Akira Toriyama is among those famous names that come to mind as world-famous manga artists. Dragon Ball was one of the most popular shōnen series created to date, which was first serialized in “Weekly Shonen Jump” in 1984. The series sold a massive 260 million copies worldwide. Even after decades since its release, this series remains wildly popular all over the world.
Akira Toriyama has made quite a huge name for himself in the industry. However, the man isn’t a big fan of the spotlight and mostly tries to ignore interviews any chance he gets. However, this incredibly talented mangaka was once really close to giving up on everything and leaving his career as an artist even before it started. The reason behind him considering this decision was rather absurd.
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Why was Mangaka of Dragon Ball, Akira Toriyama, almost quit his career?
Akira Toriyama, creator of the popular shōnen series Dragon Ball, was once awfully close to abandoning his career as a manga artist. He only began illustrating because he was in need of some quick cash. He was determined to quit the entire ordeal once he got paid.
However, the only reason that made Toriyama stay was the fact that he was getting rejected from several places. Because of his stubborn nature and high pride, he didn’t quit after his initial phase of failure. Thanks to this decision, anime fans were able to experience one of the best shōnem series ever created.
How did Akira Toriyama start his career as a manga artist?
Akira Toriyama started his career as a manga artist out of sheer necessity rather than anything else. He was in quite a constrained financial state after leaving his job at the design company. Upon hearing about a “new manga artist” contest, which was giving a prize of 100,000 yen, he decided to try his skills in this field.
He wasn’t able to bag the prize; however, this failure fueled his ambition to become an even better artist. Adamant and young, Toriyama decided to continue drawing until he made that prize his.
After three years of consistent hard work, Toriyama got his first serialization with Dr. Slump. His work became a cultural phenomenon in Japan as the phrases of the protagonist, Arale, could be seen coming into regular conversational use. At the age of 23, Toriyama started his career as a Mangaka. His popularity just kept climbing from that point onwards, and he acquired a massive manga fandom in a matter of years!
Source: CBR
