Dr. Slump Primer

[Herms]

To go along with podcast episode #288, I wanted to make a thread to likewise serve as a quick intro to Dr. Slump in order to make the Slump/DB crossover more understandable to people unfamiliar with Toriyama's earlier series. But I got kinda lazy, so I'm just posting the notes I wrote for the podcast. There's various stuff we skipped over for the podcast, mostly the "Easter egg" cameos unique to the anime; I've explained in brief who those various blink-or-you're-miss-them characters are. I've also appended an explanation of the Slump characters' name puns onto the end here.

For a slightly more detailed explanation of the major Slump characters, the ones who appear in the manga, check out the Kanzentai Character Guide page on Dr. Slump characters. What's more, you can click on the names of the more major characters to see their Daizenshuu 7 profile.

Dr. Slump overview
Series
--Toriyama’s first serialized manga; ran from 1980 to 1984
--Followed string of one-shots like Awawa World, Wonder Island, and Tomota: Girl Detective
--Characters such as Suppa Man and Nikochan debuted in these earlier works
--Extremely popular; vol.6 had a first edition run of over 2.2 million volumes, setting record
--Won Shogakukan shonen/shojo manga award in 1982
--Two anime adaptations: one before DB, one after GT

Story and setting
--Centers around inventor Senbe and his inventions, most prominently the robot Arale
--Set in Penguin Village, a bumpkin village on Gengoro Island, ostensibly part of Japan
--Gag manga with mostly self-contained stories
--Surreal style; often breaks fourth wall, and Toriyama himself frequently appears as character

Characters
--“Anime” below refers to the anime version of the DB/Dr. Slump crossover, rather than the Dr. Slump anime series. All Slump characters and places who appear in DB originate in the Slump manga and are not anime-only characters. Names are written in Japanese order, save for characters whose names the Japanese version itself gives in Western order.

Norimaki household
Norimaki Senbe
--titular “Dr. Slump”
--genius (?) inventor, creator of Arale
--originally intended as main character
--Pervert; the Kame-sennin of the series
--Eventually marries Midori, fathers Turbo
--Can briefly shift into “handsome” mode
--Tries to fix Dragon Radar, but too complicated for him

Norimaki Arale
--“perfectly human” android built by Senbe
--Made main character at Torishima’s insistence
--Passes as regular girl; only Senbe and Obotcha Man know she’s a robot
--Supposedly 13 year old (later 17), but doesn’t look her age and never changes
--Demented; obsessed with poop, monsters, wrestling, dress-up, etc
--Absurdly powerful; splits Earth in half with a punch, runs at supersonic speed
--Power source is “Robobitan A”; drinks it out of baby bottle
--Becomes mayor of Penguin Village at end of Slump
--Follows Goku around, beats Blue

Norimaki Gajira (Gatchan)
--Angel sent to Earth by God (of the galaxy) in prehistoric times to halt technological progress
--Arale and co. find its egg while time-travelling and take it to present, where it hatches
--Named by Arale (Gamera+Gajira); almost universally called “Gatchan”
--Devours anything except rubber, but prefers machines
--Asexually divides every few years; two at present, eight in the future
--Speaks its own language; Arale understands it instinctively, and Turbo can actually speak it
--At least as strong as Arale; she mentions their strength to Goku

Norimaki Midori
--Maiden name “Yamabuki”
--Arale’s middle school teacher; later marries Senbe and gives birth to Turbo

Norimaki Turbo
--Senbe and Midori’s infant son
--Hit by UFO; aliens revive him with experimental technology that gives him super-genius intellect
--Already smarter than Senbe, can talk, and has various psychic powers
--Despite intelligence still talks with babyish lisp
--Counteracts Blue’s psychic powers, builds new Dragon Radar

Soramame household
Soramame Taro
--Arale’s close friend
--A teen hoodlum who smokes and drinks while still in middle school
--Joins police after graduating high school
--Dates Tsururin; marry in future
--Can’t ride Kinto-un in anime; helps rest of police fight off RR

Soramame Peasuke
--Taro’s younger brother, wears cat-ear hat
--Looks like little kid but is 17; never gets taller, even as an adult
--“good kid” compared to Taro

Soramame Kurikinton
--Taro and Peasuke’s father; town barber and former detective
--Parody of Clint Eastwood; Kurikinton (chestnut-sweetened mashed potatoes)=Clint
--Doesn’t appear in anime, but his barber shop does

Kimidori household
Kimidori Akane
--Arale’s close friend and teen delinquent
--Dating Tsukutsun; marry in future
--Can’t ride Kinto-un in anime

