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Bulma

(Redirected from Buruma)

Bulma (Romaji: Buruma) is a fictional character in the Dragon Ball/Dragon Ball Z manga and anime. She appears in the anime Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, and Dragon Ball GT. She is a Human. In the English translation of the anime and manga, it is implied that her full name is Bulma Briefs. In the early Harmony Gold English Dragon Ball dub from the 1980's, she is known as Lena.

Her Japanese name is a pun off of "bloomers", a type of gym shorts (trousers). In the Dragon Ball universe, it is customary for related characters to have names which are associated with each other. (Akira Toriyama has indicated in interviews that this was a mnemonic device for him, to help him remember his characters.) All members of Bulma's family have underwear puns for names.

Bulma is Dragon Ball's longest appearing female character. Rare for a cartoon character, even in anime, her hairstyle varies considerably depending on what point the narration is in the voluminous storyline.

Both Marle and Lucca in Chrono Trigger are thought to be heavily derived from her (partly due to Toriyama's work as head artist on that video game), although physically Lucca resembles a character from another Toriyama work, Dr. Slump.


Bulma is the second (after Son Goku) character to be introduced in the series. In the early part of the plot, she is the one that has invented a Dragon Radar and is searching for the legendary Dragon Balls. She finds that Goku inherited one of the balls (the four-star ball) from his Grandpa Gohan. At that point, they team up to find the remainder of the balls and the adventure begins. As the anime progresses, Bulma's role waxes and wanes. In the later action-oriented episodes of the series, there is little room for a genius but Bulma continues to play a role as a secondary character.

Bulma's first relationship in the series was with Yamcha, but after the Freeza Saga she has a relationship with Vegeta which leads to the birth of Trunks. A common joke among fans is Bulma is the classic 'smart girl with odd taste in men'.

Bulma's father is Dr. Briefs, but it is unclear in the manga whether 'Briefs' is his first name or his last. Bulma's mother is shown several times in anime and manga, but she is never given an official name.

Bulma's notable inventions besides the Dragon Radar, include: modified Saiyan Armor for the hyperbolic time chamber, A Blutz Wave generator to allow Vegeta to reach Super Saiyan 4, and a time machine to allow Mirai Trunks to get to the past. She also repairs Android 16 with her Father.

Last updated: 05-30-2005 20:40:04
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