Mermaid

Mermaid
人魚 (Ningyo)
Manga Anime This pure-hearted Mermaid can ride Kinto'un.
Name Pun	Mermaid (Pie Pie = boobs)
Manga Debut	Dragon Ball Chapter 25
Anime Debut	Dragon Ball Episode 14
Japanese VA	Sumi Shimamoto
Funimation VA	Julie Franklin
Personal Data
Notable Skills	Purity Right hook Diving Swimming

The Mermaid is a fictional character in the Dragon Ball manga series by Akira Toriyama. The Mermaid makes her debut in chapter 25, published in the 1985 #25 issue of Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump.

Biography

The Turtle Hermit is disappointed when Goku arrives at Kame House for training without Bulma, so he tells Goku he must find another pichi-pichi gal before he will train him. First, Goku brings back a giant body-builder woman, so the old man attempts to teach Goku the difference between a pretty woman and a not-pretty woman. On Goku's second attempt, he brings back the Mermaid.

This dialogue is somewhat censored in many Viz editions, but it is not in the original Viz Monthly Comics (top).

The Turtle Hermit catches a glimpse of her top half and he instantly falls in love. Goku is excited to start his training, but his new master is nervous about meeting this gal, so he tells Goku that his first task is to ask her for her panties (パンチー panchii). Goku does not know what "panchy" means (ぱんち panchi), but the old man says she will know. Goku goes to ask her, and then returns to tell Muten Rōshi that she is only wearing a shirt; she is not wearing any panties. This causes the old man to suffer from a nosebleed. He wants to get a look at this, and he believes his sunglasses will hide his wandering eyes, so he approaches Kinto'un, only to find that the pichi-pichi gal is a mermaid!

The Turtle Hermit is disappointed, thinking to himself that it really was too good to be true, but he hopes to console himself by pinching her boobs. He asks her permission and she punches him in the face, diving back into the ocean. Goku decides that the old man must have meant "punch" (パンチ panchi) when he was talking about panties, and his master nervously agrees.

Name

The Mermaid is simply called 人魚 (ningyo), the Japanese word for "mermaid". Her shirt reads "Pie Pie", a pun on ぱいぱい (pai pai) which is a diminution of おっぱい (oppai), a Japanese word for "breasts". When the Turtle Hermit rides to Mount Frypan to put out the fire in the anime version, he sings pai pai to himself repeatedly as he spins on Baby Gamera's back, looking forward to the chance to poke Bulma's boobs.

Notes

• The Mermaid's scene was originally printed in limited color, but these pages were greyscaled in the VIZBIG edition, the only Viz edition to include any of the original color pages.

The Turtle Hermit wants to pinch the Pie Pie.

• In the original English-language printing of chapter 25, Part 2 #1 of the Viz Monthly Comics, the Turtle Hermit tells Goku that his first task is to "obtain for me...th-that girl's p-p-p-panties!!"
  • In the Viz Graphic Novel, the now-discontinued first edition of Viz's version of tankōbon volume 3, the phrase "obtain for me" is replaced by "tell me the color of". The second-edition Shonen Jump Graphic Novel series uses the original, uncensored dialogue.
  • In the Funimation dub, the Turtle Hermit says, "I want you to ask that girl there if uh...she'd like to go on a walk with me." Goku comes back, and says the mermaid won't walk with him, but thinks they might have a better time if they went for a swim, and this is the cause of the old man's nosebleed. When he finds out that she is a mermaid, he thinks, "I knew there was something fishy about this."
  • The Funimation subtitles by Clyde Mandelin are faithful.
• In the Viz monthly comics, the Turtle Hermit says, "I-I was wondering... if it wouldn't trouble you... if I might be permitted to get my hands on those magnificent boobs?!"
  • In the out-of-print first-edition Viz Graphic Novel, the dialogue was censored: "to take a look at your magnificent chest?"
  • Some later Viz editions are more moderately censored: "to lay my eyes on those magnificent boobs?!"
  • In the Funimation dub, he says, "Well uh, I'm like a turtle and you're part fish, so what do you say you and me go inside and learn more about our species?"
  • The Funimation subtitles read: "Um, it pains me to ask, but... Would you allow me to pinch at your Pai-pai for a little bit?"
  • In all English translations of the manga and the anime, Muten Rōshi can be seen making pinching gestures with his fingers.

Performance

The Mermaid is voiced by Sumi Shimamoto in her sole credited role for the Dragon Ball franchise. In the Funimation English dub, the Mermaid is voiced by Julie Franklin, who also voices Mai in Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball GT.