Akira Toriyama Regretted Not Taking Dragon Ball too Seriously When it Started Out and that he “should have done his work more properly”
Modern-day affinity for anime would not have existed without pioneer mangakas like Akira Toriyama. While Dragon Ball has been around for quite some time now, Toriyama’s work continues to inspire other mangakas to create battle shonen series.
While new-age fans are familiar with the latest releases like My Hero Academia, Demon Slayer, and Jujutsu Kaisen, these wouldn’t have been possible without the existence of the legendary series behind them. Dragon Ball‘s legacy continues to shape the anime world even today.
However, Toriyama revealed that he had not been serious about his work in his interview with Kanzenshu in 2008 and it seems there are more secrets to be unveiled about this legendary mangaka.
Akira Toriyama Reveals He Was Not Serious About His Work
Kanzenshuu, a Dragon Ball news & information database and community, released an interview titled “The World’s Best Round-Table Discussion” where Akira Toriyama, Takao Koyama, and Masako Nozawa discuss Toriyama’s best work.
When the interviewer turned to Toriyama towards the end of their interview session, he asked the mangaka his views about himself to which he replied:
I always think this whenever the subject turns to that, but I myself was doing it without taking it too seriously. So for things to have gotten so big, I’m kind of bemused by the whole thing. Like for Goku’s tail, I wasn’t thinking any more than, “he’s quite the wild child, so he still has a tail”, so to the readers, I can’t say any more than, “I’m sorry for it being such an arbitrary manga”. (laughs)
So like that, I don’t really have much memory of drawing it at the time, and it kind of has the feeling of, “Did I draw this?” I also feel at times, “Maybe I should have done my work more properly”. (laughs)
Koyama responded by saying that if Toriyama had done everything so calculatedly, Dragon Ball wouldn’t have been such a hit. Meanwhile, Nozawa said that he felt like Dragon Ball was a series that didn’t have a conclusion.
Akira Toriyama Felt That Manga And Anime Are Somehow Connected
When the interviewer asked Toriyama whether he put in any requests when Dragon Ball was made into an anime, Toriyama said that was not the case at all. According to him, anime had its own way of doing things and it was best left to the professionals. He continued:
Manga and anime are separate things, but I suppose it’s best when you get the feeling that “they’re connected somehow”. At the start of serialization, I didn’t even know if I’d be able to please the readers, so I wasn’t even thinking about it being made into an anime.
Koyama added that Japanese animation gave its dreams to children around the world, and among them, Dragon Ball stood at the forefront. Koyama said:
I really feel a certain happiness at that. Having been able to share this treasure of a work in the same era, both the fans and I are happy.
Nozawa made his own feelings known as well by saying that it was a treasure for him too, and in his opinion, children would be able to watch Dragon Ball even 100 years later. Nozawa’s words weren’t in vain since even today fans around the world are dedicated to the Dragon Ball series.
You can stream and watch the anime Dragon Ball on Crunchyroll.
