Dragon Ball Reveals Vegeta’s Real Opinion of Nappa

Vegeta and Nappa didn’t exactly end their “friendship” on the best of terms in Dragon Ball Z. When the pair of Saiyan warriors arrived on Earth, it was apparent that the prince of the Saiyans was the strongest of the duo, which he was able to prove in his fight against Goku and his fellow Z-Fighters. In an interesting twist, the official Dragon Ball website has taken the opportunity to speak with a psychology expert on the partnership of Vegeta and Nappa, discussing why it was destined for failure.

The anime site took the chance to speak with Toshiro Murase, an associate professor at the School of Commerce at Waseda University. Murase got the conversation started by examining what bonded Nappa to Vegeta, “Well, first let’s start with the reason Vegeta and Nappa are working together. Their goal was to “Collect the Dragon Balls and obtain eternal life”, right? Because if they do that, then they can spend their days in glorious battle forever. From my perspective, their relationship doesn’t seem to be much more than “Having a shared goal and removing any obstacles in the path to achieving that goal”. So, they only fought together against the warriors of Earth because they both considered them an obstacle.”

Vegeta & Nappa Friendship Over

Murase then expanded on the “friendship” of the two Saiyans and how the business at hand made their partnership work, for a time, “The thing you need to keep in mind is that rank is not necessarily reflected in surface-level communication. For example, in English, although there are polite expressions, such as calling someone “sir”, communication is still rather casual, even between a boss and an employee. However, the boss is usually the one who ultimately makes the decisions. Conversely, the Japanese language places a lot of value on using respectful language, but the “let’s all talk things out and then decide” method of consensus building is also important. Because of this, not all aspects of interpersonal relationships are visible if you only look at the language used.”

The professor then describes the Saiyan team-up as unstable, comparing it to a “group of delinquents”, “Yes, that appears to be the case. As a Saiyan, Nappa may simply hold a “respect for power”, but there are also many scenes where he seems truly afraid of Vegeta. Ideally, a team should be free of the “don’t talk back to your seniors” preconception. Instead, it should be built on a foundation of mutual respect and recognizing each other’s talents, rather than titles or hierarchy. Perhaps Vegeta and Nappa’s relationship is more akin to that of a group of delinquents.”

Via Official Dragon Ball Website