Tarō

Tarō
タロー (Tarō)
English Name(s)	Taro (subs only)
Name Pun	Eldest Son
Anime Debut	Dragon Ball Episode 47
Classification	Sea Turtle
Relationship Data
Family	Umigame (father)

Tarō is a fictional character in the Dragon Ball anime series. Tarō makes his debut in episode 47, broadcast on 21 January 1987 on Fuji TV, as the son of Umigame.

Biography

Goku goes fishing while Umigame holds up a bucket for the catch. When it is overflowing, Umigame tells Goku that is more than enough for dinner, but Goku has one more catch: he tosses Tarō onto the pile of fish. Tarō is overjoyed to see his father, and Umigame embraces him lovingly. When Goku approaches Umigame to fetch his clothes, Tarō is gone, and he is never seen again.

Name

Tarō (太郎, タロウ, たろう) is a Japanese name suffix used to designate an eldest son. It is also used as a given name, and occasionally as a surname. The katakana spelling タロー is taken from the episode's official Closed Captions.

The small scene is possibly also a reference to Urashima Tarō, a fisherman from Japanese folklore who was rewarded for saving a sea turtle. The legend was referenced more directly when Tarō's father Umigame was introduced.

Tarō is not named in the Funimation dub. Instead of "Taro!", Umigame says "My son!"

Performance

Tarō is not individually credited in the Japanese version or the Funimation version.