Synopsis: Goku continues to yell Bulma's name outside of Capsule Corp., but the officer chastises him and tells him there's no need to yell when there's an intercom right at the entrance. Goku doesn't know what that is, and the cop uses it to ask if Bulma is there. A robotic voice responds that Bulma is at school, and the cop asks Goku if he wants to wait for her. Goku says he does and that the cop can leave now if he wants, but the cop says he can't do that since he doesn't even know for sure that Goku is supposed to be here or not. He finds it a little suspect that someone like him would know the heiress to such a large company as Capsule Corp. Before he can question Goku any further however, Goku says he can smell Bulma's scent, and to the officer's surprise, Bulma flies to a stop in front of them with her flying bike.
Bulma is happy to see Goku and asks if he found his way here all by himself, and Goku says he was helped by the policeman. Bulma thanks the officer, who discreetly smells Bulma when her back is turned – strange, he doesn't think she has that strong of a smell. As Goku explains that he needs Bulma to fix the radar, the officer asks if it it would be too much trouble to have his scooter looked at as well since it's been acting up, and Bulma invites the both of them inside. The officer tells Bulma that they were told she was at school, and Bulma says it was boring so she ditched. The officer nervously points out that she really shouldn't do that as they step inside. Bulma asks a robot maid where her dad is and the maid tells her he's in the garden. Goku is surprised by how big the house is on the inside, but he's even more surprised (as is the cop) when she pushes a button to lead them into the first floor's garden, a massive space built to look like the outside, full of stray dogs, cats, and even dinosaurs that her father has a soft spot for. In almost no time, Dr. Brief wanders over on his bike and Bulma introduces him to Goku. Brief seems surprised – he was under the impression that Goku was a tiny little squirt, but the man standing before him is quite tall and good looking to boot. The doctor is corrected that Goku is the little kid, not the police officer, and the two seem to hit it off quickly. Bulma tells her dad that she and Goku are heading upstairs and asks him to look at the policeman's scooter, and Dr. Brief asks if they're going up there to make out. Bulma screams at him not to be disgusting, and her father calls her a prude. Goku asks Bulma what making out is, she refuses to answer him, and the officer wonders if this is really the man who invented capsule technology as he starts to look over the scooter. At the Red Ribbon HQ, Red wonders why their radar shows their enemy going to West City where there aren't any more Dragon Balls to collect. A soldier comes in and gives him a picture of Goku that was sent in by General White before he was defeated, and Red and his assistant are both astounded that Silver and White squads were both taken down by some brat. In a fury, Red says he's certain this child will continue to fight them and try to get the other four Dragon Balls before they can, and orders the soldier to fax Goku's picture to every remaining unit with orders to kill the boy on sight. Red fumes that such a small child is somehow able to waltz in and get Dragon Balls easily while their organization, equipped with a radar put together by resources from the entire army, struggles. The assistant reasons that this can only mean the boy somehow has a radar even more sophisticated than their own... Back at Capsule Corp., Bulma tells Goku that she wishes he'd be more gentle with the radar, but is able to fix it in no time. Bulma checks the radar and says she's surprised Goku only has two of the Dragon Balls so far, and Goku tells her he's had some pretty crazy adventures so far. Bulma thinks and remembers that tomorrow is a Saturday so she offers to go with Goku and help him out. Goku objects saying she'd just get in the way and he'd have to carry her since she can't ride the kinto'un, but Bulma has the perfect solution. She shows off the watch on her wrist, and presses a button on it before promptly shrinking down to the size of a toy. She says Goku would be able to carry her easily when she's like this, just before a woman's foot steps down on her. The woman introduces herself as Bulma's mother and asks where her daughter is just before Bulma returns to normal size. Her mother tells her not to get under mommy's feet and Bulma yells at her to please not step on her then, to which her mother asks her to be careful where she shrinks. Bulma's mom apologizes to Goku for her daughter's behavior and offers him some sake, prompting Bulma to yell at her for offering liquor to a minor. Bulma's mother wonders why her daughter has to be so rebellious, further exasperating her daughter. Goku asks if Oolong and Yamcha will be coming with them, and before Bulma can stop her, her mother explains that those two plus Puar are in school currently, as well as telling him that Bulma nad Yamcha are fighting right now due to Bulma not liking all of the attention Yamcha gets from other girls. Bulma angrily tells her mom to shut up and says she's going to look for the Dragon Balls with Goku, and this time she's going to find a way better guy than Yamcha. Bulma's mother says she should come along too if they're going guy hunting, angering Bulma once more. Bulma changes clothes and tells Goku they should get going, and they go back to the lab where Dr. Brief has finished tuning up the policeman's scooter. She asks her dad if he's seen her capsule case and he says it's on top of his desk. He asks her where she's going and she says off with Goku to find the Dragon Balls, prompting him to ask her to wish for a pretty girl