Arale Norimaki (則巻アラレ) is an android built by Senbei Norimaki, known for her naïvety, energetic personality, lack of common sense and unbelievable superhuman strength. Ironically, she is nearsighted and needs to wear glasses. Senbei's mission is to convince the other citizens of Penguin Village that she is no more than a typical girl, which they appear to believe in spite of them taking notice to numerous displays of her superhuman capabilities.
Overview
Creation and Conception
Arale's résumé in the manga
Akira Toriyama was told to put in a robot as the co-lead by his editor Kazuhiko Torishima when he mentioned that he wanted to make a manga about a doctor. Initially Toriyama planned on making the robot big, but decided that it would end up being too big to fit in the panels and decided to make it small. Torishima did not like the idea and so Toriyama created the robot girl Arale since Torishima liked girls a lot.[2]
Appearance
Arale has the appearance of a little girl with purple hair and wears glasses. Over the years of the series run, Toriyama tended to end up drawing Arale shorter and making her look a lot younger than her appearance at the beginning of the series.
Name
Arale's name is a pun on arare (あられ), a kind of small mixed rice cracker. With the family name ("Norimaki Arare"), it refers to a sort of arare wrapped with nori seaweed.
Personality
Arale's has the personality of a goofy naïve child, despite that she is intelligent enough to do advanced mathematical equations. She somewhat has kind personality, by saving her father or neighbors by using her power. She enjoys many popular Japanese Superhero shows such as Ultraman and Astro Boy as well as Giant Monster movies like Godzilla and Gamera. Her favorite hobby is poking poop with a stick and a weakness of hers is that she can not resist the urge to poke it.
A common gag is that Arale, having been designed as a child, complains about not having a "big enough chest", a desire which Senbei declines to fufill. Her disappointment in this may allude to Arale's inheritance of some of the perversion of her maker.
Biography
Creation and Starting School
Arale being created in Senbei's Lab
Arale Norimaki was created in the laboratory located in the house of Senbei Norimaki. When she was first brought out into the outside world around the town of Penguin Village, she was introduced to Aoi who was the manager of a cafe called the Coffee Pot. There, Arale was given the identity of being Senbei's younger sister to hide the fact that she was an android.[3][4]
Arale's first day of school meeting Akane
The next day, Arale enrolled into Penguin Village Middle School to fit in with the other kids after meeting the Headmaster. Her teacher was Midori Yamabuki who was Senbei's dream girl. In class she was sat next to Akane Kimidori, the rebellious younger sister of Aoi. Arale shocked everybody at the school on her first day with her intelligence during class and strength during P.E. At the end of the day, she followed Akane who was meeting up with Taro Soramame and his younger brother Peasuke. Not knowing Arale's power, Taro tries to intimidate Arale by punching a soda can, but she easily destroys a wire pole in front of them making them scared and gain respect for Arale as their friend.[5][6]
Arale became popular enough at Penguin Village Middle School to the point that every club in the school wanted her, but she ended up being to good for all of them. She eventually joined Akane's club, the Sukeban Deka Fan Club.[7][8]
Testing the Time Slipper and Discovering Gatchan
After Senbei finishes working on a time machine named Mr. Time, he shows it to Arale who accidentally gets transported through time. After spending some time in the past she transports back to the present proving Mr. Time to be a success.[9][10]
Arale, Peasuke and Senbei watching the prehistoric egg hatch
Afterward the Time Slipper was successfully tested, Arale goes on a journey with Senbei and Peasuke to the prehistoric ages to capture a dinosaur. While they're there, Peasuke's prehistoric ancestor gives them a mysterious egg in exchange for Senbei's lighter. When they return to the present the egg hatched it turned out to be a strange baby with wings instead of a dinosaur.[11][12]
Arale finding out that Gatchan eats metal
Arale named the baby Gadzilla, Gatchan for short, after convincing Senbei to keep it. The next day, Arale and Senbei decided to find out how they are going to deal with raising Gatchan. Arale found out that Gatchan eats metal. When Arale threw Gatchan really high on accident while playing with it, it fell into the ground revealing that Gatchan can survive that. Later that night in the bath, Arale and Senbei discover that Gatchan had wings.[13][14]
Barbershop Panic
