Dragon Ball is home to some of the most powerful fictional characters in all existence. It’s a pioneering part of Akira Toriyama’s universe where battles are fought between spiky-haired aliens and meddlesome gods across entire planets. Melodramatic dialogue all about power levels and punches that can shake the foundations of entire countries has long become an iconic part of the series’ identity, but what I love most is how it still finds time for softness.
Goku and Vegeta might be capable of going super-saiyan and destroying the universe as we know it while taking on epic villains, but they’re still capable of human emotions and will do everything in their power to protect the ones they love. Goku has his wife, Chi-Chi and child Son Gohan, and has proven time and time again that he is willing to put his existence on the line to protect both them and countless other friends and family on Earth. Then you have Vegeta, who might have started out as a villain, but is now close friends with Goku and has long been married to Bulma. And when it comes to marriage, he is the ultimate wife guy.
Vegeta Would Do Absolutely Anything For Bulma
Dragon Ball Daima, an animated show set between the events of Z and Super, is airing right now on Crunchyroll and Netflix, following a number of familiar characters like Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo, Bulma, Krillin, Trunks, and several others. While also introducing new threats for our heroes to contend with across the universe, who are just as powerful as any of the big bads they’ve faced before.
That includes Gomah, who in the most recent episode grows to a colossal size as he’s eager to wipe out our ensemble of heroes unless they fight back. Vegeta, to the anger of Bulma, is happy to oblige as he takes to the sky and starts throwing punches like no tomorrow. But he isn’t powerful enough to take Gomah on his own, so unless he accepts some help, he’s in a real tough spot.
Except he’s unwilling to budge – that is, until Bulma steps up and throws out a threat that digs beneath the surface within seconds. If he doesn’t retreat, she’ll never have a bath with Vegeta again. Moments after these words are muttered, Vegeta is back on the ground and encouraging his allies to fight in his absence. What an absolute legend.
Bulma Baths Put Power Levels To Shame
This sequence has become one of the most viral Dragon Ball moments in recent years, and for good reason. It is executed with pitch-perfect comedic timing as Bulma marches into the battleground to give her husband a piece of her mind. She doesn’t threaten to break up with him, because she’s still deeply in love with Vegeta and doesn’t want her loved one to die in the most foolish way possible. But she does know how to push his buttons, and how much he loves a good bath with the blue-haired goddess. So she threatens to never hop into the tub with him again as the camera focuses on Vegeta’s shocked expression.
I disagree with people labelling Vegeta as a “generational gooner” for his reaction to Bulma’s threat. He ain’t no gooner, he just loves his wife more than life itself.
Fans have reacted to this scene in such a wholesome way, resulting in an outpouring of fan art that has breached past the hardcore fandom and into the general online landscape. It’s hard not to stumble across it on my Twitter feed right now at the very least, while countless videos have gone viral already. It’s a perfect distillation of Vegeta and Bulma’s relationship too, told with a joke that the late Toriyama would have been proud to call his own.
One thing that has kept Dragon Ball in the public consciousness for decades is that, even if you put aside the larger-than-life violence and obscene melodrama, its characters are all so human and relatable. You can track Vegeta and Bulma’s relationship back to its origins and every step of the way it feels believable, earned, and warm. So when a threat of never taking a bath together again is enough to pull Vegeta from mortal peril, we believe it with huge smiles on our faces. Vegeta and Bulma, you can do no wrong.
