The dr. Slump and Arale - The 1981 anime and manga series

January 12 2021

Dr. Slump (Japanese: Dr. スランプ, Hepburn: Dokutā Suranpu) is a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Akira Toriyama (the author of Dragon Ball). It was serialized in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump anthology magazine from 1980 to 1984, with the chapters collected in 18 tankōbon volumes. The series follows the humorous adventures of robot girl Arale Norimaki, her creator Senbei Norimaki and the other inhabitants of the bizarre penguin village.

The manga was adapted into an anime television series by Toei Animation which aired on Fuji TV from 1981 to 1986 for 243 episodes. Thirteen years after the end of the manga, a remake series was created, consisting of 74 episodes that aired from 1997 to 1999. The series also spawned several novels, video games and eleven animated films.

The Dr. Slump manga comic launched Toriyama's career. It received the Shogakukan Manga Award for shōnen and shōjo manga in 1981 and has sold over 35 million copies in Japan. The manga was released in North America by Viz Media from 2004 to 2009. Discotek Media released the first five films in North America in 2014. In 2021, Tubi announced the acquisition of the 1997 TV anime.

History

Dr. Slump is set in the penguin village (ペンギン村, Pengin Mura), a place where humans coexist with all kinds of anthropomorphic animals and other objects. In this village lives Senbei Norimaki, an inventor. In the first chapter, he builds what he hopes will be the most perfect robot girl in the world, named Arale Norimaki. However, it turns out that he is in dire need of glasses. She is also very naïve and in later issues she has adventures like bringing home a huge bear, after mistaking it for a pet. Senbei's merit is to have super strength. Overall, the manga focuses on Arale's misunderstandings about humanity and Senbei's inventions, rivalries, and romantic misadventures. In the middle of the series, a recurring villain named Dr. Mashirito appears as Senbei's rival.

Characters

Aral Norimaki

Arale Norimaki (則巻アラレ, Norimaki Arare) is a robot girl created by Senbei Norimaki. Despite its size, it is incredibly strong and fast. She is very naïve and lacks common sense, which often causes problems for the inhabitants of Penguin Village.

Doctor Slump - Senbei Norimaki

Senbei Norimaki (則巻千兵衛, Norimaki Senbee) nicknamed Dr. Slump is the brilliant and foolish inventor of the Penguin Village who is able to invent the most brilliant and at the same time ridiculous inventions. Like a racing gag, his looks morph into a prettier, taller version of himself when he gets serious. He is 28 years old and uses the unusual "N'Cha" greeting, which Arale adopts. After creating Arale, he tells the villagers that she is his younger sister or daughter, depending on the occasion.

Senbei's name is a pun for a rice cracker (senbei) and by his surname, Norimaki Senbei, it refers to a rice cracker wrapped in nori seaweed. He is voiced by Kenji Utsumi in the first anime and by Yūsaku Yara in the second and in Dragon Ball Super. In Dragon Ball, he attempts to repair Son Goku's Dragon Radar. Senbei also has a short non-speaking role in the Dragon Ball movie The Great Mystical Adventure. In the Funimation English dubs of Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Super he is voiced by Brice Armstrong and R Bruce Elliot respectively.

Akane Kimidori

Akane Kimidori (木緑あかね, Kimidori Akane, “Dark Red Yellow-Green”) is a rebellious XNUMX-year-old who quickly becomes Arale's best friend. She often plays pranks on Senbei who considers her a bad influence on Arale. He begins dating Tsukutsun Tsun at the end of the series, and a look at ten years into the future shows that they are married. Akane is voiced by Kazuko Sugiyama in the first anime and Hiroko Konishi in the second. He has a brief appearance in the Dragon Ball series. In the English dub Funimation of Dragon Ball she is voiced by Laura Bailey.

Taro Soramame

Taro Soramame (空豆タロウ, Soramame Tarō, "Bean" + male common name "Tarō") is Arale's biggest "bad boy" at school. The XNUMX-year-old is usually seen smoking cigarettes and trying to act "cool". After graduating from high school, he becomes a police officer. He begins dating Tsururin Tsun, whom he will eventually marry ten years later. Taro is voiced by Toshio Furukawa in the first anime and by Shinichirō Ōta in the second. He appears briefly in Dragon Ball, shown on a date with Tsururin. In the English dub Funimation of Dragon Ball he is voiced by Eric Vale.

Peasuke Soramame

Peasuke Soramame (空豆ピースケ, Soramame Piisuke, “Broad Bean Pea” + common male name ending) is Arale and Akane's classmate and Taro's little brother who always wears an animal hat. He develops a crush on a younger but taller girl named Hiyoko, whom he will eventually marry and have a ten-year-old son in the future. He is voiced by Naomi Jinbo in the first anime and by Megumi Urawa in the second. Makes a brief appearance in Dragon Ball. In the English dub Funimation of Dragon Ball he is voiced by Sonny Strait.

Gatchan

Gatchan (ガッちゃん), full name Gajira Norimaki (則巻ガジラ, Norimaki Gajira), is a green-haired creature, resembling a cherub with wings, born from an egg brought home by Senbei from a time travel to the stone Age. Gatchan eats almost everything, rubber is the only exception, and he seems to particularly like metal. It can also emit rays from its antennae. Gatchan speaks in his own language, which mainly consists of sounds like “koo pee pee” which Arale (and later, Turbo) somehow seem to understand. One day, after going to eat, Gatchan spins a cocoon on itself and when it emerges two weeks later, it split in two. It is eventually revealed that Gatchan is actually an angel sent by Kami-sama to destroy the corrupt human civilization.

