How Eguchi Hisashi's Manga About a Trans Girl Nearly Ended "Dr. Slump" Early

[JulieYBM]

An interesting tweet summarizing an interview with mangaka Eguchi Hisashi (not to be confused with the Dragon Ball animator) came across my timeline earlier this morning.

Former Weekly Shonen Jump editor Kazuhiko Torishima revealed in a recent interview that "Stop!! Hibari-kun!" by Hisashi Eguchi was so popular, editorial considered letting Akira Toriyama quit writing Dr. Slump early.

He explained that due to Slump's gradual loss in popularity, Toriyama repeatedly requested to end the manga early. Hibari-kun was in position to lead the magazine since it was "overwhelming No. 1", so editorial was open to the idea of Slump ending.

However, due to Eguchi's increasingly late manuscripts, they barred Toriyama from ending Slump halfway through the agreement.

In the same interview, Eguchi expressed interest in starting a new manga. But he noncommittal to it ever happening.

While there is some...very out-dated elements to Stop!! Hibari-kun! I am fascinated by the notion that not only did the massively successful Dr. Slump nearly fall to a comic about a cute trans girl wrapping everyone about her finger, but that if it hadn't ended serialization so soon we might have had more manga taking after it. Heck, assuming that Dragon Ball still eventually happened, could you imagine if Toriyama had made Blooma be a transgender girl? I'm sure I would be even more critical of how Blooma is written, but I'm also kind of just fascinated by the thought.

[VegettoEX]

This is all super fascinating stuff, but as always, I wonder if the real story is somewhere in the middle, or at least muddled a little bit.

We've been repeatedly told that Dr. Slump's popularity started taking off wildly once things like tournaments and longer story arcs were introduced... which is, what, around the chapter 100 mark with the Grand Prix? I guess there were some two-parters before that, and especially the Caramel Men in the 60s...

But that's about a third to halfway through its run! So did it peak and then just exponentially drop (after all, they said "gradual"...)? I find that hard to believe considering what a short/compressed time frame that would have been (though I guess two years in pre-Internet time was an eternity), and how long Shueshia and Toei kept Dr. Slump alive with new movies, contemporary with Dragon Ball, long after it ended.

So maybe it does all add up!

Toriyama constantly asking to be done doesn't sound remotely untrue, though . We know he wanted out.

[JulieYBM]

Yeah, I'm curious what the exact mood was behind the scenes. Like, surely the animated adaption—which began only fourteen months after the comic did—was helping pull in a lot more money, so I'm surprised that there was already a financial hiccup of sorts. Or was it less financial, and more the weird worshipping of the reader surveys? Less fan mail or phone calls? I'm not sure.

Toriyama essentially wanting out reminds me a lot of his ultimatum for making Gokuu an adult three-ish years later, too. Torishima relenting so long as it meant that he got to keep his golden goose in JUMP seemed to be a recurring thing now lol

[Cure Dragon 255]

An interesting tweet summarizing an interview with mangaka Eguchi Hisashi (not to be confused with the Dragon Ball animator) came across my timeline earlier this morning.

Former Weekly Shonen Jump editor Kazuhiko Torishima revealed in a recent interview that "Stop!! Hibari-kun!" by Hisashi Eguchi was so popular, editorial considered letting Akira Toriyama quit writing Dr. Slump early.

He explained that due to Slump's gradual loss in popularity, Toriyama repeatedly requested to end the manga early. Hibari-kun was in position to lead the magazine since it was "overwhelming No. 1", so editorial was open to the idea of Slump ending.

However, due to Eguchi's increasingly late manuscripts, they barred Toriyama from ending Slump halfway through the agreement.

In the same interview, Eguchi expressed interest in starting a new manga. But he noncommittal to it ever happening.

While there is some...very out-dated elements to Stop!! Hibari-kun! I am fascinated by the notion that not only did the massively successful Dr. Slump nearly fall to a comic about a cute trans girl wrapping everyone about her finger, but that if it hadn't ended serialization so soon we might have had more manga taking after it. Heck, assuming that Dragon Ball still eventually happened, could you imagine if Toriyama had made Blooma be a transgender girl? I'm sure I would be even more critical of how Blooma is written, but I'm also kind of just fascinated by the thought.

I really wanted to talk about Stop! Hibari-kun but was afraid it didnt get trans people right and my privilege would show. Thank goodness you like it Julie.

I even wonder if Shen Long can give a trans character a body change, like they can now conceive children as the gender they identify with.

