【Dr. Slump】popular science fiction/comedy manga about human and robot!

Dokuta Suranpu (Dr. Slump) is a manga series written and illustrated by Akira Toriyama. It was serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump from 1980 to 1984. The manga was such a hit that it launched Toriyama's career to a new height. In 1981, it won the Shogakukan Manga Award for shonen and shojo manga and has sold over 35 million copies in Japan.

Dr. Slump was later adapted into an anime series by Toei Animation and aired on Fuji TV from 1981 to 1986, with a total of 243 episodes. Thirteen years after Dr. Slump manga ended, a remake series consisting of 74 episodes, was broadcasted from 1997 to 1999. The first anime series adapted from Dr. Slump was so popular that it held the prime time of 6PM on Saturday for five years!

Not only anime adaptations, Dr. Slump also inspired several novels, video games and animated films. Starting with Hello! Wonder Island on July 1981, Toei Animation continued to produce a total of 11 animated films based on Dr. Slump until 2007.

Many critics praised Dr. Slump as the best series Toriyama has created. Some even claimed that it was better drawn and more creative than Toriyama’s super popular manga series Dragon Ball.

The story of Dr. Slump began in a peaceful place called Penguin Village. At the house and laboratory of Dr. Senbei Norimaki, he seemed to be working on a robot in the shape of a little girl. Dr. Senbei’s biggest goal was to create a perfect humanoid robot.

While Dr. Senbei was working on the robot’s body, her head yawned and told him that she was bored. Dr. Senbei replied by saying he should have put the talking function in last. After adding the final touch, Dr. Senbei asked the robot to wiggle her arm to test her mobility. However, she ended up hitting him right in the crotch. Dr. Slump’s humor was well-demonstrated in the first few pages.

As Dr. Senbei tried to finish up, he assembled the head into the robot’s body. The robot could finally move on her own and she instantly complained about her flat chest. Nonetheless, Dr. Senbei was impressed by his own intellect for creating the perfect humanoid robot.

Just then, the robot said that she was so disappointed to find there was no built-in function that would allow her to fly or shoot missile out of her stomach. “What will I use to fight the force of evil?”, she asked. To that, Dr. Senbei reassured her that she wouldn’t have to.

Then, the robot told Dr. Senbei that his face was funny. He realized there was something wrong with her eyesight and decided to test her vision. Dr. Senbei showed the robot a vision chart and asked her to read the letters, which she got all wrong. From then on, the robot had to wear glasses in order to see clearly.

Deciding that the robot couldn’t keep wearing his pajamas, Dr. Senbei went out to buy her some new clothes. After getting most of the clothes, Dr. Senbei had to face the challenge of buying her underwear! Dr. Senbei was so afraid that the women in the store would think of him as some pervert, he came up with the idea to dress up as a woman.

He bought lipstick, a wig and a woman outfit, then went to the restroom to change. Dr. Senbei even shaved all his beard before trying on the outfit that he bought. Then, he realized that he has mistakenly bought a school girl uniform.

In his hilarious get-up, Dr. Senbei went to the lingerie store and asked to buy underwear. Judging by his appearance, the clerk thought that he was an old woman. She showed Dr. Senbei a giant pantie with elephant print on it. He was furious and said he was buying underwear for someone else.

When Dr. Senbei got back home, he gave the robot new clothes but it was an overall that looked like boy clothes. Dr. Senbei then took her out to test how human-like she was. If nobody notice that she was a robot, his experiment would be a success. However, Dr. Slump started to lose his confident the moment they stepped out of the house as the robot kept throwing her head up and down like a ball.

Dr. Senbei took the robot to a local coffee shop. There, he introduced her to the barista Aoi Kimidori as his sister. When Aoi asked what was the name of his “sister”, Dr. Slump panicked and made up a name on the spot, “Her name is Arale ...... Arale Norimaki!”

While Dr. Slump and Arale was sitting at the counter, Aoi asked for their drink orders. Arale replied that she wanted engine oil but Dr. Senbei immediately covered it up by saying juice. Then, Aoi asked how old Arale was, which she said she was brand-new. Dr. Senbei jumped in and covered it up again. “She is thirteen”, Dr. Senbei said.

When they were getting ready to leave, Arale ran outside and a car crashed into her. The car was flipped over but there wasn’t a single scratch on Arale. Everyone was dumb-founded and stared at her in shock!

How will Arale fit in with her new life as a “human”? How will her story unfold?