Akira Toriyama is the dream idol for almost every mangaka out there. The author spent decades creating the most awesome arcs for Dragon Ball readers. While fans were getting impressed by Super Saiyan, the battle against Vegeta and villains like Majin Boo, Akira Toriyama’s editor was barely impressed till the advent of one arc.
The arc in question is the Future Trunks Saga, which made its debut in the Dragon Ball Super manga. Toyotarou began praising the arc in an interview with Akira Toriyama, and it might help you see the arc in a different light altogether.
Dragon Ball Editor was Shocked at Akira Toriyama’s Original Draft
In the interview, Toyotarou admitted that he was shocked when he read the original draft for the Future Trunks Arc. Toyotarou claims it was the stark contrast of Zamasu with other Gods that made the arc stand out.
I had thought of gods as being absolutely good, so having one of them turn evil raised the tension. The sense of tension flowing from the story from that point onward was incredible.
According to the editor, it is hard to make things tense in a story like Dragon Ball. However, Akira Toriyama had the perfect setting to create tension in the arc, and it was to introduce an alternate reality where the Dragon Balls don’t exist. Thus, any dead person remains dead with no way of being revived.
Add to the fact that the villain’s true identity was hidden for the longest time, it added a sense of thrill and unknown to the story. Additionally, Zamasu’s personality was also never seen before and a slightly morally gray character was introduced.
The villains of Dragon Ball are typically absolutely evil, so there’s nothing wrong with defeating them, but Zamasu was a slightly more complicated case of “warped justice”.
The Future Trunks Saga involved a plot that crossed the thresholds of time and space. It shows how every tiny decision affects the world. The arc involved battles with Goku, Future Zamasu and even involved some of the Gods of Destruction.
Akira Toriyama Explains His Perception of the Future Trunks Saga
Akira Toriyama agrees with Toyotarou regarding Zamasu having a complicated nature. The mangaka explained that Zamashu is good at his core, just like Shin. However, the character was too fastidious for his own good and it backfired terribly.
The author also admitted something disturbing about the arc:
If this was back when I was drawing the manga myself then I doubt if I could have done it.
For the Future Trunks Saga, Toriyama had to depict the inner conflict between Zamasu and Trunks. But depicting such heavy emotions on manga panels is extremely draining, thus Akira Toriyama was relieved that he had assistants to help him out while he simply worked on the plot. This became a positive reinforcement for Toriyama since he claims he can’t depict the psychology of characters.
You can read Dragon Ball on Viz Media and watch the anime on Crunchyroll.
