"Straight up just Goku"— Dragon Ball fans blown away by The Elusive Samurai's overt Goku reference

Dragon Ball protagonist Goku was recently referenced in The Elusive Samurai anime, which is a historical series set between the late Kamakura and early Muromachi periods. While the legendary Shonen protagonist has been referenced for decades across fiction and beyond, this one is among the most overt because it even features the character doing one of his signature moves, the Genkidama.

After the recent passing of author Akira Toriyama on March 1 of this year, there have been a lot of tributes to this series, although the one in this CloverWorks production might be one of the most overt. However, series such as Gintama and the recent example in MAPPA with Oblivion Battery have had similar approaches.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for the series. Any opinion expressed herein belongs to the author and the people quoted, and not Sportskeeda as a whole.

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Dragon Ball's Goku was recently mentioned in The Elusive Samurai in an obvious manner

Goku reference of The Elusive Samurai (Image via CloverWorks and X/@SLOplays)

While The Elusive Samurai series tends to be more serious than most anime that tend to reference Dragon Ball, there is a good chance that they have provided one of the most notorious references in the history of the medium. That is because it features a character doing the Genkidama, one of the most iconic attacks in the entire franchise, and the person doing it looks a lot like Goku.

Author Akira Toriyama's series has been one of the most influential battle shonen of all time. The anime adaptation by Toei Animation from the 80s and 90s is probably responsible for turning the medium into a worldwide phenomenon, which has helped cement its place as one of the all-time greats.

There is also no denying that Akira Toriyama's passing has led to a lot of tributes and celebrations of the author's legacy, not just with Dragon Ball but with many others, such as Dr. Slump. While is fair to say that the reference made to The Elusive Samurai is a lot more obvious and comedic than other examples, it does add to the franchise's timeless legacy.

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Reactions online

The Dragon Ball reference didn't go unnoticed by most. One thing that a lot of people have brought up is the fact that the people involved in this CloverWorks production didn't hide the fact that it was Goku and just showed him with his iconic hairstyle.

There were even some people who noticed that this Dragon Ball reference wasn't just overt but also that the style of the scene was similar to Gintama, another prominent comedy anime. It is easy to see the similarities, especially when it comes to the art style that the studio used in this reference.

"I know it's The Elusive Samurai, but this reminds me so much of Gin Tama," someone said.

"goku if he was high on drugs instead of fighting evil or goofing around," another person said.

"lore accurate goku," someone else said.

Goku being referenced in the 'Oblivion Battery' anime (Image via MAPPA).

This isn't the first time a Dragon Ball reference of this nature was displayed, with the studio MAPPA adaptation of the baseball series Oblivion Battery showing Goku's iconic Super Saiyan moment against Frieza. It is also worth pointing out that Gintama, the most notorious comedy anime of all time, made several references to this franchise.

"I've been loving The Elusive Samurai, the db reference just further proved how goated it is!" someone said.

"They put my boy in this is why people want dragon Ball super anime to return," another person said.

It was an entertaining and well-received Dragon Ball reference, which also added a bit more publicity to The Elusive Samurai series.

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