Akira Toriyama Super Database: New Manga







Alien X Peke


I was planning on putting a review/summary for Alien X here in this file. Instead, I have something better: The script translated by Robert D. (AKA: Gokou 3).

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Toki Mecha (AKA: Time Machine)


In December of 1996, Toriyama started a 3-issue short story called "Tokimecha". The episodes appeared on 12/21, 1/4, and 1/13. It is basically about a young girl -- Tai -- who either creates or finds (I missed the first installment) a time machine. She travels to a pre-historic period, where she runs into a caveboy -- Muu, and her machine gets busted. Apparently trapped, she discovers that the caveboy can speak Japanese, and that she is not the only time traveller here. Muu wants to marry Tai because she is the strongest woman on Earth (due to her use of technology), which causes Muu's previous betrothed -- Meh -- to take an immediate hate towards Tai.

The other time travellers are two hunters on the lookout for fun dinosaurs to shoot at. They kidnap Meh to sell her back in the future to slavers. Muu and Tai chase the hunters down, and Muu beats them up. Tai gets the hunter's time machine and returns to her own time (leaving the hunters stranded in the past.) Just after Tai destroys the second machine to prevent the technology from being misused anymore, she discovers that Muu and his pet dino had sneaked themselves into the future via her machine.

The artwork is as good as we've come to expect from Toriyama, and the sight gags are no different. None of the characters are directly based on any of the previous main designs of Dragonball, Dr. Slump, or Go! Go! Akkman (which apparently no longer appear in V-Jump magazine.) The Tokimecha designs are clean and solid, though, and interesting to look at. The story is a very straight-forward set-up. There are no real hooks to allow Toriyama to turn Tokimecha into a long-term running series.

Don't expect Tokimecha to reappear in Shonen Jump any time in the near future. However, there will undoubtedly be a collection of the new short stories released when there is enough material for it. Look for Tokimecha to be reprinted at that time.

Characters
Tai A young blonde girl that uses a time machine to travel into the past for the fun of it. Kind of like Bulma, but without the full range of Capsule Corp. "magic" technology.
Muu A small black-haired caveboy that can speak Japanese and dinosaur. Kind of like Tarzan on steroids. VERY strong, and is interested mostly in fighting. When Meh gets kidnapped, Muu is happy to have her out of his hair.
Meh A tall cave girl. Almost as strong as Muu, and very interested in marrying the boy. However, Muu only wants to marry THE strongest woman on Earth -- which is currently Tai. Meh's plan to out-power Tai is interrupted when the two hunters shoot her with a tranquilizer dart and kidnap her.
Boss The leader of the two time travelling hunters. There is no explanation for how Boss got his time machine, but he seems to use it only for hunting excursions. Boss is homosexual, so his intent to kidnap Meh is only to sell her to some "straight" pervert for lots of money.
Driver This big bulky guy has no name. He works for Boss as a chauffeur and all-round flunky. When it comes time to face Muu, Driver uses a "Magic Muscles Suit" (which is nothing more than an inflatable giant robot with a stupid design concept.) Muu defeats the Magic Muscles Suit with no trouble.
Pipi Muu's pet ptyrodactyl.
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Majin Mura no Bubul (AKA: Bubul of the Magical Village)


Shonen Jump magazine has periodic contests to allow readers to vote for their favorite artists. The Jump Reader's Cup '97 started out with a 46-page one-shot from Toriyama, entitled Majin Mura no Bubul, appearing in the #22/23 issue of Shonen Jump. Each subsequent week, a different artist will submit their own one-shot story in the contest. (No news yet as to who the winner is this year.)

"Majin" translates to "Magical being". As Toriyama presents them in this story, Majin are short, fat creatures (probably blue creatures) with Kewpie Doll-style peaks on their heads. Majin can fly, perform various kinds of magic, and essentially act like good-natured demons. They live in a world apart from humans, but they do have some limited interaction with their human counterparts.

