Dr. Slump (Japanese: Dr. スランプ Dr. Suranpu) is one of the most popular manga (Japanese comic books) of Akira Toriyama. The first issue was published in 1980 by Shueisha's anthology comic Weekly Shonen Jump, and the issues after it quickly launched Toriyama's career (he is currently one of the most famous and beloved manga artists in Japan and outside of Japan).

The initial run of the comic ended in 1984 and it was later compiled into 18 tankōbon. Dr. Slump is a gag comic, and bears little resemblance to the extremely popular Toriyama anime Dragon Ball Z, though the original Dragon Ball anime and manga are much closer to Dr. Slump in its style and humor.

The Dr. Slump manga was made into two separate anime. The first, Dr. Slump & Arale-chan (Japanese: Dr.スランプ アラレちゃん) ran from 1981 to 1986 and spanned 243 episodes. The second anime ran from 1997 to 1999 and only featured 74 episodes. In addition to the series, 10 animated movies have featured the Dr. Slump characters.

Dr. Slump is filled with puns, scatalogical jokes, and parodies of both Japanese and American culture. For example, one of the recurring characters is "Suppaman", a short, fat, pompous buffoon who transforms into a Superman-like costume by eating a sour ("suppa" in Japanese) pickle. Unlike Superman, Suppaman can't fly, and instead pretends to fly by lying belly down on a skateboard and scooting through the streets. Also, the policemen in Dr. Slump can be seen wearing Star Wars-style storm trooper helmets, just as in the American movies. The Dr. Slump manga has been licensed by Viz Communications for a North American English version, which will begin in May 2005. Dr. Slump and the anime based on it have been run in almost everywhere else in the West; for example, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico and Spain.

Dr. Slump is set in Penguin Village , a place where humans co-exist with the sort of talking animals found in Donald Duck comics. In this village lives Senbei Norimaki (則巻千兵衛 Norimaki Senbei), an inventor (his name is a pun on a brand of rice cracker ). His nickname is "Dr. Slump", kind of like nicknaming an author "Writer's Block". In the first issue, he builds a little robot girl he names Arale Norimaki (則巻アラレ Norimaki Arare, a pun on a smaller kind of rice cracker), in scenes obviously parodying the Italian children's classic Pinocchio. Because Senbei is a lousy inventor, she soon turns out to be in severe need of eyeglasses. She is also very naïve, and in later issues she has adventures such as bringing a huge bear home, having mistaken it for a pet. To Senbei's credit, she does have super-strength.

The manga focuses on Arale's misunderstandings of humanity and Senbei's inventions, rivalries, and romantic misadventures. Other characters include Midori Yamabuki (山吹みどり Yamabuki Midori), Arale's teacher and Senbei's future wife, Akane Kimidori (木緑あかね Kimidori Akane), a "bad girl", Gajira Norimaki (則巻ガジラ Norimaki Gajira) or "Gatchan", a green-haired, cherub-like creature which follows Senbei home from a time traveling trip, Taro Soramame (空豆タロウ Soramame Tarō), a boy at Arale's school who acts like he is cool, and Peasuke Soramame (空豆ピースケ Soramame Piisuke), Taro's little brother.

After the original manga ended, the characters of Dr. Slump returned for an extended cameo in the Dragon Ball manga (and anime), also by Akira Toriyama, in issues 81-83. (These issues are collected in volume 7 of the Dragon Ball compilations.) Arale and Son Goku briefly team up to help Goku defeat General Blue during the Red Ribbon Army Saga. Arale also makes a smaller cameo in the third Dragon Ball movie, Mystical Adventure (Japanese: Makafushigi Dai-Bōken). Because of these cameos (and other similiarities), many fans consider the two series as taking place in the same fictional universe.

External links

• http://the.animearchive.org/drslump/1/