Kimidori Aoi
--Akane’s older sister
--Runs the “Coffee Pot”

Tsun household
--Family from China who crash-land in Penguin Village while flying to moon
--Speak in fake-Chinese amongst themselves, broken Japanese to Penguin Villagers

Tsun Tsukutsun
--Son; younger than Tsururin, but taller
--Turns into tiger when touched by women, changes back when touched by men
--Martial artist; stronger than Arale/Gatchan when angry
--In anime Akane wonders if he knows Goku

Tsun Tsururin
--Daughter and oldest child; has psychic powers
--Seen on date with Taro in manga, but not in anime

Tsun Tsuruten
--Father; an inventor and pervert
--Manga scene where he appears gets cut, but he appears elsewhere as Easter egg

Tsun Tsuntsunodanoteiyugo
--Mother; name a joke on “Tsun-Tsun! Tsunoda’s T.U. Model” commercial
--Appears in manga but not anime

Obotcha Man
Obotcha Man
--Android created by Senbe’s rival, Dr. Mashirito
--Originally “Caramel Man No.4”, but renamed by readers
--Built with same design as Arale; equal to her in power but completely opposite in personality
--Created to destroy Arale, but falls in love with her and betrays Mashirito
--Mistakenly thinks Suppa Man’s house is abandoned and takes it as his own
--Becomes milkman, has two pet cats
--In future marries Arale; Senbe builds baby robot for them
--In anime fixes Blue’s (stolen) car; rest is history

Aliens
Suppa Man
--Superman parody; alien from Ukaka-Ume Boshi come to protect Earth
--Incompetent superhero good only at punishing those who make fun of him
--Secret identity: reporter Kura-aku Kenta
--House stolen by Obotcha Man; lives in tent thereafter (which we see in anime)
--Fails to stop Blue, who takes his car
--In anime gives TV report on RR Army

Nikochan
--Self-styled “king of universe”, ruler of Planet Nikochan
--Always accompanied by faithful servant
--Stuck on Earth after Gatchan eats spaceship
--Eventually gets home thanks to Senbe
--In manga gives V-sign in background without explanation
--In anime has returned to Earth to steal precious resources (garbage)
--Police mistake his UFO for RR Army weapon and shoot it down

Police
--All only appear in anime, save for Taro
--Know of RR and panic when they learn it has come to Penguin Village
--Mistake Nikochan’s spaceship for RR and shoot it down

Gala and Pagos
--Gala: tall mustache one; Pagos=short black one
--Patrol car constantly smashed by Arale
--Blue steals their patrol car, smashed by Arale and eaten by Gatchan

Gaos
--Police chief; short with handlebar mustache

Polly Buckets
--Young woman; airhead who constantly shoots for no reason

Charmy Yamada
--Transferred from Metropolis Island (name in Western order)
--Only competent officer, but overzealous

School
Middle school and high school principles
--Middle school: middle-aged guy with glasses
--High school: humanoid boar
--In anime Goku questions them while looking for Blue

Kurigashira Daigoro
--Arale’s high school teacher
--Gigantic chestnut-shaped head (hence Kuri-gashira)
--Gives V-sign in manga; in anime Goku questions him while looking for Blue

Misc
The Sun
--Anthropomorphic sun; frequently featured in gags (eats breakfast, brushes teeth, oversleeps, etc)
--Only in anime

Haru
--Old lady who runs tobacco stand
--Joke on Haru being Japanese for “spring” (“Spring has come!”)
--Only in anime; Goku questions her while looking for Blue

Sarada Kinoko
--Little girl with shades who rides tricycle
--Obsessed with hipness and fashion, despite age
--Scornful those around her for not being hip
--In anime Goku questions her while looking for Blue

Bespectacled pig
--Stands in tree announcing the time; serves as introduction to the crossover

Monsters
--Various ones appear: One-Eyed Kid, kappa, Gamera, etc
--Only in anime

Easter eggs
Characters or things which make a brief appearance in the anime.

