Akira Toriyama, the creator of Dragon Ball, spent most of his life perfecting his masterpiece. The series started with Dragon Ball and is still going on with multiple variations, like Dragon Ball Super and the upcoming Dragon Ball Daima. He not only worked on the manga and the anime series but also contributed to the games that were developed around his magnum opus.
While he did work on many other projects, none of them became as successful as Dragon Ball. Also, Dragon Ball is the longest series, with many sequels and spin-offs created primarily by the mangaka. However, in 2008, Toriyama decided that he no longer wanted to draw another long series like Dragon Ball.
He believed that Dragon Ball would be his last big series, and he might no longer be able to satisfy his fans anymore with another manga. He even discussed his plans for the future and how he would like to spend the rest of his life after completing Dragon Ball.
Akira Toriyama Believed He Would Not Be Able To Satisfy His Fans
In 2008, Toriyama and his editor, Kazuhiko Torishima, interviewed for a German magazine called Tokyopop. This interview was translated and shared by The Dao of Dragon Ball after his passing. During the interview, Toriyama was asked whether he would like to create another series after Dragon Ball.
Toriyama stated:
“I don’t necessarily want to draw a long series again. But sometimes I feel like drawing a shorter title. However, I am aware that what I want to draw and what readers want no longer match in taste. So, I’m not sure if I can bring joy to the readers.”
According to Akira Toriyama, he believed that he would no longer be able to satisfy his fans with his writing because they have different likenesses. What he wanted to draw and what the readers wanted were totally different, which is why he thought that it wouldn’t bring him any success and also disappoint his fans.
Akira Toriyama Did Not Want To Work At All After Dragon Ball
During the interview, Toriyama was asked about his plans for the future and how he would like to spend the rest of his life. Toriyama stated at that time that he was busy with character designs for multiple games. He has worked on games like Dragon Quest, Blue Dragon, and some Dragon Ball games as well.
Toriyama explained:
“Because I’m still very busy with work like game character designs, my wish for the future is to not work at all, and to build models until I don’t like them anymore.”
Toriyama’s wish for the future was to stop working and enjoy his life while building models. However, the saga of Dragon Ball continued long after he discussed his future plans.
Toriyama then worked on Dragon Ball Super, which is still going on. Even before his death, he was working on Dragon Ball Daima, which is scheduled to release in the fall of 2024, to mark the 40th anniversary of Toriyama’s Dragon Ball franchise.
