[omoshiroii]
Strictly as a literary character and device, Goku's pretty interesting as well. For one, he ties up both the Gensomaden and Gaiden story lines. This makes one story not wholly complete without the other, and while primarily this has the very practical function of selling manga and making both Minekura and those employed by Enix the money they eat and live with, it's also very compelling. It's a great big hook that grabs you and keeps you reading. It stretches out the story, gives you more things to digest. It's like an extra large dessert. It's the pineapple slice in your Piņa Colada. It's... Well, you get the point. We owe Goku more Saiyuki, and that's a good thing. 

The second interesting thing is that Goku is... well, Son Goku. That's a pretty famous person to be. If you think about it, it's the Asian equivalent of being Dracula. Everyone knows about him and has seen him at least in three places at once. While keeping track of every incarnation of Goku and the Chinese legend he belongs to would be an interesting research project, I don't have the time to do it properly. Goku is so famous, though, that one hardly has to lift a finger before things just start pouring in. Since my first run in with the legend of Goku via the ultra popular Dragon Ball, incarnations of Goku have been crossing my path. There is a kite decorated with Goku brandishing his staff at Disney's Magic Kingdom ride It's a Small World (look up at the ceiling in the China portion). I know of two video games, Suikoden and Saiyuki (it's spelled as it originally should be) that deal with the Monkey King legend. Suikoden takes as many creative licenses as Minekura's manga does, but the Saiyuki video game seems to be pretty close to the actual legend. There are also many Goku incarnations in anime, from a rather obscure Go Nagai (creator of Devilman and Mazinger Z) series to Leiji Matsumoto's Starzinger (Spanish speaking visitors might recall El Galactico) to Dragon Ball and the fully CGI Monkey Tales. There are live-action films (probably in just about every language in Asia), comics, children's books, and, good lord, I stagger to think how many toys and trinkets must be tattooed with the image of Goku. He's pretty easy to identify. While the designs vary widely from artist to artist, Goku usually retains at least one of the following components: a golden circlet, red staff, leopard or tiger pelt, and the fact that he is supposed to be a monkey. 

With all of this fame it's no wonder Goku acts like a brat. He's a living legend. 
 

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