“I’m still in limbo” No one could have worked under these conditions, but it allowed the author of Dragon Ball to create the best moments of the manga

News culture “I’m still in limbo” No one could have worked under these conditions, but it allowed the author of Dragon Ball to create the best moments of the manga

On March 1st, Akira Toriyama passed away. Since then, Dragon Ball and Dragon Quest fans have been mourning. To console themselves, they dig up old interviews with the author to understand where his genius came from, which conquered entire generations. During one of his interviews, some discovered the mangaka’s way of working, which is, to say the least… original!

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“Even I am still in uncertainty!”

Like most manga, Dragon Ball was published weekly, one chapter per week. With such a long work pace, most manga artists create a plan in advance to define the contours and twists of the story arc they are telling. But this is not the case with Akira Toriyama. The author of Dragon Ball, known for being a great but also brilliant slacker, planned his chapters week by week and postponed the idea of ​​planning the sequel until the next day. A dangerous way of working, as the artist himself recognizes.

For example, during the Boo saga, Akira Toriyama introduced the Potaras, earrings that were originally intended as simple decorations. But as the plot progresses and the author wanted to establish the concept of fusion, he uses this element to make it a reality, even though it was not planned from the beginningIn an interview found in the Daizenshuu 6 databook, he explains:

Even I am still in uncertainty. In the previous chapter I already wrote: “Something incredible is going to happen,” so I tell myself: “I have no choice but to do something incredible.” It is very painful.

A flexible way of working… but painful!

So, The mangaka himself recognizes that this way of working is not optimal. On the other hand, the latter provided great moments in the manga, especially during the Cell saga. Originally, Akira Toriyama wanted the antagonists to be C-19 and C-20. However, his editor did not agree with the idea, as an old man and a chubby character did not scare him. Upset, Akira Toriyama decided to take the completely opposite approach by introducing C-17 and C-18, young, handsome androids, to achieve the exact opposite of what he had done before.

To continue his momentum, he finally introduces Cell, the true antagonist of this story arc. But since Toriyama’s editor initially found the character ugly, he introduced the transformation system from the takeover of the previous cyborgs. Ultimately, All these twists were possible because Akira Toriyama had no clear plan from the beginning. Once again, it is indeed his legendary laziness that gives rise to his genius.