Manga Review: Dr. Slump
And now for something completely different.
There are many genres in Japanese comics that you really do not see being brought over stateside. A lot of them are understandable, such as series about Pachinko and Mahjong. But there’s a certain kind of comedy called “gag comics” that are very popular in Japan but not here. Why is that?
Well, simply put, the Japanese and Americans have different scenes of humor. There is a lot that can translate well between the two, but a lot of it just blows right over the foreign audiences’ heads. The problem with “gag comics” is that jokes are merely just for cheap laughs and come at you at a very rapid pace. Well this might be good for the funny pages in your newspaper, but it is very overwhelming in a comic book format. Typically a page would look like this:
Panel 1: set-up
Panel 2: set-up
Panel 3: punch line and reaction
Panel 4: new set-up
Panel 5: set-up
Panel 6: punch line and reaction
Panel 7: new set-up
Panel 8: punch line and reaction
This formula doesn’t usually work well with American readers. A number of years ago, I picked up the gag comic “Crayon Shin-chan” because I knew it was one of the most popular series in Japan. Well, I hated it. It was the stupidest manga I have ever read. It currently has the title of being the only book I have ever returned to the bookstore.
So what the hell was VIZ thinking with their newest release from Dragonball creator Akira Toriyama? Well, not only does “Dr. Slump” translate well in the US, but the fact that it is a gag comic sets it apart and anything on the store shelves at the moment. `
Written in 1980, “Dr. Slump” shows the antics of a crazy inventor, Senbei, and the robotic girl that he created, Arale. The plot really does not get more in depth then that, just our characters being put in different situations and watching how much they goof up. Hey, why don’t we send them to a coffee shop? How about middle school? Lingerie department? X-ray glasses? Prehistoric times?!?
Yeah, it’s pretty ridiculous, but just don’t take the story too seriously. The real point of the series is the comedy. For something that’s over a quarter of a century old, the jokes are surprisingly not outdated. Most are about Arale having a naïve understanding of sexuality and the virgin inventor’s handling of the question. He tells Arale that he couldn’t make realistic reproductive organs for her because Japanese censorship laws prevented him from seeing a real female’s crotch in pornography. But the real gems are the jokes that poke fun at the comic itself.
Woman: [looking at Arale] Say, your nose…
Senbei: S-something wrong with her nose?
Woman: You don’t have nostrils!
Senbei: NEITHER DO I! This is a manga, for crying out loud! A manga!
Woman: Hey, you’re right! No runny noses!
The artwork is outdated, but that makes it interesting. Most of it is done in a silly cartoonish way, which I guess matches the silly cartoonish story. But every once in a while Toriyama draws an extremely detailed panel. This adds a little more emotion while setting up for some good punch lines. This switch works well with the medium for making great comedy.
What should be noted is that while the word “Dragonball” is plastered all over the promos for this title, this is about as anti-Dragonball as you can get. The art, story, humor, pacing… EVERYTHING is different! In fact, if you look at the Dr. Slump cross-over in volume 7 of Dragonball, you’ll see that even that looks and feels much different then the original series.
But it is for these differences that I recommend this book. Dr. Slump is the most unique reading experience I have ever had reading a manga that I actually enjoyed. I look forward to reading more of this series in the future.
Please support this series by buying Dr. Slump vol. 1 at the VIZ Media Store or your local bookstore.
