Obotchaman (オボッチャマン) is an android built by Dr. Mashirito using the plans for Arale Norimaki, but male. Despite being introduced later in the series, he becomes quickly one of the major characters in Dr. Slump and a love interest to the heroine.
Appearance[]
Obotchaman takes the form of a thirteen-year-old boy and is roughly the same height as Arale. He has large eyes with blue irises and no visible pupils and short black hair with two conical points resembling a devil's horns. He wears a pair of thin round-framed glasses, a white polo shirt with a red necktie, light blue shorts with braces, yellow gloves, and black loafers.
Personality[]
Obotchaman is in many ways the opposite of Arale. He's always very dutiful, well-behaved, and polite to everyone, in contrast to Arale's wild, fun-loving and energetic attitude. He's deeply in love with Arale because he finds her cute and charming, and as a result, he can become sentimental and even a bit cheesy. However, he's too shy to express his feelings around her. Although he's not dense and clueless like Arale, he can be naive and awkward in some situations.
History[]
I am Obotchaman[]
Initially dubbed "Caramel Man 004", Dr. Mashirito tells him that Arale wants to take over the world and he has to destroy her. He tries repetitively to destroy her, but he can not because she is super cute to him and she does not seem evil.
Later, he figures Senbei Norimaki created her, so he must be evil and goes for him. At that exact time, Dr. Mashirito disguises himself as Senbei. So Obotchaman hits Dr. Mashirito and Dr. Mashirito abandons Obotchaman. He later starts attending Arale's school and becomes part of Arale's group of friends as well as a love interest for Arale herself. The house where Obotchaman lives for most of the series was originally Suppaman's house.
Who's the Strongest in the World!![]
In the final round of the "Who's the Strongest in the World?" tournament, Obotchaman put on a wig similar to Arale's hair and pretends to be her. He steps into the fight while Dr. Mashirito is laughing with a victory. Mashirito is surprised to see "Arale" again. Obotchaman kills Dr. Mashirito with a N'cha Cannon, reducing his full cyborg Caramel Man 009 body to nothing but a bolt.
Verifying Love in Our Future[]
In a future visit, the two of them get married and have an android baby made by Senbei.
Other Media[]
Dragon Ball series[]
Obotchaman is first seen in Dragon Ball when school lets the kids out for spring break. At Coffee Pot, he is seen talking to Akane about how he was going to get a part-time job to feed his cats over spring break. When General Blue showed up in Penguin Village, Obotchaman fixed his "car" that was stolen by General Blue from Suppaman. Obotchaman happened to be Blue's "type", but the Funimation dub changed it to Blue believing that Obotchaman was his long-lost brother, Samuel. Possibly to avoid implications of pedophilia and homosexuality.
He briefly appears with his cats in the beginning segment of the 69th episode of Dragon Ball Super.
Doctor Slump[]
In the 1997 remake, Obotchaman looks pretty much the same like from the original series, but the straps of his overalls are yellow instead of blue, his glasses are thicker and his gloves are orange. It is also revealed that he wears boxer shorts with thin blue pastel vertical stripes on them.
Relationship[]
Romance[]
- Arale: Obotchaman is in love with Arale, and as the series progresses it becomes more apparent. Arale, meanwhile, doesn't seem to be aware of his crush on her but she adores Obotchaman as a friend. On occasion, Arale admits that Obotchaman is the guy she likes the most implying that she returns his affection deep down but she is still too childish and naive to understand the concept of love and romantic feelings. In the future, they are shown to be together and have a robot child, built by Senbei.
- Kinoko Sarada: Although for a short time Kinoko showed to be attracted to Obotchaman in the episode Finally Appears! Hit Man Senbei, when Obotchaman approached her to ask her something Kinoko thought that he was going to invite her on a date, but in reality, Obotchaman asked her if she is Arale's friend, to which Kinoko is offended and leaves angry.
- Princess Supa-ko: In the episode, Silly Love Panic the Princess Supa-Ko falls in love with Obotchaman, and try to make him marry her, an idea that Obotchaman dislikes a lot, she is too sticky with which caused him to feel even more uncomfortable, and it only gets worse when Princess Supa-Ko try to put some handcuffs on his neck both to be "always together", to which Obotchaman when taking a few steps back falls into a fountain, and proceeds to escape through the drain.
- General Blue: In his appearance in Dragon Ball, Obotchaman when seeing General Blue offers him help to fix his car, the General begins to be attracted to Obotchaman calling him "his type" and even trying to kiss him while is in profile, but he becomes instantly telling him that his "car" was already fixed, General Blue tries to invite him to eat or even offers to buy him clothes but Obotchaman kindly refuses and leaves.
