Escape

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Escape
Escape original title page
エスケイプ Esukeipu
Author	Akira Toriyama
Publisher	Shueisha (JP)
Publication	Shōnen Jump
Demographic	Shōnen
Manga Series
Original Run	Shōnen Jump January 1982 Extra Issue (14 December 1981)
Chapters	1

Escape is a five-page (one title page and four content pages), one-shot manga series by Akira Toriyama, debuting in the special January 1982 "Extra Issue" of Shōnen Jump, originally released 14 December 1981 in Japan by Shueisha.

In addition to the ongoing Dr. Slump manga serialization at the same time, Escape was preceded by Pola & Roid earlier that year in March, and followed by Mad Matic just two months later (all published in Weekly Shōnen Jump).

Escape has been compiled several times in Japan, and officially saw an English release as part of Viz's "Akira Toriyama's Manga Theater" in December 2021.

Synopsis

In the Earth Year 2070 on Planet Umekobucha, a young girl in a cape huffs and puffs as she launches herself down a cliff, running past a dragon. Believing herself to be hidden away, the girl slinks down to the ground, but hears voices approaching. The girl accidentally kicks a can on the ground, alerting the unseen group to her location. What appears to be a young boy and a group of animals have found the girl: they are playing hide-and-seek, and now it is Sukonpu-kun's turn. The universe is at peace...

Characters & World

Opening narration states that the short work takes place on "Planet Umekobucha" (惑星ウメコブチャ Wakusei Umekobucha), a name likely sourced from 梅昆布茶 (ume konbucha), a plum kelp tea. The planet appears to be home to dragons, as the protagonist comes across and is initially frightened by a young/child dragon (コドモドラゴン kodomo doragon).

Of the small group of characters seen in Escape, only one is given a name: スコンプ (Sukonpu), though it is unclear who exactly is being referred to by this name. The name is likely sourced from 酢昆布 (sukonbu), a vinegar konbu.

Text written on the can that the girl accidentally kicks reads あきかんはくずかごに (akikan wa kuzukago ni), or "throw empty cans in the trash." Toriyama used the same phrase as the final gag in the 1987 one-shot Sonchoh, and prior to that, as a background character's gag line in Dr. Slump manga chapter 226.

Production

Cover to the January 1982 "Extra Issue" of Shōnen Jump containing Akira Toriyama's Escape one-shot manga

Alongside chapter 96 of the original Dr. Slump manga series, Akira Toriyama's author comment in the 1981 No. 50 issue of Weekly Shōnen Jump (released 10 November 1981) notes that he is working on a five-page, full-color special manga for an upcoming extra issue of Shueisha's Shōnen Jump magazine series:

12月増刊用に新作４色５枚執筆中！がんばったからみてちょ！＜明＞

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I'm writing a brand-new, five-page, full-color work for the December extra issue! I've worked hard on it, so give it a look! <Akira>
— Akira Toriyama

Escape premiered in full color in a special, extra Shōnen Jump issue (週刊少年ジャンプ 増刊号) dated for January 10th, though actually released 14 December 1981. Splash text throughout the issue obfuscates the story's true nature:

• At the top of the title page, 鳥山明がシリアスストーリーに初挑戦！！ ("Akira Toriyama Takes On A Serious Story For The First Time!!")
• Along the side of the title page, 逃げろ！つかまるな！！みつかるな！！ ("Run! Don't get caught!! Don't let them find you!!")
• In the table of contents, the title is listed as an SFスーパーアクションファンタジー ("Science-Fiction Super Action Fantasy")

Alongside other special inclusions, the issue is notable for containing Hirohiko Araki's Outlaw Man one-shot manga. Toriyama's author comment this issue states:

NHKの年末チャリティーでテープカットを！緊張でハサミがふるえてしまった <明>

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I cut the ribbon at the year-end NHK charity event! I was so nervous that the scissors kept shaking in my hands. <Akira>
— Akira Toriyama

In an accompanying comment in the Akira Toriyama: The World SPECIAL art book, Akira Toriyama mentions having completed Escape by himself in a hotel room over the span of two days:

時間がないので某ホテルにカンヅメになって描いたんです（笑）。これは大変だったな…ベタも自分でやらなきゃなんなかったし。２日で仕上げました。

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I was short on time, so I shut myself up in a certain hotel to draw it. (laughs) It was rough… I even had to do all the blacking myself. I finished it up in two days.
— Akira Toriyama

In an accompanying comment in Akira Toriyama's _____piece Theatre REMIX 3, Toriyama once again touches on the condensed production timeframe and completing the work in a hotel:

東京のホテルでカンヅメになって描いたんですよ。面倒なことにカラー用の画材一式持っていって。でもなんで東京でやったのかな、間に合わなかったのかな。『Dr.スランプ』をやってた頃だから自宅にコピー機もなくて、隣の会社で１枚何十円か払って貸してもらったり。原稿は名古屋空港まで車で持って行くんですけど、朝６時までじゃないと当日に着かない時代で。夏は朝日が信号に当たると見づらくてしんどかったなあ。それで「ボツ！」とか言われると、また行かないといけないから大変。

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I shut myself up in a hotel room in Tokyo to draw this. To make it even more of a pain, I even dragged along all the materials I needed to color it. But I wonder why I did it in Tokyo… maybe it’s because I wouldn’t have made the deadline otherwise? Since this is back when I was doing Dr. Slump, I didn’t even have a photocopier at home, so I’d have the office next door let me use theirs to the tune of 10 yen or so per page. Times were, I’d bring my manuscripts to the Nagoya airport by car, and had to get there by 6 a.m., or they wouldn’t arrive [at Shueisha] the same day. In the summer, the morning sun would reflect off the traffic lights, making them hard to see; it was exhausting. And then if I got a “Rejected!”, I’d have to do it all over again, which was rough.
— Akira Toriyama

Releases

Sample panels from Escape sourced from its full-color reprint in the September 1990 Akira Toriyama: The World SPECIAL art book

Beyond its original serialization in the January 1982 Extra Issue of Shueisha's Shōnen Jump, Escape has been reprinted in various publications:

• In limited color in issue 23 of Bird Land Press, Akira Toriyama's official fanclub newsletter, distributed in December of 1986
• Greyscaled in the Akira Toriyama's _____piece Theatre, Vol. 2 compilation, released 10 March 1988
• In its original full color in the Akira Toriyama: The World SPECIAL art book, released 19 September 1990
• Greyscaled in the Shueisha Jump Remix re-release of the Akira Toriyama's _____piece Theatre, Vol. 2 compilation, released 07 July 2003
• Greyscaled in the An Emperor's Feast of Akira Toriyama Vol. 2 compilation, released 18 September 2008

The Toriyama's World team released a complete English "scanlation" of Escape in the early 2000s (completed by at least some point in 2001); in their release, Planet Umekobucha is erroneously transliterated as "Umegabucha". The "Hellz Yeah Toriyama" Tumblr blog released a "scanlation" with a far rougher (and at key points seemingly fabricated out of nothing) "translation" in 2011.

Escape finally saw an English release as part of Viz's "Akira Toriyama's Manga Theater" in December 2021 (a hardcover print and digital release combining all three ____piece Theater volumes), translated by Greg Werner.

Legacy

Main Escape title page illustration featured as part of The Nearly Complete Works of Akira Toriyama

Akira Toriyama's main title page illustration for Escape was featured as a February 2019 entry in the Dragon Ball Official Site's The Nearly Complete Works of Akira Toriyama ongoing weekday column.

International Media Coverage

TBD

External Links

• TBD