Chapter Information

Chapter Synopsis

The warrior race of the Saiyans, under the evil emperor Freeza, fight day and night to obtain many planets through force.

Bardock and another unidentified Saiyan destroy aliens on another planet. They suddenly receive a report on their scouters that all Saiyans have been ordered to return to Planet Vegeta. Bardock has misgivings about this and his partner questions it as well, badmouthing Freeza. Bardock tells him to take off his scouter or they will hear him. The two see Freeza’s ship hovering over the planet, and Bardock thinks they must have a hidden agenda.

They land at a settlement with crude houses and many other space pods. Another Saiyan greets Bardock, but he does not know what the order is about either. However, he has heard that Freeza’s forces heard about the “Super Saiyan” and that word of it is has been going around.

On his ship, Freeza mulls over this “Super Saiyan” and “Super Saiyan God” business. His attendant tries to reassure him that it is just a common heroic legend; Freeza says he knows this, but he must not even have a sliver of a doubt. Either way, the Saiyans are too proud and will never be his obedient dogs. It is a good time to destroy the entire planet. His attendant thinks it is a shame since they are excellent fighters. Freeza scoffs, then asks how much of the Saiyan race has arrived back. It will apparently take one more month for nearly all of the Saiyans to arrive, so Freeza decides to destroy the planet in one month’s time. If he is suspected by the remaining ones, he will just say that a giant meteor collided with the planet.

On another planet, Raditz asks Prince Vegeta if they should be getting back home. Vegeta says to leave it be; they will just pretend they did not hear the order.

Back on Planet Vegeta, Bardock makes his way along the settlement as the narration box explains there are only a few thousand Saiyans. As a warrior race, it would be difficult to increase their numbers (presumably, though left unsaid, because they would war with each other). Setting foot in one structure, Bardock greets Gine, who embraces him. She tells Bardock that Raditz is already a fighter, and is working with Prince Vegeta. Since they are far away, though, they have not returned yet.

Bardock asks if Kakarrot is still in the incubator. He is, but it has been three years, so she will take him out soon. Kakarrot has gotten big, and looks just like his father. Bardock looks long and hard at his son, then tells Gine he will steal a space pod tonight. They will send Kakarrot to another planet. Gine questions Bardock, who reassures her that it is for Kakarrot’s sake. Freeza seems to be planning something; he has a premonition of death. Even so, Gine says it is not like a Saiyan to worry about his children. Bardock shoots back that her “softness” disease spread to him, too.

Bardock shoulders the pod with a crying Kakarrot as they take it to the launch site. Gine suggests they all run away, but Bardock says it is no use since they would immediately be found with scouters. Gine nervously says to her son that if his father is just overthinking this, they will come for him right away. Bardock warns Kakarrot not to look for too long at the full moon; they will tell Raditz about this, too.

“You absolutely have to stay alive… See you around.”

Kakarrot presses his face against the glass as his pod rises up. Bardock says to watch out for the Galactic Patrol as the pod shoots off the planet. Bardock puts his arm around Gine as Kakarrot’s pod disappears into the sky.

Meanwhile, at Galactic Patrol headquarters, Jaco inquires why the Galactic King has summoned his exceptional self. It must be for an extremely important mission! The king goes along with this and tells Jaco to go to “Earth” since a flying object was picked up launching from Planet Vegeta and headed there.

Earth is a developing world ruled by humans who are still immature and weak, so the Saiyans have probably sent a child. Therefore the clumsy– er, exceptional Jaco can probably exterminate it himself.

After researching Earth, Jaco comments that Earthlings are of very poor qualities; if he decides it is not worth protecting them, he will use his extinction bomb. His superiors do not mind, but tell him to research well before doing it. He should arrive a few days before the Saiyan. Jaco is excited about the prospect of extinction, while one Galactic Patrolman asks whether it was all right to let Jaco handle such a task. The other tells him Earth is not an important world; the Galactic King gave him the mission figuring they had nothing to lose.

