| Dr. Slump | |
North American edition of Dr. Slump Volume 1, featuring Arale. |
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| Dr.スランプ (Dokutā Suranpu) |
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|---|---|
| Genre | Comedy-drama science fiction |
| Manga | |
| Written by | Akira Toriyama |
| Published by | Shueisha |
| English publisher | Viz Media |
| Demographic | Shōnen |
| Magazine | Weekly Shōnen Jump |
| Original run | 1980 – 1984 |
| Volumes | 18 |
| TV anime | |
| Dr. Slump - Arale-chan | |
| Directed by | Minoru Okazaki, Shigeyasu Yamauchi |
| Studio | Toei Animation |
| Network | Fuji TV |
| Original run | 8 April 1981 – 19 February 1986 |
| Episodes | 243 |
| Anime film | |
| Dr. Slump and Arale-chan: Hello! Wonder Island | |
| Studio | Toei Animation |
| Released | 18 July 1981 |
| Runtime | 25 minutes |
| Anime film | |
| Dr. Slump: "Hoyoyo!" Space Adventure | |
| Studio | Toei Animation |
| Released | 10 July 1982 |
| Anime film | |
| Dr. Slump and Arale-chan: Hoyoyo, Great Round-the-World Race | |
| Studio | Toei Animation |
| Released | 13 March 1983 |
| Runtime | 52 minutes |
| Anime film | |
| Dr. Slump and Arale-chan: Hoyoyo! The Treasure of Nanaba Castle | |
| Studio | Toei Animation |
| Released | 22 December 1984 |
| Runtime | 48 minutes |
| Anime film | |
| Dr. Slump and Arale-chan: Hoyoyo! Dream Capital Mecha Police | |
| Studio | Toei Animation |
| Released | 13 July 1985 |
| Runtime | 38 minutes |
| Anime film | |
| Dr. Slump and Arale-chan: N-cha! Clear Skies Over Penguin Village | |
| Studio | Toei Animation |
| Released | 6 March 1993 |
| Runtime | 40 minutes |
| Anime film | |
| Dr. Slump and Arale-chan: N-cha! From Penguin Village with Love | |
| Studio | Toei Animation |
| Released | 10 July 1993 |
| Runtime | 32 minutes |
| Anime film | |
| Dr. Slump and Arale-chan: Hoyoyo!! Follow the Rescued Shark... | |
| Studio | Toei Animation |
| Released | 12 March 1994 |
| Runtime | 25 minutes |
| Anime film | |
| Dr. Slump and Arale-chan: N-cha!! Trembling Heart of the Summer | |
| Studio | Toei Animation |
| Released | 9 July 1994 |
| Runtime | 20 minutes |
| TV anime | |
| Doctor Slump | |
| Directed by | Shigeyasu Yamauchi |
| Studio | Toei Animation |
| Network | Fuji TV |
| Original run | 26 November 1997 – 22 September 1999 |
| Episodes | 74 |
| Anime film | |
| Dr. Slump: Arale's Surprise | |
| Studio | Toei Animation |
| Released | 6 March 1999 |
| Runtime | 50 minutes |
| Anime film | |
| Dr. Mashirito and Abale-chan | |
| Studio | Toei Animation |
| Released | 3 March 2007 |
| Runtime | 5 minutes |
Dr. Slump (Dr. スランプ Dokutā Suranpu) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Akira Toriyama. It was serialized in Shueisha's anthology comic Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1980 to 1984 which were collected into 18 tankōbon volumes. The manga was adapted into an anime series by Toei Animation that ran from 1981 to 1986 consisting of 243 episodes and a remake series consisting of 74 episodes that ran from 1997 to 1999. The series helped launch Toriyama's career and was awarded the Shogakukan Manga Award for shōnen and shōjo manga in 1982.[1]
Contents |
Dr. Slump is set in Penguin Village (ペンギン村 Pengin Mura), a place where humans co-exist with all sorts of anthropomorphic animals and other objects. In this village lives Senbei Norimaki, an inventor (his name is a pun on a kind of large coin-shaped rice cracker, and the surname Norimaki is a generic term for sushi rolls wrapped with nori seaweed). His nickname is "Dr. Slump" (a joke that can be seen as similar to nicknaming an author "Writer's Block.") In the first issue, he builds what he hopes will be the world's most perfect little girl robot, named Arale Norimaki (a pun on a kind of small mixed rice crackers), in scenes obviously parodying the Italian children's classic The Adventures of Pinocchio (note: "Arale" is Toriyama's official romanized spelling of her name). Because Senbei is a lousy inventor, she soon turns out to be in severe need of eyeglasses. She is also very naïve, and in later issues she has adventures such as bringing a huge bear home, having mistaken it for a pet. To Senbei's credit, she does have super-strength. In general, the manga focuses on Arale's misunderstandings of humanity and Senbei's inventions, rivalries, and romantic misadventures. In the middle of the series, a continuously-appearing villain shows up, based on Toriyama's editor at the time.