Arale giving the bank robber trouble as his hostage
Sometime after Arale started 8th grade[15], she came across a Bank Robber while she was out playing with Gatchan who was running away from the Police when he accidentally robbed the Police Station instead of the Bank. The bank robber thought Arale and Gatchan were just innocent kids and decided to take them as hostages and hide in an abandoned hut. While there Arale tries to play Ultraman with the robber and then accidentally shoots herself in the face with his gun frightening him thinking she killed herself but didn't actually affect her and instead only broke her glasses. Instead the robber chose to distract Arale by having her blind folded and try to find him and hit him with a stick like a pinata which she ended up destroying the entire hut with the stick trying to find him. The robber tried to threaten Arale afterwards by holding his gun to Gatchan but when Gatchan ate it, he ran away scared trying to find the police as he would prefer to be arrested then dealing with them.[16]
Kenta Kuraaku's news coverage of Arale destroying the moon
Four weeks later, while studying with Peasuke and Akane at the Soramame Barber Shop, the bank robber returned and tried to take Senbei and Kurikinton as hostages after suffering humiliation from his last appearance to prove he is not a joke. When the police arrive, the kids come into the front area to see what is going on and the bank robber sees that Arale and Gatchan is among the group and decides to run out and turn himself into them but Gyaosu yells at him for being a coward and forces him to go back into the barbershop and continue what he started.[17]
Arale destroying the moon by throwing a rock
Arale continues to playfully mess around with the bank robber as one of the hostages in the barbershop. Kenta Kuraaku of the PCB TV shows up to interview the bank robber but mistakenly ends up interviewing the "hostages" instead until he is amazed when Gatchan eats the microphone which Akane tells him is nothing compared to Arale who can break the Moon with a rock. As night approaches, Kenta continues his news broadcast and focuses on Arale instead who takes a rock and throws it directly at the moon splitting it in half and during the excitement of the crowd watching what Arale is capable of, the robber walks away saying that he will never rob again.[18]
Saving Earth from King Nikochan
Arale laughing while Gatchan saves the Earth by eating King Nikochan's spaceship
One night when Arale and Gatchan were up really late playing, a giant dice landing in the front yard of the Norimaki house and they went in front to check it out. When they went up to it, it turned into a flypaper trap and they were taken aboard King Nikochan's spaceship by King Nikochan's servant when he was asked to bring some Earthlings. While on the ship, Arale met King Nikochan, the evil king to an alien race called the Nikos. Arale insulted King Nikochan because of his funny looks and did not take anything he said seriously. After they destroyed Mars to try to get her attention, she was too busy messing around with Gatchan. When the Nikos were getting the laser to destroy Earth next, the ship got eaten by Gatchan, which saved the planet.[19]
After the ship was eaten, Arale told them that Senbei can build them a new ship and decided to save the Nikos by having Gatchan fly them to Earth's atmosphere into Penguin Village. On the way to her house, Arale introduced the Nikos to stuff on Earth such as mountains and poop. After she introduced the Nikos to Senbei to have him build them some new transportation, she took them to the Coffee Pot and show her friends the Nikos and all the goofy stuff they do. When they were done and left with the new vehicle Senbei built for them, Arale tells Senbei that they were aliens and that he didn't know and he accidentally built them a car instead of a spaceship, still stranding the Nikos on Earth.[20]
Mole Cricket Malfunction
One night while Arale was sleeping, a Mole Cricket jumps into her mouth, thinking it is a giant hole. While he is inside her body, Mole Cricket causes Arale to malfunction, making her act like a normal little girl. While the whole village is confused and saddened of Arale losing her personality, the cricket eventually leaves her body and Arale's weird personality comes back. The village held a festival afterwards to celebrate Arale returning to normal.[21]
Wonder Island Adventure
Arale handling a dragon on Wonder Island