Friends[]
- Tsukutsun Tsun: In Heart Pounding Tonight Arale invites Tsukutsun to stay overnight at Obotchaman's house with them, causing Obotchaman's jealousy. However, this is resolved when Tsukutsun tells Obotchaman that he's not romantically interested in Arale and he likes another girl (Akane). It's also Tsukutsun who helps Obotchaman to enter school. Because of Tsukutsun's feelings for Akane, he seems to understand how Obotchaman feels, and they seem to share those feelings with Taro as shown in Donbe's Mischievous Matchmaking. In the 1997 remake, Tsukutsun occasionally gives emotional support to him when it comes to his relationship with Arale.
- Taro Soramame: Taro appears to be good friends with Obotchaman, due to Taro's feelings for Tsururin similar to Obotchaman's crush on Arale. They usually get along also with Tsukutsun, as shown in Donbei's Mischievous Matchmaking. There are times where Taro can provide some tips to Obotchaman when it comes to Arale.
- Peasuke Soramame: They generally have little interaction but seem to be good friends
Others[]
- Senbei Norimaki: In the beginning, Obotchaman sees Senbei as an enemy and thinks he's an evil genius who created Arale to take over the world, but he quickly realizes the only evil one is his creator, not Arale's creator. Later on, he becomes closer to Arale's family, especially Senbei who knows about Obotchaman's robotic nature and is also the one who provides the robot vitamin A for him, the energy drink that both Obotchaman and Arale need.
Rivals or Enemies[]
- Dr. Mashirito: In the beginning, Obotchaman shows great respect for Dr. Mashirito, thinking he is a benevolent scientist who loves justice and wants to keep the world safe, so he's very obedient and docile towards his creator and feels very sad after being abandoned by him. When he learns the truth about him (that he's actually an evil scientist who aspires to dominate the world and was lying to him all the time), Obotchaman shows great disappointment, becoming ready to fight against him, and as the story progresses, you can see Obotchaman starting to develop hatred towards Dr. Mashirito. The last straw was in the final round of "Who's the Strongest in the World?" when Dr. Mashirito defeats Arale causing an angry Obotchaman to react and finishes his creator for good.
Video game appearances[]
He appears in Dr. Slump: Arale-Chan. Obotchaman also appears as a supporting character in Dragon Ball 3: Gokuden, Jump Ultimate Stars, Dragon Ball Z: W Bakuretsu Impact, and as a playable character in Dragon Ball Z: Dragon Battlers, and Dragon Ball Z: Dokkan Battle.
Trivia[]
- Obotchaman's hair is based on Astro Boy, probably because Akira Toriyama admires Osamu Tezuka's Astro Boy.
- In one episode, when Tsukutsun Tsun turns into a tiger, he touches Obotchaman to turn back into a human. It is rather strange, due to the fact Obotchaman is an android, not an actual human boy.
- Obotchaman and Arale's relationship has similarities to that of Goku and Chi-Chi from Dragon Ball. In personality, he's similar to Goku as a kid, plus he is also very smart. Like Chi-Chi, he is in love with the protagonist and dreams of marrying and having a happy life with Arale since when they were children, just like Chi-Chi with Goku.
- It's curious that Dr. Mashirito created a good-hearted robot instead of an evil one like the others, although this may be possible. Unlike the other Caramel Men, Obotchaman was designed with the same plans as Arale, which means possessing the same mind and heart as her.
- Obotchaman sends Arale messages telepathically in one instance when he was in dire need of Robovita-A. This telepathy between them is never seen again.
- Obotchaman is similar to Android 17 from Dragon Ball Z, as both are Androids created by evil scientists whom they end up killing and become related to one of their respective series protagonists as Obotchaman married Arale while Android 17 became Krillin's brother-in-law.
Gallery[]
[]
Mashirito Army | ||
Members | Dr. Mashirito • Dr. Mashirito Jr. • King Nikochan • King Nikochan's servant • Robot Poop | |
Caramel Men | Caramel Man 001 • Caramel Man 002 • Caramel Man 003 • Obotchaman • Caramel Man 005 • Caramel Man 006 • Caramel Man 007 • Caramel Man 008 • Caramel Man 009 • Caramel Man 010 • Caramel Man 010 (Jump Stars) • Caramel Man 011 • Caramel Man 022 • Abale• Great Caramel Man | |
Related articles | Dr. Mashirito's lab • Unnamed fusion of Piccolo and Dr. Mashirito • Planetary Defense Academy |