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Manga Guide

Dragon Ball Chapter 020

Tankōbon Title Page
Tankōbon Title Page
Kanzenban Title Page
Kanzenban Title Page
Full Color Title Page
Full Color Title Page

神龍への願い!!

Shenron e no Negai!!

The Wish to Shenlong!!

Chapter Information

Premiered: 16 April 1985 (Weekly Shōnen Jump 1985 #20)
Corresponding: Dragon Ball Episode 012, “The Wish to Shenlong”

Availability:
  • Digital Monochrome Edition Volume 02 (12 October 2012)

Chapter Synopsis

Everyone thinks that it’s too late to stop Pilaf as Shenlong asks him for his wish. Yamcha curses the situation, and Bulma cries about having gone through all this trouble for nothing. Pilaf prepares to make his wish, and Oolong tells Pu’er they should run away. But then he suddenly gets the idea to make a wish before Pilaf does. As Pilaf is making his wish, Oolong runs over and wishes for a pair of panties. Everyone watches as a pair of panties falls from the sky. “I have granted thy wish. Farewell.” Shenlong disappears, and the Dragon Balls disperse in seven different directions.

Yamcha and Bulma are happy that perverted Oolong saved the day, and Goku asks Bulma about all the Dragon Balls scattering like that. She tells him that that’s what happens after a wish is granted. He doesn’t like his grandpa’s ball being gone like that. Pilaf is pissed, and tells Mai and Shuu to catch the pig and cat. He threatens that he’ll kill them all. Later, Yamcha says it’s pathetic how easily they were caught, but Oolong says the bad guys had ray guns. The five of them are now trapped in a room with a glass ceiling, and steel walls. Goku thinks it’s easy to escape from this room with no ceiling. Bulma explains to him that it’s super reinforced glass. Nonetheless, Goku jumps up right into the glass, knocking him to the ground. Bulma says she told him so.

Yamcha’s pissed, saying they need to get out of here so they can go gather the Dragon Balls again. But Bulma says they can’t gather the Dragon Balls so soon. After a wish is granted, you can’t make another one for one year, as the Dragon Balls turn to stone for a year. Yamcha is disappointed that he’ll still be scared of women for another whole year, while Oolong wonders what they’ll do about this manga’s title. Pilaf then comes in through the PA system and declares that they’ll all be punished. He explains that in the middle of the day, the sun will make that glass ceiling room heat up intensely, like a toaster oven, killing them. Bulma starts whining about her skin, since she doesn’t have any sun oil. Bulma cries about being too young to become a mummy, Oolong cries about being roast pork, Yamcha is worried about his dream of marriage, Pu’er wants to pee, and Goku is hungry.

Chapter Notes

  • The title page for this chapter is not included in the tankōbon release.
  • Oolong is seen breaking the proverbial fourth wall by wondering what the author will call the manga now that the Dragon Balls have turned to stone for an entire year. Instances like this, while more common early on in the series, become quite rare as the manga evolved into an a more action oriented series.
  • Each issue of Weekly Shōnen Jump featured short comments from the various series’ authors, giving fans a brief insight into their current thoughts, ranging from series-related announcements to trivial happenings in their personal lives. Akira Toriyama’s comments from this issue were:
    部屋があまりちらかっていたので、そうじを始めたら、3日もかかったよ!<明>

    My room was so messy, it took me three whole days to clean it! <Akira>

    The constant state of disarray that Toriyama’s workroom is in is a recurring feature of his comments. The mess in question is usually boxes upon boxes of plastic models, but was taken over by tanks full of tropical fish while he was writing Kajika in 1998.

Page Breakdown

The majority of the Dragon Ball series was drawn in black and white, but chapters were occasionally published with color pages. This breakdown notes how many full-color, limited-color, and black-and-white pages appeared in this chapter. As the tankōbon volumes were not released with these colors intact, any color pages shown are taken from the kanzenban release.