How "Dragon Ball" Stood Out Among Action-Oriented Manga

Akira Toriyama took the fights to the next level.

---

*Disclaimer: Some images shown in this newsletter can be graphic.*

My debut graphic novel series, Monkey King and the World of Myths, is inspired by the Chinese mythological novel Journey to the West.

How can I not talk about Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball, which is also inspired by Journey to the West, and one of my favorite manga series growing up?

Before becoming famous with Dragon Ball, Toriyama was already well known with Dr. Slump, a humorous manga series about the daily life of a robotic girl and her outrageously hilarious friends. Toriyama was only 25 when he created Dr. Slump. 25!!!

Let’s talk about Toriyama’s art style.

Toriyama came from a design background, and his strong sense of design shines through in his artwork. In an age where most manga creators relied heavily on screentones, Toriyama’s mostly black-and-white design palette stood out. Of course, one would have to be extremely knowledgeable in design to execute so beautifully. The result might look simple, but it is extremely difficult to pull off.

The keep-it-simple-and-clean line work will always be one of my favorite things about Toriyama’s work.

He is a big fan of Jackie Chan’s movies. It’s incredible how Toriyama “translated” martial art moves into his work. His fighting scenes differed drastically from other battle-centric comics at the time.

In “Fist of the North Star”, illustrator Tetsuo Hara chose to feature the power in the punches. It’s like watching the MMA.

Fighting scenes in Masami Kurumada’s “Saint Seiya” also emphasized on each punch and each kick. To me, the most fun part of this heavily Greek mythology-inspired series was not in the fighting, but in the adventurous seeking of the various protector armors.

In contrast, Akira Toriyama’s “Dragon Ball” focused heavily on the fights. The characters flipped, bounced, spring back, leaped… The movements were much more dynamic and fun to read.

Toriyama was not the first manga creator to make comics with a focus on fighting, but he surely took it to the next level. The generation that succeeded Toriyama are all heavily influenced by Toriyama’s work: Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece, Tite Kubo’s Bleach, and Massahi Kishimoto’s Naruto.

“Forget all the tricks and shortcuts. Get a hold of basic drawing skills. Learn what makes sense to you, and follow your inspiration.” ~Akira Toriyama, via a Weekly Shonen Jump Magazine interview.

Needless to say, I’m a big fan of Akira Toriyama.

✲✲*(❁´▽`❁)*✲✲

Trivia: Did you know Akira Toriyama had drawn his editor into the Dr. Slump series?

I heard Kazukhiko Torishima has released a book this summer. In the book, he shared his experience as a manga editor, his thoughts on what makes a comic series successful, and his reflection on the manga industry as a whole. I really hope this book gets translated, and we could all learn from his experience!

***

Do you like Dragon Ball? What are your favorite battles in this long series? Is there a particular character you love? I look forward to hearing your thoughts in the comments section.