The late Mangaka Akira Toriyama sensei may have left this world unexpectedly in the most devastating turn of events, but the work he blessed the world with continues to leave an indelible mark on fans from around the globe. This is why just imagining that a mastermind like him had a lazy reason behind something sounds like a lie.
However, as unbelievable as it may seem, it is only true. As it turns out, the genius brains who gave birth to the global sensation Goku and his Dragon Ball world had the most incredibly lazy reasoning as to why the saga’s protagonist turns blonde every time he goes Super Saiyan — one that could make even his most hardcore fans go, ‘Whaaaaaaat?!’
The Real Reason Why Akira Toriyama Made Goku Go Blonde in Super Saiyan Mode
Since Son Goku (also Kakarot) normally sported a spiky black hairstyle on his stunningly sharp features, quite a few fans were curious why he turned blonde after transforming into his Super Saiyan mode.
Well, this one is for those fans, though the answer they are about to get might not stand up to their expectations.
In an interview with Kanzenshuu, Toriyama sensei shared the reason behind the same. He said:
“I always have only a single person, Assistant-kun, helping me with my work. That Assistant-kun’s time was always taken up doing the black fill of Goku’s hair, so the biggest reason was in order to save time. Because when he became a Super Saiyan, we wouldn’t have to do the black fill.”
We know your reaction right now just may be ‘What?! For real?!’ Well, as surprising as it may seem, it is only true. And as unbelievable as it may be, the reason is all too understandable.
Allow us to give you an insight: While working on mangas that are serialized in the Weekly Shōnen Jump, mangakas usually require assistants to help them out with the extra stuff like the background and finishing touches.
And since creating all those chapters within the deadline is something that puts quite a lot of burden on the creator, they usually need more than one assistant to aid them in their work and meet the deadline.
But as Akira Toriyama sensei shared, he had only one assistant. This is why he simply chose the best option that could both save time and effort while still giving the best outcome. Yet, that isn’t all there is to this story, for there is one more reason behind this decision of the mangaka.
Akira Toriyama Wanted to Kill “2 birds with 1 stone” With This Decision
As it turns out, saving time for his assistant to do other things wasn’t the only reason behind this decision. Here’s what the second reason was, in the late legend’s own words:
“It also had the effect of making it easy to tell from his appearance that Goku had gotten stronger, so it killed two birds with one stone.”
Thus, thanks to this brilliance thinking of his, not only was Toriyama sensei able to meet the deadlines with his fan-favorite manga but was also able to transform Kakarot’s story into a true masterpiece that would continue to spawn multiple sequels!
You can read Dragon Ball manga on the Viz app or website.
