Bulma…as voiced by…Hiromi Tsuru

No matter who looks at her, [they can tell] she’s strong-willed and has a big ego… right? (laughs) I hadn’t done many energetic roles like this one up until then. So I really wanted to do it!

It didn’t change very much, no~. However, at the beginning, Bulma was completely self-centered, but I was conscious of her growing older. Becoming an adult, and having children… she mellowed out a bit. She became a proper mother, so she couldn’t do all those crazy things like before. (laughs).

With the other characters, their appearance doesn’t change very much, so it was a bit lonesome being the only one aging. (laughs) In the TV special, a future Bulma appears; even at the recording, I thought, “don’t let your hair go like that~!” I felt from up close that even Bulma had reached middle age, getting more and more wrinkles. (laughs)

From the perspective of fans of Goku, it seems they thought of her as an “unpleasant girl,” with her always saying selfish things. But, I thought, it can’t be helped; this is who Bulma is. Seeming well-grounded, yet also having points that are lacking. Like, flashing [Kame-Sen’nin] without any panties on. (laughs) She’s a character I just love!

Other than Bulma, I actually did Trunks’ voice, too, when he was a baby. Although it was just crying. (laughs) I don’t think I appeared in the credits. Also, I did Bulma’s daughter Bra, as well.

Definitely the part where she’s not wearing any panties. (laughs) That, and the first episode, where she first met Goku.

In Bulma’s case, she had Yamcha, so I think she was conscious of him more as a friend than as a man. So didn’t love him as a man, but a dear friend. [i.e. it was a platonic, rather than romantic, love.]

The marriage to Vegeta was a surprise. (laughs) The other cast members thought Yamcha and Bulma would get married, too. So everyone was taken aback! Even Furuya-san, who plays Yamcha, and Horikawa-san, who plays Vegeta, went “Whaaa—?!” (laughs)

As far as I’m concerned, she got with Vegeta before she was emotionally prepared for it. So I played her with the feeling of, “What is it you like about Vegeta?” or “What happened, Bulma?” (laughs) Even now, I still don’t know what she saw in Vegeta. (laughs)

I cried at the part where Vegeta died, and he told Trunks, “Take good care of your mother”… Especially since there were no scenes at all where the two of them tell of their love for each other… But I understood that looking out for Bulma was also a part of Vegeta, so I cried when I saw that scene in the broadcast. It felt like, at long last, his feelings reached Bulma’s, or rather, my, heart.

I think it definitely has everything to do with the character of Goku. It would be nice if there were a guy like that in real life. I personally like the time period where he’s a pure child.

I liked the times when they did the Tenka’ichi Budōkai! However, I recently watched all the episodes of Dragon Ball Z on DVD, in one go. I didn’t appear very much in Z, so there were episodes that I missed, but in watching it again, I was moved at “how amazingly fun it is”! (laughs)

Cell… I hate. (laughs) He was really, really strong. Boo is cute… right? The part where he’s living with Satan is a particular favorite of mine.

It was really fun! Masako Nozawa-san is a veteran [of the profession]. And yet, I had the privilege of working in combination with her. I was incredibly happy about that! The studio had nothing but veterans, which you can hardly imagine today, so I really learned a lot. That, and thanks to Nozawa-san’s attentiveness to people’s needs, the studio was always in a state of harmony. Nozawa-san really is a cute person. Although it’s rude to call such a veteran “cute”. (laughs)

That was a highlight! It’s something I absolutely can’t imitate. She’s really able to get the most out of performing three people at once, so it’s a real surprise. I don’t think it’s something that’s easily done.

For other shows, you’d rehearse a number of times, but with Dragon Ball, we’d always rehearse just once before doing the actual recording. At the very beginning, we very scrupulously did a number of rehearsals in order to grasp the characters’ personalities, but once we got a feel for them, the flow of the work really was quick. Plus, at the time of recording, we already had completed, full-color shots; I think that was also a big part of it.

At events and such, people tell me, “do Bulma’s voice”… but I can’t do it well; in fact, I’m really bad at it. (laughs) It’s definitely difficult without moving images.

I often watch repeats; my impression is, “so young!” (laughs) However, I get absorbed in the story rather than my own performance.

Maybe there were in some jokey scenes? But I probably just changed the sentence-endings as it suited me. I think both Shigeru Chiba-san, who played Pilaf, and Jōji Yanami-san, who did the narration, had a lot of ad-libs.

It felt sad and lonesome, like, “I wonder if it’s really going to end”. We did the recording on the same day every week, so it had been a part of our lives. For a work that went on as long as the Dragon Ball series, the last episode really is sad. But within me, I still have the feeling that Dragon Ball is still continuing. It ended, but it’s not over; even now, when all the cast members get together, we can get right back into our characters from that time!

Dragon Ball is a really amazing and interesting work. There are a lot of battles, but if you can sense the message that’s there in them, I’ll be happy. Also, please be partial to Bulma!