And, only true fans of the saga realized…
Dragon Ball has been around for more than 3 decades, so there are creative resources that have always been able to make their fandom laugh. While Goku’s strongest forms match the power of literal gods, they are nothing compared to his first Saiyan transformation that broke the fourth wall. Although, this detail may have gone unnoticed.
in dragonball Chapter 21 from Akira Toriyama, Goku, Bulma, Yamcha, Oolong, and Puar have been captured by the villainous Emperor Pilaf and sentenced to death after foiling his plan for world domination. The cell the Z Fighters were held in was completely impenetrable, including the glass ceiling that allowed them to gaze at the night sky as they awaited their impending doom. That night, there was a full moon and as Goku gazed at his light, the Saiyan boy suddenly transformed into a great apemarking the first time readers saw this Saiyan transformation.
On the final page, Akira Toriyama wrote a fearful note that read, “Gokuu, after looking at the full moon, has undergone a great transformation!! Even the author himself is surprised! He is out of my hands!! He’s out of my hands!!’” This small detail was an impressive shock to his fans, who could not believe their own reaction of the mangaka on his work.
Goku’s transformation into a great ape was a shock, not only to the manga’s characters but also to Akira Toriyama himself. The author of it was shaken by Goku’s monstrously powerful form. Goku’s subsequent transformations, such as Super Saiyan and Ultra Instinct, are incredibly powerful and have given him the strength he needs to conquer even the strongest foe. but none of them have been able to break the barrier between the real world and the fictional one in a way as shocking as Goku’s Great Ape form.
While Akira Toriyama clearly wrote the manga and surely wasn’t really surprised by Goku’s transformation, the perspective the manga offers says otherwise. In regards to the characters within the Dragon Ball universe, the way of Goku’s Great Osaru literally broke the barrier between the fictional world of Dragon Ball and reality.. Since the manga details Akira Toriyama’s real-world reaction within its fictional pages, Dragon Ball proves that Goku’s first Saiyan transformation is the most powerful, as he was able to do what no other form has been able to do: break the fourth wall.
Dragon Ball managed to break the fourth wall many years ago
Throughout his Dragon Ball career, Goku has only grown in strength and currently wields powers beyond that of a god. However, it could be said that his first transformation is the most powerful, not because it is the strongest, but because it literally broke the fourth wall, scaring even the creator of Dragon Ball.
Goku made his first appearance in Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball Chapter 1, but his full backstory wasn’t fleshed out until much later, revealing that Goku was actually part of an alien race of warriors known as the Saiyans and was sent to the Earth as an infant just as his planet was on the verge of total annihilation. Once he reached adulthood, Goku pushed the limits of his power through rigorous training, and one of his first major achievements was Super Saiyan, which was quickly followed by Super Saiyan 2 and then Super Saiyan 3. During the events of the ongoing Dragon Ball Super series, Goku unlocked Super Saiyan God and even found a way to increase that godlike power by attaining the Super Saiyan version of it, a transformation known as Super Saiyan Blue.
Now Goku has succeeded in harnessing an angelic power known as Ultra Instinct, something that Lord Beerus himself has yet to master, but even all of those forms together fall short of impression. that left in its author in its first transformation.