When the Dragon Ball franchise came out with the news that the new phase of the series, Dragon Ball Super, would be illustrated by Akira Toriyama’s prodigy, Toyotarou, fans were a little confused. While Toyotarou’s work gained some appreciation in his initial days, fans were not sure whether he would be able to do justice to the story.
However, he somehow managed to replicate Toriyama’s imagination for Dragon Ball Super in the manga and create one of the most successful Dragon Ball series after Dragon Ball Z. But it was not an easy task for him, as he once revealed in an interview. The Dragon Ball illustrator confessed that Toriyama’s vision for Dragon Ball Super was too complicated.
Toyotarou even pointed out that he never completely understood the way he looked at things, and there is a lot for him to learn from the legendary manga creator who paved a path for other manga creators by globalizing the anime and manga industries.
Toyotarou Had a Lot to Learn from Akira Toriyama
During the 2016 New York Comic Con, Toyotarou was interviewed by Anime News Network, where he talked about his privilege to work with his idol on one of his projects. While talking about the working relationship, Toyotarou explained how Toriyama guided him by giving him suggestions about his artwork.
Toyotarou stated:
Every month, I’ll create a storyboard for him to review, and then he’ll give me input and suggest changes. When I’m working with Toriyama, there are many portions he gives me props for coming up with, but he is very particular about other things and always points them out for me to correct.
He further pointed out:
And when he corrects me, I think ‘Wow, I guess I don’t completely understand the way he looks at things,’ so his corrections and feedback are incredibly accurate and helpful. It’s a lot of fun to be able to get closer to his way of thinking.
According to the manga artist, Toriyama was very particular about some things in the story and always gave him pointers to make corrections to these things. He also pointed out that he had a complicated way of looking at things, and working with him helped him get closer to his way of thinking and understand his perception of the story.
Akira Toriyama’s Vision for Dragon Ball
Talking about Akira Toriyama’s mindset towards his magnum opus, Toyotarou revealed that the mangaka was not too concerned about the story but was more focused on the comedic element of the narrative. He was very particular about it and loved the humorous scenes from the story.
Toyotarou explained:
First of all, to be honest, I’m surprised that he’s okay with someone like me carrying on his work! The other thing…I thought Toriyama would be more particular about the story, but he’s actually more particular about the gags and the comedic moments! I can tell that he really loves those parts.
Toyotarou’s journey has been commendable, as the manga artist was the biggest Dragon Ball fan and now he is following in the footsteps of Toriyama and taking his legacy further.
He was surprised that Toriyama was okay with him carrying his work, and after looking at the overall reception of Dragon Ball Super, the manga artist might have been the best replacement for Toriyama.
You can watch the Dragon Ball series on Crunchyroll.
