Arale Norimaki (則巻アラレ, Norimaki Arare) is a fictional character in the Dr. Slump franchise. She makes her debut in the first chapter of the Dr. Slump manga, issued in 1980. She makes his first animated appearance in "Arale's Birth", the first episode of Dr. Slump and Arale-chan, which premiered in April 1981. Arale is an android built by Senbei Norimaki, known for her naïvety, energetic personality, lack of common sense and unbelievable super strength. Ironically, she is nearsighted and needs to wear glasses. Senbei's mission is to convince the other citizens of Penguin Village that Arale is no more than a typical 13-year-old girl, which they appear to believe in spite of taking notice to Arale's numerous displays of superhuman athletic capability. Her name is a pun on the Japanese word for a small senbei.
Biography[]
Arale Norimaki is created at the home laboratory of the famous Senbei Norimaki. As Senbei begins to take Arale into the outside world as early as the day she is created, he often poses as the girl's brother or father, depending on who Senbei is speaking to. The Norimaki family begins to grow when Arale and Senbei discover an egg when they travel to the past. The egg hatches into a small winged creature that they name "Gadzilla" or "Gatchan" for short. Later in the manga, Senbei marries Midori Yamabuki, and they have a child named Turbo. Eventually the family grows once again when Gatchan inexplicably splits into two separate entities earlier in the series.[1]
Arale in the Dr. Slump anime series remade in the late 1990s.
A comic relief that appeared in many volumes and episodes of Dr. Slump, Arale, having been designed as a child, complains about not having a "big enough chest", a desire which Senbei declines to fulfill. Her disappointment in this may allude to Arale's inheritance of some of the perversion of her maker. She also tends to lift her shirt with no regard; doing so on one occasion simply to gesture as she asks Senbei if she can launch rockets from her chest.
Arale makes several appearances during the General Blue Saga of the Dragon Ball manga and anime, debuting in the anime's 55th episode "Penguin Village", and making her first Dragon Ball manga appearance in "Chased to Penguin Village!", the 81st chapter of the manga. In her most memorable of these appearances, Arale defeats General Blue in two moves, and she and the Gatchan proved able to ride the Flying Nimbus, indicating that they are pure of heart.
Arale's resumé describes her as enjoying the hobby of poking 'poop', disliking boredom, having the talent of feminine allure, and being born on the '17th of Flying Fish'.
Special abilities[]
- Arale Kick, an ability where Arale simply runs after her target and does a double flying kick.[2]
- Earth-Splitter (地球割り, Chikyuwari), an ability where Arale punches the ground beneath her, causing the planet to split in half. The Earth-Splitter is used for comic relief rather than as an offensive technique.
- Headbutt, an ability where Arale lunges upward at her airborne target, headbutting the foe in the torso with very powerful force. This technique is capable of sending the average person flying for hundreds of miles.
- Kiiin!, a "technique" where Arale runs at extreme speeds of up to 500 miles per hour, while shouting 'kiiin', onomatopoeic for the sound of a speeding airplane. Arale has a technique in the video game Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 called Ping!, which resembles "Kiiin".
- Transformation, a "technique" that Arale uses to "transform" into her "alter-ego", Ultra-Man. She demonstrates this ability by turning on a flashlight and saying "Ultra-Man! Schwaaa!" before changing her clothes into a spandex superhero jumpsuit, and then repeating "Schwaaa!"
- Watermelon/Pumpkin Cannon, a "technique" that Arale uses several times as a prank on on Senbei. She loads a cannon with a pumpkin or a watermelon and fires it at her target, usually wearing a kunoichi outfit while doing so.
- N'cha!, Arale's secret weapon. N'cha! is a very powerful beam shot from the mouth. To use it, Arale takes a deep breath before yelling out her signature greeting, 'n'cha' (or another greeting, on a rare occasion) very loudly. Though this is devastating, using it repeatedly, or when low in battery power, can drain her energy supply and render her immobile.
- Woohoo!, an technique where Arale picks up a large boulder and throws it at her opponent. This is one of her techniques in Budokai Tenkaichi 3.
- Ping!, a technique in Budokai Tenkaichi 3 where Arale jumps at an extreme speed, while shouting 'ping'. This a technique is similar to Kiiin, another ability demonstrated by Arale's manga and anime incarnations.
- Playing Pro-Wrestling, a combination of the Arale Kick and Headbutt, followed by a beam fired by the Gatchans. This is her most powerful technique in Budokai Tenkaichi 3.
Other appearances[]
Arale makes a cameo appearance in the 1988 film Mystical Adventure when she spontaneously appears with the Gatchans and launches a boulder at General Tao, who is riding a pillar in pursuit of Goku. She also appears on a poster in Gohan's room during Dragon Ball Z, and her face is shown in the 1993 film Broly - The Legendary Super Saiyan.
Arale also appears as a playable character in several Japanese video games, among them Jump Super Stars, Jump Ultimate Stars, Budokai Tenkaichi 3 and Dr. Slump: Arale-Chan.
Voice actors[]
- 1980s series: Mami Koyama
- 1990s series: Taeko Kawata
- Budokai Tenkaichi series: Brina Palencia
Trivia[]
- It is uncertain if Arale still exists as late as Dragon Ball GT, as she does not make any cameo appearances like a plethora of other characters encountered during Goku's adventures in Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z. While it is possible that she was killed by Kid Buu's destruction of Earth and her life was not restored by a wish made to Shenron simply because she is artificial, this is debatable since Android 8 is seen apparently revived during this time. Regardless, unlike Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z, Dragon ball GT is semi-canonical as it was created by writers at Toei Animation, rather than Akira Toriyama. These writers may have forgotten about or been unaware of her existence during the production of the series.
References[]
- ↑ Dr. Slump manga, vol. 11, page 155.
- ↑ Dragon Ball manga, vol. 7, page 159. ISBN 1-56931-926-X
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