A manga is a complicated artwork that requires the attention of more than one individual to make it precise and entertaining. This was proved by Dragon Ball’s first editor, Kazuhiko Torishima, who helped Akira Toriyama build a narrative so vast and interesting that it is still considered one of the best manga series of all time.
Torishima and Toriyama’s relationship as manga creator and editor is quite famous within the manga industry. Both of them were filled with so many ideas that they clashed, which often resulted in the two arguing with each other. However, this never stopped them from working on Dragon Ball and creating every chapter with absolute perfection.
While Dragon Ball fans know about Toriyama and Torishima’s contribution to the series, what many people don’t know is that when Dragon Ball started, Torishima did not like the series at all. Thus he decided to change the entire trajectory of the narrative early on, which ultimately helped in making the series better, and the rest is history.
Dragon Ball is Not a Life Lesson
The Dragon Ball editor once sat in an interview with Hiroshi Matsuyama, the CEO of CyberConnect2 which was translated by The Dao of Dragon Ball. In the interview, Torishima talked about how Dragon Ball was not popular when it started. He revealed that initially, the series earned some fame, but after that, the editor felt that the story was going downhill. This led to Torishima doing research and finding Fist of the North Star.
After reading Fist of the North Star, the Dragon Ball editor came to the conclusion that they needed to make the series without substance as it was a comic, and the most important role of a comic is to be entertaining.
Torishima stated:
No, there’s nothing you can learn by reading Dragon Ball. It’s not a lesson in life; it’s useless in our lives; it’s just a funny comic. And that’s fine!
According to Torishima, Fist of the North Star had a preachy narrative that he found interesting at first, and even children find it to be cool, but it does not add any value to the life of the reader other than entertaining them.
Torishima’s decision to remove the substance and add more humor to the story worked wonders, and Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball took off. He came to the understanding that Dragon Ball does not need to be complex and structured.
Fist of the North Star Helped Kazuhiko Torishima Change Dragon Ball
Kazuhiko Torishima realized early on that Dragon Ball needs to be funny and entertaining rather than preachy and organized. Thus he talked this out with Toriyama, and the two finally decided to change the entire trajectory of the series.
Torishima stated:
That’s another answer that came from studying and researching Fist of the North Star, because children don’t want to be preached to when they read comics, so we had to make it more interesting at the time. I decided to go a different way in Dragon Ball, because Fist of the North Star was so cool, that I figured since it couldn’t be useful for our lives, let’s just make it fun.
If Dragon Ball had continued on the same path, it would have never been as popular and inspiring as it is today.
Torishima felt that Dragon Ball would have a repetitive plot that would just revolve around the search for Dragon Balls, as seen in the first few arcs. Thus the complete change helped the series a lot, and it’s all thanks to Torishima.
You can watch Dragon Ball on Crunchyroll.