Arale named Gajira from a combination of the names Gamera and Gojira, the latter being known as Godzilla in the West, hence Gatchan is known as "Gadzilla" in the English version of the manga (although he is occasionally referred to as Gajira or "Gazira"). [ c. 12] Gatchan is voiced by Seiko Nakano in the first anime, by Chie Sawaguchi in the second, [17] and by Kumiko Nishihara in Dragon Ball Super. [12] Both Gatchans appear in Dragon Ball and the Dragon Ball movie, The Great Mystical Adventure, where they help Arale fight Taopaipai. In the English dub Funimation of Dragon Ball they are voiced by Meredith McCoy.

Midori Yamabuki

Midori Yamabuki (山吹みどり, Yamabuki Midori, “Yellow-orange green”) is Arale's beautiful teacher and Senbei's dream girl. After a long period of unrequited love and nervous misunderstandings, Senbei proposes to her thinking she is out of earshot. Surprisingly, she immediately accepts and they get married in the next manga panel, becoming Ms. Midori No

Anime

The Dr. Slump manga was adapted into two separate anime television series by Toei Animation, both of which aired on Fuji TV. The first, Dr. Slump - Arale-chan (Dr. スランプアラレちゃん), aired from April 8, 1981 to February 19, 1986 and spanned 243 episodes. The second anime, simply titled Doctor Slump (ドクタースランプ), aired from November 26, 1997 to September 22, 1999 and lasted seventy-four episodes.

The first anime was released on home video for the first time in 2007, remastered, on two 22-disc DVDs; Slump the Box N'Cha (SLUMP THE BOX んちゃ) on March 23, which contains the first 120 episodes, and Slump the Box Hoyoyo (SLUMP THE BOX ほよよ) on September 14, which contains the rest. Similarly, the second series was released the following year as Slump the Box 90's on March 21st. The first anime was later released in twenty 2-disc sets (the last was 3-disc) of approximately twelve episodes each, titled Slump the Collection; the first three sets on October 9, 2008, the next five on November 28, the next six on December 21, and the last six on January 30, 2009. The first episode of the original anime was adapted into English by Harmony Gold USA in 1984, but the pilot was never reprized. Dr. Slump's characters are also featured in the 69th episode of Dragon Ball Super, “Goku vs. Arale! Does a battle outside the wall enchant the end of the Earth? "

In February 2021, the American streaming service Tubi announced the acquisition of the Dr. Slump TV anime for broadcast with English subtitles.

Movie

Dr. Slump And Arale The Movie - Adventure Into Space

Dr. Slump: "Hoyoyo!" Space Adventure (Dr. SLUMP ほよよ! 宇宙大冒険, Dokutā Suranpu Hoyoyo! Uchū Dai Bōken) premiered in theaters on July 10, 1982. It chronicles the adventures of Senbei and the other main characters as they venture into space to save Midori Yamabuki from being forced to marry the galactic tyrant Mashirito. A novel written by one of the screenwriters Shun'ichi Yukimuro was released on July 15, 1982. The film was released on VHS on December 15, 1984. An anime comic adaptation was released in April 1995. The first and second manga comics films were collected together and released under the Shueisha Jump Remix label in December 2006. The film's soundtrack was released on September 22, 2004 by Columbia Music Entertainment under the title Dr. Slump Music Collection

Technical data

Manga
Author Akira Toriyama
Editor Shueisha
Magazine Weekly shōnen jump
Target shonen
1 edition 1979 – 1984
Tankōbon 18 (complete)
Italian publisher Star comics
1st Italian edition November 1996 - 1999
Italian volumes 28 (complete)

Anime TV series
The dr. Slump and Arale
What a Mess Slump and Arale
Author Akira Toriyama
Regia Minoru Okazaki
Film script Masaki Tsuji, Michiru Shimada, Shun'ichi Yukimuro, Toyoo Ashida (ep 76), Yasushi Hirano
Char. design Minoru Maeda
Music Shunsuke kikuchi
Studio Toei Animation
Network Fuji Television
1st TV April 8, 1981 - February 19, 1986
Episodes 243 (complete)
Italian network Network 4 (ep. 1-51), Italy 1 (ep. 52-243)
1st Italian TV September 19, 1983 - 2006
Italian dubbing studio CRC Cooperativa Rinascita Cinematografica (1st double ep. 1-51), Merak film
Double Dir. it. Bruno Cattaneo, Graziano Galoforo complete series

Anime TV series
What a Mess Slump and Arale
Author Akira Toriyama
Regia Shigeyasu Yamauchi
Film script Satoru Nishizono
Char. design Shinji Koike
Music Funta, Minoru Kageyama
Studio Toei Animation
Network Fuji TV
1st TV November 26, 1997 - September 22, 1999
Episodes 74 (complete)
Italian network Italia 1
1st Italian TV March 20, 2001 - 2002
Double studio it. Merak Film
Double Dir. it. Graziano Galoforo