Neko Majin
Encyclopedia
is a short series of one-shot manga
chapters by mangaka Akira Toriyama
, spanning eight total installments released from 1999-2005. It is most notable for its later portion, Neko Majin Z, which is a self-parody
of Dragon Ball, the author's most famous work.
's other series, the first chapter of Neko Majin appeared in Weekly Shōnen Jump
in April 1999 (WJ #22-23). Though there were some similarities, it did not become a self-parody
of the Dragon Ball manga
until Neko Majin Z, which had cameos of characters from the author's magnum opus. As of 2005, the series was completed with eight total chapters (five of which are Dragon Ball parodies). These chapters were compiled into a "kanzenban"-style package for release in Japan on April 4, 2005. The last chapter of Neko Majin Z was released in an issue of the North American monthly Shonen Jump
magazine as a bonus to the special Dragon Ball collectors issue.
's Jump Comics imprint
.
complete with nyoi-bo
and typically Dragon Ball Z-style attacks, such as the "Neko-Hameha", an attack that the Neko Majin from the first chapter also used. Other familiar motifs show up during the course of the series, including Frieza's son Kuriza, a fat Super Saiyan named Onio (following the Saiyans' vegetable pun trend, this one is an obvious pun of onion), and even cameos by actual Dragon Ball characters Vegeta
, Majin Buu, and Son Goku
. Although the connection is tenuous, several references to Neko Majin Z were added as Easter eggs to the Japan
ese version of the video game Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2 (notably in the form of Kuriza as an alternate outfit for Frieza, complete with a chestnut-shaped Death Ball attack), and Z makes an appearance as a secret support character in the Japanese version of Dragon Ball Z: Supersonic Warriors 2.
Onio
Kuriza
Vegeta
Majin Buu
Son Goku
, Viz included a translation of Neko Majin Z issue 5.
in 2006 (a year after its original release). In February 2007 the Italian publisher Star Comics also released the Complete Edition (Kanzenban) containing all 8 chapters, using a green background cover instead of the original yellow.
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
chapters by mangaka Akira Toriyama
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...
, spanning eight total installments released from 1999-2005. It is most notable for its later portion, Neko Majin Z, which is a self-parody
Self-parody
A self-parody is a parody of oneself or one's own work. As an artist accomplishes it by imitating his or her own characteristics, a self-parody is potentially difficult to distinguish from especially characteristic productions .Sometimes critics use the...
of Dragon Ball, the author's most famous work.
Introduction
Originally a one-shot bearing little relation to Akira ToriyamaAkira 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...
's other series, the first chapter of Neko Majin appeared in Weekly Shōnen 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...
in April 1999 (WJ #22-23). Though there were some similarities, it did not become a self-parody
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
of the Dragon Ball manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
until Neko Majin Z, which had cameos of characters from the author's magnum opus. As of 2005, the series was completed with eight total chapters (five of which are Dragon Ball parodies). These chapters were compiled into a "kanzenban"-style package for release in Japan on April 4, 2005. The last chapter of Neko Majin Z was released in an issue of the North American monthly Shonen Jump
Shonen Jump (magazine)
Shonen Jump, officially stylized SHONEN JUMP and abbreviated SJ, is a shōnen manga anthology published in North America by Viz Media. It debuted in November 2002 with the first issue having a January 2003 cover date...
magazine as a bonus to the special Dragon Ball collectors issue.
Original serialization
All chapters of Neko Majin were originally published in Weekly/Monthly Shōnen Jump in Japan.- Neko Majin ga Iru (ネコマジンがいる "Neko Majin is Here"): April 1999 (Weekly Shōnen Jump, 1999 #22-23)
- Neko Majin ga Iru 2: August 1999 (Weekly Shōnen Jump, 1999 #37-38)
- Neko Majin Z (ネコマジン Z): June 2001 (Monthly Shōnen Jump, 2001 #6)
- Neko Majin Z 2: August 2003 (Monthly Shōnen Jump, 2003 #9)
- Neko Majin Mike (ネコマジンみけ): 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)
Collected release
All eight chapters are collected in one volume, published by ShueishaShueisha
is a major publisher in Japan. The company was founded in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The following year, Shueisha became a separate, independent company. Magazines published by Shueisha include Weekly Shōnen Jump, Weekly Young Jump,...
's Jump Comics imprint
Imprint
In the publishing industry, an imprint can mean several different things:* As a piece of bibliographic information about a book, it refers to the name and address of the book's publisher and its date of publication as given at the foot or on the verso of its title page.* It can mean a trade name...
.
