is a Japanese
one-shot manga
Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...
series written and illustrated by
Akira Toriyama
is a Japanese manga artist and character designer. He first achieved mainstream recognition for his highly successful manga series ''Dr. Slump'', before going on to create ''Dragon Ball'' (his best-known work) and acting as a character design ...
. Spanning eight total installments published irregularly between 1999 and 2005 in ''
Weekly Shōnen Jump
is a weekly ''shōnen'' manga anthology published in Japan by Shueisha under the ''Jump'' line of magazines. The manga series within the magazine consist of many action scenes and a fair amount of comedy. The chapters of the series that run ...
'' and ''
Monthly Shōnen Jump
was a shōnen manga magazine which was published monthly in Japan by Shueisha from 1970 to 2007 under the ''Jump'' line of magazines. It was the sister magazine to ''Weekly Shōnen Jump''.
History
The ''Monthly Shōnen Jump'' magazine started ...
'', they were collected into a single ''
kanzenban'' volume in April 2005 by
Shueisha
(lit. "Gathering of Intellect Publishing Co., Ltd.") is a Japanese company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The company was established in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The foll ...
. Its later portion is named and is a
self-parody
A self-parody is a parody of oneself or one's own work. As an artist accomplishes it by imitating their own characteristics, a self-parody is potentially difficult to distinguish from especially characteristic productions. Self-parody may be us ...
of Toriyama's ''
Dragon Ball
is a Japanese media franchise created by Akira Toriyama in 1984. The Dragon Ball (manga), initial manga, written and illustrated by Toriyama, was serialized in ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from 1984 to 1995, with the 519 individual chapters colle ...
''.
Plot
The series revolves around the adventures of the Neko Majin, a race of cat-creatures who enjoy practical jokes and martial arts. At least two use ''Dragon Ball''-style attacks such as the "Nekohameha", while one in particular, named "Z", wears an outfit like ''Dragon Ball''s
Son Goku, and carries a ''
nyoi-bo''. As the series transitions to ''Neko Majin Z'', it becomes increasingly intertwined with the ''Dragon Ball'' world as regular characters join the cast, including an overweight Saiyan named Onio, and
Frieza
, also known and spelled as Freeza in Funimation's English subtitles and Viz Media's release of the manga, is a fictional character in the ''Dragon Ball'' manga series created by Akira Toriyama. He makes his debut in Chapter #247: "Dark Clouds ...
's son Kuriza. There are also guest appearances by
Vegeta
( ), also referred as is a fictional character in the ''Dragon Ball'' franchise created by Akira Toriyama. Vegeta first appears in chapter #204 "Sayonara, Son Goku", published in ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' magazine on November 7, 1988, seeking ...
,
Majin Buu
, generally spelled Majin Boo in subtitles of the Japanese anime, and rendered as Djinn-Boo in the Viz Media manga, is the final antagonist in the ''Dragon Ball'' manga series created by Akira Toriyama, before the release of ''Dragon Ball Super' ...
, Son Goku and his family members.
Characters
;
:A race of magical cat-creatures, who span a variety of breeds and body-shapes, although most appear to have distinctive long ears in the manner of the author's
Cornish Rex
The Cornish Rex is a breed of domestic cat. The Cornish Rex has no hair except for down. Most breeds of cat have three different types of hair in their coats: the outer fur or "guard hairs", a middle layer called the "awn hair"; and the down ha ...
. This series concerns three: a mixed-breed referred to only as "Neko Majin Mix"; , a male ; and , a disciple of Son Goku from ''
Dragon Ball
is a Japanese media franchise created by Akira Toriyama in 1984. The Dragon Ball (manga), initial manga, written and illustrated by Toriyama, was serialized in ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from 1984 to 1995, with the 519 individual chapters colle ...
''. Mix and Z are both blue, while Mike sports calico fur; all three are of a similar, round body shape, and are drawn with angled slits for eyes. These Neko Majin possess abilities similar to ''Dragon Ball'' characters, such as flight and the "Nekohameha",, similar to the Kamehameha. They are also capable of using some magic, such as the transformation abilities demonstrated by Neko Majin Mike. The source of these abilities appears to be a ball called a Majin Orb (majin-dama), without which they lose all powers. A common trait seems to be conning visitors with various services. Z in particular dresses as a koala and charges eight dollars to take pictures with them. He has a Super Saiyan-like transformation called Super Neko Majin.