The main character is Bubul, a young Majin that loves to watch humans along with his little brother, Purupuru. Bubul's father works in the human world, and uses a dimensional gate to travel back and forth. One day, while making snowmen in the human world, Bubul and Purupuru hear a car approaching them; this is the closest they've ever gotten to a human, and they watch excitedly (their eyes turning into binoculars.) In the car is a bank robber, who is attempting to outrun the police. The robber is named Patchi, and he drives until he runs out of fuel. Continuing on foot, he runs until he discovers the dimensional gate. The police lose Patchi's tracks, so they use a robot dog (when the robo-dog reaches a river, it pauses to take a piss; the sheriff comments that he doesn't know why these robo-dogs do this thing.) Patchi hears the robo-dog's barking, and enters the gate to hide. Bubul and Purupuru follow Patchi and introduce themselves. Patchi tries to scare them off with his gun, but Bubul tells Purupuru to play bowling -- Purupuru complains about being the one that always has to play the part of the pins. Bubul removes his head, and knocks the pins over.

The two Majin then discuss human things, as Bubul tells Purupuru what a "bank robber" is. They are both impressed that Patchi is a robber. The police locate the gate, and Patchi uses Bubul as a hostage, while Purupuru flies off to get their mother. Mom arrives, introduces herself to Patchi, asks what a "bank robber" is, and then prepares to fly away to do some shopping in town. Bubul takes a fancy to Patchi's expensive sneakers (about $100). Mom runs into her husband, and they return past the police and enter the dimensional gate. Dad comments that he's heard on the news that Patchi has robbed a huge amount of money and is now rich, but the man replies that he's just doing this to save his wife. Dad decides to send his eyes (they fly out of his head) out into town to determine how Patchi's wife is. Dad is disappointed to discover that the other gang members are ignoring the tied up woman, and are just playing cards instead of doing sexually nasty things to their captive.

Dad's eyes come back, and he says that he'll allow Bubul to go out to help Patchi. He'd do it himself, but he'd probably get angry, and kill everyone. Patchi gets on Bubul's back and they fly FAST to a ship that is anchored near the town. The real villians leave the ship, confront Patchi, and ask for the money. Patchi tries to sic Bubul on them, but the Majin is weak if he isn't angry, and ends up receiving bubblegum from the villians cause he's so cute. Zuroosu yells at Patchi to wake up, and stop trying to rely on the little fat, stupid-looking geek. This insult makes Bubul angry, and he becomes twenty+ feet tall. As Bubul destroys the dockyards, the villians run away, and Patchi rescues Zurousu.

It takes Patchi and Zurousu two days to walk back to the gate. By that time, the police are gone. Patchi discovers that Bubul's family has spent all of the money (Bubul gets expensive sneakers, Purupuru gets a giant teddy bear, and mom and dad get a new car and expensive clothing.) Because Patchi is a wanted criminal now, he and Zurousu end up spending the rest of their days happily raising a family of their own in the Majin world.

Majin Mura no Bubul is a fun little one-shot. It's not one of Toriyama's funniest stories, since he relies less on toilet humor than he does on weird twists on how the Majin view human oddities. Bubul is outstanding mainly due to its pacing, original storyline, and great layout drawings. Because of Toriyama's reputation, and fan-following, he's almost guaranteed to win the '97 Cup with this story.

Characters
Bubul A small demon (magical being) that lives in the Majin village in another dimension. He lives with his parents and younger brother, and loves visiting the human world via a dimensional gate that that his father uses to go to work during the day. Bubul has a red "V" on his chest. He is blue, naked, and looks like a bald Kewpie Doll. He walks to and from school, rather than fly like normal, because his mother doesn't want him to get fat. If someone insults his appearance, Bubul will go bezerk and destroy whole buildings, but he is still young and can't remain angry for more than one minute.
Purupuru Bubul's younger brother. Smaller, with a diamond on his chest. Enjoys making snowmen with Bubul. Hangs from the peak on his head, when sleeping (like an upside-down possum.)
Patchi A young human man with spikey black hair, and expensive sneakers. He robs a bank only because some gang has taken his wife hostage and orders him to go out and get the money. Basically a nice guy with bad luck.
Zurousu Patchi's attractive young wife. She has long blonde hair pulled back into a tight ponytail. (Patchi and Zurousu may be a play on Pachislo, a gambling type of slot machine found in pachinko parlors.)

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This Section of the Akira Toriyama Super Database is maintained by Curtis H. Hoffmann.


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