Akira Toriyama developed this series, in the tradition of his well-known (in Japan, anyway,) Dr. Slump. The sex and toilet humor was toned down a bit in Dragon Ball, but it still has more than its share of silly, etchie jokes and characters talking directly to the reader. The first few volumes emphasized the old Monkey King legend references very heavily, which continues to a lesser extent later on. Most notably: Son Gokuu (name of both main characters,) Gokuu's expanding staff, the tail (and Gokuu's tendency to turn into a were-monkey when he sees the full moon,) the flying cloud, etc. There are currently 34 volumes, and the series will probably continue to in the weekly magazine, Shonen Jump. (In volume 2, Akira drew one bookshelf filled with Shonen Jump manga.) [fa:vxxx -- First Appears in Volume xxx.] Son Gokuu: The naive, super-powerful young boy. Carries an expanding staff he received from his grandfather, and rides a hyper-fast cloud (Kintoun) that Kamesennin gave him in book 1. Kamesennin got Kintoun from Kami-sama (god.) [fa:v1] Buruma: The spunky young girl that first shows up looking for the 7 Dragon Balls. She's very high-tech, and later shown to work for Capsule Corp. (the company that makes the Hoi Poi capsules. These capsules can be carried in a case or pocket, and expand to provide the user with cars, campsites, and weapons.) Wants the Dragon Balls to wish for a boyfriend. [fa:v1] Yamcha: The longhaired male teenager who wants the Dragon Balls to wish for a girlfriend. Strong and fast, with a wolf-style martial arts attack, but is very shy around women. Starts out as one of Gokuu's enemies. [fa:v1] Puuaru (Pool ?): Yamcha's floating, shape-changing cat friend. Not very bright, but loyal. [fa:v1] Oolong: Shape-changing sukebe pig. First appears as a giant, who has been terrorizing villagers. Quickly gets enlisted to assist Buruma in finding the Dragon Balls. [fa:v1] Kamesennin Mutenroushi: The dirty old man with the turtle shell on his back. Wise, powerful, and subject to severe nose bleeds. [fa:v1] Gyuu Maou: Magical Cow King. Massive man with extended goggles over his eyes. Well-known leader in this land, and highly respected. [fa:v1] Chi Chi: Gyuu Maou's young daughter. An attractive airhead with a throwing fin attached to her helmet. Appears frequently in later volumes. [fa:v1] Oyabun: Large gangster bunny with the ability to turn people into carrots. Controls the town Usagi-dan, but is just a one-shot bad guy. [fa:v2] Pilaf-sama: A blue-skinned dwarf with plans on ruling the world when he gets control of the other six Dragon Balls. Has two side-kicks: An anthropomorphic dog, and a tall attractive woman/bodyguard. These three appear in later stories. [fa:v1, but fully introduced in v2.] Kushami: The very violent, highly mercenary blond woman that is first seen running away from the police after having robbed a bank. [fa:v3] Ranchi (pronounced closer to "Lunch"): Kushami's "other half." A gentle, kind, nice brunette who moves in with Kamesennin "and the rest of the boys." When she sneezes, Ranchi turns into Kushami, or turns back. Somehow, Kushami always manages to produce automatic weapons during her change- over. [fa:v3] Kiririn: Short, bald, and with 6 spots on his forehead instead of a nose, Kiririn is introduced as a boastful little would-be fighter who wants Kamesennin to train him. Later becomes Gokuu's closest friend. His home town is Ouringi, which means "many tree temple.") [fa:v3] Jackie Chun: One of the world's greatest fighters (possibly a pun on Jackie Chan,) and a man with a peculiar secret. [fa:v3] Book one introduced most of the main characters, their personalities, and motivations. Volume two starts out with the Magical Cow King (Gyuu Maou) needing help in putting out the fires of Mt. Frypan. Gokuu rushes out to get Kamesennin, who will only do the job if Buruma will show him her breasts. Kamesennin then bulks up (putting Sylvester Stalone to shame,) and uses Kamehame-ha (a power blast) to not only put out the fires, but to accidently destroy the mountain at the