One hot morning, Arale was burning some of Senbei's old stuff in the Furnace outside in winter clothing. When Senbei yells at Arale for doing something stupid like that, he discovers an old tape by his father telling him how to make the Fall-Go-Boom Love Potion. Senbei insisted on Arale and Gatchan joining his adventure to Wonder Island because it will be dangerous as they must obtain a tear of the Ogre-king Gyaska which is an ingredient in the potion. Upon arriving on Wonder Island via Super Mecha "Ping-Pong", Arale already starts messing around with all the strange creatures on the island. As Senbei is trying to ask a vampire woman directions to find Gyaska, Arale bugs her by poking her and then bites her butt as she was attempting to suck Senbei's blood. After Senbei gives the vampire Emergency Insta-Blood to drink, they are pointed in the direction of Gyaska which is at a point called Loch Out where Arale ends up fighting a dragon that comes out when they attempt to plant the morning glory seeds to reach the top.[22]
Arale making the ogre-king Gyaska cry
After Arale throws the dragon into space, they celebrate and plant the seeds growing a bean stalk which takes them into the skies where the Ogre-King resides. When they arrive in the presence of Gyaska's castle, they are greeted by Gyaska's Guards who inform them that they have no business being in his country. Arale befriends their dinosaur that pulls their chariot which causes him to abandon them and throw their chariot in the wall in favor of Arale's admiration for him.[23] When they confront the ogre king himself afterwards, he gets angry and tries to attack them but Arale ends up running out of Robovita-A causing her shutdown. Gatchan ends up having to defeat Gyaska instead and Arale gets refueled on their way back after obtaining the tear. When they arrive back in Penguin Village and Senbei successfully creates the potion, Arale decides to go show it to take it too show her friends while Senbei tries to invite Midori over intending her to drink it but Arale ends up tripping and the potion falls onto the tree in their yard which makes it come to life and fall in love with Senbei instead making the whole trip end up being a waste.[24]
Fighting Dr. Mashirito
Arale becomes a target for Dr. Mashirito when he finds out that she is the strongest robot around. Mashirito comes to Penguin Village to fight Arale using his robot, Caramel Man 001, but Arale easily beats him. Arale's second encounter with Dr. Mashirito is during the Penguin Village Grand Prix which is held by Tori-Bot. During the race, Arale has no problem even with several distractions setting her back. When it comes down to the last three racers which are her, Senbei and Dr. Mashirito using his Caramel Man 002, the winner is Arale but by technicality Tori-Bot declares himself the winner.
Shortly after assembling into a team with Suppaman, Gatchan and Oinkety Oink called the Global Defense Force, Mashirito comes back with his new invention, Caramel Man 003, and his new team, the Mashirito Army, consisting of him, King Nikochan and King Nikochan's Servant. Mashirito's new plan for handling Arale is using a Poop-bot to distract her while he shoots her with a powerful laser, with Gatchan captured in a rubber claw to prevent him from eating the rest of the robot. While Arale is distracted by the Poop-bot, Mr. Pig pops one of Caramel Man 003's tires, causing Arale to pay attention to the fight again, where she headbutts the robot to free Gatchan so he can eat the Robot, leaving Mashirito defeated again.
Mashirito's next conflict with Arale is when he creates his fourth Caramel Man which is known as Obotchaman. Instead of trying to destroy Arale, Obotchaman becomes good and falls in love with her.
Goku and the Red Ribbon Army
Arale waving to Goku
Arale appears during the General Blue Saga of the Dragon Ball. She and the Gatchan prove able to ride the Kinto'un, indicating that they are pure of heart, when befriending Son Goku who came to Penguin Village chasing General Blue of the Red Ribbon Army to find his stolen Dragon Balls. While General Blue is shown to be a challenge for Goku, Arale comes in and easily defeats Blue proving to Goku that there are still lots of stronger people out there and he even tells Arale that she should enter the next World Martial Arts Tournament, though she did not end up attending for unknown reasons.
Future
10 years after the end of the series, she marries Obotchaman and moves in with him and has an unnamed child with him that Senbei creates.
Other Media
Dragon Ball Cameos
Arale on Master Roshi's TV
Other than her appearance in the General Blue Saga, Arale makes many minor cameos in Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z.
- In "The Emperor's Quest", Arale appears on a poster in Bulma's Capsule House.
- In "The Nimbus Cloud of Roshi", a different poster of Arale is seen in the same spot in Bulma's Capsule House.
- In "Find That Stone!", Arale can be seen briefly for a second on the TV Master Roshi is watching.
