I literally said I was ignoring some of the reasoning specifically because it doesn't matter the reason, what matters is the result.
I mean I just googled it as I'd never really thought before but plenty of people have seen this allegory. What about the popo character being black face in Japan, or the fact that Goku literally evolved from ape to Japanese to blonde hair?
That's all to save money on printing too?
It's not exactly the first time Japanese anime has been racially problematic and been defended on these forums etiehr
You're swinging and missing a fair bit here. It's not even a question of intent vs outcome, as you're making arguments based on intent yourself now, only they're inaccurate. Goku never evolved from "ape to Japanese to blonde". If you're argument is about the links between character design ("transformation/form" in the text itself) and power, then you immediately run into the problem that the giant "ape" form is more powerful than the "human" form, so your evolution narrative breaks down. The form that this thread is based on (SS3) explicitly incorporates elements of the "ape" design to emphasise its power. As covered earlier, there is no "divine" aspect to the transformation either. In the more recent fiction, where there are such transformations, they are indisputably supernatural (burning red/cyan hair and eyes).
You might think I'm a Dragon Ball fan trying to defend the series here, but I'm really more interested in accurate analysis. Hence why I'm not making excuses for Mr. Popo, but note that by throwing in his design in an attempt to bolster your argument about other designs you undercut your own claim to be arguing purely from appearances.
