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Dragon Ball #7: Akira Toriyama developed this series, in the
tradition of his well-known (in Japan, anyway,) Dr. Slump. The
sex and
toilet humor was toned down a bit in Dragon Ball, but it still
has more
than its share of silly, etchie jokes and characters talking
directly to
the reader. The first few volumes emphasized the old Monkey King
legend
references very heavily, which continues to a lesser extent later
on.
Most notably: Son Gokuu (name of both main characters,) Gokuu's
expanding staff, the tail (and Gokuu's tendency to turn into a
were-monkey when he sees the full moon,) the flying cloud, etc.
There
are currently 34 volumes, and the series will probably continue
to appear
in the weekly magazine, Shonen Jump, for a long time.
[fa:vxxx -- First Appears in Volume xxx.]
Character List:
Yellow Taisa: RR's remaining commander, in charge of the western
regions. The only non-human commander (drawn as a tiger.)
[fa:v7]
Tao-pie pie: The Chinese kung-fu master with a braided pony-tail,
and
the words "kill you" on the back of his jacket. One of
Gokuu's most formidable foes, and one of the few that
repeatedly shows up in later episodes after he's been killed
off. Favorite mode of transport is to chop down a tree,
throw it, and then leap on it to fly away. [fa:v8,
although is mentioned several times in volume 7.]
Bora: The huge American Indian that guards the land beneath a
certain tall tower. [fa:v7] His son is named Upa.
Fighting Styles and attacks:
Janken -- actually the Japanese name for
"scissors/paper/stone."
Gokuu punches (stone) and the proper counter is a block (paper.)
Kamehame-ha -- A power blast. Originally, Kamesennin was the only
one
that could do this, after 50 years of training. Gokuu picked it
up just by watching. (Kame means "turtle".) Jackie Chun
is the
third person to have been seen using this attack. Later on, a
number of other characters start using it.
One Pattern -- A fake, where the attacker moves so fast that an
after-image is left behind. Gokuu has been able to leave three
images of himself. First used by Jackie Chun.
Other notes:
Dragon Ball -- The 7 mystical balls that, once brought together,
will
summon the great Dragon God. This god will grant one wish before
departing, and causing the balls to fly apart to different
locations across the world.
Dragon Radar -- The device Buruma built to help locate the Balls.
She
gives the Radar to Gokuu after the Tenkaichi-Budoukai.
Tenkaichi-Budoukai -- The big battle that establishes the
strongest
fighter in the world, at any given time. Usually has a cash
prize.
Zenii -- What passes for money in this world. The symbol is a
backwards
"$".
Red Ribbon -- The evil organization that spans the globe.
Originally
headed by Red Sousui, who is later killed. Very interested in
obtaining the Dragon Balls for their own use.
Penguin Village -- This is the home for all of the characters
from Dr.
Slump. Gokuu chases Blue Shogun into Penguin village in volume 7.
It's a lot funnier if you are already familiar with that manga.
Story:
Volume 7
[Note: The inside flap has a picture of Toriyama wearing
sunglasses
and a mask over his mouth, holding a baby who also has a mask and
sunglasses.]
The leader of B Team is on Kamesennin's island, and demanding
the
Dragon Balls from "the doctor." One of the guards goes
inside the
house, but only finds Ranchi. Kamesennin didn't know that Buruma
had
forgotten the balls on the island. Since he's going to be killed
after
handing over the Balls, the old man decides to fight. After
trashing
most of the men, one remaining guard takes Ranchi hostage. But,
Kamesennin's turtle holds a branch under her nose, Ranchi
sneezes,
and... Kushami takes umbrage at having been called a
"shit-woman" --
kicking the fallen man, spitting on him, and giving him the
finger. The
last remaining soldier is seen trying to escape, and quickly
agrees to
remove the fallen bodies from the island.
Meanwhile, in the undersea tunnels, Goku and friends surface
in a
cave and run down a corridor. Blue Shogun gets a radio message
saying
that B Team has been wiped out. Gokuu wants to know why they're
running
from RR, and turns to make a stand (Kuririn and Buruma want to
keep
running, since the soldiers have machine guns.) However, Blue
Shogun
calls his men back, telling them that B Team had been defeated by
one
old man and a girl. Gokuu doesn't understand why no one wants to
fight
him. Buruma tells him to keep moving. But, the tunnel gets dark,
until
Gokuu finds a light switch. This makes everyone wonder who had
been in
these tunnels before them.
