Nekomajin (ネコマジン) is a series of eight one-shot manga chapters by Akira Toriyama, spanning a total of eight installments released from 1999 to 2005. It is most notable for its later portion, "Neko Majin Z," which is a self-parody of the author's most famous work Dragon Ball in which Dragon Ball characters make regular cameos therein.

OverviewEdit

HistoryEdit

Originally a one-shot bearing little relation to Akira Toriyama's other series, the first chapter of Nekomajin 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" published in 2001 in Monthly Shōnen Jump, 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 4 April 2005.

Plot & General informationEdit

The series is set in an uncivilized world in the same era and on the same Earth as Dragon Ball,^[1] and revolves around the adventures of various characters from the Neko Majin race, a group of cats that can use a little bit of magic, and seem to enjoy practical jokes and martial arts even more. It eventually spins off into "Neko Majin Z", centralizing around Neko Majin Z, a cat-like version of Goku complete with a Power Pole and typically Dragon Ball Z-style attacks, such as the "Nekohameha". Other familiar motifs show up during the course of the series, including Frieza's son Kuriza, a fat Super Saiyan named Onio, and even cameos by actual Dragon Ball characters Vegeta, Majin Buu, and Goku and his family (Chi-Chi, Ox-King, Goten, Pan and Uub).

Despite the references to Dragon Ball, the series itself is not a continuation of the manga series. Although the connection is tenuous, several references to "Neko Majin Z" were added as Easter eggs to the Japanese version of the video games Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2 and Dragon Ball Z 2 V (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 on the Nintendo DS.

ReleasesEdit

Original serializationEdit

All chapters of Nekomajin were originally published in Weekly/Monthly Shōnen Jump in Japan.

1. "Neko Majin ga Iru" (ネコマジンがいる, lit. "Neko Majin is Here"): April 1999 (Weekly Shōnen Jump, 1999 #22-23)
2. "Neko Majin ga Iru 2": August 1999 (Weekly Shōnen Jump, 1999 #37-38)
3. "Neko Majin Mike" (ネコマジンみけ): August 2003 (Weekly Shōnen Jump, 2003 #37-38)
4. "Neko Majin Z" (ネコマジン Z): June 2001 (Monthly Shōnen Jump, 2001 #6)
5. "Neko Majin Z 2": August 2003 (Monthly Shōnen Jump, 2003 #9)
6. "Neko Majin Z 3": February 2004 (Monthly Shōnen Jump, 2004 #3)
7. "Neko Majin Z 4": January 2005 (Monthly Shōnen Jump, 2005 #1)
8. "Neko Majin Z 5": February 2005 (Monthly Shōnen Jump, 2005 #2)

Collected releaseEdit

All eight chapters are collected in one volume in the format of a kanzenban, published by Shueisha's Jump Comics imprint on 4 April 2005 (ISBN 4-08-873825-X).

English-language releaseEdit

Viz has translated the English version of Nekomajin chapter 4, titled "Neko Majin Z", that is in the October 2007 issue of Shonen Jump.

CharactersEdit

TriviaEdit

• The Tech-Tech aliens from Dr. Mashirito and Abale-chan look like the aliens in "Neko Majin ga Iru 2", but they are not the same. Toriyama explained in an interview that the aliens he draw generally have this sort of design and, at the time, he enjoyed drawing Nekomajin, so when aliens appeared in Abale-chan, he did not even intend to come up with a new design.^[1]
• Oishii Shima no Ū-sama, another manga by Akira Toriyama, is very similar to Nekomajin.

GalleryEdit

Nekomajin manga cover

Neko Majin's house

Cover of "Neko Majin Mike"

Neko Majin Z's friend

Vegeta and Kuriza

Vegeta transforms into a Super Saiyan

Usagi Majin meets Majin Buu

Goku faces Neko Majin Z

Goku and his family

Add a photo to this galleryAdd a photo to this gallery

ReferencesEdit