This psychology expert analyzes teamwork in manga

Teamwork in dragon ball

A true monument for manga and anime fans, Dragon Ball remains one of the most popular franchises around the world. And while the work of the famous Akira Toriyama seems to be an inexhaustible source of inspiration, we can see that the universe imagined by the mangaka continues to be studied even today, 40 years after its debut in the Weekly Shōnen Jump, the famous Shūeisha magazine. This is particularly why we can regularly see various specialists looking into the subject.like for example this scientist who analyzed Goku and Vegeta’s training, or this other scientist who explained why Gohan is stronger than Goku.

And even more recently, another expert also deciphered the manga, focusing in particular on teamwork in Dragon Ball. This time it is about Ryo Misawa, associate professor at the Faculty of Education at Okayama University, who specializes in organizational psychology. In a recent article published on the official website of the franchise, Misawa was therefore interested in the notion of teamwork that we can find throughout the story, being then questioned on two examples in particular, namely that of the Ginyu Commando, but also on that androids.

First of all, the professor wanted to define what is meant by the term “teamwork”. According to Misawa, this can be defined as follows: :

“Teamwork” can be defined as work done by a group of several people working together and interacting with each other through communication and other means. The opposite of teamwork is “task work,” which is when individuals perform tasks independently.

Following this, Misawa will therefore be questioned about an emblematic team of the universe Dragon Ballnamely the famous Ginyu Commando, this elite unit mandated by Frieza to gather the seven Dragon Balls. It will first highlight the feeling of unity within this groupcharacterized among other things by the similar outfit that everyone wears, but also and above all by the emblematic poses, reflecting the fact that all the members are centered around Ginyu, the captain of the Commando.

Misawa will also highlight the diversity of the group, since the latter is made up of members from different places in the galaxy, but also in the sense that each has a role and a distinct personality. He then declared this:

Although there is some rivalry between them as they try to bring out their own skills, they also want to make good use of each other’s strengths and specialties.

The professor continues by focusing on Ginyu, the team leaderexplaining that he represented an “ideal middle manager who supports Frieza’s forces” by “boosting his team’s motivation while reinforcing that Frieza’s orders must be obeyed without fail.”

Then, Misawa will be questioned about the arrival of artificial humans, and more particularly androids 16, 17 and 18. Although they had the common goal of “beating Goku”, the expert believes that it is difficult to consider them as a team, since they didn’t really look like they were part of “Team Android” and anything, and [qu’ils] did not cooperate in combat either.

However, he also suggests that in a sense the three androids were a team, based on the fact that the characters never interfered with each other’s values, thus operating “in a relationship where all members were essentially on an equal footing.” Misawa will conclude by explaining what, in his opinion, an ideal team is :

I think teams in which each member can be in their element are good. No individual’s potential is wasted, and as a result, the group as a whole becomes stronger. I think this kind of team is ideal.

And to discover this trailer of Dragon Ball DAIMA which revealed to us a new glimpse of Gokusee our previous article on the subject, right here.