Under the Clocktower

Posted Aug 13, 2009, 11:46:41 PM UTC

This pic is done for the :icondbz-fever: August contest at deviantART! Per the contest's description:

:bulletred: Must include something in reference to the ORIGINAL series... not Z or GT... JUST the original. It can showcase your favorite character, favorite scene or just include the original characters.
:bulletred: MUST BE COLORED
:bulletred: HAVE FUN~!


And yes, I had fun with this one! Despite direct-reffing, which I'm not that keen on normally. This is doubling as an example of how it is possible to directly reference another image and still make the new creation your own, rather than just a carbon copy of the one you're working from. To see a progression of this work, go here: [link]

For those who haven't seen the original Dragon Ball, or who need a reminder of what scene this is from, this takes place the night before the Tenkaichi Budokai where Goku fought Piccolo (Ma Junior) for the first time. The little boy in the foreground had run out into the rain to get a better look at a decorative clocktower, moments before lightning struck the tower and sent the top half of it crashing directly toward the boy and other pedestrians on the ground. The boy's mother saw the danger and ran to protect her child, as he had fallen and was not able to run clear of the debris as the others in the area had.

Suddenly, a green hand raised skyward and fired a blast of ki into the falling tower, rendering it into tiny stones and powder. The boy and his mother looked up to see Piccolo standing above them, with crumbling debris and rain suspended in the ki around his body. Piccolo, however, is not interested in the two of them - his eyes are on the hotel complex where Goku and cohort are spending the night before the tournament.

This scene is one of my absolute favorite scenes from Dragon Ball. It does so much to subtly develop Piccolo's character, and it begins to set the stage for the realization that despite his father's intent, he is not simply a reincarnation of Piccolo Daimao - like his brothers before him, Piccolo is an individual in his own right. His father would likely never have bothered with the falling tower, because it was clearly no threat to him. Despite his assertions that he's as evil as his father, this Piccolo saved two innocents with no interest in thanks or reward. It was a brief but beautiful glimpse into the mature adult that "Ma Junior" would become.

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