BULMA
BU
The 16-year-old brilliant heiress to the Capsule Corporation whose invention of the handheld Dragon Radar sets the entire multi-decade franchise into motion. Armed with high-tech capsule gadgets, a fiery temper, and zero combat training, Bulma relies on her urban street smarts and Goku's raw muscle to navigate a wild world. She is the essential intellectual anchor who bridges early rural folklore with sleek futuristic sci-fi.
BULMA THROUGH THE ARCHIVE //
RED RIBBON ARMY //
Open page →General Blue Is the Army at Its Most Competent
Open →Submarine pursuit · Psychic restraint · Dragon Radar theft
General Blue follows Goku, Bulma and Krillin into the underwater pirate cave, survives the same hazards they do and nearly kills Goku with psychic restraint. Afterward he tracks them back to Kame House, steals their Dragon Balls and takes the Dragon Radar.
He still cannot account for Dragon Ball being Dragon Ball. The chase ends in Penguin Village, where Arale casually hits him hard enough to send him flying.
He still cannot account for Dragon Ball being Dragon Ball. The chase ends in Penguin Village, where Arale casually hits him hard enough to send him flying.
Why it matters
Blue makes the Red Ribbon threat feel persistent. He is not waiting in a tower for Goku to reach him; he pursues the heroes, learns from what they have and brings useful intelligence back to headquarters.
SAGA SUMMARIES //
Open page →The Road Trip Before the Fighting Took Over
Open →Goku + Bulma · Dragon Ball hunt · Comedy first
The first stretch of Dragon Ball is adventure comedy with martial arts hiding inside it. Bulma supplies the mission, Goku supplies impossible strength and complete social ignorance, and every new Dragon Ball gives the pair an excuse to stumble into another pocket of the world.
Yamcha starts as an enemy. Oolong starts as a local menace. Roshi looks like a ridiculous old man until he casually proves he can erase a mountain. The series is assembling its cast before anybody knows they are going to become a cast.
Yamcha starts as an enemy. Oolong starts as a local menace. Roshi looks like a ridiculous old man until he casually proves he can erase a mountain. The series is assembling its cast before anybody knows they are going to become a cast.
Why it matters
The Dragon Balls are not background mythology yet. They are the reason everybody is moving. Before tournaments and world-ending villains take over, the franchise is literally built around the pleasure of going somewhere new and meeting somebody strange.
