What's DragonBall?
Long ago in the mountains, a fighting master known as Son Gohan discovered a strange boy whom he named Son Goku.
Gohan raised him and trained Goku in martial arts until he died. The young and very strong boy was on
his own, but easily managed. Then one day, Goku met a teenage girl named Bulma,
whose search for the dragon balls brought her to Goku's home. Together, they set off to find all seven...
- TV.com
Who's Bulma?
Bulma (Buruma) is originally a secondary main character, but her role is quickly downplayed as the series continues,
even though she does remain an important support character for most of the series. Bulma is a direct parody of the
character Xuanzang from the Chinese novel Journey to the West. Even though Bulma's character parodies a monk, her Japanese name "Buruma"
is the brand of a popular gym short worn by girls in Japan. Her re-adapted name Bulma is a direct take on the word "bloomers", which was a
popular brand of women's underwear in the early 20th century.
Bulma is the second character to be introduced in the Dragon Ball series. In the early part of the story, she is the
inventor of the Dragon Radar and is searching for the legendary Dragon Balls. Bulma was hoping to use the
Dragon Balls to wish for the perfect boyfriend. While searching for a nearby Dragon Ball, she runs into Son Goku. It is at this time
that she finds out Goku inherited one of the balls (the four-star ball) she is searching for from his Grandpa Gohan. Because of Goku's
love for the ball and his belief that his Grandpa's spirit lives in the ball, Goku is not willing to give it up. Bulma then asks him to
loan it for her in exchange of taking him in her travels. At that point, they team up to find the remainder of the balls and the adventure
begins. 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, helping Goku and his friends with her gadgets, and having a rather rocky relationship with Yamcha.
- Wikipedia
Who's Son Goku?
Originally named Kakarotto (Kakarot in the English adaptations),
Goku is born a member of a fictional race of extraterrestrials called Saiyan. Shortly following his birth,
Goku is sent from his home, planet Vegeta, to prepare Earth for sale on the intergalactic market by destroying
all its life. Due to an injury to his head that caused him severe amnesia, Goku forgets his purpose, and
instead focuses on becoming stronger for little more than the pleasure of it. As the series continues,
Goku meets Bulma, a brilliant teenage girl, Yamcha, Oolong, and Pu'ar, whose characters mirror those found
in Wu Cheng'en's Journey to the West. He also encounters one his closest friends, Kuririn, and others
during his training. Participating in several World Martials Arts Tournaments, Goku also battles foes-turned-allies
such as Tenshinhan and Chaozu, as well as the offspring of Piccolo Daimao named Piccolo Junior.
During his early adulthood, Goku meets his older brother, Raditz, an encounter that results in his death. Following the
wish for his revival from the Dragon Balls, Goku continues to face other enemies thereafter linked to his heritage, such
as Vegeta and Freeza. As the series continues, the focus on Goku's past is shifted away from as new enemies are introduced
simply as threats to the universe. After his encounter with Freeza, Goku trains Son Gohan, his son, to be his successor after
Goku dies during the fight against Cell. Goku returns several years later from the afterlife to battle an extraterrestrial
enemy named Majin Buu. During a World Martial Arts Tournament ten years after Majin Buu's defeat, Goku encounters the monster's
reincarnated human form, Uub, and flies off with him in the final chapter, intending to train him and mold him into the Earth's
next defender.
- Wikipedia
Their relationship
Bulma meets Goku in the beginning of DragonBall when she's looking for the dragonballs. Bulma is the first girl Goku has seen.
Bulma wants his dragonball but Goku refuses to give it up, so he joins her on her journey. Using Bulma's DragonRadar it's quite
easy to find them all. When there's trouble Goku usually takes care of it. After the Pilaf arc everyone goes seperate ways.
Bulma and Goku meet again at the 21st Tenkaichi Budoukai. Bulma says she wanted to visit but Roshi had moved locations during that time
(Goku trained with him). After the Tenkaichi Budoukai everyone goes their seperate ways once again. Goku borrows Bulma's DragonRadar
so he can retreive the dragonball that originally belonged to him. However, during several battles the DragonRadar breaks and Goku
visits Bulma in West Capital. There Bulma's father actually thinks they're dating and Bulma's mother offers Goku beer. (haha)
Anyway, Bulma is not amused by all that. She decides to go with Goku because he'll have the dragonballs a lot faster with her
on his side (so she claims, anyway). Goku agrees and Bulma and Goku leave together once again. Here they run into General
Blue of the Red Ribbon army. After his defeat Bulma says she quits because she didn't know it was so dangerous (with the Red Ribbon
army chasing Goku and all). Goku fetches her again when he needs her for "something" during the Uranai Baba arc. After this
Goku leaves on a journey by himself. The next meeting takes place at the 22th Tenkaichi Budoukai. After the defeat of
Piccolo Daimao Goku goes to train with Kami so their next meeting is at the 23th Budoukai where it becomes clear that Goku
has grown into a very handsome young man. Bulma likes what she sees ;) =P But anyway, considering Goku gets engaged to ChiChi
the very same day Bulma never really had a chance. =P
5 years later (DragonBall Z), they all have a reunion at Kame House. Goku visits and brings along.. his SON?! Everyone is quite shocked.
The happy reunion doesn't last very long because Raditz shows up and Goku is killed. A year later Goku is wished back to life to defeat
the Saiyajin. After the battle is over the gang treats Goku on his severe wounds. In order to have their friends wished back to life
they decide to go to planet Namek. Bulma goes along because she's the only one that can handle a spaceship. Goku follows after
them later when it seems that all sorts of bad guys are on Namek also.
On Namek Bulma mostly sit arounds and waits. While thinking of Goku she actually asks herself if she made the right choice by picking
Yamcha.
Some time after the Freeza arc, Goku is the first to discover that Trunks, the boy from the future is actually Bulma's son.
Trunks admires Goku a lot because in the future Bulma has told many stories about him.
During the Buu arc when both Goku's son and Bulma's son (Goten & Trunks) train together in order to kill Majin Buu, Goku comforts
her when she's worried. And all in all, they stay very good friends throughout the series. Although Bulma is kind of pissed that
Goku doesn't visit often.