Over the years, countless myths have formed around Dragon Ball. Rumors like creator Akira Toriyama planning to end the series with the Cell Saga, or Gohan being forced into a smaller role because Japanese fans didn’t like him have run rampant through the community for decades, whether they have any truth to them or not.
One of the most popular is the belief that Akira Toriyama never did any planning while drawing Dragon Ball. Unlike most other manga artists, who plan and even storyboard several arcs ahead, if not the entire story, fans have always believed that Toriyama did as he pleased week-to-week without much thought about what was next.
However, one quote from an interview 30 years ago disproves that long-standing myth.
Akira Toriyama Planned More of Dragon Ball Than Fans Thought
The Series’ Creator Felt He “Overdid” Planning Dragon Ball’s Second Half
Akira Toriyama was often critical of himself in interviews. Despite being responsible for arguably the most iconic anime and manga franchise in history, he wasn’t ever too keen on talking himself up, and would often downplay his writing prowess by claiming he crafted Dragon Ball ‘by the seat of his pants’.
However, in a guide book for the Dragon Ball Z anime, Toriyama revealed that he enjoyed thinking up the story more than he did drawing it. He said:
“For me, having drawn the manga by the seat of my pants, to have it called a ‘story’ is only embarrassing… Ah, but to speak frankly, the second half of the story was difficult because I somewhat overdid thinking it up. Though I did a good job continuing it like that… I think.”
Not only did Akira Toriyama plan ahead throughout his series, but even felt he overdid it in the most popular sections of Dragon Ball. However, that doesn’t mean the series was written in a conventional way.
There Will Never Be Another Dragon Ball
Manga Artists No Longer Write Stories Like Dragon Ball
Akira Toriyama might have planned future events and plot lines while writing Dragon Ball, but not to the extent manga artists do today. The biggest and most important event in the series happened rather suddenly, when he decided fighting was too difficult to draw, and chose to age Goku up to an adult without waiting for approval from editors.
The blonde of Dragon Ball‘s Super Saiyan transformation came about on a whim, when Toriyama wanted to make life easier for his assistant and told them not to waste any time inking Goku’s hair. He might have planned ahead, but some of the series’ most important developments came about without much thought.
There will never be another Dragon Ball, and some of that has to do with the fact that manga artists no longer craft stories the way Akira Toriyama did.
- Created by
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Akira Toriyama
- First Episode Air Date
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April 26, 1989
From the creative mind of Akira Toriyama, Dragon Ball is a mega multimedia franchise that spans back to the 1980s. Dragon Ball expanded quickly, starting as a serialized manga for Weekly Shonen Jump in Japan. It made its way overseas via manga and an anime adaptation that is enjoyed worldwide. Dragon Ball was the initial starting animated series that followed the adventures of the young Son Goku as he sought after the Dragon Balls. These mystical orbs would grant the wish of any who gathered them together. Then, the series would branch off into the immensely popular Dragon Ball Z, which followed Goku as an adult and featured high-intensity battles and Goku’s never-ending search to be the strongest. The series has also enjoyed several popular video game adaptations and continues to release several new animated series and theatrical films up to the recent popular Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero.