[Cure Dragon 255]

An interesting tweet summarizing an interview with mangaka Eguchi Hisashi (not to be confused with the Dragon Ball animator) came across my timeline earlier this morning.

Former Weekly Shonen Jump editor Kazuhiko Torishima revealed in a recent interview that "Stop!! Hibari-kun!" by Hisashi Eguchi was so popular, editorial considered letting Akira Toriyama quit writing Dr. Slump early.

He explained that due to Slump's gradual loss in popularity, Toriyama repeatedly requested to end the manga early. Hibari-kun was in position to lead the magazine since it was "overwhelming No. 1", so editorial was open to the idea of Slump ending.

However, due to Eguchi's increasingly late manuscripts, they barred Toriyama from ending Slump halfway through the agreement.

In the same interview, Eguchi expressed interest in starting a new manga. But he noncommittal to it ever happening.

While there is some...very out-dated elements to Stop!! Hibari-kun! I am fascinated by the notion that not only did the massively successful Dr. Slump nearly fall to a comic about a cute trans girl wrapping everyone about her finger, but that if it hadn't ended serialization so soon we might have had more manga taking after it. Heck, assuming that Dragon Ball still eventually happened, could you imagine if Toriyama had made Blooma be a transgender girl? I'm sure I would be even more critical of how Blooma is written, but I'm also kind of just fascinated by the thought.

I really wanted to talk about Stop! Hibari-kun but was afraid it didnt get trans people right and my privilege would show. Thank goodness you like it Julie.

I even wonder if Shen Long can give a trans character a body change, like they can now conceive children as the gender they identify with.

[Majin Buu]

While there is some...very out-dated elements to Stop!! Hibari-kun! I am fascinated by the notion that not only did the massively successful Dr. Slump nearly fall to a comic about a cute trans girl wrapping everyone about her finger, but that if it hadn't ended serialization so soon we might have had more manga taking after it. Heck, assuming that Dragon Ball still eventually happened, could you imagine if Toriyama had made Blooma be a transgender girl? I'm sure I would be even more critical of how Blooma is written, but I'm also kind of just fascinated by the thought.

I could see him taking the Bulma jokes we got and simply adding "She's actually a guy! Har har" to the punchline.

With Roshi, he could have Roshi do the whole "eww gross *vomit*" thing, but that seems too straightforward. A more Toriyama punchline would be that he continues to sexually harass her because he conveniently keeps forgetting that she's trans to the point of effectively not caring.

[JulieYBM]

While there is some...very out-dated elements to Stop!! Hibari-kun! I am fascinated by the notion that not only did the massively successful Dr. Slump nearly fall to a comic about a cute trans girl wrapping everyone about her finger, but that if it hadn't ended serialization so soon we might have had more manga taking after it. Heck, assuming that Dragon Ball still eventually happened, could you imagine if Toriyama had made Blooma be a transgender girl? I'm sure I would be even more critical of how Blooma is written, but I'm also kind of just fascinated by the thought.

I could see him taking the Bulma jokes we got and simply adding "She's actually a guy! Har har" to the punchline.

With Roshi, he could have Roshi do the whole "eww gross *vomit*" thing, but that seems too straightforward. A more Toriyama punchline would be that he continues to sexually harass her because he conveniently keeps forgetting that she's trans to the point of effectively not caring.

Yeah, there would have been a ton of vomiting scenes.

Hell, the Red Ribbon Army scene would have been even worse.

:/

[Dr. Casey]

An interesting tweet summarizing an interview with mangaka Eguchi Hisashi (not to be confused with the Dragon Ball animator) came across my timeline earlier this morning.

Former Weekly Shonen Jump editor Kazuhiko Torishima revealed in a recent interview that "Stop!! Hibari-kun!" by Hisashi Eguchi was so popular, editorial considered letting Akira Toriyama quit writing Dr. Slump early.

He explained that due to Slump's gradual loss in popularity, Toriyama repeatedly requested to end the manga early. Hibari-kun was in position to lead the magazine since it was "overwhelming No. 1", so editorial was open to the idea of Slump ending.

However, due to Eguchi's increasingly late manuscripts, they barred Toriyama from ending Slump halfway through the agreement.

In the same interview, Eguchi expressed interest in starting a new manga. But he noncommittal to it ever happening.

