Neko Majin

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Neko Majin

Neko Majin Kanzenban, collecting the entire series, published in April 2005 by Shueisha.
ネコマジン
Genre Parody, Action, Adventure, Comedy
Manga
Written by Akira Toriyama
Published by Shueisha
English publisher United States Viz Media (one chapter only)
Magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump
Monthly Shōnen Jump
English magazine United States Shonen Jump (one chapter only)
Original run April 1999 – February 2005
Volumes 1 (8 one-shot chapters)

Neko Majin (ネコマジン) is a short series of one-shot manga chapters by Akira Toriyama, spanning eight total installments released from 1999-2005. It is most notable for its later portion, Neko Majin Z, which is a self-parody of Dragon Ball, the author's most famous work.

Plot

The series revolves around the adventures of Neko Majin, a cat creature who enjoys practical jokes and martial arts. He wears a gi-outfit like Dragon Ball's Goku, carries a nyoi-bo (power pole) and uses Dragon Ball-style attacks such as the "Nekohameha". Over the course of the series, other characters from the Dragon Ball world join the cast, including a fat Super Saiyan named Onio, and Freeza's son Kuriza. In the Neko Majin Z chapters, there are guest appearances by Dragon Ball characters Vegeta, Majin Boo and Goku.

Characters

Neko Majin

Neko Majin (ネコマジン Nekomajin, lit. "magical cat", also Neko Majin Z) is the protagonist and title character of the series. He appears as a blue cat with long ears. He comes from a race of neko majins, each of which is a different cat breed, with himself as a mixed breed.[ch 2]. In the series, he is able to fly like a Dragon Ball character, and his special attack, "Nekohameha",[ch 1] is similar to the Kamehameha of his master, Goku.[ch Z4] The source of his abilities appears to be a ball called a majin-dama, without which he would be an ordinary cat.[ch Z4] He is able to transform into other characters.[ch Mike] His occupation is unknown, but he likes to nickel-and-dime visitors with various services.[ch 1] He occasionally dresses as a koala bear and charges eight dollars to take pictures with them. He has a Super Saiyan-like transformation called Super Neko Majin.[ch Z1]

Supporting characters

Characters who make regular appearances in the series:

  • Kojiro is a boy that Neko Majin met about 30 years ago. He has since grown up to become a teacher at a small local school.[ch Mike]
  • An unnamed boy who dresses like a caveboy joins Neko Majin in the "Z" chapters. He helps Neko Majin advertise his koala photo business.
  • Onio (オニオ Onio)[note 1] is a Saiyan who resembles Suppaman from Toriyama's manga Dr. Slump. He first appears on Earth on honeymoon and desires to conquer the Earth and wipe out its inhabitants in order to make it a vacation home. He and his wife take a photo with the "koala" Neko Majin, but when Neko Majin fondles his wife's breasts, he becomes enraged and transforms into a Super Saiyan. However, he is quickly defeated.[ch Z1] He returns with Kuriza for further encounters with Neko Majin.[ch Z2][ch Z3]
  • Thunderbolt is a nationally renowned fighter who is challenged by Neko Majin Z. He, too, has a girlfriend that he calls "Honey". In his fight with Neko Majin Z, he realizes that he is no match, and tries to get out of the battle except that Honey irks Z on.[ch Z2]
  • Kuriza (クリーザ Kurīza)[note 2]is the son of Dragon Ball Z villain, Freeza; he resembles his father except that his head is in the shape of a chestnut. He is called by Onio to destroy Neko Majin, but run out of pages for the fight[ch Z2] He later plays soccer with the gang.[ch Z3] He frequently mentions that Neko Majin is wasting pages with meaningless comments and battle scenes.[ch Z2]

Dragon Ball characters

The manga series features cameo appearances by characters from Toriyama's Dragon Ball series:

  • Vegeta is called to Earth by Kuriza and Onio, who need help to defeat Neko Majin. Vegeta discovers that Neko Majin is surprisingly strong, but receives a cell phone call that requires him to return to his home planet.[note 3] He vows that he will never appear in another gag manga.[ch Z3]
  • Majin Boo makes a short appearance to help when Neko Majin Z is rendered helpless by Usagi Majin (the lesser-known rabbit version of Neko Majin). Every time Neko Majin was not in the scene, Boo would come out making people think he was Neko Majin. Neko Majin's design and abilities are obviously a copy of Majin Boo.[ch Z4]
  • Goku makes an appearance in the last chapter of Neko Majin Z where he spars with Neko Majin. He then tells Neko Majin there is a new evil that he needs help to defeat an elusive foe at his family home. When they get there, Neko Majin learns that it is just a mouse in the pantry.[ch Z5]

Manga

Originally a one-shot that bears little relation to Toriyama's other series, the first chapter of Neko Majin appeared in Weekly Shōnen Jump in April 1999 (WJ #22-23). Though there were some similarities, it did not become a self-parody of the Dragon Ball manga until Neko Majin Z, which had cameos of characters from the author's magnum opus. As of 2005, the series was completed with eight total chapters, five of which are Dragon Ball parodies. These chapters were compiled into a "kanzenban"-style package for release in Japan on April 4, 2005. The last chapter of Neko Majin Z was released in an issue of the North American monthly Shonen Jump magazine as a bonus to the special Dragon Ball collectors issue.

