Bulma (Resident Number TKM118755)

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Bulma
ブルマ (Buruma)
Name Pun	Bloomers
Manga Debut	Dragon Ball Chapter 68
Personal Data

Bulma — specifically West City Resident Number TKM118755 — is a fictional character in the Dragon Ball manga series by Akira Toriyama. A separate character from the main character named Bulma in the Dragon Ball series, this character — who is also simply named "Bulma" — makes her one and only appearance as a listing on a policeman's portable computer screen in chapter 68 of the original Dragon Ball manga, first published 01 April 1986 in the 1986 #18 issue of Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump.

Biography

A police officer helps Goku search for "BULMA"

Having arrived on his own in West City in search of his friend Bulma, Son Goku wanders around getting into humorous situations, particularly one involving an attempted hold-up. Goku headbutts a would-be assailant into the wall knocking him out, while the other bad guy humbly tells Goku to try asking a policeman where his friend's house is. Goku asks a girl where a policeman is, and she points to one, and so Goku gives her all his money as thanks. Goku goes up to the policeman and asks where Bulma's house is, and the policeman asks him if he has a better description. Goku kneels down and draws a (very bad) picture of her, but that is not really what the policeman was looking for. The policeman decides to get out his computer and search for her, and thinks it should not take long since it is an unusual name. Of the three possible people named "Bulma" in this area, the first "Bulma" search result (with some of the characters obscured, but otherwise "-KM 118755" being visible) we see is wrong, but the second one (with the listing of "SSC 41453") is her. The policeman freaks out and says this girl is the daughter of the owner of Capsule Corporation. Since it is such a long way from here, the policeman decides to give Goku a ride on his motor scooter.

Name

As with the actual main character named Bulma, this Bulma's name of ブルマ (buruma) is a pun on bloomers, an article of underwear, which is spelled various ways in Japanese including ブルマー (burumā), ブルマ (buruma), ブルーマ (burūma), and/or ブルーマー (burūmā).

Characters in the West City region only have a given name (no family name), which is why the policeman required additional information to narrow down which exact "Bulma" that Goku was looking for. This is in opposition and contrast to Goku and his family having "Son" as a family name, which becomes a plot point later in the series as it helps Videl to uncover Gohan's true identity:

He had the same family name as you, didn't he? These days it's rare to have a name split in to a family name and personal name... I think that man "Son Goku" is probably your dad… Well?

In the 2013 sequel series Jaco the Galactic Patrolman, this is further expanded upon with the second daughter of the Capsule Corporation empire, Tights, and Tokunoshin Omori recognizing her name as one from the western region.

Legacy

Toyotarō draws "BULMA" for his November 2021 "Toyotarō Drew It!" entry

While the front part of the original resident number characters are not fully visible in the original manga, Toyotarō used this as an opportunity to spotlight and pin down a full resident number of "TKM118755" with his November 2021 entry for the ongoing "Toyotarō Drew It!" column on the Dragon Ball Official Site:

One of only three people named Bulma in West City. She only appears in one panel and only her face is shown, so I designed her clothes based on the other residents. I wonder what kind of person the remaining Bulma is...?

Toyotarō notably draws this Bulma as not just (also) wearing clothes with her name on it, but as wearing actual bloomers.

External Links

• https://dragon-ball-official.com/news/01_681.html
• https://en.dragon-ball-official.com/news/01_681.html