Dragonball Z: ELSEWHERE

Preface: Why Yamcha?

In case you didn't know by now, this is a fan manga about Yamcha. Many of you may be wondering "Why Yamcha?" Rather than be likenearly every Dragonball fan on the internet and make another ludicrously superpowered sequel to DBZ with Super Saiyan 5 or something like that, I decided to remind people about the foundation of the story: the characters.

Now many people will try and dramatize characters like the Saiyans outside of their single-minded biological desire to fight. But whether it's derived from fun like Goku or pride like Vegeta, they're still very narrow characters. Furthermore, they've already been established- their past, their future. We know everything about them.

Yamcha, however, is a different case. What an incredibly misunderstood character by the masses, either by sheer ignorance, word of mouth, or bad translation! How many people know Yamcha outside of a numerical power level? How many people have the false conclusion, also believed by the insecure Bulma, that he's a player when Toriyama established that Yamcha's dream was to one day marry? How many people truly understand his motives, desires, and views as a very much mortal superhuman in a world dominated by aliens? Although Toriyama may have not spent a great deal of time on Yamcha as a character, he at least established a character, period, and the view that runs rampant in the fan world, and just as notoriously, FUNimation's current version (yes, I'm looking at *you*, Chris Sabat) is anything but Toriyama's Yamcha.

Yamcha's neglection opens a window though for storytellers. We first see him when he is 16 years old, and from then on simply accept him as a character. Every single major player in Dragonball is given a backstory- roots even- except Yamcha. His mystery lends itself to elaboration worth telling, as his past can show why he is the way he is and what he might become. The battles of today forge the man of tomorrow. But there are other questions.

How did he get his scars? Where did he learn to fight? How does he know everything about every fighter in the tournaments? How does he know of Mutenroshi, Grandpa Gohan, and the Nyoi'-bo? Why was he so terrified of girls at first? How did he end up becoming a bandit?

In order to make a new story, I wanted to take this branch into a different direction. I wanted it to be an absolutely pure blend of the adventure, humor, and even depth of Dragonball paired with the action we all love from Dragonball Z. Rather than make a sequel to Dragonball GT, I wove this story as accurately as I possibly could into the timeline of Dragonball Z so that, even if the story wasn't liked, it wouldn't contradict any of Toriyama's work even to the most scrutinizing fan. I've spent over four years studying and crafting this story to nigh perfection and finally began drawing it out. Who knows, maybe someday it too will become a show.

So, why Yamcha? All of the above. And most important.....he has been since the beginning and always will be my favorite.

Nuts to you, monkey-lovers.

So, without further delay, I give you Dragonball Z: ELSEWHERE.