by Unexpected circumstances where manga artist Akira Toriyama was born
Speaking of manga artist Akira Toriyama, he is a well-known blockbuster maker. “Dragon Ball” (after this referred to as “DB”), which was serialized in “Weekly Shonen Jump” in 1984, has recorded an astonishing number of copies of more than 260 million copies worldwide, and 26 years have passed since the end of the serialization. Has enthusiastic fans all over the world.
As a designer, Mr. Toriyama worked on the character design of the “Dragon Quest” series. Without “Toriyama Chara,” the “Dragon Quest” series would not have been a big game so far, and it determined the world view. In this article, I will introduce the legend of Akira Toriyama, a superhuman.
Overwhelming drawing power that God also praises
Speaking of the charm of Toriyama’s work, first of all, the goodness of the painting can be mentioned. Its drawing power is evaluated to be outstanding even from the eyes of professionals. It is said that Professor Osamu Tezuka, who is called “the god of manga,” also said, “I’m afraid of Akira Toriyama,” and even called him “my successor.”
Because I was such a teacher, I wondered if I had been drawing manga steadily since I was a kid, but I was surprised that I first drew manga when I was 23 years old. Moreover, although he read manga when he was a kid, he was far away from junior high school to adulthood. After graduating from high school, Mr. Toriyama, who wanted to be an illustrator rather than a manga artist, worked for a design company. So, where did that overwhelming drawing power come from?
Kazuhiko Torishima, the legendary manga editor in “Weekly Shonen Jump,” analyzes that “because I am learning basic painting from design drawings instead of manga, I have an excellent sense of balance.” increase. It seems that his experience, which was not just a manga story, plays a role in his drawing ability.
“Manga artist Akira Toriyama” was created by lack of money.
Mr. Toriyama became a manga artist because of a lack of money. When he quit the design company and had no income, he happened to find out about the recruitment of new manga artists for “Weekly Shonen Magazine” and started drawing his first story manga with a prize of 500,000. Unfortunately, I couldn’t meet the deadline for the work that I drew. “I wonder if the manga is like this” based on my memory when I was little, but I was soliciting manga every week with a prize of 100,000 yen because I drew it. Apply for “Weekly Shonen Jump.” After all, I was rejected at that time, but it seems that it was the beginning of the manga artist Akira Toriyama that I decided to draw until I won the prize.
Approximately three years after that, “Dr. The serialization of “Slump” has started. It was also animated and became a social phenomenon, such as the popularity of “Arale” such as “Ncha!” And “Baicha!”. Although it was a slow starter, the speed to become a famous writer was Mach’s momentum.
By the way, the early “Dr. The unique use of colors found in “Slump” color paintings also boosted the popularity of Toriyama’s work, but in reality, it was an invention due to lack of money. He couldn’t afford many ink colors, so he bought a cheap felt-tip pen in a 24-color set and painted it with water-dissolved liquid.
An unexpected situation broke out with “Dragon Ball” that became too big.
“Dragon Ball” became so big that it could not be stopped without permission.
Although the serialization ended in 1995, the “DB,” which is still popular worldwide, was written by Dr. Toriyama. When I requested the end of the serialization of “Slump,” I was told that “If you start a new serialization in 3 months, you can stop it”, and it was created by the bullet train. It’s hard to believe now, but it wasn’t trendy at the beginning of the series, and even in the reader survey, it was ranked low.
However, when the story becomes more battle-oriented, the popularity rises sharply. When he won first place in the reader questionnaire in “Tenkaichi Budokai Hen,” he set a record that he would keep the top position until the end of the series. “DB” has become a monster-class work, expanding from manga to anime, games, and goods, and further expanding into the world to gain worldwide popularity. For that reason, even if Professor Toriyama wanted to finish the serialization, he couldn’t stop without permission. If the serialization ends suddenly, the stock prices of the companies engaged in related businesses will also be affected, which will be a problem for the Japanese economy. It seems that it was.
By the way, Mr. Toriyama seems to have drawn almost by himself, only by having his assistant come once a week. You can see how impressive “DB” is that if only one person stops his hand, it could shake the Japanese economy.
The “Dragon Quest” character was born by “Akira Toriyama, a boy”! ??
The “Dragon Quest” characters that Mr. Toriyama worked on as a designer has created a “Dragon Quest” world that is cute even if it is an enemy and is different from other games. Many monsters are completed based on the rough drawing given by game designer Yuji Horii, but the resulting characters were often completely different.
For example, a monster slime that symbolizes “Dragon Quest.” Rough has a so-called slime-like picture with a comment saying “a jelly-like muddy monster,” but the finished form was a familiar, drop-like cute slime. How can we create monsters that do not exist in this world in such a lively manner?
When Toriyama was a kid, he loved animal, bird, and fish pictorial books and read them until they were worn out. He said, “I was poor and couldn’t keep pets, so I drew the animals I wanted.” “I can’t draw the correct drawings, so I’m manga-like and cheating.” Various creatures input from the picture book by a young Toriyama boy may have been linked to the imagination and popped out as a “Dragon Quest” character as if opening a treasure chest.
Akira Toriyama will celebrate the 45th anniversary of his debut in 2023. I can’t help but look forward to what kind of Toriyama World we can have in the future.
