Goku has been facing enemies stronger than himself since the inception of Dragon Ball. After mastering the basics, he won the World Martial Arts Tournament, and it felt like an end to Goku’s adventures. But with the advent of Dragon Ball Z, Akira Toriyama introduced a whole new genre of villains.
It was since Dragon Ball Z that Goku faced the most difficult challenges including Frieza, Majin Buu, Cell, and others. In an interview, the mangaka opened up about the escalation of enemies and how they helped boost Goku’s popularity.
The Inception of Frieza in Dragon Ball Z
In the interview, Akira Toriyama admitted that after Dragon Ball ended, Goku was suddenly the strongest man on Earth with no prospect of growth. In order to retain the manga’s pace, Goku had to face stronger villains. Thus it was time for villains from outside the Earth to visit and shake up the atmosphere.
This is the time around which Frieza was created. Goku had already beat up the Saiyans who had visited, so it was high time that Goku and Co. ventured outside the Earth. Akira Toriyama was thus struck with an idea to create the worst villain of them all.
I came up with Frieza around the time of the Bubble, and the land shark was the worst person of all. So I made him the #1 land shark in the universe.
Here, Toriyama is referring to Japan’s economic bubble that lasted from 1986 to 1990 when people kept buying real estate to sell it for a better price. Real estate prices soared but in 1990 everything crumbled and Japan’s economic depression began. Frieza was created towards the end of the bubble era. The character made its debut in October 1989 when everyone was tired of land sharks.
Frieza’s business of attacking planets for the purpose of selling them was seen as a despicable occupation especially since the bubble was about to burst in Japan. This was a move designed to throw Goku back in the spotlight.
Akira Toriyama Discusses the Origin of Ginyu Special Squad
Goku did battle against the most superior villains ever since Dragon Ball Z, but only introducing one super-villain after another was no fun for the author. Thus, he pulled out the Ginyu Special Squad. The Squad comprises of a group of five elite mercenaries who are employed by Frieza. Their posing and color scheme strongly resembles Super Sentai teams like Power Rangers.
Sentai is the genre of programs in which costumed superheroes battle monsters. Toei Animation, which is in charge of Dragon Ball, is also a Sentai expert. Sentai heroes are color-coded and Akira Toriyama tried his best to parody them via the Ginyu Force.
My son really loved sentai stuff, and I always watched it with him. Well, I brought that in. It’s put out by Toei, same as the Dragon Ball Z anime.
Turns out that Akira Toriyama’s son was to be thanked for the introduction of the Ginyu Force. The sentai parody in Dragon Ball Z was indeed a fun watch; reminiscent of all the Power Rangers programs you are bound to have binged on.
You can read Dragon Ball Z on Viz Media and watch the anime on Crunchyroll.
