Few series within the realm of manga and anime have reached the heights of Dragon Ball in terms of popularity and cultural significance. Still, behind its epic battles, intense training arcs, and universe-spanning adventures lies a surprisingly very simple and heartwarming origin story.
Refreshingly simple, it just had to please the Japanese boys, more precisely, Akira Toriyama’s own child self. Having no designs or plot overarching it, Toriyama began his creative journey just like that, which later took the world by storm with thousands of fans across the globe.
Akira Toriyama Did Not Care About Fame At All While Making Dragon Ball
In an interview in 2013, Akira Toriyama had a very interesting statement to make about Dragon Ball. He indicated that most of the time, fans read more into his series than he intended. However, it is exactly because of the ease of his stories that has made them dear to so many different age groups of people.
I believe the mission of my manga is to be entertainment exclusively. I even feel that as long as I can allow [the reader] to have an enjoyable time once, I don’t mind if nothing remains, so I’ve never deliberately drawn it with the intention of sending a message.
Messages and moving scenes are things that other manga artists already draw […] I honestly have no idea why this is. During the serialization, I just kept drawing with the sole purpose of making Japanese boys happy.
Unlike many other masterpieces, Dragon Ball was initially conceived for children, yet the charm extends far beyond youth to offer new discoveries with each generation. Significantly, in the creative process, he was never controlled by the intention of becoming popular. On the contrary, it was guided by a passion for storytelling to make the young generation happy and enthralled.
Toriyama Had No Intention Of Making Dragon Ball Inspirational or Emotional
Akira Toriyama had taken a very simple approach to the Dragon Ball creation. He wanted to tell a story that would engage all audiences, not especially children, and he never intended to make it profound or inspiring.
Interestingly, his theme is derived from a traditional Chinese novel entitled “Journey to the West”, written in 1590, telling of four great heroes, one of whom is the legendary Monkey King Sun Wukong, who embark on perilous travels to seek sacred scriptures and enlightenment. This simplistic-sounding backdrop thus formed the rich narrative tradition on which Toriyama had based his Shonen manga.
Akira Toriyama’s creative genius works through the “less is better” approach: which enables him to create both iconic characters and captivating plotlines while avoiding getting too caught up in complicated details. It was in his ability to tell insightful stories that he could introduce very dear characters instantly, and hence he didn’t need any elaborate backstories and development.
The same is the case with Dragon Ball plots, which progressed with a singular focus on the sense of wonder. It is in this that Toriyama’s villains, one-dimensional but magnificently powerful, began to pay off. Their flatness actually added to the impact.
By reducing all of the quintessence from classic storytelling into this jubilant, action-filled synthesis, Toriyama succeeded in piecing together a coming-of-age journey that rose above the need for complexity, securing Dragon Ball‘s place as a timeless masterpiece.
You can watch the Dragon Ball series on Crunchyroll.
