Dr. Slump, Vol. 1 [Paperback]

Akira Toriyama (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. The creator of worldwide megahit Dragon Ball, Toriyama is one of the giants of manga. Dr. Slump, which debuted in 1980, is Toriyama's twisted Sesame Street, a slapstick romp with an endearingly oddball cast of characters. Dr. Slump is Dr. Senbei Norimaki ("little rice cracker"). He creates the "perfect" robot in Arale ("even littler cracker"), who looks like an adorable 13-year-old girl. Arale has her faults, though: she's nearsighted, so must wear glasses, and she has some strange habits (e.g., she talks to human waste). She's also strong enough to send a man to another planet with one punch. Dr. Slump, meanwhile, pines for Arale's hot teacher, Ms. Yamabuki. The action takes place in Penguin Village, a small town, which like the Simpsons' Springfield is the gateway to endless comedy. Toriyama has created his own demented sitcom, and his fantastic imagination and comic invention never let up. Simple ideas—Arale trying to rescue a bear from the zoo, Slump inventing a "Future camera"—spin off into unexpected comic directions, and Toriyama never stints on visual humor (e.g., Arale trying out for various sports teams, Slump trying on x-ray specs so he can see naked women for the first time). The translation is a bit flat, but the uncommonly good storytelling more than makes up for it. (May)
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Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: VIZ Media LLC; 1 edition (May 3, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 159116950X
• ISBN-13: 978-1591169505
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #187,550 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of Japan's most popular manga, December 5, 2006

By 

Zack Davisson "japanreviewed" (Seattle, WA, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Dr. Slump, Vol. 1 (Paperback)

"Dr. Slump" is the kind of comic that is hugely popular in Japan, but not really well-known in the US. Probably because it doesn't fit people's image of what a "manga" is supposed to be. Its more like a newspaper-strip comic, full of short vignettes loaded with sharp jokes and puns. The humor is typically Japanese, full of body functions and naked girls.

Its kind of funny that Viz gives this a "Teen" rating, because "Dr. Slump" is targeted at the Elementary school level in Japan, which really shows the different level of body-comfort between the two societies. Even with the Teen rating, Viz has edited the series, removing most of the sexual references, nudity and alcohol humor.

This first volume sets up the series, with genius inventor Norimaki Senbei showing his skills by creating the perfect humanoid robot, Arale. But she isn't as perfect as he wanted. First off, she has bad vision and has to wear glasses. Second off, she has super strength, which isn't usually standard issue for little girls.

With the basic premise set up, they are off like a shot. A good example of the types of humor you will find is in the first story, when Arale takes a shower at school and notices that the other girls have something she doesn't. She instantly demands one from Senbei, who admits he didn't give her one because he has never seen one before, and didn't know what they look like. Off Senbei goes on a quest to see a naked woman for the first time, so he can perfect his robot girl.

The series is really devastatingly funny. Its too bad that Viz felt the need to edit the series, but I guess that's just the nature of the business. Pick up the first volume and you are going to find yourself hooked.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Funny, goofy and a littie insane., August 28, 2006

By 

Kenny J. Watson - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Dr. Slump, Vol. 1 (Paperback)

Befor he created "Dragonball Z", Akira Toriyama did something much different. "Dr. Slump" is a silly comedy where you won't find big strong bruts ponding each other, insted you get a little girl ponding big strong bruts... and loving every minute!

Mad inventor Senbei Norimaki (the "Dr. Slump" of the title) builds a robot girl to show the world how great he is, yet he masquerades her as a real girl. His "Perfect Humanoid Robot" has a few flaws, however. Having
been literally born yesterday, the little robot (named Arale) does not understand the world, and the world just can't understand her! She has very weird ways of having fun (loves to poke poop on the grond!) She is also super strong, and does not know her own strength. The good doctor has his work cut out for him if he whants to keep her from blowing her cover! Also the perverted senbei falls in love with Arale's new teacher, Midori Yamabuki. Can he win her heart?

Being the first book in the series, the art is a little different from later volumes (Arale looks older than she will later). Other than that this is a fun book with Looney Tunes like humer.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Cute cartoon manga from the creator of "Dragon Ball", July 10, 2005

By 

Brian Camp (Bronx, NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Dr. Slump, Vol. 1 (Paperback)

"Dr. Slump" is a collection of comic book gag stories about a slew of eccentric characters including a brilliant scientist with a severe case of arrested development (Dr. Norimaki, aka "Dr. Slump"), the mischievous, super-powered robot girl he invents (Arale), her junior high school classmates, and a host of neighbors and locals. This first volume involves Arale's attempts to fit in at school (or, rather, get her classmates to fit in with HER) and figure out her place in Dr. Norimaki's chaotic household and the larger world. Several of the stories revolve around new gadgets invented by Dr. N, including a ray gun that can make things large or small, a time machine that takes them all back to a prehistoric age of dinosaurs and cavemen, and a camera that can take pictures of people as they'll look in the future. One story involves Arale switching places with classmate Akane, with each one dressing up like the other. All the stories are funny and charming and a delight to read.

The closest equivalent to an American comic of this type would be the old Harvey Comics characters of the Baby Huey, Little Lotta and Casper the Friendly Ghost variety, or maybe the Sabrina series from Archie Comics. "Dr. Slump" is a little more wickedly imaginative and has a harder-edged sense of humor, including various sexual references that will be funny to adolescent and teen readers but will probably (hopefully) go over the heads of younger readers--who should not be deprived of the opportunity to read this, especially if they already have an interest in anime and manga.

"Dr. Slump" was first published in 1980 and has finally arrived in English thanks to the extraordinary popularity of "Dragon Ball" and "Dragon Ball Z," two later series by Slump's creator, Akira Toriyama. Like DB and DBZ, "Dr. Slump" was adapted into an animated TV series (1981-86), but has yet to be shown in the U.S. Aside from a cameo appearance by Arale in the third Dragon Ball movie, MYSTICAL ADVENTURE, the only glimpse American viewers previously had of any of the Slump characters in animated form was in the "Dragon Ball" animated TV series in episodes 54-57 (found on DB Volume 20: "General Blue: Lost in Penguin Village"), where Goku pays a visit to Penguin Village and the Dr. Slump universe.

I own a tape of "Megapolis the Dream City" (1985), a 38-minute Dr. Slump animated movie (in Japanese with no English subtitles) and while I missed a lot because of the lack of translation, I still enjoyed its visual imagination, slapstick humor, and abundance of movie references. Let's hope that the manga proves successful enough to induce an adventurous distributor to release the "Dr. Slump" anime TV series and movies in English as well.