Buruma is puzzling this out, when Gokuu surprises her by
wearing a
skull he'd found from a nearby corpse. Blue sends one of his men
out to
spy on the heroes, and Kuririn realizes that this place had been
the
hideout of an infamous band of pirates, and that there's probably
a
treasure chest down here somewhere. The spy radios this
information
back, and Blue considers the possibility of getting the Dragon
Ball,
Radar AND fabulous wealth. Kuririn leads the way, and ignores the
strangeness of the corridor he's approaching. Until he steps on a
switch that fires a spear right over his head. The only way
across is
to jump over the switches, which Gokuu demonstrates. Kuririn is
still
portrayed as a buffoon, and does almost make it past the switches
before
triggering another spear. Both boys growse about Buruma's
inability to
make the leap herself, and Gokuu has to use his bo to carry her
over.
Blue catches up to his spy, who says that the group is right
around
the corner. Blue decides to surprise the heroes, and orders his
men to
rush them. He's counting his treasure already, but is interrupted
by
the cries of pain from his men. They'd triggered the traps, and
one
corpse helpfully states that A Team has been completely wiped
out. Blue
reasons that the pirates would have a way to bypass the trap, and
finds
a secret button that reveals another passage way.
Gokuu and company happen into the submarine docking bay, and
marvel
over the size of the equipment, before Gokuu notices a sound.
Blue
thinks that he's been discovered, but the boy states that the
intruder
isn't human. They're attacked by a guard robot that Buruma thinks
is a
ghost, until Kuririn corrects her. They fight the guard, then
Gokuu
states that he'll take care of it while Kuririn takes Buruma away
from
the dangerous bullets. Blue chases after the two, and Gokuu kicks
the
robot into the water. He's pulled in by the robot's tail, and
given a
painful shock before he breaks the tail off. Swimming out ahead
of the
robot, Gokuu uses his bo to get some altitude, then leaps down
for a
Janken punch. The robot is destroyed, Gokuu says "Peace,
peace, peace,"
in victory. He then races after the others.
Kuririn notices that the island is starting to tremble. They
reach a
t-corridor, and decide to take the right turn because the Radar
indicates that's where the Ball is. Blue snuffs out the arrow
Kuririn
puts on the floor, and makes a new arrow pointing left. Gokuu
comes up,
sees the arrow, and runs off in the wrong direction while Blue
watches.
The earthquakes are getting stronger (probably caused by the
explosion
of the robot,) and the two stop at a dead end. Their only choice
is to
strip down and go swimming. Blue isn't very happy with the idea
of
getting wet, but he continues to follow them. Gokuu's dead-end
contains
a trapdoor that drops him on what he thinks is a big cuttlefish.
The
octopus corrects him, stating that it's been a long time since
it's been
fed. Gokuu wants to keep moving, but the octopus grabs him and
softens
him up by hitting him against the wall a few times. Then, Gokuu
weakly
says that he'd like to give the octopus a "fun thing."
It wants to know
what the fun thing is, and the boy says, "Kamehame-ha."
The octopus
doesn't understand, but is quickly blasted.
Kuririn and Buruma surface in another grotto, near the
treasure
chest. But, they don't have time to marvel at the contents before
Blue
claims it for Red Ribbon. Buruma falls for the hunk, and quickly
learns
that he's a fag, and he tells them not to call him that. Kuririn
expects a quick fight, and waits to Blue to attack.
Gokuu decides that it really was takoyaki (grilled octopus)
and has a
snack break. He hears a scream, that could be Buruma or Kuririn,
and
(after Kuririn gets beaten up a little more,) decides to
investigate
the source of the second scream. Buruma tells the runt to quickly
finish off Blue, so he uses "one pattern" to fool Blue
and get in a good
kick. The sight of his own blood causes Blue to go insane, and he
resorts to his secret technique -- Chounouryoku, a form of
hypnosis
which paralyzes Kuririn. Blue then has fun beating up the shrimp
prior
to killing him. Buruma is quaking with fear, expecting to be the
next
victim, while Blue notices that the earth tremors are getting
stronger.
Deciding to use her femine wiles on Blue, Buruma discovers that
the
fighter actively HATES women. When she states that she's really a
guy
in disguise, Blue gets interested and she runs off in terror.