;
:A boy that Neko Majin Mike met about 30 years ago. He has since grown up to become a teacher at a small local school.
;
:A Saiyan with the overall body-shape and facial structure as
Suppaman
The ''Dr. Slump'' manga series features an extensive cast of characters created by Akira Toriyama. It follows the humorous adventures of the little girl robot Arale Norimaki, her creator Senbei Norimaki and the other residents of the bizarre Pe ...
, Parzan, and Bubibinman from Toriyama's manga ''
Dr. Slump
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Akira Toriyama. It was serialized in Shueisha's anthology magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from 1980 to 1984, with the chapters collected into 18 ''tankōbon'' volumes. The series fol ...
''. He first appears on Earth on honeymoon and desires to conquer the Earth and wipe out its inhabitants in order to make it a vacation home. He and his wife take a photo with the "koala" Z, but when the Neko Majin fondles his wife's breasts, he becomes enraged and transforms into a Super Saiyan. However, he is quickly defeated. He returns with Kuriza for further encounters with Z.
;
:A nationally renowned fighter who is challenged by Neko Majin Z. He, too, has a girlfriend that he calls "Honey". In his fight with Z, he realizes that he is no match, and tries to get out of the battle except that Honey eggs Z on.
;
:The son of ''Dragon Ball'' villain,
Freeza
, also known and spelled as Freeza in Funimation's English subtitles and Viz Media's release of the manga, is a fictional character in the ''Dragon Ball'' manga series created by Akira Toriyama. He makes his debut in Chapter #247: "Dark Clouds ...
; he resembles his father except that his head is in the shape of a chestnut. He is called by Onio to destroy Z, but runs out of pages for the fight. He later plays soccer with the gang. He frequently mentions that Neko Majin is wasting pages with meaningless comments and battle scenes.
;
Vegeta
( ), also referred as is a fictional character in the ''Dragon Ball'' franchise created by Akira Toriyama. Vegeta first appears in chapter #204 "Sayonara, Son Goku", published in ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' magazine on November 7, 1988, seeking ...
:Vegeta is called to Earth by Kuriza and Onio, who need help to defeat Z. Vegeta discovers that the Neko Majin is surprisingly strong, but receives an "urgent call" that requires him to return to his home planet. He vows that he will never appear in another gag manga.
;
Majin Buu
, generally spelled Majin Boo in subtitles of the Japanese anime, and rendered as Djinn-Boo in the Viz Media manga, is the final antagonist in the ''Dragon Ball'' manga series created by Akira Toriyama, before the release of ''Dragon Ball Super' ...
: Majin Boo makes a short appearance to help when Neko Majin Z is rendered helpless by Usa Majin (the lesser-known rabbit version of Neko Majin). Every time Z was not in the scene, Buu would appear, making people think he was the Neko Majin.
;
Goku
Son Goku is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the ''Dragon Ball'' manga series created by Akira Toriyama. He is based on Sun Wukong (known as Son Goku in Japan and Monkey King in the West), a main character of the classic Ch ...
: Goku makes an appearance in the last chapter of ''Neko Majin Z'' where he spars with Z. He then tells the Neko Majin there is a new evil that he needs help to defeat at his family home. When they get there, Z learns that it is just a mouse in the pantry.
Production
Akira Toriyama originally drew ''Neko Majin'' as a single one-shot, enjoying the relaxed and silly feel it has. He suggested that the reason it became a ''Dragon Ball'' parody was probably because he ran out of material and moved away from its original premise.
Manga
''Neko Majin'' is a series of one-shots written and illustrated by
Akira Toriyama
is a Japanese manga artist and character designer. He first achieved mainstream recognition for his highly successful manga series ''Dr. Slump'', before going on to create ''Dragon Ball'' (his best-known work) and acting as a character design ...
that were published irregularly in both ''
Weekly Shōnen Jump
is a weekly ''shōnen'' manga anthology published in Japan by Shueisha under the ''Jump'' line of magazines. The manga series within the magazine consist of many action scenes and a fair amount of comedy. The chapters of the series that run ...
