Dragon Boy

is a two chapter manga by Akira Toriyama that ran originally from June 19, 1983 to September 22, 1983 in the August and October, 1983 issues of Fresh Jump. It was later released in Akira Toriyama's Manga Theater Vol. 2, first published in March 1988. Dragon Boy is best known for being a prototype for the much more popular Dragon Ball manga,Daizenshuu 2, 1995 which began the following year.
==Overview==
Dragon Boy features the adventures of a boy named Tangtong and an unlikely ragtag group who go on a journey to the Flower Country. This short work is 45-page long (15 for the first chapter and 21 for the second), and it combines the comedic style of Toriyama's successful Dr. Slump series with a more action-oriented plot and pays homage to famous martial art actor Jackie Chan.Daizenshuu 1, 1995 Toriyama noted that his goal for the series was to tell an "unconventional and contradictory" story."Interview with the Majin! Revisited", Shonen Jump volume 5, issue 11, 2007 Like Dragon Ball, this manga is mainly based on the Chinese story Journey to the West. Several elements from the story were later reused in Dragon Ball, largely in the first 13 chapters, notably the martial arts theme and the general atmosphere. Dragon Boy even has its own version of the Dragon Ball artifacts. However, in this incarnation, the Dragon Balls produce small dragons when hit with an energy blast, which actually was quite useless when Tangtong summoned it in the story.
==Story==
In a far off land called Sen, Tangtong lives and trains with his master. His master has decided to send him on a quest to return the princess of the Flower Country (Ka in the Japanese version) to her homeland. She ran away during the war, which has now been resolved. Tangtong has many curiosities about the girl, and he quickly annoys her.
Tangtong is given a Dragon Ball to aid them. Along the way, the princess complains and yells at Tangtong, giving him a bad impression of what girls are like. After they stop so that the princess can bathe, she once again complains, now that she is thirsty. They find a well, but it is inhabited by a water demon. The demon is too strong for Tangtong, so he uses the Dragon Ball. The ball only provides a weak, shrimpy dragon, so Tangtong resorts to tearing off his shirt and flying with his wings. He is then able to defeat the monster. Rather than thanking Tangtong for saving her, the princess scolds him for not flying her on the journey earlier.
In the second chapter, the princess is hungry and grudgingly accepts a rice ball. While they are stopped, they encounter Pingyao, a traveler looking for food. The princess gives up her share, and then realizes that the man is a transforming demon. Tangtong teaches the demon manners by demonstrating how strong he is on a rock. The demon apologizes and flees. Tangtong and the princess approach a bridge, and the princess orders her escort to carry her when he refuses to fly.
Pingyao returns though and warns them of a monster that guards the bridge. But he is too late, and they come face-to-face with a robot soldier. As Tangtong fights the monster, the princess wets her pants and cries over her accident. After trying to negotiate with the soldier by telling him the war is over and subsequently fighting more, Pingyao transforms into a commander and relieves the soldier of his duty. The robot lets them pass, but the princess's only concern is her peed-in pants. She has Pingyao become a change of clothes for her, but he reverts after three minutes, leaving her to walk completely naked.
==Characters==
*Tangtong - the main character.
*Elder Master (ご老師さま; go-rōshi-sama) - Tangtong's trainer in martial arts and caretaker. He taught Tangtong little else and sends him on his quest.
*Princess of the Flower Country
*Water Demon
*Dragon Jewel
*Pingyao
*Heyun Robot - a machine soldier who has guarded Heyun for the past 100 years.
==Locations==
*Flower Country - The country that the princess is from. It is at war.
*Heyun - The water country which has been around for at least 100 years,
==Similarities with Dragon Ball==
*The scenery for both mangas is influenced by the landscapes of ancient China.
*Tangtong, the eponymous "dragon boy", is Goku's prototype. He is a young, socially isolated, martial artist who has never encountered females and is therefore curious about them. He is mostly humanoid in appearance and behavior, but is easily distinguished from actual humans by an unusual body part which, in his case, are a pair of dragon wings. Goku has a similar backstory, except that his unusual body part is instead a monkey tail. Yamcha resembles him to some extent, particularly the hairstyle.
*Tangtong's master rides a flying cloud similar to the Flying Nimbus. Like its successor, the flying cloud is borrowed from Journey to the West.
*The princess is Bulma's prototype. Like Bulma, the princess comes from a wealthy, powerful family (Bulma's father owns Capsule Corporation), and is characterized as selfish, impatient, and temperamental. She also loses bladder control when faced with danger. Chi-Chi somewhat resembles her.
*Dragon Boy features a Dragon Ball artifact. Instead of granting wishes, though, it produces an actual dragon, and turns out to be useless.
*Pingyao is a shapeshifting flying cat with a time limit on his transformations, who ends up befriending Tangtong and the princess. Thus, he doubles as Puar's prototype and Oolong's prototype.
*The Soldier Robot's design was reused for the Pirate Robot that appears in the General Blue Saga of Dragon Ball.
==Gallery==
River(DBoy).jpg
Bridge(DBoy).jpg
TangTong(DBoy).jpg|Tangtong
Master(DBoy).jpg|Elder Master
PrincessKa(DBoy).jpg|The princess
BinYaoRiceBall.jpg|Pingyao gets food from the princess
WaterDemon(DBoy).jpg|The water demon
SoldierRobot(DBoy).jpg|The Soldier Robot
IMG 5054.jpg|A picture of The Princess of the Flower Country and TangTong as drawn by Akira Toriyama
==References==
==Site Navigation==
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