Pola & Roid

Pola & Roid title page

Pola & Roid (ポラアンドロイド) is a manga by Akira Toriyama released in March 1981 in Weekly Shōnen Jump #17. It is also featured in Akira Toriyama's Manga Theater Vol. 1. This short story tells Roid's journey to become the greatest hero of the galaxy. King Nikochan and his assistant make cameo appearances in it, and the two main characters make a cameo in the Dr. Slump chapter "Penguin Village Dom-Dom-Dom!"

Overview

At the end of 1980, the Weekly Shōnen Jump readers were asked to name their favorite authors, and Akira Toriyama was named in the top ten for the time in his career. For the next step of the competion, in 1981, the magazine offered the top ten manga artists to make a 40 ~ 50 page story. Toriyama created Pola & Roid for the occasion, which won the "Readers' Award" after the Shōnen Jump readers voted and ranked it first. The author, him, won a trip to Switzerland. Pola & Roid is 43 pages, divided into 15 chapters, and completely drawn in felt pen.

Story

Roid and Pola on Pata Pata

Pola is an avenger who fights Emperor Gagambo, who spreads terror on planet Kongaragatta. Roid is the pilot of an interplanetary taxi. One day, a woman calls Roid to planet Kongaratta. Roid is glad to leave the artificial planet he was on, Yakandagaya, because it is inhabited only by monsters and robots, no cute girl. He rushes to Kongaratta, thinking a beautiful woman awaits. It happens that the woman was in fact a teenager, Pola, who is accompanied by a robot. Pola had difficulties traveling through the desert with her luggage, thus she called the interplanetary taxi. Roid is tired of space and wants to return to Earth, but Pola bribes his companionship with the promise of money (she stole a passerby to pay the taxi). Thus begins their thrilling adventures against the forces of evil.

Soon, Roid's ship is destroyed by one of Gaganbo's men. Pola, her robot, and he must walk. The next day, Gagambo launches an attack on them. Roid easily defeats the evil emperor as in fact, all the inhabitants of Kongaragatta are rather weak, even huge dragons, and also because nobody on the planet tried to fight against Gagambo. Roid then retrieves a ship at Gaganbo's headquarters where two gorillas who were help captive by Lord Gagambo ask him to return them to Earth, which would also allow Roid to get there. The poor Roid does not happen to get rid of the sticky Pola, who comes with them to Earth as she fell in love with Roid and wants to marry him soon.

While approaching Earth, the heroes are attacked by King Nikochan and his servant. As Roid read Dr. Slump, he has the idea to disguise Pola as Arale Norimaki. The young woman scares them off, but a mishandling makes the heroes time travel to Earth in prehistoric times. It is later revealed that the two gorillas they brought to Earth will later be known as Adam and Eve.

Trivia

• The title of this manga, Pola & Roid, is a reference to the famous firm of snapshots.
• The dialogue when Pola calls for a taxi has been changed several times due to changing attitudes towards political correctness in Japan. In the original version (as republished in Toriyama's first short-works collection in 1983), the robotic voice on the other end responsds to her "sexy" request with, "What are you, some kinda sex-crazed lunatic?" (イロキチガイカオマエハ… Iro-kichigai ka omae wa...). However, in Akira Toriyama's ______piece Theatre REMIX, released in 2003, this is revised to read, "What are you, some kinda pervert?" (ヘンタイカオマエハ... Hentai ka omae wa...). This is revised once again for volume 1 of An Emperor's Feast of Akira Toriyama (Toriyama Akira Mankanzenseki, released in 2008), where the response is simply, "... Good grief..." (……ヤレヤレ... .......Yareyare...). In the years since the one-shot was first published, kichigai ("lunatic", "insane person") had come to be seen as offensive. However, the rationale for changing the line a second time, from hentai ("pervert"), is less clear. While the initial revision is essentially replacement of the offending word, the second falls more in line with Toriyama's more modern comedic sensibilities, suggesting that he may have had a hand in the 2008 edition.

Gallery

Roid smokes Roid runs Roid Pola runs Pola Pola's robot Lord Gagambo Gagambo's men A robot Pata Pata A giant crab The Nikos Adam and Eve