same time. Buruma coerces Oolong into changing into her double to fulfill her part of the bargain in her place. Gyuu Maou offers his daughter to Gokuu, and Yamcha hurriedly rushes back to administer to the girl that he'd beaten up in the first volume. Chi Chi doesn't understand why two men (boys, really,) appear, knowing her name within an hour of each other, but is flattered at finding out that she has a boyfriend (she just doesn't know who the boyfriend is.) Kamesennin states that it took him 50 years to master Kamehame-ha, but Gokuu picks it up right away, then understands everything when Gyuu Maou calls Gokuu by name. [Note: Kamesennin travels to Mt. Frypan via Baby Gamera, and gets so dizzy that he throws up.] The rubble of the mountain contains a Dragon Ball, bringing Buruma's total up to 6. Buruma, Gokuu, and Oolong continue on to find the last ball (Buruma uses her Dragon Radar to locate it,) with Yumcha and Pool following closely behind. They arrive in Usagi-dan (Usagi == Rabbit) for a silly side-story. Oyabun needs to touch someone to turn them into a carrot, and has his goons beat up Gokuu. Yamcha is forced to help Gokuu, so that Buruma can be restored and can find the last Dragon Ball for him. At the end, Gokuu uses his staff to take Oyabun and goons to the moon (the joke is the Japanese equivalent of the western "man in the moon": "The rabbit pounding mochi on the moon.") As the gang continues on, not knowing that Pilaf has the last Ball, they are ambushed. Pilaf's sidekick takes the Balls that Buruma had found, and all her capsules, but misses the Ball that Gokuu claims contains the soul of his grandfather. Pilaf allows the group to enter his castle, so that he can entrap them. His plan to use an "etchie attack" against Buruma backfires: the attack is simply to blow kisses at her, and Buruma is expecting a whole lot worse. Pilaf uses sleeping gas on his prisoners (and himself.) But, his sidekicks do manage to find the Ball Gokuu is carrying, and they go outside to summon the Great Dragon God to let Pilaf make his wish for world domination. Gokuu uses kamehame-ha to make a small hole in the prison wall, which allows Pool and Oolong to change into bats and escape. Oolong, the coward that he is, wants to run away, when he realizes that the first person to make a demand of the Dragon God wins. So, as Pilaf is stuttering away, Oolong yells out that he wants a pair of panties. He gets his wish, the Dragon disappears, and the Balls fly off in separate directions. Everyone is disappointed to find out that the wish can only be made once a year. Pilaf imprisons the group in a cell with metal walls and a skylight. By noon the next day, the heat will be so great that the group will die. This is when Gokuu tells his friends about were-monkeys. As a joke, he looks at the full moon. Everyone else is relieved when nothing happens. Right away. Gokuu turns into a monster monkey, trashes Pilaf's castle, and nearly kills people on both sides. Yamcha remembers that grabbing Gokuu's tail had caused the boy to go limp, so he tries this on the monster, and Pool cuts the tail off. Gokuu immediately reverts and falls asleep. When he comes to, he takes the loss of his tail calmly, but has also lost his sense of balance. Afterwards, he runs to the rubble of Pilaf's castle to recover his staff. During which, Buruma and Yamcha bemoan the foiling of their plans to find lovers -- before realizing that each was made for the other. Buruma and Yumcha plan on getting to know each other better, but drag Pool and Oolong along for the ride. Gokuu wants to get the Dragon Balls back, so that he can bring his grandfather back to life. Gokuu flies off to Kamesennin's island, because the old man apparently knows something about Gokuu's past. But, the old pervert is busy watching an aerobics show. Gokuu learns about Giri giri girls (they're very "healthy") and he runs off to get a very "healthy" girl for the old man. End of volume. Highly recommended to people with "discriminating tastes"... -- Curtis H. Hoffmann May 16, 1993