Cowa!

Cowa! is a one-shot Manga made in 1998 by Akira Toriyama, a return to more whimsical and funny atmospheres after the end of Dragon Ball. This manga tells the story of a small village inhabited by monsters as well as humans and animals. One day, a mysterious disease starts to spread among the monster population, and it's up to three monster kids (Paifu, Arpon and José) to venture outside and search for the Witch who creates the cure for the disease. However, it is a long and perilous journey, and they ask the help of an extremely strong man, Maruyama Mako, thought to be a killer. The man is not really what he seems...

Cowa! is a fun little story, reminiscent of Dr. Slump by the same author, but with some elements that recall Dragon Ball (notably, some fight scenes).


 * The Atoner: Maruyama. Once a famous sumo wrestler under the name "Katsukazan", he accidentally killed his opponent during a match and left society ever since, living as a hermit in an abandoned boat near the place where the monsters live. He's seen by the monsters as a boogeyman of sorts.
 * Bad Is Good and Good Is Bad: One example is when José freaks Paifu out by pretending to be an angel of love and peace.
 * Berserk Button: Maruyama Mako's complete name is somewhat feminine, so he doesn't like to be called by first name, but do not call him "Makorin" (it's a child's name)!
 * Blob Monster: Baroava, the monster that protects an endangered forest by killing everyone that ventures inside.
 * Can Not Tell a Lie: Invoked by Paifu. He tricks Maruyama into bringing them to the Witch by saying him that, after their mission is complete, the monsters will give him a million yen in exchange, and then adds that monsters can not tell lies. Of course, it's a lie...
 * Cool House: Paifu and his mom live in a Jack o'lantern-shaped one!
 * Disappeared Dad: Paifu's. He was killed by hunters after his transformation into a were-koala.
 * Disproportionate Retribution: Paifu steals a watermelon, and when his mom finds out, she buries him up to the neck in the field among the other melons...
 * Hair Decorations: Except this time it's an old lady wearing them.
 * Expy: Leonardo, the Witch's butler, is once again an expy of hell king Dabura from Dragon Ball Z.
 * It can be argued that the three monster kids are somewhat expies of DBZ characters. Paifu can turn into an unstoppable hairy creature (much like the Saiyans turn into the Great Apes); Arpon has Piccolo's stretchy limbs and his arrogance; José shares with Majin Buu the ability to shapeshift and the cute, rotund appearance.
 * Fantastic Racism: Many humans are racist against monsters, despite having never seen one in the flesh.
 * Gasshole: José, however he farts only when he's upset.
 * Half-Human Hybrid: Actually, Quarter-Human Hybrid. Paifu is the son of a were-koala and a vampire woman.
 * Hot Mom: Paifu's mother.
 * Hulk Speak: Baroava.
 * Humans Are the Real Monsters: One of the themes of the manga seems to be this: while some monsters act in a stereotypical "evil" way, and think of themselves to be bad while in fact they are annoying at best, humans are much worse in that regard.
 * Monster Mash
 * Only Six Faces: It's Toriyama, what do you expect?
 * Our Ghosts Are Different: José Rodriguez and his family, they can shapeshift.
 * Petting Zoo People: Another sign that Toriyama came back to his roots for this manga.
 * Retired Badass: Maruyama, in a sense.
 * Super-Powered Evil Side: Paifu can turn into a were-koala which is extremely strong, but also mindless and vicious towards everyone and everything.
 * Shout-Out: During their travel from the monsters' village to the mainland, Maruyama and the kids pass in front of a house that looks like Senbei Norimaki's, of Dr. Slump fame.
 * Ted Baxter: Arpon always thinks he's better than everyone.
 * Toilet Humour: José farts are the center of quite a few jokes.
 * The Unintelligible: Emile the sasquatch and his family.
 * Weaksauce Weakness: Baroava, being a blob creature, is apparently invulnerable, but the sound of whistling reduces him to a tiny version of himself with no powers, which gets his ass kicked by Maruyama.
 * We Could Have Avoided All This: When our heroes finally get face to face with the Witch, she tells them that their long trip was totally unnecessary, since she ships the medicine all around the world and also accepts online payments! Cue Maruyama's rage.
 * Whip It Good: One human mook uses a whip as a weapon.
 * Witch Species: The Witch of the Mountain.