Naruto, one of the Big Three in the world of anime and manga, has clear inspiration from another legendary franchise. In fact, Masashi Kishimoto himself admitted that it was Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball that taught him some of the most important basics of creating a manga.
After all, Toriyama was a living legend during his reign and you can’t help but fall under his influence.
Masashi Kishimoto Learnt an Important Lesson from Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball
In an interview with Anime News Network, Masashi Kishimoto talked about his inspirations during his formative years as a mangaka. The author began reading Dragon Ball during his grade school days and was completely hooked on it.
What Dragon Ball taught me is what was fun about manga, what makes a fun story in manga.
Masashi Kishimoto read Dragon Ball back when it was still being released on a weekly basis in Weekly Shonen Jump. Continuously following the manga taught him what entertainment is.
While creating a beautiful story is comparatively easy, the toughest part is to hold the readers’ attention for a full week so that they are excited for the next chapter. Every chapter needs to end on the verge of a crucial development so readers remember to pick up the story again the next week.
Thus, Toriyama taught Kishimoto the most important lesson of them all:
It really taught me what entertainment is and how to keep an audience captivated—and of course the art influenced me as well.
The art style of Akira Toriyama is so iconic and adaptable that no doubt a lot of people were inspired by it. But it is indeed a surprise that even the creator of Naruto was inspired by it.
The Parallels Between Naruto and Dragon Ball
Naruto and Dragon Ball are two completely different stories. But since Masashi Kishimoto grew up reading Dragon Ball, the series has left a deep impression on him, which manifested in several Naruto scenes and tropes.
Naruto’s orange costume is definitely a reference to Goku’s orange clothes and both of them love gorging on food. Jiraiya, the perverted mentor of Naruto also has many similarities with Master Roshi. While Jiraiya is called the Toad Sage, Master Roshi is called the Turtle Hermit.
Sasuke and Vegeta, the rivals of the main protagonists had an evil streak in them at some point and went against Naruto and Goku. Both Goku and Naruto are naive characters who could be easily fooled.
There are also many other similarities that might reveal themselves if you nitpick. But at the end of the day, they are both Shonen series, that are bound to follow some certain guidelines. Still, Kishimoto being inspired by Dragon Ball is pretty apparent and is a fun reference to Akira Toriyama’s legendary work.
You can read Naruto and Dragon Ball on Viz Media and watch the anime on Crunchyroll.