All eight chapters are collected in one volume, published by Shueisha's Jump Comics imprint.

In the October 2007 issue of the American version of Shonen Jump, Viz included a translation of Neko Majin Z issue 5. The rest has yet to be officially published in English.

The Kanzenban was published in French by Glénat in 2006 (a year after its original release). In February 2007 the Italian publisher Star Comics also released the Complete Edition (Kanzenban) containing all 8 chapters, using a green background cover instead of the original yellow.

Chapter list

All chapters of Neko Majin were originally published in Weekly/Monthly Shōnen Jump in Japan.

  • "Neko Majin ga Iru" (ネコマジンがいる "Neko Majin is Here"): April 1999 (Weekly Shōnen Jump, 1999 #22-23)
    • Neko Majin helps two "bad guys" when their motorcycle runs out of gas.
  • "Neko Majin ga Iru 2": August 1999 (Weekly Shōnen Jump, 1999 #37-38)
    • Neko Majin finds a spaceship and accidentally crashes it. The space aliens, who were going to abduct a girl, complain, so he calls a mechanic. He also gets into a scuffle with ally of justice Pete Kobayashi.
  • "Neko Majin Z" (ネコマジン Z): June 2001 (Monthly Shōnen Jump, 2001 #6)
    • Neko Majin (now known as Meko Majin Z) and a boy meet Onio and Honey, a Saiyan couple on their honeymoon. Neko Majin Z dresses as a koala and they try to get the couple to take a picture, but when Neko Majin Z grabs Honey's breasts, Onio gets upset and fights Neko Majin Z. Onio powers up to a Super Saiyan but Neko Majin Z does the same and defeats him.
  • "Neko Majin Z 2": August 2003 (Monthly Shōnen Jump, 2003 #9)
    • Neko Majin Z challenges celebrity fighter Thunderbolt when Onio returns with Kuriza. They want to fight Neko Majin Z but he is busy challenging Thunderbolt. Kuriza destroys Thunderbolt's car and then transforms to his final form. Neko Majin Z does the same, but they run out of pages to have a proper fight so everyone gives up.
  • "Neko Majin Mike" (ネコマジンみけ): August 2003 (Weekly Shōnen Jump, 2003 #37-38)
    • Neko Majin meets his friend Kojiro, who has become a teacher. Kojiro asks Neko Majin to sub for him in class, but to watch out for bully Asagiri Zame. Neko Majin beats Asagiri easily, then transforms to Kojiro as he leads the class on a field trip and helps Kojiro deal with some shady merchants.
  • "Neko Majin Z 3": February 2004 (Monthly Shōnen Jump, 2004 #3)
    • Onio and Kuriza convince the visiting Vegeta to fight Neko Majin Z.
  • "Neko Majin Z 4": January 2005 (Monthly Shōnen Jump, 2005 #1)
    • The boy meets Majin Boo and learns he is quite strong. Neko Majin Z wants to challenge Boo, but they summon Usagi Majin instead, who has been absorbing some of the other neko majins and who extorts Neko Majin Z.
  • "Neko Majin Z 5": February 2005 (Monthly Shōnen Jump, 2005 #2)
    • Neko Majin Z meets his teacher, Goku; they do some sparring. Goku later asks him for help with a problem that he cannot defeat at home, but it turns out to be chasing down a rat.

Legacy

Neko Majin characters have appeared in Dragon Ball related video games. In the Japanese version of the video game Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2, Freeza has an alternate outfit where he assumes the form of Kuriza and has a chestnut-shaped Death Ball attack.[citation needed] Neko Majin Z appears as a secret support character in the Japanese version of Dragon Ball Z: Supersonic Warriors 2.

Notes

  1. ↑ As with the other Saiyans, Toriyama picks an English vegetable name for Onio, after the English word "onion".
  2. ↑ Kuriza's name is a portmanteau of Kuri (クリー Kurī, "chestnut") and Freeza.
  3. ↑ Although Onio thinks Vegeta is pretending to withdraw from the fight, Vegeta insists that his cell phone was on silent mode.[ch Z3]

References

Manga references
  • Neko Majin ga Iru (ネコマジンがいる "Neko Majin is Here"): April 1999 (Weekly Shōnen Jump, 1999 #22-23)
  • Neko Majin ga Iru 2: August 1999 (Weekly Shōnen Jump, 1999 #37-38)
  • Neko Majin Z (ネコマジン Z): June 2001 (Monthly Shōnen Jump, 2001 #6)
  • Neko Majin Z 2: August 2003 (Monthly Shōnen Jump, 2003 #9)
  • Neko Majin Mike (ネコマジンみけ): August 2003 (Weekly Shōnen Jump, 2003 #37-38)
  • Neko Majin Z 3: February 2004 (Monthly Shōnen Jump, 2004 #3)
  • Neko Majin Z 4: January 2005 (Monthly Shōnen Jump, 2005 #1)
  • Neko Majin Z 5: February 2005 (Monthly Shōnen Jump, 2005 #2)
Other references

    External links

    Works
    Character designer
    This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike; additional terms may apply for the media files.