May 9th, 750: after spending the night in Jingle Village, Goku reunites with Bulma in West City, then goes after pirate treasure in the south seas. This leads to a big chase between him and General Blue, which leads to... #HistoryofEver
That’s right, it’s Penguin Village! The setting of everyone’s favorite Akira Toriyama series, Dr. Slump! After the requisite crossover hijinks, Arale sends Blue packing and Goku goes on his merry way before anyone can think too deeply about continuity issues
In his Adventure Special Q&A from the middle of the Piccolo arc, Toriyama answered two questions about Arale, saying she probably wouldn’t appear again (true until the Super anime) and that she’s probably stronger than Goku (by Super they seem about even) kanzenshuu.com/translations/a…
Daizenshuu 4’s map of DB Earth places Penguin Village on an island far east of Kame House. In Slump itself, Penguin Village is on Gengoro Island and is part of Japan (with other countries such as China and America mentioned too), which is naturally a tough fit for DB continuity
The anime paints Goku and Blue’s trip in psychedelic colors, almost to suggest the two are traveling into another dimension, although the Penguin Village police are still well aware of the Red Ribbon Army. Overall, it’s best not to try and rationalize Dr. Slump.
But back to our main story: Goku reaches the holy land of Karin, where he befriends father/son guardian duo Bora and Upa and finally finds the 4-Star Ball (according to Daizenshuu 7 this is the same day as all the General Blue stuff; the manga doesn’t really specify a timeframe).
Fed up with the repeated failure of Red Ribbon personnel (not to mention Gero’s useless androids), Commander Red calls in an independent contractor: Crane Hermit’s younger brother, the former office worker and current assassin Tao Pai Pai. Thankfully he comes cheap this year!
Tao makes short work of Bora and Goku and leaves them both for dead, then rather carelessly takes off with some but not all of Goku’s dragon balls (you really can’t get good help these days). Bora actually is dead, but Goku survived thanks to the 4-Star Ball blocking Tao’s attack
Goku has suffered his first crushing defeat, but luckily he happens to be right smack next to Karin Tower, home of the world’s very best non-fake non-lethal power-up water (or so the legend says). He begins climbing up and up and up...so far up that he makes a night of it.
Bright and early on May 10th, Goku finally reaches the top of the tower, and begins a seemingly endless struggle to defeat a talking cat (this will become the dominant theme of his later years). Can he wrap this up before Tao comes back for the 4-Star Ball?
Tomorrow: Black is the new Red!
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It’s already November 20th in Japan, which means Dragon Ball has officially reached its 40th anniversary. In case you weren’t paying attention and/or born at the time, here are some highlights from the first 40 years of DB history… #DragonBall40th
1984: gag manga superstar Akira Toriyama concludes megahit Dr. Slump, and in November debuts its follow-up in Weekly Jump. This Journey to the West-inspired kung-fu adventure kicks off as inventor girl Bulma recruits monkey boy Goku to track down the titular dragon balls.
1985: after last year’s tail-end teaser, things begin in earnest. The initial “quest for the dragon balls” arc wraps up in May, and Toriyama shifts gears to a tournament arc (always a fan favorite in his Dr. Slump days) with the lecherous Roshi and Goku’s new cueball-esque BFF.
According to Bunshun Online, Dragon Room head honcho Akio Iyoku has stepped down from Shueisha and established his own company, Capsule Corporation Tokyo. Supposedly he wants Shueisha to keep DB’s manga publishing rights but for CC Tokyo to handle DB games/anime/etc.
As you might imagine, Shueisha is reluctant to part with DB to any extent, and negotiations are still ongoing. According to this article, anyway. Shueisha has apparently confirmed that Iyoku is stepping down, but not confirmed any of the particulars so far.
Bunshun Online reached out to Toriyama and asked if he would be working with Iyoku in future, but Toriyama said he couldn’t comment publicly, only through Shueisha. He also said the company name “Capsule Corporation Tokyo” was Iyoku’s idea, not his own.
Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai ep.41: Pissed Myst’s great and the logistics of Dai’s sword are interesting, while the castle’s just there to be knocked down. But it knocks down well. 4/5 #DragonQuest#ep41
Rewatching the DBS panel, there’s a few things I want to note about the subtitles. They’re fine overall but there’s a few things I think are oversimplified or left out. Going through roughly in order of importance…
When discussing the artwork for New Character 1 and 2, in Japanese Hayashida says how it’s Toriyama’s original artwork, unlike the Piccolo/Pan/etc images that have been developed into full-fledged anime designs. The subtitles instead say it was made before movie production began
Now, it might indeed be true that Toriyama would’ve made the initial artwork before movie production began, but that’s not really what Hayashida is talking about. He’s contrasting this image with the earlier ones shown of Piccolo and co, which weren’t Toriyama’s original artwork
May 15th, Age 767: after three days of rest, Goku recovers from his heart disease (a week earlier than Trunks expected). The situation may be dire, but Goku knows the perfect place where Vegeta and Trunks can finally spend some quality father/son time together... #HistoryofEver
Speaking of quality time, Goku and Chi Chi get a nice moment together in the anime, sharing a kiss far too hot to actually show on screen. Or include in the canon, for that matter.
Alright, so…in the original manga, Goku and Chi Chi are never shown kissing. In DBZ ep.147 they share an offscreen kiss (they later made a figurine based on this). In the DBS anime and manga, Goku claims never to have kissed his wife. Draw your own conclusions.
May 12th, Age 767 (Bad Future Edition): at 10 AM on an island 9km southwest of South City, 17 and 18 begin their assault. Vegeta and co are mowed down, leaving Gohan sole survivor. Even the dragon balls are no use, since Pilaf and co wasted them on a dumb wish. #HistoryofEver
May 12th, Age 767 (Better Future Edition): 19 and 20 appear on schedule, but Our Heroes are ready. Well, Goku gets a bit sick, but Vegeta covers for him. While 19 and 20 don’t last long, 17 and 18 make short work of the gang. And that’s just the beginning of their problems…
Yes, it’s another busy day. May 12th has the honor of being one of the few specific dates mentioned in the series, although the year 767 comes from the Daizenshuu 7 timeline. If there’s any number pun significance to this date, I haven’t been able to find it.