Café Rupan
--Café which Senbe mistook for “No Pan(ties)”-themed restaurant, due to broken sign
--In anime Tsuruten shown standing outside, when Blue first flies into town

Pig couple
--In Slump their date was wrecked by Charmy Yamada
--Repeat background characters in anime

Tora-hachiro
--Tiger man who became bitter after pet sparrow died
--Arale gets him new sparrows and cheers him up
--Shown fishing with sparrows in anime when Blue flies into town

Kanta and alligator
--Two local kids
--Kanta assumed to be a tanuki and learns to shape-shift, but actually a panda
--In anime shown watching Arale run by

The three poops
--Stars of full-color side-story
--Middle one is Senbe’s, small one is sparrow’s, big one is cow’s
--In anime shown watching Arale run by

Donbe the fox
--Shape-shifting fox who Arale befriends
--In anime shown watching her run by; questioned by Goku

Mask kid and mouse
--Arale’s nameless classmates
--Kid has same fox mask as Grandpa Gohan
--In anime Goku questions them while looking for Blue

Drampire and henchman
--Drampire: vampire (get it?) who craves blood and money
--Henchman: a Frankenstein monster who turns into a werewolf
--In anime shown flying over The Coffee Pot

Hippo-face farmer
--Frequent background character in Slump
--In anime Goku questions him while looking for Blue

Bibibin Man
--Alien fly-themed superhero
--In anime Goku questions him while looking for Blue

Parzan and Cheetah
--Tarzan parody who looks just like Suppa Man
--In anime Goku questions them while looking for Blue

Manga/Anime crossover differences

Manga version
--Begins exactly as if it were Dr. Slump chapter
--Arale and friends walk home from school, discussing their summer vacation plans
--Senbe, Taro, Tsururin, and numerous other characters pop up for no reason, simply so that they can make an appearance
--Arale walks all her friends to their homes (prompting more cameos from everyone’s parents), before Goku and Blue finally appear
--DB title page finally appears at this point

Anime version
--Goku and Blue don’t reach Penguin Village until midway through the episode
--Blue and Goku fly so fast everything turns strange colors
--Blue checks out Penguin Village to determine his location, prompting numerous cameos
--Akane and friends (sans Arale) are in The Coffee Pot discussing their summer plans; all the manga cameos from when the group walks home are cut, save for Senbe
--This means the rest of the Tsun family plus Kurikinton don’t appear in the anime; other characters get different cameos elsewhere (Nikochan, Kurigashira, etc)
--Arale off running outside on her own; numerous characters see her pass by, resulting in more cameos
--More cameos when Goku questions locals during his search for Blue
--Taro and Akane meet Goku, fail to ride Kinto-un
--Subplot where the police try to protect village from RR, only to take down Nikochan instead

Canon?!?!?!?!?!!??!

Inconsistencies between DB/Slump
--References to real-world countries
--References to real-world years rather than DB’s “Age” calendar
--Depiction of afterlife
--Depiction of “God of the galaxy” who’s not Kaio
--General craziness like having the Sun be alive, talking poop, mountains etc

Toriyama’s thoughts?
--Nothing…save for an un-sourced statement on Japanese Wikipedia claiming he said the two series existed in parallel worlds
--Knowing him, probably didn’t put too much thought into it
--Absence of capsules in Slump explained by Penguin Village being out in the sticks, so maybe he put some thought into it
--Anime depicts villagers knowing of RR, but also has trippy Goku/Blue chase sequence perhaps implying they enter an alternate dimension
--At time DB was much closer to Slump; most inconsistencies come from later developments in DB

Possible solutions
--#1: The Slump and DB series take place in the same universe; the inconsistencies are purely due to Toriyama’s writing style and no different than DB’s internal inconsistencies
--#2: The Slump and DB series are in separate universes, but DB’s world contains alternate versions of the Slump characters, who Goku meets
--#3: The Slump and DB series are in separate universes, but Goku/Blue briefly cross over into the Slump universe
--#4: Just don’t think about it. Ever.

Name Puns

Dr. Slump Characters
I wrote these up for my Name Pun Round-Up. Again, names are in Japanese order, mostly because this makes some of the puns easier to explain.

Norimaki Household
Norimaki Arale
Her family name is taken from norimaki, rice wrapped in seaweed. Meanwhile, “Arale” comes from arare, short for arare-mochi, square roasted pieces of mochi flavored with soy sauce or sugar. Norimaki arare, therefore, is arare-mochi wrapped in seaweed.
Source Spelling: 海苔巻き/norimaki + あられ/arare
Name Spelling: 則巻 アラレ/Norimaki Arare

Norimaki Senbei
Named after senbei, thin, flat, rice crackers; norimaki senbee refers to senbei wrapped in seaweed.
Source Spelling: 海苔巻き煎餅/norimaki-senbei
Name Spelling: 則巻千兵衛/Norimaki Senbee

Norimaki Midori
Senbei’s wife, and Arale’s formal teacher. “Midori” means “green”. Her maiden name is “Yamabuki”, taken from a golden yellow Japanese rose. In DB, Gohan describes the color of Goku’s martial arts uniform as the color of this rose.

Norimaki Turbo
Senbei and Midori’s son. Named because of Senbei’s car fixation . In the future, he gets a younger sister named “Nitro”.