- In "Global Training", a poster with Arale on it is seen inside of Launch's Capsule House.
- Arale appears on a poster in Son Gohan's room in Dragon Ball Z movies.
Master Roshi impersonating Arale's face
- An extremely drunk Master Roshi made a facial impression of Arale's face in Dragon Ball Z: Broly - The Legendary Super Saiyan.
- Arale appears on a cake with a Tori-Bot when Goten imagines what his wish for Shenlong was gonna be in Dragon Ball Z: Broly - Second Coming.
- In the episode "Granddaughter Pan", a book with Arale's name on the side can be seen on a book shelf in Gohan's house.
Dragon Ball: Mystical Adventure
Arale appears in the 1988 film Dragon Ball: Mystical Adventure when she spontaneously appears with the Gatchans and launches a boulder at Taopaipai, who is riding a pillar in pursuit of Goku. She later pokes him with a stick, after he face plants into the ground.
Rocky
In the 1989 spin-off manga Rocky, Arale meets Rocky, a man who is constantly committing speeding. He tries to lose her, but the girl manages to catch him and puts a poop on his head.
Dr. Slump remake
The design Senbei originally planned for Arale in the remake
Arale was originally going to be a sexy blonde teenage house maid, but lightning hit Senbei's house causing his machines to malfunction and ends up creating her as a weird nearsighted little girl with super powers instead. Arale's appearance was changed by her hair being brown instead of purple. While Senbei went out to get clothes for her Arale, she ran around Penguin Village destroying several buildings.
Relationships
Romance
Obotchaman and Arale holding hand each other
- Obotchaman: Obotchaman is interested in Arale, and Arale also seems to have some interests on him in the series. In the future, they are shown to be together and have a robot child, which is built by Senbei.
Family
- Senbei Norimaki: Arale is portrayed often as Senbei's troublesome sidekick during many of his schemes usually getting things out of hand with her goofiness.
Friends
- Akane Kimidori: Akane is Arale's best friend who often gets into mischief. Akane is able to convince Arale to cause all kinds of trouble with her due to her naive nature.
Special abilities
- Arale Kick: She uses this attack on Senbei in the Dr. Slump chapter "Sad, Sad Santa" and on General Blue in Dragon Ball. She runs after the target and does a running dropkick.
- Earth-Splitter: Arake punches the ground and it splits the planet in half.
Arale headbutting General Blue
- Headbutt: Not your average headbutt. If her enemy is airborne, she jumps up very high and butts the enemy with very high force in the torso. Usually sends an average person flying hundreds of miles.
- Kiiiiiiiiin: A technique that Arale uses to go very, very fast (about 500 miles per hour max). She basically leaps very far. There is a move in Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 resembling it, called "Ping!", and is also one of 2 cries she does when she does a Dash.
- N'cha Cannon: Arale's secret weapon, it is a very powerful beam shot from her mouth. To use it, all Arale has to do is breathe in and yell "N'cha" (Senbei's greeting) very loudly. First used in the chapter "Monsters' Night" while she was sleeping, and later in the chapter "The Biggest Bye'cha of All: Part One" to destroy an alien flying camera.
Arale as Ultraman
- Transformation: A technique that Arale uses to "transform" into her "alter-ego" Ultraman. She demonstrates this ability by taking out a flashlight, turning it on, and saying "Ultra-Man! Schwaaa!" Then changing her clothes into a spandex superhero jumpsuit and then saying "Schwaaa!" again. Used in "The Story of Donbe".
- Watermelon/Pumpkin Cannon: A technique that Arale uses several times on Senbei as a prank. She loads a cannon with a pumpkin or a watermelon and shoots it at the target. She usually wears a kunoichi outfit when performing this attack. First used in at the end of "Arale's Big Change".
- Woohoo!: Arale picks up a large boulder and throws it at her opponent. This is one of her moves in Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3.
- Playing Pro-Wrestling: A combination of the Arale Kick and Headbutt, followed by a beam from the Gatchans. This is her most powerful move in Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3.
- Feminine Allure: Described under her talents in the Dr. Slump Ho-yo-yo Resume extra. She comically refers to having it at time.
