Customer Reviews

Dr. Slump, Vol. 1

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"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.

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.

"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.

Dr. Slump is a timeless classic, and it is Akira Toriyama's original big hit. Fans of the comedy found in his original Dragonball series (pre-"Z") will absolutely love the slapstick presented in Dr. Slump (in fact, hardcore DB fans might even recall a little cameo by Senbee and Arale!). If you enjoy a good laugh, don't hesistate to check this out.

Before "Dragon Ball" puts his name on the map internationally, creator Akira Toriyama was already a famous manga artist in Japan. He had created a hugely successful gag comic "Dr. Slump" and I can still remember the boom back in the early 80s, which was really phenomenal. Today, however, not many comic book fans (including Japanese ones) seem to read "Dr. Slump." It is sad because the book is very funny even after about 30 years.

The story revolves around the bumbling genius inventor Senbei Norimaki (or Dr. Slump) and his latest creation, a humanoid robot called Arale, who looks like an ordinary girl with glasses, but she has incredible superhuman strength. Moreover, she is prone to misunderstand or misinterpret what other people do or say, which gets her and her creator into a series of wacky misadventures.

The overall tone of the comic book resembles that of the earlier chapters of "Dragon Ball" (before the "Tenkaichi Budokai" martial arts contest) - well-developed characters, parodies, and jokes replete with sexual innuendoes. The illustrator Akira Toriyama (then only 26 yeas old) created this imaginative fantasy world of "Penguin Village" where humans, robot and talking animals live together. His jokes are still refreshing and witty (see how the main character breaks the "fourth wall" and its funny consequence)

"Dr. Slump" was serialized in one of the Japan's most popular magazines "Weekly Shonen Jump" from 1980 to 1984. It was made into animated TV series twice (1981-86) (1997-99). Volume One is just an introductory part (the comic comes in 18 volumes), and some of the comic's important characters do not appear here. There is no "battle" scene and no one gets killed as the village is a peaceful place. Instead, you will meet a delightfully brisk heroine (or robot) and a cast of colorful characters.

The English edition provides some helpful information about the verbal jokes.

Ah! I can actually see Akira Toriyama as Dr. Slump him self. This manga is great. You like Dragon Ball you'll probably love this one.