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30.11.2022
Dragon Ball-ism Toriyama Showcase #19: Sonchoh!
Dragon Ball-ism Toriyama Showcase #19: Sonchoh!
Welcome back to Dragon Ball-ism: Toriyama Showcase—the series where we discuss Akira Toriyama's various short stories and one-shot works. For the 19th installment, we're looking at a one-shot manga that was released during Dragon Ball's run: Sonchoh!
“SONCHOH”
"Weekly Shonen Jump" No. 5, 1988.
Sonchoh appeared as part of Weekly's Shonen Jump's "Merry Christmas! A Barrage of One-Shot Manga" event that was meant to celebrate the magazine having 4.85 million issues in circulation. Sonchoh is largely one long car chase sequence starring the elder of Pon-Pon Village, who drives his favorite car around on the lookout for any ne'er-do-wells. This story gave Toriyama a chance to draw something he loves: cars. So it's only natural the chase scenes really pack a punch!
This issue of Weekly Shonen Jump also contained the climactic conclusion of Goku and Great Demon King Piccolo's epic battle, which even had its opening pages drawn in full color, meaning fans who picked this issue up were treated to double the amount of Toriyama's unique storytelling. What a treat!
Not only did Dragon Ball and Sonchoh bookend this issue of Weekly Shonen Jump, both featured very similar and equally stylish frontispiece illustrations!
"Weekly Shonen Jump" No. 5, 1988
"Dragon Ball" Title Page
★The Hard-Headed Village Elder Confronts the Forces Of Evil!
The elder of Pon-Pon Village, Tetsunoshin Kataiwa, protects the peace and sanctity of his place of residence by riding around in his beloved car Pochi and keeping a watchful eye out for any wrongdoing.
His sunglasses and overall funky appearance is vaguely similar to everyone's favorite eccentric martial arts master, Kamesennin!
("Dragon Ball" Tale 24)
Before too long he spots a villager riding on her bicycle without a helmet!
The way he takes an interest in more than just her safety is definitely reminiscent of Kamesennin.
However, out of nowhere a man speeds by them and dares to throw an empty can out of his window and onto the street!
Upon witnessing this unforgivable act, Tetsunoshin immediately hops in his beloved Pochi and speeds down the road to give chase to the litterbug!
In order to protect the sanctity of his village, no infraction, no matter how small, can go unpunished! This elder's strong sense of justice is quite similar to another hero: Great Saiyaman!
("Dragon Ball" Tale 423)
As it turns out, the culprit is more than a litterbug; he's a spy for an enemy nation and the reason he was peeling away in such a hurry was because he planted a time bomb!
Unaware of what his target has done but nonetheless motivated to chase down the man who thoughtlessly threw his trash on the road, Tetsunoshin engages in a white-knuckle car chase with the secret spy!
Is this village elder good enough behind the wheel to stop the litterer and make him clean up his mess?! It's definitely worth taking a quick break from reading Dragon Ball to find out!
*All comic images are from the Japanese version.
This site includes machine-translated texts. Please be aware that you might find some unusual expressions that are difficult to understand.
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