Poor Yamcha, the butt of 90 per cent of all Dragon Ball jokes. The poor guy has had his arse kicked time and time again — and hell, infamously got killed off by a nameless grunt — and can’t really keep up with his friends. But a new official manga spinoff imagines a world where Yamcha is the greatest hero in the Dragon Ball universe.
Shōnen Jump Plus has just started running a new miniseries by Dragon Garow Lee, based on Akira Toriyama’s iconic Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z series, called Dragon Ball Gaiden: Tensei-shitara Yamcha Datta Ken (or, in English, “Dragon Ball Side Story: The Case of Being Reincarnated as Yamcha”). The premise revolves around a Japanese high schooler who is somehow reincarnated as the hapless Yamcha following a mysterious accident.
Using his foreknowledge of the events in the Dragon Ball manga, the high schooler — as Yamcha — starts influencing events to make sure Yamcha is prepared to… well, not get taken out like a chump all the damn time. But can Yamcha become a hero to rival his superpowered friends? It will be interesting to see how the manga twists and turns throughout Dragon Ball history in order to have Yamcha come out on top… or at least try to. At least this time it seems like Yamcha survives that Saibaman attack:
Unfortunately, the series is only available in Japanese at the moment — but if you can read it, you can catch the whole first chapter on Shonen Jump’s website.
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6 responses to “A New Dragon Ball Spinoff Imagines A World Where Yamcha Doesn’t Totally Suck”
Actually, someone has already translated it. Unfortunately, apparently it will only be 3 chapters long http://imgur.com/a/b3WlL
Last edited December 17, 2016 9:34 pm
I’m hooked. I love what-if DBZ scenarios.
Yumcha wasn’t always usless. In Dragonball he was for a time second only to Tien. He also after training with King Kai helped beat the Ginyu Force, something Vegeta, Gohan and Krillin couldn’t do. He was also the underworld champion when he died in the later DBZ series.
When was he second only to Tien? Krillin has always been the first or second strongest human.
In the Tienshen series. Tien’s master is talking to Tien at the world tournament and informs Tien that Yumcha is Master Roshi’s most powerful student.
I’ll take your word for it and commend on your memory as I cannot recall such a small detail. On the other hand, he was clearly misinformed as Goku was Roshi’s most powerful student by far. I’m guessing it was because Yumcha /seemed/ more the type of champion martial artist than the child-like Goku and Krillin? Master Shen looked like the type to be deceived by appearances.