While there is some...very out-dated elements to Stop!! Hibari-kun! I am fascinated by the notion that not only did the massively successful Dr. Slump nearly fall to a comic about a cute trans girl wrapping everyone about her finger, but that if it hadn't ended serialization so soon we might have had more manga taking after it. Heck, assuming that Dragon Ball still eventually happened, could you imagine if Toriyama had made Blooma be a transgender girl? I'm sure I would be even more critical of how Blooma is written, but I'm also kind of just fascinated by the thought.

I really wanted to talk about Stop! Hibari-kun but was afraid it didnt get trans people right and my privilege would show. Thank goodness you like it Julie.

I even wonder if Shen Long can give a trans character a body change, like they can now conceive children as the gender they identify with.

Definitely he can, that's a very minor ask for someone who can do things like revive the entire human population.

[Cure Dragon 255]

I wonder why Julie never brought up such a wish, it would be so interesting. A lil bit of sweet fantasy for LGBT people and such a departure from the usual take Dragon Ball has on queer people.

[ThunderPX]

It's kinda crazy to learn that Hibari-kun was so popular, considering I never heard about it until a few years ago when trans YouTubers started promoting it.

I dunno if the manga continuing would have really had much of a knock-on effect on other works or the general way cis people think about trans people, though. At best, people just tend to ignore that which doesn't align with their own understanding of the world. Considering the amount of blatantly trans characters in anime that people will tie themselves in knots to justify as being literally anything else, I could absolutely see a lot of people reading and enjoying Hibari-kun and then still saying "But in the end he's still a guy, though..." (ugh)

[JulieYBM]

It's kinda crazy to learn that Hibari-kun was so popular, considering I never heard about it until a few years ago when trans YouTubers started promoting it.

I dunno if the manga continuing would have really had much of a knock-on effect on other works or the general way cis people think about trans people, though. At best, people just tend to ignore that which doesn't align with their own understanding of the world. Considering the amount of blatantly trans characters in anime that people will tie themselves in knots to justify as being literally anything else, I could absolutely see a lot of people reading and enjoying Hibari-kun and then still saying "But in the end he's still a guy, though..." (ugh)

I watched the first two episodes of the Toei Animation animated adaption and it was the most amazing thing, because this poor girl is misgendered and subjected to all the same shit trans women face in real life, but then manages to keep everyone wrapped around her finger. She's amazing. She posts like a Twitter egirl, it's kind of amazing to see that style of sharp wittiness in the form of a comic/cartoon character.

[coola]

Hibari voice actress was really good, shame she retired not long after series ends, after marry Toru Furuya.

And while Kosaku bodyguard was really creepy at times (especially while waking up "young master" ) Romance subplot with one of Hibari classmates was really sweet.

[MasenkoHA]

It's kinda crazy to learn that Hibari-kun was so popular, considering I never heard about it until a few years ago when trans YouTubers started promoting it.

Most of the anime that seemed to get brought over outside Japan back then was either toyetic and easy to market and sell to children or hyperviolent and easy to sell to young adults at the video store. Stop! Hibari-kun was neither.

If it had been made today it likely would have become extremely popular outside Japan.

[JulieYBM]

It's kinda crazy to learn that Hibari-kun was so popular, considering I never heard about it until a few years ago when trans YouTubers started promoting it.

Most of the anime that seemed to get brought over outside Japan back then was either toyetic and easy to market and sell to children or hyperviolent and easy to sell to young adults at the video store. Stop! Hibari-kun was neither.

If it had been made today it likely would have become extremely popular outside Japan.

Yeah, if JUMP was putting out a gender bender or outright trans story like this, it would probably be really popular overseas. Trans women flock to whatever gendery manga we can these days, but most of them are either indie comics posted on Twitter/Pixiv, self-published paperbacks sold at events, or the occasional smaller magazine will do a gender bender series with a supernatural or sci-fi/advanced science element to do instant transformation.

What makes Hibari-kun interesting is that she doesn't appear to be either, despite the gag nature of the series. Like, obviously she's passing as a cis girl flawlessly without—I assume—HRT (which, while not impossible IRL, is less likely), but it's still a series that's settled into a mostly realistic setting, so I think that helps set it apart.

I need more gender manga, especially manga that actually just deal with transitioning in Japan realistically. That seems like it would be really ripe for telling stories about because of how difficult it is over there. I also enjoy the non-realistic stories, but they seldom really tackle gender or sexuality in a way that acknowledges real world depictions in an overt way. I've been reading Zenbu Kimi no Sei and Danshi Kokoseidakedo Gyaru ni TS Shimashita lately, and while there's some hints at those kinds of things, I want these stories to stop beating around the bush. >_<

It's fascinating to see that JUMP could have had a lot more trans influence if Hibari-kun had kept running. I could only imagine how that could have been helpful to readers.

