Goku being a bad dad is one of the most common talking points in the Dragon Ball fandom, but it doesn’t exacty hold up under scrunity if you’re looking at the original manga or even the Dragon Ball Z anime. While it’s true that Goku is somewhat absent in Gohan and Goten’s lives, it’s never without good reason. With the exception of when he’s training on Yardrat, the only time Goku is not in his sons’ lives in Dragon Ball‘s original run is when he is literally dead.
By all accounts, Goku is a present father who clealry makes an effort when he can. He even raised Gohan in the five-year gap between Dragon Ball and DBZ! Or at least he did until Dragon Ball DAIMA Episode 7 revealed otherwise. Make no mistake, while “bad dad” Goku doesn’t apply to Dragon Ball Z, it absolutely does to every iteration of modern Dragon Ball – from Super making it so Goku missed Gohan & Goten’s births to DAIMA revealing that Goku was indeed an absent father who was not involved with raising Gohan. Dragon Ball DAIMA Episode 7 is nothing short of character assassination, undermining Goku and Gohan’s incredible bond throughout DBZ for a cheap laugh.
Goku Confirms Once & For All He Did Not Raise Gohan
It’s one thing for Goku to miss Goten’s birth and most of his early life (he was dead, after all), but it’s another matter entirely to make it so he also did not raise Gohan. In Dragon Ball DAIMA Episode 7, Panzy is once again annoyed at Goku’s immaturity. She remarks her disbelief that Goku actually raised his own children, to which Goku responds, “I wasn’t really involved.” This is a heartbreaking answer, to be completely honest. Worse, it’s doubling down on one of Dragon Ball Super‘s worst confirmations: that Goku wasn’t around for Gohan’s birth (and potentially Chi-Chi’s entire pregnancy).
Part of why the five-year gap between Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z works is that it subtly ties back into the series’ core theme of someone always being better than you. At the end of Dragon Ball, Goku becomes the “Strongest Under the Heavens.” For the next five years, he coasts at the top of the totem pole with his family before Raditz arrives and reminds him that he cannot settle down. The fact Goku settles down is an important detail at the start of his arc in Dragon Ball Z. DAIMA has effectively killed that thematic tissue, while also causing even more issues.
All The Evidence in Dragon Ball Z Suggests Goku & Chi-Chi Raised Gohan Together
It’s important to acknowledge that Goku being a bad dad in canon is a purely modern invention. Everything in both Akira Toriyama’s original manga and Toei’s anime implies that Goku was an active father. Getting the obvious out of the way, Dragon Ball Z begins with Goku taking Gohan out on a day trip to introduce him to his friends – that is not something a distant father does. In both the anime and the manga, Goku mentions that they go to sleep early at their place and that Chi-Chi doesn’t allow him to train Gohan. Realistically, the family spends almost all of their time together at home.
In the anime, Dragon Ball Z begins with a filler episode to establish Gohan before Raditz, reintroduce Goku as a father earlier, and show off what Goku’s domestic life is like. During the day, Goku and Gohan go on little adventures in the mountains behind their home, spending time together. While Goku does mention that he’s been “training hard” since the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai, the fact he doesn’t develop any new techniques, strategies, or abilities in five years strongly suggests he was living a more docile lifestyle during Gohan’s youth.
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