Articles and Lists

Akira Toriyama's latest interview reveals his full role in Daima

dragon ball creator Akira Toriyama played a major role in creating Toei Animation's upcoming series, Dragon Ball Daima. However, in one of his final interviews, the late manga artist discussed how their close involvement came about purely by accident.

This interview was published by the Tokyo Anime Award Festival 2024, a celebration of the country’s most influential anime and manga artists. Before Toriyama’s death, the festival organizers selected him as one of the winners in the “Contribution to the Animation Industry” category. Unfortunately, the event took place about a week after Toriyama’s death. As a gesture of commemoration, the organizers created an exhibition dedicated to the creator’s work. In addition, they also published Toriyama’s comments on receiving the prestigious honor, which included a surprising revelation about Always.

Goku de Dragon Ball Daima parece irritado com o logotipo oficial da franquia atrás

Toei Animation has released a new visual for Dragon Ball Daima – much to the anger of many fans who now believe the studio doesn't value the property enough.

Dragon Ball creator didn't originally plan to get involved in Daima

X user (ex-Twitter) @SupaChronicles shared this revelation with his followers. “Dragon Ball Daima, which will premiere in 2024, was originally planned to be an original anime series without me, but as I gave advice here and there, I ended up getting deeply involved in the project without realizing it. I was not only involved in the overall plot, but also in the worldview, character design, mecha, and other aspects,” Toriyama stated. We Are Explorers (or @kamisamaexp) shared a translated version of Toriyama’s full statement, which is also included below.

Toei Animation has similarly stated that Akira Toriyama directly shaped the creation of Daima.

Dragon Ball Daima is one of several projects created to celebrate the franchise's 40th anniversary. The anime is a somewhat radical departure from the previous ones dragon ball properties, as it features a plot where Goku, Vegeta, Bulma, and their allies are transformed into children. The gang must then embark on an adventure to find the culprit and return to their adult form. So far, only a few short international trailers have been released, causing some to be confused. Alwaysthe apparent lack of active promotion from Toei Animation. However, Toei had previously assured fans that Toriyama was "involved with the series like never before", as he not only wrote the script but also created the series' updated character designs.

Gohan e Goku de Dragon Ball andam no nimbo ao lado de suas versões de figuras.

Those attending San Diego Comic-Con this summer will have the chance to get their hands on three impressive figures of characters from SH Figuarts' Dragon Ball collection.

Akira Toriyama only developed an interest in Toei's anime adaptations in his later years.

During his lifetime, Akira Toriyama was actively involved in the creation of dragon ball manga, even after retiring from illustrating and passing that role on to Dragon Ball Super artist Toyotarou. Despite this, he only developed an interest in Toei's anime adaptations about a decade before his death. "To be honest, I've never had much interest in anime, not even in the past. Even when my works have been adapted into anime, I'm embarrassed to admit that I don't like them... about ten years ago, I was asked to revise the script for a dragon ball anime film and at the same time I ended up drawing the characters' backgrounds and doing some simple drawings. It was amazing to discover that this kind of work can be rewarding and fun.”

Toriyama's hard work and dedication ensured that dragon ball will live on well after his death. Earlier this year, Toei Animation confirmed that Dragon Ball Daima was still scheduled for its original release window in fall 2024. While the Dragon Ball Super the manga went on hiatus after the publication of Chapter 103, V-jump recently announced that the series would eventually resume serialization. In the meantime, to help fans, Toyotarou has released a new piece of dragon ball art showing Gohan's impressive beast form.

Akira Toriyama dragon ball The manga series is available in English from VIZ Media. The various anime and film adaptations of the series are available to stream on Hulu and Crunchyroll.