- Neko Majin Kanzenban ("Complete Edition"): 4 April 2005 (ISBN 4-08-873825-X)
General information
The series revolves around the adventures of various characters from the "Neko Majin" race, a group of cats that can use a little bit of magic, but seem to enjoy practical jokes and martial arts even more. It eventually spins off into Neko Majin Z, centralizing around "Z", a cat-like version of Son GokuSon 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...
complete with nyoi-bo
Nyoi-bo
Ruyi Jingu Bang , or simply as Ruyi Bang or Jingu Bang, is the poetic name of a magical weapon wielded by the Monkey King in the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West...
and typically Dragon Ball Z-style attacks, such as the "Neko-Hameha", an attack that the Neko Majin from the first chapter also used. Other familiar motifs show up during the course of the series, including Frieza's son Kuriza, a fat Super Saiyan named Onio (following the Saiyans' vegetable pun trend, this one is an obvious pun of onion), and even cameos by actual Dragon Ball characters Vegeta
Vegeta
is a fictional character and antihero in the Dragon Ball franchise created by Akira Toriyama. Vegeta first appeared in the manga chapter #204 first published in Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine on December 19, 1988, and in episode 5 of its anime adaptation Dragon Ball Z...
, Majin Buu, and 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...
. Although the connection is tenuous, several references to Neko Majin Z were added as Easter eggs to the Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese version of the video game Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2 (notably in the form of Kuriza as an alternate outfit for Frieza, complete with a chestnut-shaped Death Ball attack), and Z makes an appearance as a secret support character in the Japanese version of Dragon Ball Z: Supersonic Warriors 2.
Notable characters
Neko Majin- "Neko majin" literally means "Cat Genie" in Japanese (the word "majin" is difficult to translate. Its meaning is more precisely conveyed as "magical demon"). Neko Majin Z is described as the strongest neko majin in existence. Like other Dragon Ball Z characters, he can fly and use "Nekohameha" (similar to Kamehameha, except for cats). He is revealed to be a disciple of Goku in the last chapter of the series. It is unclear how he makes a living, though he attempts to trick tourists into believing he is a Koala bear, charging $8 for a picture. Z has a Super Saiyan-like transformation called Super Neko Majin.
Onio
- A comic character poking fun at the previous image of Saiyans as cool, good-looking people. Onio lands on Earth for his honeymoon, and decides to kill the human race to make Earth his country house (or country planet?). He bears much resemblance to Suppaman (Kuraaku Kenta) from one of Toriyama's previous manga, Dr. SlumpDr. Slumpis a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Akira Toriyama. It was serialized in Shueisha's anthology comic Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1980 to 1984 which were collected into 18 tankōbon volumes...
. Onio is enraged, becoming a Super Saiyan when Neko Majin Z touches his wife's breasts, but quickly loses in a fight scene.
Kuriza
- The son of Dragon Ball Z villain, Frieza, Kuriza is the exact replica of his father except that his head is in the shape of a chestnut and can even go into a final form like his father. Kuriza is called by Onio to destroy Neko Majin Z, but ends up playing a game of football with him instead. He frequently mentions that Neko Majin is wasting pages with meaningless comments and battle scenes.
Vegeta
Vegeta
is a fictional character and antihero in the Dragon Ball franchise created by Akira Toriyama. Vegeta first appeared in the manga chapter #204 first published in Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine on December 19, 1988, and in episode 5 of its anime adaptation Dragon Ball Z...
- The popular character from Dragon Ball Z is called to Earth by Kuriza and Onio, who need help defeating Neko Majin Z. Vegeta discovers that Neko Majin Z is surprisingly strong, and pretends to receive a call from his home planet to avoid an embarrassing defeat. He remarks that he will never agree to be in a gag manga ever again as he leaves.
Majin Buu
- Buu makes a short appearance to help when Neko Majin Z is rendered helpless by Usagi Majin (the lesser-known rabbit version of Neko Majin). Every time Neko Majin wasn't in the scene, Buu would come out making people think he was Neko Majin. Neko Majin's design and abilities are obviously a copy of Majin Buu.
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...
- The main character of Dragon Ball makes an appearance in the last chapter of Neko Majin where he fights and defeats Neko Majin Z. He then tells Neko Majin there is a new evil that he needs help defeating near the Son Family home. When they get there, the enemy is just a mouse in the food pantry of Goku's home.
English-language release
In the October 2007 issue of the American version of Shonen JumpShonen Jump (magazine)
Shonen Jump, officially stylized SHONEN JUMP and abbreviated SJ, is a shōnen manga anthology published in North America by Viz Media. It debuted in November 2002 with the first issue having a January 2003 cover date...
, Viz included a translation of Neko Majin Z issue 5.
Other language releases
The Kanzenban was published in French by GlénatGlénat
Glénat can refer to:* Glénat, Cantal, a commune in the Cantal département in France.* Glénat , a French publisher, specialising in comics and manga....
in 2006 (a year after its original release). In February 2007 the Italian publisher Star Comics also released the Complete Edition (Kanzenban) containing all 8 chapters, using a green background cover instead of the original yellow.