And so, Jaco, and later the Saiyan child called Son Goku, went to Earth. Some time later, Planet Vegeta, together with many Saiyans, was obliterated by Freeza’s hand. Eventually, the destined child grew up right and would, without realizing it, come to face off against his bitter enemy, Freeza…

Promotion

• Dragon Ball Minus was originally announced, though not by proper name yet, in the “Super Q&A” published within the March 2014 issue of Saikyō Jump in Japan. In the brief session between Naho Ooishi (Dragon Ball SD, Episode of Bardock, etc.) and original manga author Akira Toriyama, a conversation about the character of Bardock led to the reveal of Gine and the upcoming bonus comic.
• Shueisha promoted the collected edition of Jaco the Galactic Patrolman and its bonus Dragon Ball Minus chapter with a commercial that both aired on Japanese television and was added to the S-Manga YouTube channel:

• Viz announced their official English translation of Dragon Ball Minus, also not by proper name yet, in their 2014 #18 digital issue of Weekly Shonen Jump. The chapter was released the following week (07 April 2014) in the 2014 #19 issue, available for $0.99 per individual issue or within a yearly subscription time frame (at a cost of $25.99). It will also be included in their own collected edition of Jaco the Galactic Patrolman (both print and digital) set for a January 2015 release.

  

Chapter Notes

• The character of Bardock was developed by a team at Toei Animation with initial character designs by Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru. Akira Toriyama contributed revisions and slight renamings, but otherwise did not participate in the creative process. The Bardock TV special (A Final, Solitary Battle) originally aired 17 October 1990. Toriyama has remarked on several occasions that he enjoyed the special very much, and ended up incorporating Bardock into the manga for two panels in Chapter 307. His approval dates back as early as comments in 1991’s Dragon Ball Z Anime Special Vol. 2 in which he noted that he cried, again in 1995’s Daizenshuu #6, and as recently as 2011’s “Special Selection” DVD. That being said, the story shown of Goku’s age as a baby and the process of him being sent off to Earth were never explicitly shown as such in the original manga, and was only shown that way (and often expanded upon) in anime-only material, with the only exception being Raditz remembering/imagining Kakarrot as a baby in Chapter 195. Toriyama’s depiction of Goku seemingly as a toddler still in Saiyan armor in the “+1” chapter of Jaco the Galactic Patrolman was the first hint that Toriyama may have been developing his own version of history.
• Gine’s name (ギネ) is likely a pun on negi, or “green onion” (also sometimes referred to as “spring onion” or “scallion”).
• Freeza mentioning “Super Saiyan God” is a reference to its legend and Goku obtaining the form in the 2013 theatrical film, Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods.
• Two of Freeza’s soldiers in the background resemble Avo and Kado from the 2008 Jump Super Anime Tour Special.
• In the original Japanese text from its initial print publication, the Galactic King notes that an object has been launched from “Planet Freeza” instead of “Planet Vegeta”. This appears to have been a typo, as Viz altered this to read as “Planet Vegeta” instead in their English release while Shueisha’s own digital release several months later also made the same correction.

  

• The Galactic Patrolman who questions Jaco’s competency resembles the alien race of Gure, Tarble’s wife, as seen in the 2008 Jump Super Anime Tour Special.
• Akira Toriyama provided an introductory comment with the chapter (which was rewritten from first-person to third-person in Viz’s English release):
  思わぬところでドラゴンボールの過去が少しわかったところでさらにもう少しだけさかのぼり、作者もはじめて知った（！）悟空が地球へ飛び立つようすを特別に描き下ろしてみました。

  ---

  Just when you’ve unexpectedly learned a little bit about Dragon Ball‘s past, I’ve specially gone back just a little bit further, and drawn anew the circumstances of Goku’s departure for Earth, which even the author found out for the first time(!).

Page Breakdown

The majority of the Dragon Ball (and Jaco) series was drawn in black and white, but every once in a while the fans were graced with some color pages. This breakdown will take a look at how many colored, red and gray scale, or black and white pages appeared in this chapter.