As Bulma has been one of the central characters of Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball since the very beginning, she has grown just as much as Goku has — potentially even more so. It’s as much Bulma’s journey as it is Goku’s, and one of the fan-favorite aspects of each new arc of the series is seeing just what Bulma’s outfit will be for that string of episodes. While Goku and Vegeta have grown in power and changed their looks that way, Bulma has gone for a more direct approach and often reinvents herself with every major event in the franchise thus far. This means that some of the looks are gone forever once she moves on.
Videos by ComicBook.com
But thanks to artists like @magui.sunshine (who you can find on Instagram here), one of Bulma’s more popular early looks has found new life through cosplay. Thanks to this new take on Bulma’s brief Playboy Bunny outfit, fans are reminiscing all over again about that short time before the action really picked up.
View this post on Instagram
Although the bunny cosplay has popped up sporadically over the course of the franchise, its most prominent usage was during the early days of Dragon Ball. Bulma was forced to wear this outfit when she and Goku had to hide out in Oolong’s house and he had no other clean clothes. It makes sense for Oolong, whose perversions made for some of the most memorable early gags in the series. But like Oolong, the bunny version of Bulma didn’t stay in the spotlight for too long.
Akira Toriyama continued to emphasize the sex appeal of his characters over the course of the franchise, but this definitely changed as it shifted to a more battle-oriented series. There are still a few bits here and there, especially when it comes to Bulma, but it’s a far cry from moments and outfits like this. It’s why it’s so nostalgic seeing this look live on through fans!
The Japanese-language and English dub releases of Dragon Ball Super are now complete and available to stream with FunimationNOW and Crunchyroll. Viz Media is releasing new chapters of the manga at a monthly rate that can be read entirely for free through the Shonen Jump digital library, and Dragon Ball Super‘s big movie, Dragon Ball Super: Broly, is now available on Blu-ray and DVD. Fans in Japan are also able to enjoy fresh non-canon adventures from the franchises with new episodes of Super Dragon Ball Heroes‘ promotional anime series.