The Adventures of Tongpoo

The Adventures of Tongpoo (トンプー大冒険) is a one-shot manga by Akira Toriyama that was published in the fifty-second issue of Weekly Shōnen Jump on November 29, 1983 and was later released in the compilation Akira Toriyama's Manga Theater Vol. 2, first published in March 1988.

Along with Dragon Boy, The Adventures of Tongpoo served as an inspiration for Dragon Ball. It is forty-five pages long, and it introduced an early concept of the Capsule as well as story elements for the second Dragon Ball chapter, "No Balls!"

Story[]

The story is centered around a cyborg boy named Tongpoo who is the only crew member of a ship known as "Planet 12" who was sent from Earth to investigate alien planets. After being in Cryogenic freezing for five years aboard the ship, he is awoken, assuming that the ship is approaching a planet. Much to his surprise there is no nearby planet and was awaken to escape because the ship's engine was damaged causing it to explode.

After escaping in a small scouting ship on limited fuel, Tongpoo makes it to a desolate alien planet which is essentially oceanic. While riding a hovercraft coming from one of his capsules, he comes across the ruins to a spaceship laying in a lake. While skinny dipping into the lake to investigate the ship he discovers that the ship is "Planet 8" that was sent from Earth two years before him. While looking around more he sees the skeleton to what used to be one of Planet 8's three crew members.

Tongpoo then hears music nearby and ends up finding a young girl named Plamo bathing in a lake. Plamo tells Tongpoo that she was the only surviving member of the Planet 8 ship and the other two were killed by an alien who landed on the planet. Tongpoo and Plamo come up with an idea to steal the ship.

Tongpoo sets up camp using a house created from a capsule. In the house, she reveals that she was originally chosen as part of the research project to investigate alien planets for the comedic reason of her ability to take an hour to bend a spoon. While having a bath together they both find out that they are 14 years old.

The next morning, they begin their plan to steal the alien spaceship. Tongpoo goes into the ship to see if he can control it and becomes disappointed when he cannot. He decides to blow it up using a grenade being timed to set off once a block of ice melts. Plamo is outside wearing a revealing dress attempting to seduce the alien but fails as the alien tries to eat her. Tongpoo runs out and tries to save Plamo. After being shot several times by the alien and still being up, he uses his cyborg power to defeat the alien and run off as its ship explodes.

Seeing as they have no other choice, Plamo and Tongpoo decide to take Tongpoo's scouting ship and start an adventure to go to the next planet in hopes of finding another ship to make it back to Earth.

Characters[]

• Tongpoo – A cyborg boy who is traveling through the universe for the purpose of planetary exploration. He is a basis for Goku.
• Plamo – A precocious girl that wields a machine gun. Bulma was modeled after her.
• Unnamed alien – A criminal wanted on several planets. He killed Plamo's partners two years ago.

Comparisons with Dragon Ball[]

Similarities[]

• The bath scene at the Capsule House is similar in Dragon Ball: Plamo reveals her age when seeing that Tongpoo is in the bathroom with her, just like how Bulma does in Dragon Ball.
• The concept of a female character using Amorous Glance in a failed attempt to seduce a villain as a distractionary method that failed for various reasons was later reused with Bulma during the General Blue Saga.

Differences[]

• The roles are somewhat reversed as Plamo (the Bulma incarnation) is amazed by the Capsule House while Tongpoo (the Goku incarnation) is the one with the capsules and technology.
• Capsule #4 is the house capsule, when in Dragon Ball capsule #1 is. The design of the capsule house is different as well, it looks almost like Kame House.
• Instead of ending up wearing a Bunny Costume like Bulma had to, Plamo wears a revealing dress that shows her panties several times.

Trivia[]

• Plamo is seen reading a Dr. Slump manga while laying on a bed in the Capsule House.
• The Sun is shown as a living entity in same way as in Dr. Slump.
• Toriyama reused the name "Tongpoo" in 1987 for a futuristic hovercraft model called "Scout Mobile Tongpoo" that he and his studio realized in collaboration with Kunihiro Suzuki.

Gallery[]

Tongpoo Tongpoo on his flying scooter Pterodactyl Tongpoo coming across Planet 8's remains Plamo Plamo and Tongpoo Tongpoo and Plamo Plamo Pterodactyl The Sun Nessie Godzilla Tongpoo and Plamo on Tongpoo's vehicle Tongpoo is angry Tongpoo after defeating the alien

External links[]

• The Adventures of Tongpoo scans at tenmanga.com