Dragon Boy
Dragon Boy (騎竜少年) is a two chapter manga by Akira Toriyama that ran from August to October 1983 in Fresh Jump. It was later released in Akira Toriyama's Manga Theater Vol. 2, first published in March 1988. Dragon Boy is best known for being a prototype for the much more popular Dragon Ball manga,[1] which begun the following year.
Overview
Dragon Boy features the adventures of a boy named Tanton and an unlikely ragtag group to go on a journey to the Flower Country. This short work combined the comedic style of Toriyama's successful Dr. Slump series with a more action-oriented plot and paid homage to famous martial art actor Jackie Chan.[2] Toriyama noted that his goal for the series was to tell an "unconventional and contradictory" story.[3] Like Dragon Ball, this manga is mainly based on the Chinese story Journey to the West. Several elements from the story were later reused in Dragon Ball, largely in the first 13 chapters. Dragon Boy even has its own version of the Dragon Ball artifacts. However, in this incarnation, the Dragon Balls produce small dragons when hit with an energy blast, which actually was quite useless when summoned in the story.
Story
Characters
Tanton
The titular dragon boy. He appears to be an average young boy trained in kung-fu, but under his shirt he sports dragon wings. Like Goku, he spent his childhood socially isolated, and also exhibits curiosities about the opposite sex.
Princess of the Flower Country
The princess that is being escorted by Tanton back home. Her nation had been at war for years, so she has the misfortune of being the first girl Tanton meets. She is extremely selfish and temperamental. Tanton is her only protection, as she has very few skills of her own.
Binyao
A demon that tricks the Princess into giving up her food. It is unknown if Binyao is his true name because he took the form of a handsome traveler. He is a cat-like creature similar to Pu'ar and shares a time limit on his transformations that Oolong has. He claims to be 250 years old. After witnessing Tanton's strength, he apologizes and soon joins them.
Tanton's Master
Tanton's trainer in martial arts and caretaker. He taught Tanton little else and sends him on his quest. He also gives him the Dragon Ball that turns out to be of little assistance.
Similarities with Dragon Ball
- The scenery influenced by the landscapes of ancient China.
- Tanton is an isolated young martial artist who has dragon wings on his back as an unusual feature and who has never even encountered a female. Goku has a similar backstory, only his unusual feature is his monkey tail.
- Tanton's master rides a flying cloud similar to the Flying Nimbus. Originally borrowed from Journey to the West.
- The princess is clearly an early Bulma, as both are selfish, impatient, and temperamental, both have wealthy, powerful families (Bulma's father owns Capsule Corporation), and interestingly both lost bladder control when faced with danger. Also, Chi-Chi has a close physical resemblance to the princess, and the character Tanmen has an appearance exactly similar the princess.
- The Dragon Ball artifacts that produce dragons.
- Binyao, who is an evil shapeshifting, flying cat similar to Puar. He can only transform for three minutes and becomes a companion, like Oolong in Dragon Ball.
- The Soldier Robot's design is modified for the Pirate Robot that appears in the General Blue arc of Dragon Ball.