Characters like Aizen (Bleach), Eren (Attack on Titan), and Johan (Monster) have taken the lead among unsettling anime characters. Their personalities have such a jarring difference with their appearance and demeanor, that it’s very hard to accept them. But this trend was not always present in the anime/manga world, and in a way was popularized by Akira Toriyama.
Now you might ask what relation any of these anime have with Akira Toriyama, but remember that Toriyama is one of the living legends of the manga/anime world. The steps taken by him in his series, later became more widely accepted, due to Dragon Ball‘s popularity.
Akira Toriyama’s Specific Rules for Character Creation in Dragon Ball
In an interview, Akira Toriyama, the author of Dragon Ball, was asked if he follows any specific rules for drawing characters. The author replied with a few techniques that he uses as well as the things he doesn’t like in his series.
Akira Toriyama surprisingly revealed that he mostly follows old-school rules for character creation. He does not like creating characters whose appearance does not match with their personalities. He also doesn’t like making his antagonists too evil. The ultimate goal of Toriyama is to create a good manga for readers rather than leave an unpleasing aftertaste.
Like when drawing bad guys, I won’t make them so devious and underhanded that it leaves a bad taste in the reader’s mouth afterwards.
Akira Toriyama’s character creation process includes beginning with their personalities and then deciding on their face before finally arriving at their body and clothes. He likes to give his characters a distinguishing trait, which would make them stand out more easily, which is especially needed in action anime/manga.
Dragon Ball‘s Frieza Opened the Pathway for New Age Characters
Akira Toriyama admitted that he does not like underhanded characters. He does so more out of his personal hatred rather than to appease his readers. And Toriyama’s characters have always worked out, thus historically his mantra has worked well. But the most popular villain of Dragon Ball breaks through the stereotype.
The author admitted that Frieza was a pretty underhanded villain. He was a mass murderer, in fact, the reason behind the near extinction of the Saiyans. Yet, he held back his psychotic nature with a smile and was calm even in the toughest spots.
Toriyama also admitted that most of the villains in his story as well as in other mangas talked pretty rudely, which is a pre-requisite for a villain. However, Frieza was the complete opposite of this. The mangaka paid a lot of attention while trying to regulate Frieza‘s speech and he gave the villain the gift of polite speech. The difference between his calm demeanor and his bloodlust makes Frieza a disturbing villain.
Of course, there is a plethora of characters now whose character designs are completely at odds with their personalities. But it was not as common of a practice back in Toriyama’s time and in a way the Dragon Ball author could have influenced the rise of such characters.
You can read Dragon Ball on Viz Media and watch the anime on Crunchyroll.
