neko majin z (manga review)

Akira toriyama is a legend in the manga community even before dragon ball z he was a highly successful manga writer with the critically acclaimed and top selling dr. slump series. Known for his unique sense of humor back in the dr. slump era people forget Akira toriyama is essently a comedy manga artist who got pulled into the battle shonen genre by the rapid success of dragon ball z. Today where gunna take a look at Akira toriyama's lesser known manga Neko majin which is essentially a parody of his own work dragon ball z and from beginning to end this product showcases the true nature of who Akira toriyama is as a magna artist.  The first two chapters known as "neko main" focus on a anamorphic cat like creature named neko majin who is a mischievous yet childlike creature who helps others, and its also established he's a budding martial artist. Its obvious from the first introduction and by his name he's a parody of majin buu something that is eluded to later in the manga. Typical toriyama comedy gags remenisint of the dr. slump days are sprinkled thought the first two chapters, but where this manga really picks up is during chapters 4-8 known as nekko majin z which is a dragon ball z parody written by the creator itself, and its highly enjoyable while adding more characters into the overall dragon ball z lore.  in chapter 4 Neko majin is fighting a local celebrity while he is distributed by  kuriza who is the son of freeza to a fight kuriza goes into his final form while neko powers up before the fight begins neko majin becomes self aware there no more pages left to cover the fight in the manga so they give up and walk away.  I thought this was very cheeky and a enjoyable read small subtle humor toriyama was known for before the dbz days nothing outlandishly funny or complex but tongue and cheek and enjoyable for what it is. Like I stated earlier neko is essentially a caricature of majin buu and when theres two meet I find it hilarious, I love how this manga is self aware of what it is a parody.  When buu finally meets neko he makes fun of his squinty eyes for neko to point out they look the same and act the same and challenges neko to a fight which buu destroys him.  Like I said theres nothing complex about this manga and its fairly basic with not much outlandish humor but its a call back to the style toriyama was known for before z and its refreshing.  Is it a masterpiece no but its only 8 chapters and its a entertaining read and anyone who is a fan of older toriyama or even dragon ball z for the parody of it should at least check it out and give it a once over read.