Dragon Ball, the magnum opus of Akira Toriyama, has been going strong since 1984. The series has been entertaining fans and inspiring manga creators for almost 40 years. However, it was not the first creation of Toriyama. Before working on Dragon Ball, Toriyama released a science fiction manga series called Dr. Slump.
The story of Dr. Slump is set around Penguin Village, and it follows the adventures of Arale Norimaki, a little robot girl, and her creator, Senbei Norimaki. The story is a sci-fi-based manga with comedic and humorous elements in it. Dr. Slump marked the beginning of Toriyama’s career and was one of the best manga series of that time.
In an interview, Toriyama explained how he learned from the mistakes he made in Dr. Slump and used them to improve Dragon Ball in such a way that it became one of the biggest anime and manga series in the world. He talked about how he changed the structure and the tempo of the story to make it more appealing to the audience.
Akira Toriyama Explains What He Changed Between Dr. Slump and Dragon Ball
One of Toriyama’s oldest interviews was shared in Telepal Tokyo Edition 1986, Volume 3, and was later posted by Rumic World. During the interview, Toriyama discussed the process of change he had to go through after he shifted his focus from Dr. Slump to Dragon Ball. He also explained all the changes he had made.
Toriyama stated:
“For one thing, I wanted to change tempos and structures so as to draw a clear line between the old and new series. For example, I drew Dr. Slump in an American-like style and am writing Dragon Ball in a Chinese-like style. It would be difficult to draw manga if you don’t change your stories.”
According to Toriyama, he wanted to make the difference between both stories clear to the fans. This is why he decided to completely change the tempo and the structure of Dragon Ball, so fans have no confusion whatsoever. While Dr. Slump adapted an American style, Dragon Ball was more of a Chinese style.
Akira Toriyama Got More Serious While Creating Dragon Ball
Akira Toriyama also explained that with Dragon Ball, he decided to be more serious and focus on the story rather than playing around like Dr. Slump. He revealed that he reduced the fun and playful elements of the manga and understood the importance of the storyline for Dragon Ball.
Toriyama explained:
“I made it a rule not to play around this time. I reduced play-things as much as possible. When I wrote Dr. Slump, I really played with my stories. For instance, I myself appeared in the manga…(laughs). But this time the story is important.”
Toriyama’s decision to change the structure and focus more on the story for Dragon Ball resulted in the series becoming a major hit in the Shonen genre. So much so that, according to Fortune, the manga has sold over 260 million copies, making Dragon Ball one of the biggest manga and anime franchises of all time.
You can read the Dragon Ball manga on Viz Media.
