The Adventures of Tongpoo
Encyclopedia
The Adventures of Tongpoo (トンプー大冒険) is a one-shot manga written by Akira Toriyama
. It appeared in Weekly Shonen Jump
#52 in 1983 and was later released in the compilation Tankōbon, Akira Toriyama's Manga Theater Vol. 2. The manga introduced an early concept of the Hoi-Poi Capsules that appear in Toriyama's well known manga Dragon Ball
.
in a lake. Plamo tells Tongpoo that she was the only surviving member of the 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 but becomes disappointed when he can't so decides to blow it up using a gernade 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 Tongpoo. 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.
protagonist Son Goku
as well as Plamo's personality being an early depiction of the female lead Bulma. Modified versions of the Hoi-Poi capsules as well become recurring objects in the series.
Akira Toriyama
is a Japanese manga artist and game artist known mostly for his creation of Dragon Ball in 1984. Toriyama admires Osamu Tezuka's Astro Boy and was impressed by Walt Disney's One Hundred and One Dalmatians, which he remembers for the great art...
. It appeared in Weekly Shonen Jump
Weekly Shonen Jump
is a weekly shōnen manga anthology published in Japan by Shueisha under the Jump line of magazines. The first issue was released with a cover date of July 2, 1968, and it is still circulating. One of the longest-running manga magazines in Japan, it has a circulation of 2.8 million copies...
#52 in 1983 and was later released in the compilation Tankōbon, Akira Toriyama's Manga Theater Vol. 2. The manga introduced an early concept of the Hoi-Poi Capsules that appear in Toriyama's well known manga Dragon Ball
Dragon Ball
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Akira Toriyama. It was originally serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1984 to 1995; later the 519 individual chapters were published into 42 tankōbon volumes by Shueisha. Dragon Ball was inspired by the classical Chinese novel Journey to the...
.
Plot
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 waken up, 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 the it to explode. After escaping in a small scouting ship on limited fuel, he makes it to a desolate alien planet. 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 crew members. Tongpoo then hears music nearby and ends up find a young girl named Plamo bathingBathing
Bathing is the washing or cleansing of the body in a fluid, usually water or an aqueous solution. It may be practised for personal hygiene, religious ritual or therapeutic purposes or as a recreational activity....
in a lake. Plamo tells Tongpoo that she was the only surviving member of the 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 but becomes disappointed when he can't so decides to blow it up using a gernade 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 Tongpoo. 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.
Allusions to other works
The protagonist seems to be an early depiction of Dragon BallDragon Ball
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Akira Toriyama. It was originally serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1984 to 1995; later the 519 individual chapters were published into 42 tankōbon volumes by Shueisha. Dragon Ball was inspired by the classical Chinese novel Journey to the...
protagonist Son Goku
Son Goku (Dragon Ball)
Goku, known as in the English-language manga and original Japanese-language version, is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the Dragon Ball franchise created by Akira Toriyama. He is loosely based on Sun Wukong, a central character in Journey to the West...
as well as Plamo's personality being an early depiction of the female lead Bulma. Modified versions of the Hoi-Poi capsules as well become recurring objects in the series.