The late Mangaka Akira Toriyama is renowned for giving birth to one of the most iconic phenomena in the manga industry; the Dragon Ball saga. For one that first originated nearly four decades ago in 1984, this series continues to win fans’ hearts like never before even in the modern day and age. In fact, it became popular enough to garner multiple anime and live-action projects as well.
But while he played a major hand in the fan-favorite manga series’ creation in the first place, Toriyama sensei had little to no involvement when the manga series was headed to its first anime adaptation. That said, he pretty much had no idea how his series would come to life in animation despite being the main mastermind behind the sole existence of the masterpiece universe!
Akira Toriyama Didn’t Know How Dragon Ball Would Look in Anime
When the Dragon Ball manga was initially slated for its anime adaptation, Toriyama sensei had little to no idea how it would end up transforming into animation. In fact, even when the anime created by Toei Animation aired on television, he tried to watch it as a viewer instead of as the creator.
As he once shared during an interview with Kanzenshuu after sharing how he watches the series “while eating dinner and such, and with my children”:
“I do, actually [watch the anime as a viewer]. But at the very least, even while eating dinner, I still think to myself things like, “So that’s how they did this scene,” so I suppose it really is a bit different from being an ordinary viewer.”
Needless to say, this sounds unbelievable for someone who actually gave birth to the DB universe in the first place. But that isn’t all: Akira Toriyama sensei didn’t even have any specific demands for the anime series, except one!
According to what he continued to share in the interview, the late Mangaka “didn’t say anything specific” at first because he was “not the type to open my mouth much about these things.” But seeing it air for real had him feeling that one thematic change was needed in the anime.
This change was to make the series feel more like a fairy tale. As he himself shared:
“I felt that DB should feel a bit more like a fairy tale, so I did mention that bit,” he said before adding, “Basically, I leave things to [Toei], and only say a little tiny bit when I absolutely have to.”
Well, it seems like those moments didn’t come very often, considering how Toriyama sensei even claimed that the anime series somewhat influenced the original manga series as well!
Dragon Ball Anime Even Influenced the Original Work!
During this interview with Kanzenshuu, Akira Toriyama sensei also expressed that the anime series, illustrated by the animation supervisor Toyo’o Ashida, even went on to influence the original manga series. He said:
“In talking to and seeing illustrations from the animation supervisor Toyo’o Ashida-san, whom I’d worked with once, I thought, ‘sharp lines really work well for expressing fighting.’”
He then explained how, before coming to this realization, he “always blended colors together.” Then, when he realized the impact of keeping the colors separate the way it is in animation, he started using that approach.
Further elaborating how dividing up the colors properly “should have the same effect as blending them,” Toriyama sensei then credited the animation supervisor as he said:
“Not only that, but I was able to achieve a sharp look with cleanly separated colors suitable for a boys’ magazine, and coloring illustrations became easier. So I was influenced both by Ashida-san and the anime.”
Looking at the masterpiece manga and anime series, all the changes and updates in both of them make only more sense now. No wonder the Dragon Ball universe is a true piece of masterwork, with one adaptation brilliantly influenced by the other!
You can stream the Dragon Ball anime series on Crunchyroll.
