A LITTLE BIT OF MY STORY:
Now that I've had time to stop crying, I've been thinking about why I feel the way I did and still do about Akira Toriyama's masterpiece, Dragon Ball. And honestly, it's hard to put into words. I don't know exactly what happened in my childhood that created the perfect conditions for me to discover Dragon Ball and be so captivated by its story. I suppose I found some kind of refuge in it; seeing the legend of the Super Saiyan come true showed me the potential of transformation in the face of all that is hopeless.
In my adult life, when I needed it the most, it came back to me, through the music. Four years ago I had a psychosis, at 28 years old. My mind was on the verge of coming apart, and I thought I was going to lose my grip on reality all together. I was in Egypt at the time, 10000 miles away from home. Earlier I had cached the DBZ Soundtrack on my Spotify, and I played SSJ Transformation from Faulconer Productions off my phone while I was in the shower, feeling like the demons were coming for me. In my head, it was like I was standing on an island, staring down Frieza, and the only way to move forward was to transform. It helped me, maybe even saved me from this darkness that was emerging within me.
Having thought about it immensely since then, I believe that stories live inside us, we model ourselves after them and they guide our own story. When I was afflicted by my psychosis, my ability to recognize patterns increased dramatically, as well as my creativity. At best, it was like I had super powers, but at worst I was a paranoid wreck. A battle had begun in my psyche, and I was almost lost. But the foundation of who I am: watching DBZ when I was a kid; for a moment like that, I couldn't have asked for a better story to guide me out of the dark and into the light. There truly is so much heart in Dragon Ball, and it seems that thank you will never be enough for what Toriyama created.
He taught me through Gohan, that you shouldn't be so hard on yourself when you fail, and just because you've stepped away from what you're good at for a while doesn't mean that you can't return potentially better than before.
He taught me through Trunks, that there's not enough darkness in this world that can block out all the light that comes from deep in your heart. If you have to go back into your past and seek the help from parts of your self to help you move forward; that's nothing to be ashamed of.
He taught me through Vegeta and Piccolo, that even those who are considered evil can be redeemed. At a closer glance, that evil comes from a place of desperately trying to subdue their own world by inflicting pain on others, to reunite with their true selves before they were taught to be that way.
And he taught me through Goku, that even when the walls are closing in, or the evil is 1000000 times stronger than you, that you don't give up because there is always strength inside waiting to be unleashed. Nobody gets to tell you what your limits are.
Thank you, forever Toriyama-Sensei. Your story will live on forever. And I bloody mean that. Have fun with the Kais, The Destroyers and Grand Zeno!
A SYMPHONY FOR TORIYAMA:
I wanted to use Dan Dan Kokoro Hikareteku as the basis for my Symphony; I'd never heard a choir sing the lyrics with the slower version used in the SSJ4 transformation before, so with the help of my friend Antonia Brightwell (who sung for me on Broly's Symphony), we created a choir together with hers and my voice. Each piece put together created a medley, and with each piece is a different theme/s:
Dan Dan Kokoro Hikareteku (Izumi Sakai and Tetsurō Oda) - Childhood, Generations
Universes Restored/Vegetas Sacrifice (Norihito Sumitomo) - The Echo Of Battle
Mystical Journey (Takeshi Ike, Seiichi Kyōda, Onikado Izumi) - The Story Of Dragon Ball, Friendship
We Were Angels (Takeshi Ike, Osamu Tozuka, Yukinojō Mori) - The Story Of Dragon Ball Z, Gohan's Rage
SSJ3 Powerup (Julius Dobos)- Transformation
Compromise (Norihito Sumitomo) - The Story Of Dragon Ball Super, Victory, Peace
Universes Restored (Reprise) - The Tournament Of Power, Breaking Limits
Dan Dan Kokoro Hikareteku (Reprise) - Sacrifice, Love
It was a lot of work making the video and art (I like to think that the choir singing Dan Dan Kokoro in my musical piece is the characters themselves singing). But I would accept nothing less when it came to making a Tribute for the man who's work was the greatest influence in my life. I tried my best to color correct each clip too, some were a bit too far gone though. Enjoy.
#akiratoriyama #dragonball #dragonballz #dragonballsuper
DISCLAIMER: This video features covers, remixes, remakes, and rearrangements of the soundtracks from Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, and Dragon Ball Super. Please note that all rights to the original compositions and sound recordings belong to their respective owners, including but not limited to Toei Animation, Shueisha, and their affiliated companies.
30 мар 2024
