Anyone heard of "Dr. Slump" (1981)?

[Neville]

I recently checked out its IMDB entry to read the user comments and I am really surprised not to see a single one. Has it never been aired in the USA? "Dr. Slump" was one of the japanese anime series created by Akira Toriyama ("Dragon Ball", "Dragonquest"), and it even appears in a crossover episode of the first Dragonball series. It goes about a horny but brilliant scientist who creates a small robot  whith the shape of a teen girl, and all hell breaks loose after that. It has some coarse humour, but appart from that, can't understand why nobody seems to have heard of it. Weird indeed.

[Squishy]

"Dr. Slump" has never aired in the US outside of anime fan shows, and American publishers don't have much faith in that sort of manga--yet.

"Dragonball" has lots of silly humor, but it's backed up by "fighting action" (which takes over in the horrifically, endlessly violent "Dragonball Z" series), and the mix of kiddie-cute and scat-humor in "Dr. Slump" makes US publishers shy away.

(There's also probably concern about legal action. A major supporting character in "Slump"--who also appears in that brief "Dragonball" cross-over--is a cowardly Superman parody. At one point in "Slump," he brags to the little robot girl that he "can do ANYTHING"--and she promptly challenges him to eat some dog poop. Trapped by his own words, he...uh...well...yargh. DC/Warner Brothers probably wouldn't stand for much of that, parody law or no.)

But things change, and those publishers are experimenting with more "fringe" manga subjects. Right now, ComicsOne is releasing, among other things, the first volume of "Crayon Shin-Chan," a little bastard that makes Bart Simpson look like Milhouse on Ritalin, and makes life Hell for everyone he meets. Highly recommended for at least a peek.

Viz Communications is publishing the "Dragonball" series, and probably owns the rights to "Slump." They're pretty unpredictable. They're doing a good job of putting out Rumiko Takahashi's excellent manga ("Inu Yasha," the "Mermaid" series, "Maison Ikkoku"), and yet they refuse to complete her magnum opus, "Urusei Yatsura." Likewise, Toren Smith of Studio Proteus will adapt every episode of "Oh My Goddess," but without explanation will not run one more story from the same artist's "You're Under Arrest," which many prefer--including me. And his attitude towards manga artists in general is inexplicably hostile.

Who knows what they're thinking.

This site is deader'n Hell, but you can still view a few "Dr. Slump" manga chapters there.

[Fearless Freep]

It goes about a horny but brilliant scientist who creates a small robot whith the shape of a teen girl, and all hell breaks loose after that.

For some reason "Battle Angel" came to mind when I read that (except for the 'horny' part)  Battle Angel is still on of my favorite Anime's

[Squishy]

Oh Lord, don't get the wrong idea! Actually, the robot, Arale (who appears on the first page I linked in my earlier message), is very pre-teen-ish, easily capable of destroying a city, and the relationship between her and her creator is a totally innocent "father-daughter" kind of thing. The good Doctor is, however, always checking out the grown-up flesh-and-blood chicks.

Here is the original comic appearance of the Superman parody; however, it is in Chinese, not English or Japanese. "Suppai-man" ("suppai" means sour, and he gets his courage from sour plums, it's just a damn pun, leave me alone) meets Arale and another of Slump's "family," and they have assorted contests--including touching dog poo (not eating it, as I suggested before).

Weird note: this was too graphic for the TV anime of "Dr. Slump;" the poo was "cut out"--depicted as a blank space with the distinct soft-serve outline. :D

[Neville]

Thanks for the info and the Dr. Slump webpage, Squishy. Never understood why some TVs dumped Dr. Slump but had no problem with the violence of the Dragonball series. Here both were incredibly popular, and now they are showing on a regular basis the Dr. Slump remake (1997), which has the same plots and jokes but a brand new look, and Crayon Shin Chan.

All this series have been really successful here, but on the first years there was a great debate about if this kind of stuff was really appropiate for kids. Major complaints were Dragonball ass-kicking and, now that Crayon Shin Chan has been aired, if the child has to be that annoying (sic!). My personal opinion is that those who think that should deal with real children for a while.