[jjgp1112]

This is all super fascinating stuff, but as always, I wonder if the real story is somewhere in the middle, or at least muddled a little bit.

We've been repeatedly told that Dr. Slump's popularity started taking off wildly once things like tournaments and longer story arcs were introduced... which is, what, around the chapter 100 mark with the Grand Prix? I guess there were some two-parters before that, and especially the Caramel Men in the 60s...

But that's about a third to halfway through its run! So did it peak and then just exponentially drop (after all, they said "gradual"...)? I find that hard to believe considering what a short/compressed time frame that would have been (though I guess two years in pre-Internet time was an eternity), and how long Shueshia and Toei kept Dr. Slump alive with new movies, contemporary with Dragon Ball, long after it ended.

So maybe it does all add up!

Toriyama constantly asking to be done doesn't sound remotely untrue, though . We know he wanted out.

Kinda reminds me of how Larry David would constantly threaten to quit Seinfeld over the most minor bullshit. Just looking for any reason to jump off the plank.

[Dbzfan94]

An interesting tweet summarizing an interview with mangaka Eguchi Hisashi (not to be confused with the Dragon Ball animator) came across my timeline earlier this morning.

Former Weekly Shonen Jump editor Kazuhiko Torishima revealed in a recent interview that "Stop!! Hibari-kun!" by Hisashi Eguchi was so popular, editorial considered letting Akira Toriyama quit writing Dr. Slump early.

He explained that due to Slump's gradual loss in popularity, Toriyama repeatedly requested to end the manga early. Hibari-kun was in position to lead the magazine since it was "overwhelming No. 1", so editorial was open to the idea of Slump ending.

However, due to Eguchi's increasingly late manuscripts, they barred Toriyama from ending Slump halfway through the agreement.

In the same interview, Eguchi expressed interest in starting a new manga. But he noncommittal to it ever happening.

While there is some...very out-dated elements to Stop!! Hibari-kun! I am fascinated by the notion that not only did the massively successful Dr. Slump nearly fall to a comic about a cute trans girl wrapping everyone about her finger, but that if it hadn't ended serialization so soon we might have had more manga taking after it. Heck, assuming that Dragon Ball still eventually happened, could you imagine if Toriyama had made Blooma be a transgender girl? I'm sure I would be even more critical of how Blooma is written, but I'm also kind of just fascinated by the thought.

I really wanted to talk about Stop! Hibari-kun but was afraid it didnt get trans people right and my privilege would show. Thank goodness you like it Julie.

I even wonder if Shen Long can give a trans character a body change, like they can now conceive children as the gender they identify with.

If Porunga can “put Krillin’s body back together” after he was blown up I don’t see why they can’t simply change their appearance. Though Shenron could only remove the bombs from the androids and not turn them fully human again so it’s a toss up

[JulieYBM]

If Shen Long can't make me pregnant, what even is the point of being a wish-granting dragon god? Smh

(But no, really, that's some fucked up shit, I hope nobody ever decides that that's a thing)

[Cure Dragon 255]

If Shen Long can't make me pregnant, what even is the point of being a wish-granting dragon god? Smh

(But no, really, that's some fucked up shit, I hope nobody ever decides that that's a thing)

I really hope you dont mean my post.

[JulieYBM]

If Shen Long can't make me pregnant, what even is the point of being a wish-granting dragon god? Smh

(But no, really, that's some fucked up shit, I hope nobody ever decides that that's a thing)

I really hope you dont mean my post.

I mean that it would fucked up—and random—if some weirdo who is involved with the franchise went out of their way to officially say "Shen Long can't do anything about changing a trans person's body."

[Cure Dragon 255]

If Shen Long can't make me pregnant, what even is the point of being a wish-granting dragon god? Smh

(But no, really, that's some fucked up shit, I hope nobody ever decides that that's a thing)

I really hope you dont mean my post.

I mean that it would fucked up—and random—if some weirdo who is involved with the franchise went out of their way to officially say "Shen Long can't do anything about changing a trans person's body."

PHEW! I thought you meant "Cure Dragon your "trans people get the bodies they want" post was bad."

Thank it wasnt!