Before
Blue can pound in Kuririn's head with a rock, Gokuu leaps out of
the
pool. Buruma fills him in, and the two fighter square off. Gokuu
gets
in the first couple of shots, then as Buruma shouts out her
warning,
Blue uses Chounouryoku. Blue gets revenge, but the tremors are
worsening. So, he uses a capsule to get a shotgun, and demands to
know
where the Dragon Ball is. Buruma slowly says that the Radar
indicates
that the Ball is in another pool. Blue decides to kill the three
despite his earlier assurances, and Buruma screams about how such
a
beautiful, kind maiden as herself is about to be cruelly killed
(Kuririn
isn't impressed.) Before he can pull the trigger, though, a mouse
runs
out and Blue recoils is horror (which breaks the spell on Gokuu.)
Gokuu
uses Janken, knocking Blue against the wall. Rocks are falling
from the
ceiling now, so Gokuu gets the location of the Dragon Ball (it
really
was in the pool that Buruma pointed out,) and he tells the other
two to
escape and he'll meet up with them later. Gokuu finds the Ball,
and the
mouse that saved him (he returns the favor.)
Kuririn and Buruma reach the sub docking bay, but are cut off
from
their own sub by a cave-in. So, they settle for one of the
pirates' old
mini-subs, and find that the engine still works. Blue tries to
take the
treasure chest, but is buried by another cave-in. With the mouse
still
in his mouth, Gokuu rushes past the rocks, while Buruma tries to
leave
without him. Kuririn won't let her, but the mini-sub is about to
pull
away from the dock as Gokuu runs up. In the sub, Gokuu pulls the
mouse
out, and is happy to see that it is still in good shape. The
falling
rocks are starting to panic Kiririn, so Buruma assures them that
they'll
get to open sea safely. Except, they run out of fuel. So, Gokuu
hands
over the mouse (Kuririn wants to know why he has to hold a
mouse,) and
before people can stop him, Gokuu uses Kamehame-ha to blast the
mini-sub
out of the tunnel. Then, he calls Kintoen and takes the group to
the
nearest island. Behind them, Blue surfaces, still alive.
Gokuu says "That was close," Buruma agrees, adding
that it's a good
thing that Gokuu is a friend of hers. Kuririn bemoans the loss of
the
treasure, but Buruma pulls a huge diamond out of her shorts.
Those two
comment on it's value, and Gokuu remembers to check the Dragon
Ball --
still not his grandfather's. He plans on continuing his quest,
which
Buruma objects to because of the danger from RR. Kuririn suggests
that
they take one of RR's flyers and seek out Kamesennin's advice.
Blue
shows up on the same island, which is a RR base, and grabs a
flyer of
his own. While inspecting the diamond, Kuririn starts sniffing it
(the
little sukebe knows where it's been hidden,) and has to
prevaricate when
Buruma asks why. Blue is just waiting for his chance.
Kamesennin is stunned that the group wants him to sell the
diamond,
which they estimate to be worth a few million zenii. They
fantasize
over that that can buy, forgetting that Kushami is with them. She
steals the gem at gunpoint and flies off (Buruma hadn't met
Kushami
before.) Buruma wants the gem back, and can't understand why no
one's
chasing after it. Blue finds Gokuu's "hidden hideout"
and drops in with
some rope (he has very strong legs, and we can see why the cave
collapsing on him didn't faze him.) Gokuu want the other Balls
and
Buruma wants a plane capsule. But, Kushami took the only plane,
and
they're stuck on the island, which pleases Blue. Kuririn warns
the old
man about Red Ribbon, but he already knows about them. That's
when Blue
uses his mental powers to cause the ropes to tie up the good
guys.
They're surprised to find that he's still alive. Blue goes into
the
House, where he gets the Balls. They can't break free of the
ropes, and
when Blue comes back out, he leaves a little
"bomb-chan" with a 5 minute
timer, next to them on the beach. He then uses a capsule to get
another
plane. Buruma yells out that she really wants to become a RR
soldier,
but Blue says that RR doesn't hire women for that. So Kamesennin
says
that he'll volunteer to join. Blue answers that they have 4
minutes
left, and he flies off.
Everyone is panicking when Ranchi returns. She thinks this is
some
kind of game. She's told to throw the bomb away, but it's too
heavy for
her. Instead, she cuts Gokuu's ropes and he throws the bomb away
with a
few seconds to spare. Our hero then calls for Kintoen and rushes
off to
get the Dragon Balls back.
This is where the book focuses on Penguin Village.
