Dr. Slump Chapter 1

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Arale Is Born!
Weekly Jump Collected
アラレ誕生！の巻 Arare Tanjō! no Maki
Premiered	Weekly Shōnen Jump, 1980 #05/06
Sale Date	05 January 1980
Issue Date	04 February 1980
Chapter Data
Pages	Title; Pages 1-14 (Limited Color)
Episodes	Dr. Slump: Arale-chan Episode 1
Viz Publication
Title	The Birth of Arale!
Chapter No.	Chapter 1
Release	03 May 2005
Translation	Alexander O. Smith
Editor	Yuki Takagaki
Collected Volumes
Tankōbon	Dr. Slump Tankōbon Volume 1
Kanzenban	Dr. Slump Kanzenban Volume 1
Big Volume	Dr. Slump Big Volume 1

"Arale Is Born!" is the first chapter of the Dr. Slump manga series by Akira Toriyama. It was first published in Japan in the 1980 #05/06 issue of Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump.

Summary

Dr. Senbei Norimaki is hard at work, a cigarette hanging from his mouth, putting the finishing touches on his robot. Its head hangs nearby, already the perfect image of a little girl, complaining of boredom. Senbei observes with annoyance that he should have saved the head for last. The head is connected by cables to the body, so Senbei tells the head to try wiggling her arm, and the robot's arm punches him in the nuts. When Senbei recovers, he screams at the head for taking it too far, and she makes fun of his bug eyes.

Senbei pulls the skin over the robot's body, still shaken from his near-death experience. The robot puts on her head and complains that her chest is flat. He tells her to be quiet. Dressed in Senbei's pajama shirt and slippers, she tries to walk. Senbei congratulates himself on his genius while the girl sticks out her tongue. He tells her to stop that, then returns to his self-congratulation: he has created the perfect humanoid robot. The girl complains that she cannot fly. Senbei explains that she does not need to fly. She pulls up her shirt and asks if she can fire missiles from her tummy. He tells her no. She asks him what, then, will she use to fight evil?! Feminine charm? He asks her who said anything about fighting evil.

Finally, the girl asks Senbei if there is something wrong with her eyes. His face looks funny. Senbei gives her a vision test and discovers that her vision is indeed terrible. He is half-sure she is just mocking him, but when he gives her a pair of glasses, she is delighted to be able to see clearly. Focusing on Senbei, she recognizes him as King Kong! He angrily tells her to shut her mouth.

As Senbei puts on his shoes, the girl asks him if he is going out. He explains that she cannot wear his pajamas forever, and tells her to wait there while he goes to buy her some clothes. She wants a mink coat, and he asks her where she learned that. At the department store, Senbei checks his mental list and realizes he has everything but underwear. Embarrassed, he heads to the appropriate section, sure that the sales clerks will think he is a pervert. Then he decides to take a detour.

In the ladies' wear corner, a man looks at him sideways and tells him that he has a dress that would do wonders for him, and Senbei tells him through clenched teeth that it is a present for his mother. The salesman knows just the thing. As Senbei departs, the salesman thanks him and tells him to come again. Senbei rushes to the restroom and shaves his mustache, putting on a wig and the dress for his "mother", which turns out to be a school uniform. Cursing the stupid salesman, Senbei departs the restroom. The first man who looks at him is informed that he is not "her" type. Doing his best impression of a bashful woman, Senbei approaches the lingerie counter and asks for panties. The saleswoman brings some panties in Senbei's size with an elephant printed on the front, and Senbei angrily tells her that they are not for him. Then he resumes his bashful act and apologizes for the outburst.

Back at home, the robot girl thumbs her overalls and complains that she looks like a boy, while Senbei complains that this has been the most embarrassing day of his life. He suggests they go outside, and she seems to like this idea. He tells her that if no one notices she is a robot, then he wins. At the neighborhood diner, the Coffee Pot, a waitress greets him as "Doctor Skunk", making him angry. The little girl greets the waitress, who asks Senbei if this is his daughter. Offended, he tells her he is only 28. This is his sister! The waitress congratulates the little girl for looking nothing like her brother, and asks her name. The girl asks Senbei what her name is. Stumbling over his words, he spits out the name: Arale! Arale Norimaki. The waitress observes that they both have funny names, and Senbei shouts at her to leave him alone.

Senbei and Arale sit at the diner counter, and the waitress asks Arale what she would like. She asks for engine oil, and Senbei laughs it off and says she will have juice. Arale asks him if she will rust. The waitress asks how old she is, and Senbei spits out his coffee when Arale tells her that she is brand new. Senbei congratulates her on her joke and says that she is thirteen years old. The waitress does not think that Arale looks like a middle-schooler, but Senbei tells her no more questions. Insistent, she asks why not, and then asks Arale if she minds. Then she notices something funny about Arale's nose. Senbei is suddenly on pins and needles, and the waitress goes on to say that Arale does not have nostrils. Senbei screams that he does not either because this is a manga. Looking in a mirror, the waitress sees that she indeed also lacks nostrils, which means she cannot get a runny nose.

Senbei pays for their drinks and tells Arale it is time to go home. Arale says goodbye and then walks outside. Then she decides to take a run across the street. Sure enough, she gets hit by a car. Senbei emerges from the Coffee Pot to find Arale at the scene of a totaled car. An old man explains that she knocked over the car, and Arale notices her shirt got ripped.

Main Cast

• Senbei Norimaki (Debut)
• Arale Norimaki (Debut)
• Aoi Kimidori (Debut)

Production

In its original serialization, the chapter is labeled as "Part 1" because Akira Toriyama had no idea how many pages went into a series' first chapter; chapters originally planned as "1" and "2" ended up running together to get the page count correct for its debut:

Before starting the serial, I hurried and drew two chapters' worth of material, but because there were too few pages or something, they ended up being run together, and all at once I was left without any stock (material prepared ahead of time). That was the start of my hell. (laughs)

Each chapter's title is followed by の巻 (no maki), indicating that it is the "volume" (or here "chapter") in which those events take place. This appendix has been ignored in our chapter title translations, as well as Viz's official English title translations. This の巻 chapter title style was carried forward to the 1993-1996 sequel series The Brief Return of Dr. Slump by Takao Koyama and Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru for its full 40-chapter run.

Weekly Shōnen Jump

Every chapter of Dr. Slump is accompanied by a comment from Akira Toriyama. Below is the comment accompanying the first and second chapters in the 1980 #05/06 issue of Weekly Shōnen Jump.

初の連載。全力でメチャンコがんばります。あっ“メチャンコ”って名古屋弁で“とっても”の意味よ

---

My first serial. I'll work mechanko hard and give it all I've got. Ah—mechanko means "very" in Nagoya dialect.

Toriyama does not begin signing his comments until the sixth chapter in the 1980 #10 issue.

Availability

This chapter has been released in numerous countries and languages around the world in both print and digital formats.

Japan

• Dr. Slump Volume 1: Arale Is Born! (Tankōbon; 09 August 1980)
• Dr. Slump Kanzenban Volume 1 (Kanzenban; 04 October 2006)
• Dr. Slump Big Volume 1:
  • Aizōban (01 January 1990)
  • Bunko paperback (18 July 1995)
  • Digital (Kanzenban pages; 12 October 2012)

North America

• Dr. Slump Volume 1 (Tankōbon; 03 May 2005)
  • Digital (16 April 2012)