for him, once again causing Bulma to be angry at her parents. As the pair steps back outside and discusses where they're going, the officer is completely taken by surprise by the talk. He's even more surprised when Goku calls down kinto'un and Bulma shrinks herself to fit inside his gi's shirt before the two fly off into the sky. The cop says he doesn't understand rich people at all and fires up his scooter only to find that it works a little too well now, flying him head first into a lady's car. As Goku and Bulma leave to search for the Dragon Balls, Dr. Brief makes a horrifying discovery – Bulma grabbed his capsule case, not her own. Review: I have little doubt that, for fans who actually got to start Dragon Ball from the very beginning rather than coming into it at some point during DBZ, they probably wondered at some point just what sort of parents could have possibly resulted in a character like Bulma. Well, I think we'll all probably be in full agreement that her parents do actually explain quite a bit about her – their laid-back attitude certainly explains why they let their underage daughter go on a cross-country (or...continent?) trip to search for magical, wish-granting balls, all by herself. It's actually sort of a shame how much of a backseat these two take for the rest of the franchise, because here at the start anyway, they are a lot of fun. Bulma's dad, Dr. Brief, is your standard crazy scientist character, at least at first glance. Rather than being eccentric in a loud and obvious way like Senbei from Dr. Slump however, he's calm almost to a fault and seems to enjoy just doing whatever he wants to do in life – then again, wouldn't you if you were as rich as they are? Despite that however, he's a genius who is apparently the source of all of the capsule technology that we've seen throughout the series thus far. Given how handy that tech is and how literally impossible it sounds from a real world perspective, no wonder he ended up being loaded. I still can't help but wonder how the technology works exactly though, can anything be put into a capsule or is it more that things are made with a capsulizing function built into them? That might be the question I'd be most interested in hearing an answer from Toriyama on. Bulma's mother gives quite a bit less to really talk about or think on, but that doesn't stop her from being fun as well. If Bulma's father is where she got all her genius from, then her mother contributed...beauty...and gender...and...that's about it actually. Her mother (who we never do get a proper name for really) is basically the stereotypical blonde ditz stereotype, and you'd almost be forgiven for thinking she's basically the good doctor's trophy wife, but the few times we do see them together later on in the series, they seem to be happy enough with each other. There's at least a high probability that they're both swingers who don't really have much of a moral standard when it comes to laws, but hey, whatever makes a relationship work. The attitude of both of her parents explains Bulma's personality as well, albeit in an opposite direction. While her parents are chill and relaxed to a point that's probably not good, that seemingly has resulted in Bulma being the type of person that flips out at just about anything and everything. Guess it wasn't just Goku being Goku that was annoying her back in the first arc after all. Their seemingly open relationship seems to annoy her instantly every time, and it might explain somewhat why Bulma is as uncertain as she is about relationships while also coming off rather bold in other situations. It's hilarious that her parents think she's a prude though, if they only knew. ...They'd probably root for her, actually. We get a few more interesting tidbits here and there other than learning about Bulma's parents as well. We end up learning as I mentioned before just how rich she really is – if the size of the house didn't tip you off, the robot maids and in-door garden complete with dinosaurs probably did the trick. We even get a brand new invention from Bulma as well, a wrist-watch that lets you shrink. This is an often forgotten invention from her and I think you'll see why soon enough as it really just seems to be a setup for a gag later on, but not one that's nearly as well done as that time Bulma ended up in a bunny suit. I love the back and forth with the policeman in this chapter as well. I mentioned last time that he didn't seem like the most effective officer in the world, and while I still feel that's probably true, it's funny to see him so completely out of his element in this one. From wondering just what the heck is up with the monkey-tailed kid who seemingly can smell people coming, to witnessing just how eccentric the smartest and richest man in the world is, to finally hearing two kids talk about going somewhere really far away before watching one call down and jump on a cloud and the other shrinks like freakin' Ant-man – the guy's gonna apply for early retirement, I'm calling it now. Amidst all of this, we have a brief scene with Commander Red back at the Red Ribbon HQ as well. It's barely two pages, but it manages to keep the storyline moving along during all of the other antics in the city. Goku has already had two run ins with the Red Ribbon so far, but now he's officially their most wanted target, and considering they're all still going after the same goal in the Dragon Balls, it's only a matter of time before the you-know-what hits the fan again. Until next time! Favorite Panel:
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About the AuthorAspiring author and big anime/manga fan, just trying to do my best in the world. For more details, go to About Me. Archives
September 2022
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