, Freeza was supposed to be the very last villain. Once Goku fulfilled the prophecy of his Saiyajin race, he'd go down in a magnificent blaze of glory and save the universe as not only the greatest fighter in earth, but the greatest fighter ever. Such was to be the conclusion of Dragon Ball.

However... fans didn't want it to end. Nor did Toei. Once DB the anime became "DBZ" the anime, (and became fight-intensive) ratings soared. When Toei saw a potential end to DBZ, they became worried. They wanted it to continue, and be their number one property for years to come. (movies, video games, t-shirts, toys, card games, board games, and even eyedroppers and, get this, a DBZ super desk!) Not only that but fans loved it too- and many wanted it to continue.

Details are very sketchy to most fans (only the few who can read Japanese kanji are really able to look up and research this kind of stuff. Like most everyone else, I'm kind of in the dark here), but Toei apparently offered Toriyama a deal he couldn't refuse. They say he "sold out" and stopped caring- but regardless of what he did, DBZ continued for another almost 200 episodes and 9 movies (10, if you count the "OVA") and multiple games. You can say whatever you will, but I'm glad it did continue as I've enjoyed the series including from that point on.

Unfortunately, something bad happened during the Cell saga... a man named Mr. Torishima. You see (see Greg Werner's "Shenron Times" for more on what I'm about to talk about) the comic series had 3 different editors- Mr. Takeda (chibi Goku era), Mr. Kondo (adult Goku to ?) and Mr. Torishima. But when the Cyborgs saga began...

"Toriyama: You're saying that Torishima? That's terrible. Remember that time Artificial Humans 19 and 20 appeared? You weren't in the management position at the time, but you called me at my house and said, "Mr. Toriyama, after waiting for the enemy, it turns out to be just an old man and a fat guy." (laughing) Truth is, we had only planned to use 19 and 20. We had another choice, so we sent 17 and 18. And you said, "I'm dissapointed, they're just kids.". So I sent Cell."

Mr. Torishima bitched at him and got him to change. He then brings in 17 and 18, who were stronger than the previous two cyborgs. "Oh, so now you've brought in some... KIDS?! Pft, change it."

Then, for the 2nd time, Toriyama enacts a change- Cell. (stronger than the previous 2 choices) Toriyama had originally planned a "Cyborgs saga" but now had a "Cell saga." Toriyama grew to like him, but guess who just had to bitch?

Torishima- "He looks okay, but of course he can change".

So the whole team decided to change him a second form, who was stronger than Toriyama's previous 3 choices. Toriyama grows to like the FOURTH villain as well- but guess who bitches yet again?

"This time, Cell looks stupid. Why not make him Perfect?"

FINALLY, for the FIFTH TIME, a new villain (powered-up 4X- 5X counting when Cell absorbed a bunch of humans) appears. At last, the asshole known as Torishima is finally, at long last, satiated. (Man Toriyama, why didn't you just hijack the manga and tell that jerk to go f**ck himself?) As Toriyama states, after the Freeza saga much of the talk of strengths is "just boasting." I mean, after each time the main characters have to get stronger to keep up but- WHOOPS! Torishima wants yet a newer villain he think will look pretty to his single self, and the main characters will need more power-makeovers to fight the new villain's makeover. In order to keep up, the Saiyans and Piccolo undergo much training and get repeated power-ups, but unfortunately the humans are neglected during this time. However, this is supposed to be about Yamucha, so let's backtrack a little bit, shall we?

Originally Toriyama intended DB to end with the death of Freeza. Had it been that way, Goku would have stayed dead, Yamucha would have come back to life (much more powerful than before- only Vegeta, Kuririn and Tenshinhan would be stronger on earth than him) to once again get his freak-on with his long-time girlfriend Bulma and perhaps marry her and have kids with her someday. But, that was not to be. (speaking of which, maybe the "Will Toriyama continue DB manga" thing in Japan is why the Freeza vs. Goku fight was so elongated?)

Once Freeza came... who was to come next? Toriyama thought and thought... eventually, he decided on the Cyborgs- but instead of just them appearing out of nowhere, why not introduce a character and have them warn about them? He decided on Trunks, and had him kill Freeza in a single stroke to give him a powerful introduction. But who should Trunks be- an alien? Or a Saiyan? Hey, why not a Saiyan! But... aside from Goku, Vegeta and Gohan, all the Saiyajins are dead. (and don't say Paragus and Brolly, Movie 8 was cool but it was still just a Toei filler movie and it doesn't fit in Toriyama's DB manga timeline) No prob, one of the regulars just has it get it on with an earth girl, knock her up, then the little rugrat needs to become a Super Saiyajin someday and travel back in time. But who should it be? Goku? (Nah, he's already got a kid.) Gohan? (wayyyyy too young to be knocking any girls yet) Hey- why not bad boy Vegeta?

But who should Vegeta go after? Launch? (oh wait, Toriyama forgot about her, NEVER MIND) An unknown person? Or... well, they need a time machine to go back. And who would be rich, powerful enough and smart enough to build a time machine? Bulma. Hmm... yes, Bulma should do nicely- but what about Yamucha? Well- Yamucha's just going to have to be sacrificed to build up Trunks.

And so, Bulma (after dating Yamucha for almost a decade) dumps him. And then gets it on with Vegeta and gets impregnated by him. (heh, I guess Vegeta must not like condoms very much) Vegeta- the same guy that created a plant monster that killed Yamucha. The same guy that ordered his buddy Nappa to murder his friends Chaozu, and Tenshinhan- and now his ex if f**cking him?

That's gotta really mess with a guy's head. Imagine if a dude in Iraq had been dating a girl for 10 years, then loses her to Saddam (who, along with his cohorts, murdered 2 of his friends and tortured the guy). Not because Saddam forces her, but because she wants to get her freak-on with Saddam. Now that would seriously mind-f**ck a dude for life. Hell, not even Bulma's original VA thought that her character should have hooked up with Vegeta. As she stated in an interview,


"Interviewer: As for Buruma, Ms. Tsuru, which scene do you feel left the most lasting impression on you?

Tsuru: (female Japanese VA for Bulma) I liked it in the beginning when Buruma was energetic and self-centered. I think I'll always remember when she showed off her panties but she wasn't wearing any. (laughing) In addition to that, I thought she was going to marry Yamucha but...

Furuya: (male Japanese VA for Yamucha)Yeah I know!

Tsuru: Yeah, I have no idea what happened to the progress of her relationship with him. (laughing)

Nozawa: Yes, it [marriage] also happened abruptly for Gokou as well.

Furuya: Well you see, there had to be a really strong second generation, which would have been impossible if Buruma and Yamucha had kids. (laughing)

Tsuru: Suddenly one day she was married to Vegita and Trunks was born... I was like, "Huh? What's going on here?" (laughing)

Horikawa: There wasn't even like a hint or anything.

Furuya: At that time, I just wanted to get out of the studio. (laughing)

Tsuru: After all that I tried to be in love with Vegita...but it was really difficult. (laughing)

Interviewer: She made the transition pretty quickly didn't she. (laughing)

Furuya: Kind of disturbing isn't it. (laughing)


Poor Yamucha. I'm glad DBZ continued, but I'm sorry it did so at Yamucha's expense. Couldn't Toriyama have just found somebody else for Vegeta to have sex with?

- GreatSaiyaman777