How Akira Toriyama Changed The World
Mother's Basement・34 minutes read
Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama's martial arts masterpiece has left a lasting impact on popular culture, influencing manga, anime, and video games globally. Despite pacing and plot issues, Dragon Ball's art style, character designs, and layouts have set a high standard in the industry, shaping modern sports, battle, and adventure manga while inspiring creators like Oda and Kishimoto.
Insights
- Akira Toriyama's diverse contributions to manga, video games, and art styles have had a profound and lasting impact on popular culture, transcending traditional boundaries and influencing creators globally.
- Dragon Ball's global success and Toriyama's innovative approach to character design, storytelling, and cultural fusion have solidified his legacy as a pioneering figure in the anime and manga industry, shaping the conventions of martial arts adventure storytelling and inspiring a new generation of creators.
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Recent questions
What is Dragon Ball's impact on popular culture?
Dragon Ball has left a lasting impact on popular culture for decades, influencing not just comics and animation but also video games and international diplomacy.
How did Akira Toriyama redefine manga?
Akira Toriyama redefined manga by creating Dragon Ball, a martial arts masterpiece that showcased bold, expressive characters, clean shapes, and high contrast layouts for readability.
What is the recommended manga beyond The Promised Neverland anime?
The Promised Neverland manga is highly recommended for its depth beyond the anime adaptation, featuring a striking art style that captivates readers.
What influenced Akira Toriyama's manga design?
Akira Toriyama's manga design was influenced by his upbringing, diverse interests, and early career in graphic design, shaping his unique approach to creating iconic characters and layouts.
How did Dragon Ball influence the anime and manga industry?
Dragon Ball's global success and impact on the anime and manga industry have inspired countless creators, popularized tropes like tournament arcs, and shaped the conventions of martial arts adventure storytelling, showcasing its lasting legacy.
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Summary
00:00
Toriyama's Dragon Ball: Martial Arts Masterpiece
- Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball is a martial arts masterpiece that has left a lasting impact on popular culture for decades.
- Toriyama was already a successful manga artist with Dr. Slump before creating Dragon Ball, redefining gag manga.
- Toriyama also contributed to the invention of the JRPG genre with Dragon Quest shortly after launching Dragon Ball.
- His work extended to video games, including supervising an open-world adaptation of his manga Sandland.
- Toriyama's influence transcends comics, animation, video games, and even international diplomacy.
- The Promised Neverland manga, with its striking art style, is highly recommended for its depth beyond the anime adaptation.
- Toriyama's art style is easily imitable yet uniquely marketable, influencing numerous artists globally.
- His manga design focused on bold, expressive characters, clean shapes, and high contrast layouts for readability.
- Toriyama's upbringing, diverse interests, and early career in graphic design shaped his unique approach to manga.
- His early works like Wonder Island and Dr. Slump showcased his evolving style and comedic genius, setting the stage for his iconic creations like Dragon Ball.
17:35
Toriyama's Dragon Ball: A Lasting Legacy
- Dr. SBE's favorite brand of dirty magazine is Playboy, officially endorsed by the Japanese publisher Shua, with the editor Tori Shima being a fan of Playboy.
- The appearance of a Playboy bunny suit in an early gag about the Penguin Village Middle School gentleman's club likely led to the drawing of Bulma in a bunny suit, sparking a trend of bunny suit hentai.
- Dr. Slump's art style features distinctive proportions, known as chibi or super deformed art, which is now ubiquitous in anime and manga, often used for comedic effect.
- Toriyama's creation of chibies in Dr. Slump potentially influenced the style's popularity, although its exact origins are debated, with Toriyama being a significant figure in its mainstream success.
- Dr. Slump's immense popularity in Japan, surpassing even The Simpsons in audience share, led to Toriyama continuing the series despite initial plans to move on to new projects.
- Toriyama and Torishima worked on developing Dragon Ball in their spare time, creating a story about a martial arts hero who triumphs over the world, leading to the iconic Dragon Ball series.
- Dragon Ball's global success and impact on the anime and manga industry, influencing creators like Oda and Kishimoto, and popularizing tropes like tournament arcs, showcase its lasting legacy.
- Toriyama's depiction of gods and the afterlife in Dragon Ball blends aspects of various world religions and his quirky humor, creating a unique cultural fusion that appeals to a wide audience.
- Dragon Ball's influence on the Shonen genre, inspiring countless manga and anime series, and shaping the conventions of martial arts adventure storytelling, remains significant.
- Despite some pacing and plot issues, Dragon Ball's art style, character designs, and layouts set a high standard in the industry, influencing modern sports, battle, and adventure manga.
35:30
Evolution of Dragon Ball in Gaming
- Street Fighter 2 and similar games aimed to bring anime and kung fu action to life, with Dragon Ball fitting perfectly into this genre across various console generations.
- The Budokai series on PS2 stood out for its balanced combat system and rich single-player content, offering a comprehensive experience for fighting game enthusiasts.
- Spike Chunsoft developed Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi, the first anime Arena fighter, allowing players to recreate iconic anime fights with multiple versions of Goku available.
- The game prioritized lore accuracy over competitive viability, setting a trend for future anime Arena fighters, although some recent titles have faced criticism for being unfinished.
- Dragon Ball FighterZ by Arc System Works stands out as a visually stunning 2D fighter, replicating the anime's look and feel with impressive animation techniques.
- Akira Toriyama's continued involvement in Dragon Ball's evolution, including Dragon Ball Super Broly and the success of Dragon Ball movies, has had a significant impact on the anime industry, inspiring wider releases of Shonen films in the US.