Norimaki Gajira
Arale’s angelic companion, who eventually splits into two. Arale names him by combining the names of two famous giant monsters, “Gamera” and “Gojira” (Godzilla).

Soramame Family

Soramame Tarou
Arale’s friend, who wears shades. His family has a bean theme. “Soramame” (literally “sky bean”) is the Japanese name for the broad bean, while “Tarou” is a generic Japanese name for the firstborn son.

Soramame Peasuke
A pun on ピース/piisu, “peas”, and 助/suke, a common element in Japanese given names.

Soramame Kurikinton
Tarou and Peasuke’s rather Clint Eastwood-ish father. “Kurikinton” refers to mashed sweet potatoes sweetened with chestnuts. It’s a regional specialty of the city of Nakatsugawa, in Gifu Prefecture.
Source Spelling: 栗きんとん/kurikinton
Name Spelling: 空豆 クリキントン/Soramame Kurikinto

Soramame Mame
Tarou and Peasuke’s mother, who might not actually appear in DB, now that I think of it. Anyway, her name simply comes from mame, Japanese for “bean” or “pea”.

Tsun Family

Tsun Tsukutsun
Arale’s pseudo-Chinese friend. His name comes from tsutsuku, meaning to poke or prod.

Tsun Tsuntsunodanoteiyuugou
Tsukutsun’s mother. Her name comes from the Tsunoda bike company, who had a popular commercial called “Tsun-Tsun Tsunoda’s T.U. Model”, with “T.U.” being a reference to the first two letters in “Tunoda”, the original alphabet spelling of the company’s name from back when they were first founded.
Source Spelling: つんつんツノダのテーユー（T.U）号/tsun-tsun Tsunoda no Teeyuu gou
Name Spelling: 摘詰角田野廷遊豪 /Tsun Tsuntsunodanoteiyuugou

Others

Kimidori Akane
Arale’s friend. Her family has a color theme running through it. 木/ki means “tree” and 緑/midori means “green”, and is a homonym for黄緑/kimidori, “pea green”, while Akane is a pun on aka, “red”. Her older sister, who appears briefly in DB, is named “Aoi” (blue/green). Their mother is named “Murasaki” (purple), and their father is “Kon” (navy blue).

Obotcha Man
A pun combining obotchama with “man”. Obotchama is a variant on obotchan, a polite term for someone’s son, often used to refer to a son from a wealthy family. It has connotations of said son being sheltered or spoiled, and in this sense is used to refer to Gohan in the title of DBZ’s first episode. Obotcha Man is named this for his extremely prim and proper manner. The character was originally named “Caramel Man No.4”, since he was one of Dr. Mashirito’s series of robots created to beat Arale and/or take over the world (a clear parallel to Gero and his androids). After the character joined Arale and co.’s side, Toriyama asked readers to come up with a new name for him, and “Obotcha Man” was the result.

Suppa Man
A pun on suppai, meaning “sour”, and “Superman”, the name of a certain dickish superhero. Suppa Man’s secret identity is 暗悪健太/Kura’aku Kenta, a pun on Clark Kent. 暗/kura=dark, 悪/aku=evil, and 健太/Kenta is a common Japanese given name.

Nikochan
A green alien who resides in Penguin Village, generally against his will. His name is possibly a reference to the children’s TV program Romper Room, the Japanese version of which featured a “Niko-Chan Balloon”.

Gala & Pagos
Two Penguin Village policemen who appear in the anime. Their names combine to form “Galapagos”, a reference to the Galapagos Islands.
Source Spelling: ガラパゴス諸島/Garapagosu-Shotou
Name Spelling: ガラ, パゴス/Gara, Pagosu

Kurigashira Daigorou
Arale’s big-headed teacher. “Kuri-Gashira” means “chestnut-head”, a reference to his enormous, chestnut-shaped head, while “Daigorou” is a Japanese name meaning “big fifth son”.
Name Spelling: 栗頭 大五郎/Kurigashira Daigorou

Sarada Kinoko
The little girl on the tricycle. “Sarada” is a pun on “salad”, while “Kinoko” means “mushroom”. So in other words it’s a pun on the mushrooms you put in a salad. In keeping with this theme, she has a little sister named “Lettuce”.
Source Spelling: サラダ/sarada + キノコ（茸）/kinoko
Name Spelling: 皿田 きのこ/Sarada Kinoko

[Jawdrahb]

Thank you sir, the episode was great and this content is highly appreciated. I'm looking very forward to reading the first volume this week.

[DBZGTKOSDH]

Thanks Herms! That's awesome information!