The terms anime and Dragon Ball almost go hand in hand. Akira Toriyama created what fans consider the pinnacle of shōnen anime of this generation. This contributed massively to anime’s influence globally. However, fans must have wondered once in their life how Dragon Ball came to be.
Akira Toriyama needed a little pat on the back from his editor and a tiny sprinkle of his love for Jackie Chan movies to create his iconic Dragon Ball. He published a follow-up to his comedic series in 1984 titled Dragon Boy. Even though Akira Toriyama leaned more towards a lighthearted plot, he wanted to try something new and thrilling.
How did Akira Toriyama come up with the idea of Dragon Ball?
Akira Toriyama chatted a lot during Daizenshuu 2. He opened up about several aspects of his story, including its origin. He also expressed his admiration for Jackie Chan movies and how it influenced him to create Dragon Ball. Kazenshuu translated his entire chat as the Mangaka said,
“I had just ended Dr. Slump, and for the time being I was thinking about what I should do for my next serialized work. I had many meetings with my editor at the time, Torishima-san. As it happened, at that time I loved Jacky Chan’s movies and had seen Drunken Master dozens of times.”
“Since I liked that sort of thing, Torishima-san advised me to try and make a kung-fu shōnen manga, so I drew a one-shot called Dragon Boy. That got an incredibly positive response from the readers, so I decided to go that route for my next serialized work.”
As the one shot was successful, the Mangaka decided to put effort into its serialization. The Mangaka wanted to embark on a new path that would have been different from Dr. Slump and its Western vibrance.
Other than Jackie Chan’s Drunken Master, what inspired Akira Toriyama for Dragon Ball?
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Akira Toriyama obviously didn’t get his entire inspiration for Dragon Ball from a movie. Mangaka shared in the interview that he drew ideas from a classic novel to build the world and atmosphere for the series. He continued in the interview,
“Since Dr. Slump had been in a Western scenery, I decided to change that impression and make my new work have a Chinese scenery. And if I was going to give it a Chinese feel, I thought I would make the story based on Journey to the West. Journey to the West, after all, is absurd and has adventurous elements, so I guess I decided to make a slightly modernized Journey to the West. I thought it would be easy if that story served as the basis since all I would have to do would be to arrange things.”
For the world-building of Dragon Ball, Chinese culture was crucial. Journey to the West, along with Jackie Chan’s movie, inspired him to tone the plot of his series. A striking similarity between Dragon Ball and Journey to the West is the protagonist’s weakness, being their tail. Akira Toriyama put a lot of thought into his series, and his passion for Dragon Ball was prominent in his work.
Source: Kazenshuu
