Dr. Slump

[Anapan]

I just found an anime that is sorta like Astroboy except the android is a girl. I put the first episode on my FTP.
Dr. Slump - 01

[Danny]

..

[DrFrag]

Inflicted? I think Dragonball (and Neon Genesis for that matter) got a bad rap after attracting a somewhat rabid and puerile fan base. I quite liked it.

I found a web page on Dr Slump and the artwork is very reminiscent of Dragonball. In fact, at first I thought it WAS Dragonball.

[Kametsou]

I love Dr. Slump. It's awesome!

[jeffbert]

I found a few volumes of manga at Amazon.com, but no anime.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/103-9917671-7841448?%5Fencoding=UTF8&keywords=Dr.%20Slump&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3ADr.%20Slump&page=1
Only the first 4 seem to be English, though.

[jeffbert]

I just watched this first episode, & I love it. Is is available on DVD?

She comes into the world naked, so he puts his PJ top on her. Then goes out to buy clothes for her. This reminds me of Chobits, when the guy tries to buy panties, but is worried people will think he is a pervert.

The girl likes to play catch with her own head, while her creator is trying to have her pass for human.


Chibi-Ultraman makes several appearances.

I just ordered the first two manga.

[Ataru Moroboshi]

Dr. Slump is a manga by Akira Toriyama which started to be published on Shonen Jump from 1979 to 1984, and tells the disadventures of a 28 yr. old scientific who creates a robot girl called Arale. This manga is full of pop culture refernces (to Astro Boy, DC universe, Ultraman, Star Wars, Clint Eastwood, Godzilla movies, Star Trek, Thunderbirds...) The anime version consists of around 200 episodes, arrived to my country around 1988 and was a big success, being since then re-aired almost costantly. It was very successful in France and in Italy, too.

Be warned: this manga has many WC humor.

There is a 2nd version of the anime made on the last 90s. And attention to this: like in South Park, in Penguin Village, where this manga takes place, there are talking... er... turds...

[jeffbert]

I just received vols 1 & 2 of the manga today. Volume 1 starts out nearly identically to the episode above, & is very enjoyable. However, I suspect I would like it even more if I were grounded in Japanese pop-culture.

Anyway, Arale is the robot 'girl' around whom the story centers. In the manga, she was fitted with a body-stocking-type skin just as was Atom in the 80s anime, I do not know which was first, though. Unlike Atom, she takes her energy from a baby bottle, and is taken for a human. Much of the humor relies upon her not knowing her own strength and her naivate (spelling?). I think that 5 or 6 volumes are currently available in the USA, with another 1 scheduled for release in June.

Oh, & like young Atlas, Arale also has nipples. But no nostrils. The name 'Arale' is strange for a Japanese word, since the Japanese make no distinction between the 'R' & 'L' sounds.