Summary

• Toriyama's editor pushed for a Bulma/Goku romance early on, but Toriyama ultimately resisted the idea.
• Fans likely wouldn't have responded well to a romance between Goku and Bulma due to their character dynamics.
• A Goku/Bulma pairing would have altered the Dragon Ball series significantly, affecting characters like Trunks and Vegeta.

Bulma and Goku are two of the oldest and most important characters in Dragon Ball, dating back to the first chapters of the manga. As friends, they've been through an awful lot together, but was romance between the two ever in the cards? At least one figure associated with Dragon Ball's production thought so, and it could've changed everything.

When Bulma and Goku first meet, there's a relatively sizeable age gap between them--Bulma is already a teenager, while Goku is still a child. That would be enough for most people to discount the idea of romance between the two, especially given how sheltered and naive Goku is when Bulma first finds him. Most would say that Bulma and Goku have more of a sibling-like relationship, occasionally tormenting one another while largely being ive and aiming for the same goals.

Toriyama's first editor, Kazuhiko Torishima, apparently felt quite differently about the matter, however.

Toriyama's Editor Wanted a Goku/Bulma Romance

Torishima Was Always in Favor of Romance

While Akira Toriyama himself certainly wasn't a fan of the pairing, his editor Torishima apparently was. In a bonus page following chapter 200 of Toriyama's other manga, Dr. Slump, which features a wedding, Toriyama says that "My editor, Mr. T, loves love and romance, which is a problem." He then lists several pairings from Dr. Slump, attributing their existence to Torishima, before ending, "This is a secret, but in the other manga I'm writing now, Dragon Ball, Mr. T wants Son Goku and Bulma to fall in love. Oh, great."

Had Torishima been a pushier editor, he certainly could've forced Toriyama to have a Goku/Bulma romance if he really wanted, especially in the early chapters of Dragon Ball before the series found its popularity. While the pairing does have its fans even to this day, it's fair to say that most Dragon Ball fans aren't here for romance, and likely would've responded quite negatively to the idea of Goku and Bulma together. Goku as a character, particularly as a child, just really isn't cut out for a romance plot--hence why his courtship with Chi Chi is almost entirely her doing, and their early married life happens off-screen.

Since Toriyama went so far as to publish his feelings on the matter, it's apparent that he fought back against the pairing, and must've ultimately won that battle since it never happened. Had Goku and Bulma gotten together, it would've had a massive impact on the rest of the series; Trunks may never have existed as a character, for example, and Vegeta's relationship with Bulma was a big part of the softening of his character over time. Depending on exactly when Toriyama had this conflict over Goku and Bulma, it may even have led directly to the creation of Yamcha as a love interest for Bulma.

Being in a relationship has never been a big part of Goku's character, and that seems like something that wouldn't have changed, even if he had ended up with Bulma. Goku and Bulma getting together would certainly be a strange choice, looking back now, and it would've undoubtedly altered Dragon Ball forever.