Well, I'll be a little more….positive?
Love: I know Goku is technically the "template" for the dumb shonen hero, but.....I guess what I love is his...interesting sense of morality. Goku doesn't throw in epic speeches of good and evil, but harm one of his friends, you'll regret it. But the flip side, he is willing to let bad guys go (Vegeta, Piccolo, Freeza, etc.)....perhaps not for very practical reasons, but he's not really the guy that kills. He's not a saint but he isn't a brat either. Goku is Goku, nuff said. Grew up in the wild, has a simple mind, and a strong heart.
Loathe: Goku's a good hero, but....not the best dad in the world. Now, again, Goku has a simple/innocent mind.....but.....not the best record of being around. Dying against Raditz, okay, that couldn't be helped. Staying in space in a year+ after Freeza....okay, space travel's tough, he crashed (and we don't know when he learned Instant Transmission)…..staying dead after Cell for SEVEN years? Okay, now the excuses are running thin. He had a valid reason, but Gohan's been fatherless enough and ChiChi would give birth to his second son!
I want to trash the Uub situation too, but....well, he did stick around for 10 years (technically more time than not being with his family, 1 (Raditz) + 1.5 (Freeza) + 7 (Cell) = 9.5)...and while he did fly off, away from his family again, with some random kid....it wasn't clear how that would work. I mean, it could've been like a job for Goku...train Uub for seven hours a day, warp home, boom, whatever
that reminds me, his family also wasn't living in the best financial situation. Sure they survived and Gyu-Mao helped out....uhh....I'm getting ahead of myself.
Despite his....less than stellar parenting, I still have a soft spot for Goku. He's the face of Dragon Ball, which was my childhood.
3.5/5