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Before I begin, I want to state that I am familiar with the interview that was recently translated where Toriyama calls Goku a "disaster father," and stated that " I think Gohan considers him a bad example."
However, despite Toriyama's comments, in his work he doesn't show this, nor does Gohan show that he would consider him a bad example. To add to this, he says he "thinks" Gohan considers him a bad example, not that he does.
Until his work shows something otherwise, we can go with what is shown in the manga.
By many, Goku is often labeled and called the worst father ever.
Out of other fathers in different stories who are really bad fathers, Goku is often compared to them and he is sometimes labeled worse than them - unfairly.
The reason why he's called a "bad dad" is due to people mentioning how he "forced" Gohan to fight, and gave Cell a Senzu Bean.
However, I want to look at the scene and show how it's not proof he's a bad dad.
From my understanding, the argument that Goku shouldn't have given Cell a Senzu bean comes from people feeling that Cell was weaker than Gohan after Goku fought Cell.
To add to this, some feel Cell gained a lot of the energy back he lost when fighting Goku, and Gohan would have had a better chance fighting Cell.
However, that is not true.
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Despite Goku being at full power, and giving his all to Cell, it's not enough. However, Cell can keep going. Given what Cell, Roshi, and Vegeta had said, Cell was still super strong.
https://preview.redd.it/n7sj0y599d671.png?width=293&format=png&auto=webp&s=cec261c2304569e55bb9485f1dd1693f13856208
At the same time, Cell did use a lot of energy as shown in the previous panel and what he is saying in this panel as well.
However, he is still stronger by saying how it will slightly increase Goku's chances. He isn't worried - though Goku is tired. He still shows that he can take him on.
So what can we get from here?
Though Cell lost a lot of energy, he still had a ton left. He didn't lose that much where they could win. Cell could still beat everyone there.
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We now go into the "proof" of why Goku is a bad dad, which is the Senzu Bean scene.
However, as mentioned before, we can see where the Senzu Bean didn't really improve Cell a lot, where it took away Gohan's chances of winning.
Goku says he gave Cell the Senzu Bean to make the fight fair, overall because he knew Gohan can beat Cell.
Cell was still powerful, and as we will see in another panel, he did not use his full power yet. The Senzu Bean just gave back the energy Cell lost when fighting Goku which wasn't enough to make Gohan win.
When Goku was fighting Cell, and Cell used some of the energy he had to fight Goku, he had a lot left to fight Gohan. He didn't find it necessary to fight him with his full power until Gohan reached SSJ2, so he was fighting him normally.
Cell could fight Gohan without using his full power when he was in SSJ1, and the Senzu Bean didn't improve much because he didn't use that much energy to fight Goku.
After the fight with Goku he had a lot of energy left, showing how he was still stronger without the bean.
https://preview.redd.it/4o6vpbok1e671.png?width=173&format=png&auto=webp&s=5def4004ab7161f1c714ea9028f9683f4937ad63
Regardless of Cell losing energy from fighting Goku, as mentioned before, it took Gohan going SSJ2 to make Cell use his full power. Nowhere did he have to do the same with Goku when they were fighting, even when he lost some energy.
Since that is the case, Cell didn't need to use that much energy in their fight.
Goku really didn't take away enough of Cell's energy, where he was pushed to beat him.
So then we have the question of - "Then why give Cell a Senzu Bean?"
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When analyzing the scene - Going back a bit to the beginning - it's acknowledged that though Cell had a lot of energy, there was a fair amount that he lost as well.
Goku takes note of this during and after their fight. Cell also comments on this.
While fighting, Cell attacked Goku with the Ka-me-ha-me-ha wave. Afterward, Goku questions Cell about it.
He asks Cell if he would have destroyed earth. Cell responds to Goku letting him know that he would destroy the earth without even thinking about it. However, it would mean he wouldn't have fun.
Going with what cell is saying - It implies if/when he stops having fun, he would destroy the earth
It's fun for Cell now because he has a lot of energy and can win. However, there are different ways where it can stop being fun for Cell.
One of the ways being - as the fight continues with Gohan, with the energy he lost when fighting Goku, he can lose more. That is when it would stop being fun.
Because of this, it can be viewed where Goku gave Cell the Senzu Bean to prevent Cell from losing more energy.
If he didn't give him one, it can cause Gohan not to enable SSJ2 (not getting angry), because Cell wouldn't want to continue anymore due to him losing energy (which would make it no longer fun).
(This idea was inspired by my friends ZurkuXeno(no longer active), and loganflojack).
Many feel that Goku forced, and made him fight Cell, however, that is not the case.
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Goku never forced Gohan to fight Cell. He requested that Gohan go against Cell. Then, he asked Gohan if he could, and then Goku questioned Gohan's feelings about the fight.
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Seeing what Goku, Gohan, and Cell are saying, Goku couldn't beat Cell. Gohan was the only one strong enough to do so. It's why he requested for Gohan to fight Cell.
Something I want to mention is the fact that Goku tells Cell after fighting him he knows that Gohan can beat him. Goku cares so much for Gohan, he wants to make sure that he can take Cell on. Goku isn't always focused on fighting for enjoyment.
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Gohan tells Goku that he is willing to try and fight.
He makes the choice to try and fight Cell. Gohan never said to Goku that he did not want to fight Cell, but Goku made him do it anyway.
When you force someone to do something, you make them do what they don't want to. Goku did not do this with Gohan.
This leads into the other argument of - "By Goku having Gohan fight Cell, he could have been wrong about him going SSJ2. The only reason Gohan went SSJ2 was because of Android 16."
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From these panels here, we can see how Gohan was starting to turn Super Saiyan 2, before Android16 spoke to Gohan. This shows that Goku was right. Even without Android 16's help, Gohan was going to go SSJ2. Android 16 made it come faster.
Conclusion -
The things Goku has done as a father is often disregarded, summarized as things a father should do for their kids. However, many fathers wouldn't do things Goku would do.
Not only that, but it's not fair to label those things as - "things a father should do," not giving him credit, but only focus on the "wrong" he has done. It's then seen as fair to label him as a bad father.
Though Goku is an anime character, if the roles were reversed and someone disregarded the good that we've done and only focused on the bad, it's something we wouldn't like at all.
When someone does something wrong, people take an approach as if they've never done anything wrong in their whole life, and they have a right to look down on people.
Regardless of how bad a flaw is, it's still a flaw at the end of the day.
Not everything we will do is perfect, but in life, all we can do is learn from what we do, and try to be the best we can.
This isn't an essay to show that Goku is the "perfect" dad, but no parent is perfect.
I wanted to show how Goku giving Cell a Senzu bean shouldn't be proof of him being a bad dad. Even if it was, he's done more good for his family and friends than bad.
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I want to say thank you for your time reading.
I would also like to say a special thank you to my friends for their help, time, and advice when making this project!
I truly appreciate them!!
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