'' and ''
Monthly Shōnen Jump
was a shōnen manga magazine which was published monthly in Japan by Shueisha from 1970 to 2007 under the ''Jump'' line of magazines. It was the sister magazine to ''Weekly Shōnen Jump''.
History
The ''Monthly Shōnen Jump'' magazine started ...
''. The first, "Neko Majin is Here", was published in ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' 1999 #22-23, the second in 1999 #37-38. Although there were some similarities, it did not become a self-
parody
A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its subj ...
of ''
Dragon Ball
is a Japanese media franchise created by Akira Toriyama in 1984. The Dragon Ball (manga), initial manga, written and illustrated by Toriyama, was serialized in ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from 1984 to 1995, with the 519 individual chapters colle ...
'' until ''Neko Majin Z'' in ''Monthly Shōnen Jump'' 2001 #6, published in May 2001. After the second ''Neko Majin Z'' in ''Monthly Shōnen Jump'' 2003 #9. "Neko Majin Mike" was published in ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' 2003 #37-38, concurrently with "Neko Majin Z 2". "Neko Majin Z" was published in ''Monthly Shōnen Jump'' 2004 #3, while the final two "Z" chapters were published back-to-back in ''Monthly Shōnen Jump'' 2005 #1 and #2. All eight chapters were compiled into a single ''
kanzenban'' volume on April 4, 2005 by
Shueisha
(lit. "Gathering of Intellect Publishing Co., Ltd.") is a Japanese company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The company was established in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The foll ...
(). On April 4, 2013, the chapters were fully colored and the ''kanzenban'' was released digitally.
In the October 2007 issue of the North American version of ''
Shonen Jump'',
Viz Media
VIZ Media LLC is an American manga publisher, anime distributor and entertainment company headquartered in San Francisco, California. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ M ...
included a translation of ''Neko Majin Z 5''; however, no other chapters and no collected release have been made legally available in English. The ''kanzenban'' was published in France by
Glénat in 2006. In February 2007, Italian publisher
Star Comics
Star Comics was an imprint of Marvel Comics that began in 1984 and featured titles that were aimed at child readers and were often adaptations of children's television series, animated series or toys. The last comic published under the imprint ...
also released the ''kanzenban'', using a green background cover instead of the original yellow.
Chapter list
Other media
''Neko Majin'' characters have appeared in ''Dragon Ball'' related video games. In the Japanese version of the
video game
Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...
''
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2'', Freeza has an alternate outfit where he assumes the form of Kuriza and has a chestnut-shaped Death Ball attack. Neko Majin Z appears as a secret support character in the Japanese version of ''
Dragon Ball Z: Supersonic Warriors 2''.
In ''
Dragon Ball Super
is a Japanese manga series written by Akira Toriyama and illustrated by Toyotarou. A sequel to Toriyama's original ''Dragon Ball'' manga, it follows the adventures of Goku and friends during the ten-year timeskip after the defeat of Maj ...
'', the character Majin Buu can be seen reading a book containing a Japanese fairy tale named "Urashima Taro" with Neko Majin in the front cover.
[https://jpninfo.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Urashima-Taro.jpg ]
References
; Manga references:
* Neko Majin ga Iru: April 1999 (''Weekly Shōnen Jump'', 1999 #22-23)
* Neko Majin ga Iru 2: August 1999 (''Weekly Shōnen Jump'', 1999 #37-38)
* Neko Majin Z: June 2001 (''Monthly Shōnen Jump'', 2001 #6)
* Neko Majin Z 2: August 2003 (''Monthly Shōnen Jump'', 2003 #9)
* Neko Majin Mike: August 2003 (''Weekly Shōnen Jump'', 2003 #37-38)
* Neko Majin Z 3: February 2004 (''Monthly Shōnen Jump'', 2004 #3)
* Neko Majin Z 4: January 2005 (''Monthly Shōnen Jump'', 2005 #1)
* Neko Majin Z 5: February 2005 (''Monthly Shōnen Jump'', 2005 #2)
; Other references
{{Monthly Shōnen Jump
1999 manga
Akira Toriyama
Crossover anime and manga
Dragon Ball mass media
Fictional cats
Fictional genies
Viz Media manga
Shōnen manga
Shueisha manga