Dr. Slump is filled with puns and bathroom jokes, and parodies of both Japanese and American culture. For example, one of the recurring characters is "Suppaman", a short, fat, pompous buffoon who changes into a Superman-like costume by eating a sour-tasting ("suppai" in Japanese) umeboshi. Unlike Superman, Suppaman cannot fly well, and instead pretends to fly by lying belly down on a skateboard and scooting through the streets. Also, a policeman in Dr. Slump can be seen wearing a Star Wars-style stormtrooper helmet, just as in the American movies. Toriyama himself has been portrayed as a bird (the "tori" in his last name means "bird", hence the name of his production studio Bird Studio), although Toriyama actually based the design of Senbei on himself (as a number of American comic strip artists have been known to do). In addition, other real people made appearances as well, such as Toriyama's bosses (like Torishima), assistants, and wife, Toriyama's colleague friends (like Masakazu Katsura), and others.
Dr. Slump was originally serialized in the Weekly Shōnen Jump from issue 5/6 of 1980 to issue 39 of 1984 and subsequently collected in 18 tankōbon volumes under the Jump Comics imprint. It was reassembled as a nine-volume aizōban edition in 1990, a nine-volume bunkoban edition in 1995, and a 15-volume kanzenban edition in 2006. Viz Media began publishing an English adaptation of Dr. Slump in 2005 with translation done by Alexander O. Smith. All 18 original volumes are now released as of May 5, 2009.
After Dr. Slump ended in 1984, the manga's characters of returned for an extended cameo in Toriyama's next series Dragon Ball, in which Arale and Goku briefly team up to help Goku defeat General Blue during the Red Ribbon Army storyline.
A Dr. Slump follow-up manga was written by Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru, illustrated by Takao Koyama, and serialized in V Jump from 1994 to 1996 under the title The Brief Return of Dr. Slump (ちょっとだけかえってきたDr.スランプ Chotto Dake Kaettekita Dokutā Suranpu). It has been collected into four tankōbon volumes.
To promote the release of the first Dr. Slump & Arale-chan DVD box set, Akira Toriyama illustrated a special one-shot spin-off titled Dr. Mashirito & Abale-chan published in the fourth 2007 issue of the Weekly Shōnen Jump. The story centers around an evil counterpart of Arale created by Dr. Mashirito named Abale. Dr. Mashirito & Abale-chan was adapted into a five-minute short shown theatrically alongside the One Piece feature film One Piece Movie: The Desert Princess and the Pirates: Adventures in Alabasta.
The Dr. Slump manga was made into two separate anime TV series; the first, Dr. Slump - Arale-chan (Dr.スランプ アラレちゃん) ran from 1981 to 1986 and spanned 243 episodes, and the second anime, Doctor Slump, ran from 1997 to 1999 and lasted seventy-four episodes. In addition to the series, eleven animated films have been made. The first episode of the original anime was adapted into English by Harmony Gold USA in 1984, but the pilot was never picked up.
A handheld Dr. Slump game called "Hoyoyo Bomber" by Animest was released as a Game & Watch clone in 1982 in Japan. A Dr. Slump video game was released in 1983 for the Arcadia 2001. A game for the PlayStation based on the second television series was released on March 18, 1999 in Japan only. A Dr. Slump video game for Nintendo DS named Dr. Slump: Arale-Chan was released on October 30, 2008.
Arale appears in the 1988 Famicom game Famicom Jump: Hero Retsuden. In the Nintendo DS game Jump Super Stars, Arale and Mashirito are player characters, with the latter as the game's main antagonist. They both return in the sequel, Jump Ultimate Stars, in exactly the same roles. Senbei Norimaki appears as a support character in Jump Super Stars, while Midori, Gatchan, Obotchaman and Unchi-kun were added as support characters in Jump Ultimate Stars. Arale appears as a playable character and Penguin Village is a playable map in Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 for the PlayStation 2 (PS2) and Wii. In the PS2 game Super Dragon Ball Z, Suppaman appears in the background of the city level. After breaking the porta-potty, Suppaman will roll off on his skateboard. Finally, Arale can be unlocked as a playable character in both Dragon Ball: Revenge of King Piccolo for Wii and Dragon Ball: Origins 2 for DS.
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