Video game appearances
Arale in Budokai Tenkaichi 3
Arale first appeared in a 1982 handheld game Dr. Slump Arale Part I: Hoyoyo Bomber. She later appeared in a Dr. Slump video game for the Arcadia 2001 released in 1983, in a Dr. Slump game for PlayStation based on the second television series in 1999, and in Dr. Slump: Arale-Chan for Nintendo DS in 2008.
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Arale with the Gatchans in Dragon Ball: Origins 2
Arale appears in Dragon Ball: Daimaō Fukkatsu and Dragon Ball Z: Super Gokuden: Totsugeki-Hen, and she is the final special boss of Dragon Ball 3: Gokuden. She also appears in Dragon Ball Z: W Bakuretsu Impact and Dragon Ball Heroes.
Arale is a playable character in several Jump video games, including Famicom Jump: Hero Retsuden, Jump Super Stars, Jump Ultimate Stars, and J-Stars Victory Vs. She is also a playable character in Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3, Dragon Ball Z: Dragon Battlers, Dragon Ball: Revenge of King Piccolo, Dr. Slump: Arale-Chan, and Dragon Ball: Origins 2.
Voice actors
- 1980s series and Dragon Ball: Mami Koyama
- Harmony Gold USA Dub: Cheryl Chase
- 1990s series: Taeko Kawata
- FUNimation Dragon Ball English Dub: Meredith McCoy
- Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3: Brina Palencia
Trivia
- Arale was the first of Senbei's inventions to be seen.
- Toriyama reused Arale's character design for the character Lucca in the video game Chrono Trigger.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Dr. Slump volume 4 extra, "Dr. Slump Ho-yo-yo Resume"
- ↑ Dr. Slump extra chapter, "Dr. Slump A True Story"
- ↑ Dr. Slump chapter 1, "The Birth of Arale"
- ↑ Dr. Slump & Arale-chan episode 1a, "Arale-chan's Birth"
- ↑ Dr. Slump chapter 2, "Here Comes Arale"
- ↑ Dr. Slump & Arale-chan, episode 1b "Hey! Friends"
- ↑ Dr. Slump chapter 5, "Which Will It Be?"
- ↑ Dr. Slump & Arale-chan episode 2a, "Arale-chan Goes to School!"
- ↑ Dr. Slump chapter 10, "The Time Slippe"
- ↑ Dr. Slump & Arale-chan episode 3a, "Great Adventure with the Time Slipper"
- ↑ Dr. Slump chapter 11, "The Mysterious Egg"
- ↑ Dr. Slump & Arale-chan episode 3b, "What's with the Egg?!"
- ↑ Dr. Slump chapter 12, "Is It a Girl? Is It a Boy!?"
- ↑ Dr. Slump & Arale-chan episode 4a, "Huh?! Is it a Boy? Is it a Girl?"
- ↑ Dr. Slump chapter 14, "Arale on the Loose: Part 1"
- ↑ Dr. Slump chapter 18, "Kidnapped!?"
- ↑ Dr. Slump chapter 22, "Barbershop Panic: Part 1"
- ↑ Dr. Slump chapter 23, "Barbershop Panic: Part 2"
- ↑ Dr. Slump chapter 29, "Earth S.O.S.!: Part 1"
- ↑ Dr. Slump chapter 30, "Earth S.O.S.!: Part 2"
- ↑ Dr. Slump chapter 31, "Arale's Big Change"
- ↑ Dr. Slump chapter 32, "Hello! Wonder Island"
- ↑ Dr. Slump & Arale-chan Hello! Fushigi Jima"
- ↑ Dr. Slump chapter 33, "The Ogre-King Gyaska"
External link
| Norimaki Family | ||
| Members | Arale Norimaki • Arale and Obotchaman's child • Gatchan • Jubei Norimaki • Midori's Mother • Midori Norimaki • Nitro Norimaki • Prehistoric Norimaki Ancestor • Ryota • Senbei Norimaki • Senbei Taromonosuke Norimaki • Senbei's Father • Turbo Norimaki • Senbei and Midori's third child | |
| Related articles | Norimaki Residence • Mr. Time • Reality Machine • Alarm Clock • Fairy Tale Machine • Barberman • The Announcer | |