The message that Dragon Ball conveyed when Oolong made the series' first wish to Shenron was so effective that it should have been the last time that any of the franchise's heroes summoned the eternal dragon.
Ever since that first wish, the Dragon Balls have unfortunately served as an almost lazy cop-out to undo controversial creative decisions like character deaths and replace them with safe alternative outcomes. Other times they have been used to avoid loopholes like in the film Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero by allowing Piccolo to ostensibly stand on his own without Goku and Vegeta, or to provide more tension like when Dragon Ball Super's Granolah and Gas wished to become the strongest warrior in the universe.
But before all that, Dragon Ball chapter 23 by mangaka Akira Toriyama actually made the first wish represent so much more than just a helpful plot device. It was a fable. Up until that point, Bulma had been gathering the Dragon Balls to wish for a super-cute boyfriend and Yamcha planned on stealing them so he could wish to no longer be afraid of girls. However, Emperor Pilaf later stole the Dragon Balls to become the ruler of the world and then Oolong hijacked his Dragon Ball wish to ask for something wholly inappropriate. As a result, neither Bulma nor Yamcha got to make their wish to Shenron.
Bulma and Yamcha Never Needed the Dragon Balls
But serendipitously, Bulma and Yamcha still got what they always wanted. Yamcha summons the courage to be around Bulma without freaking out, which allows Bulma to finally get with Yamcha whom she had been pursuing ever since she first met him. As a result, this first section of Dragon Ball becomes about working to make your dreams come true instead of relying on outside aid. Bulma and Yamcha didn't need Shenron to get what they most desperately desired. That's an important message, especially in comparison to what the other Dragon Ball wishes represented in the many other chapters and spin-off series that would follow for decades.
Some might say that the series later nerfed this allegory when things didn't work out between Bulma and Yamcha. But that's not really the case. Bulma did eventually marry Vegeta who turned out to be the perfect boyfriend for her, and Yamcha did overcome his fear of girls. Regardless, it would be pretty odd if the only wish in Dragon Ball was just for a pair of underwear, however, it was what wasn't wished for in the first arc of Dragon Ball that really counts.
