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The reason why one recurring character in the first part of theDragon Ballmanga just “disappeared” from the story has recently come to light.Dragon Ballhas become one of the most successful manga franchises in the world, but there were major changes in the story when we compare the beginning and the end of the manga.
For example, the Saiyan lore, which has become the signature of the franchise, was only introduced relatively late in the story (not without some foreshadowing). As the focus changed from humans to Saiyans and other powerful alien races, many recurring characters introduced at the beginning of the story, such as Yamcha and Krillin (Kuririn in the manga), started to make rare appearances. However, there is one character that was relatively popular and just completely vanished from the story at some point:Launch,also spelled Lunch in the manga (and initially called Marilynn in the Harmony Gold dub).
Launch’s Voice Actress Was Leaving Japan for a Year
Recently,new information about Launch surfacedon social media, with a huge revelation: she disappeared from the story following a request from her voice actress, Mami Koyama. She was about to travel abroad and live outside Japan for a year, so she told Toriyama she wouldn’t be able to voice Launch for a while and asked if he could stop including her in the manga for a while. Apparently, this was a joke (or a half joke), but he ended up doing it.
Launch is one of the funniest female characters in Dragon Ball. She has a mysterious ability to switch personalities after sneezing. One of her personalities is blue-haired, sweet, and soft-spoken, while the other is blond, aggressive, trigger-happy, and bound to criminal behavior. She is a potential love interest of Tien Shinhan (Tenshinhan in the manga).
This revelation helps debunk rumors stating that Toriyama left Launch aside because he simply forgot this character existed. Actually, in Chapter 196, Yamcha addresses this issue and asks where Launch is, to which Krillin answers that she left years before looking for Tien. Toriyama himself later confirmed it in a Q&A:
Lunch went off chasing after Tenshinhan. Tenshinhan would also go from place to place while training with Chiaotzu, so they’d never meet up. But surely they’ve managed to miraculously cross paths.
— Toriyama viaKanzenshuu
Although it’s not impossible that Toriyama forgot about Lunch because he stopped including her in the story after Mami requested her character not to appear much while she was living abroad, he did remember her enough to give explanations about her sudden disappearance. The most likely explanation, however, is that once she was no longer appearing much, he had little reason to bring her back, especially given that the story started delving more into the Saiyan lore and sidelined the human characters. For instance, Launch briefly appears during the Buu Saga in the anime, donating energy to the Genki-Dama in Episode 285 ofDragon Ball Z(Tomiko Suzuki voiced her in this episode). She also makes a brief cameo inDragon Ball GT.
Dragon Ball Super’s Future Is Currently Uncertain
Recently, it has also been revealed thatDragon Ball Superwon’t return from hiatus this year. This information came from V-JUMP editor Victory Uchida at Paris Japan Expo 2025. Unfortunately, fans eager to know what’s next in thisDragon Ballsequel will need to wait longer for Chapter 105. On the other hand,Toyotaro stated that he thinks it is possibleto continue the story without Toriyama.
Dragon BallandDragon Ball Superare available to read on MANGA Plus, but it might require a paid subscription.
Source:X (formerly Twitter)
Dragon Ball
Dragon Ball is a franchise by Akira Toriyama which follows the adventures of Goku, a powerful warrior who protects the earth with his group of friends. A recent title from the series is Dragon Ball: The Breakers, an action style game where 7 players have to survive being hunted by the Raider.
