Dr. Slump - Plot and Themes

Plot and Themes

Dr. Slump is set in Penguin Village (ペンギン村, Pengin Mura?), a place where humans co-exist with all sorts 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 world's most perfect little girl robot, named Arale Norimaki, in scenes parodying the Italian children's classic The Adventures of Pinocchio. Because Senbei is a lousy inventor, she soon turns out to be in severe need of eyeglasses. She is also very naïve, and in later issues she has adventures such as bringing a huge bear home, having mistaken it for a pet. To Senbei's credit, she does have super-strength. In general, the manga focuses on Arale's misunderstandings of humanity and Senbei's inventions, rivalries, and romantic misadventures. In the middle of the series, a continuously-appearing villain shows up, based on Toriyama's editor at the time.

Dr. Slump is filled with puns and toilet humor, and parodies of both Japanese and American culture. For example, one of the recurring characters is Suppaman, a short, fat, pompous buffoon who changes into a Superman-like costume by eating a sour-tasting ("suppai" in Japanese) umeboshi. Unlike Superman, Suppaman cannot fly, and instead pretends to fly by lying belly down on a skateboard and scooting through the streets. Also, a policeman in Dr. Slump can be seen wearing a Star Wars-style stormtrooper helmet, just as in the American movies. Toriyama himself has been portrayed as a bird (the "tori" in his last name means "bird", hence the name of his production studio Bird Studio), although Toriyama actually based the design of Senbei on himself. In addition, other real-life people make appearances as well, such as Toriyama's boss (Kazuhiko Torishima), assistants, wife, his colleague friends (such as Masakazu Katsura) and others.