Akane -- Arale's classmate and friend
Arale -- Senbe Norimake's powerful, but naive girl robot
Senbe -- AKA - Dr. Slump. Inventor and dirty young man
Piske -- Tarou's childish little brother
Tarou -- Akane's ex-boyfriend, school drop-out
Ga-chan -- One of a pair of flying dinosaur hatchlings.
Su-perman -- A rip-off of Superman. The character uses pickled
plums to gain power, and has a hiragana "su" character
on
his chest.
Yamabuki Sensei -- Arale's teacher, and now Senbe's wife.
Turbo -- Senbe's floating son. Super genius.
It's now summer vacation in Penguin Village, and Akane wants
to know
what her friend's plans are. One guy wants to continue his
martial arts
training, the others are going to do stupid things. Tarou comes
along
with another girl, saying that he has a date -- ruining Akane's
mood.
All through this, Senbe keeps popping up, giving a peace sign. He
says
it's because they haven't appeared in Shonen Jump for so long.
Later,
everyone else starts acting the same way (including the martial
artist's
parents,) and Akane yells that her mother had better not start
giving
peace signs (her mother doesn't understand the problem.) Arale
says
goodbye to people, and is about to return home when something
overhead
attracts her attention...
Gokuu demands the Balls back, Blue just laughs and goes
faster.
Gokuu catches up, to Blue's surprise. Our hero tries to use his
bo to
smash the flyer, but Blue swerves away in time. Blue is getting
angry,
so he cuts the engine to let Gokuu catch up. Then he turns them
back
on, expecting to fry Gokuu. However, his gloating is interrupted
by the
mountain he crashes into. Gokuu lands lightly in front of Arale,
who
wants to talk. But, the boy is in a hurry, and rushes off on
Kintoen.
This causes Arale and the two G-chans to chase after. Blue is
staggering from the wreckage, muttering about revenge, when Gokuu
appears. So, he hides and leaves to reach Red Ribbon HQ. The
wreckage
seems to be devoid of Dragon Balls, and Gokuu's getting angry as
the
three strange kids he'd met earlier show up again. He's impressed
that
this girl can run faster than Kintoen can fly. Arale wants to
play, but
Gokuu again rushes after Blue Shogun. Then, circling overhead, he
complains about not being able to locate the villain.
Some distance away, Blue is trying to commandeer the car of
Su-perman. Luckily, there's a phone-booth nearby, and the normal
human
runs in to change into his super identity -- which Blue has never
seen
before. Su-perman eats an umiboshi, and gives Blue fair warning.
Blue
laughs, destroys the phonebook, and asks where he can find the
nearest
airplane. Su-perman quickly states that the nearest plane is at
Senbe
Norimake's, and gives his car to Blue to help him out. He then
gloats
over having made his particular patch of land safer.
Gokuu is getting very frustrated, until he remembers the
Dragon
Radar, but it's busted. Gokuu asks if Arale knows Kamesennin's
location; of course, she doesn't. He complains about the radar
being
busted and Arale replies that Senbe can probably fix it. She
wants to
ride the cloud too, and Gokuu is surprised to find that she's
pure of
heart enough to do so. They fly off, and everyone has a good
time.
They stop at the house, where Senbe is tuning his plane. Arale
points out Senbe, and the boy thinks she means Yamabuki-sensei.
The
real Senbe is identified, and looks at the broken radar. Being
told
that the radar can locate Dragon Balls doesn't help Senbe any. he
opens
up the device and is stunned by its complexity. He's even further
humiliated at hearing that the device was built by a woman. Then,
Blue
drives up to the house.
Senbe gives the device his best shot, but it's Turbo who can
understand the thing and can fix it. Blue finds the plane, and
Gokuu.
Senbe hands the repaired radar over, and congratulates himself on
being
the greatest inventor in the world. Then, Gokuu notices that
according
to the Radar, the Balls are very close. When he looks up, he sees
Blue
holding a knife to Arale's throat. Gokuu wants the Balls back,
but Blue
uses his Chounouryoku on him (Turbo recognizes the technique.)
Yamabuki
wonders if Blue is a friend of Gokuu's ("Wrong! He's a bad
guy!!").
Blue takes the radar, puts it his pocket, puts the balls in the
plane,
and prepares to kill Gokuu with a palm tree. This is when Senbe
tells
Arale to use her "pro wresting" moves on the bad guy.
The robot does
this very happily, and sends Blue into orbit. Turbo breaks the
spell on
Gokuu. Gokuu is impressed that Arale is so strong (she says that
the
G-chans are also strong, as is Obotchiman.) Gokuu gets the Dragon
