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Akira Toriyama's Journey: How Dragon Ball Was Born

SmugStick

88K views 5 years ago

Warm-up Questions

What do you already know about how Dragon Ball was created?
Why do you think a creator’s “journey” matters when we talk about a famous series?
What kinds of influences (movies, books, travel) do you expect to hear about in this video?

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Akira Toriyama's Journey: How Dragon Ball Was Born

From Dr. Slump to testing new ideas (00:00 – 02:27)

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1. Why did Toriyama need to come up with something new while ending Dr. Slump?

He was told he could end it only if he had a new series to serialize within a short time.
His editor demanded he change the main character’s design immediately.
He wanted to start animating his work instead of drawing manga.
Readers voted to cancel the series unless he created a sequel.

2. What kind of films strongly influenced Toriyama’s thinking at this time?

Science-fiction films
Romantic comedies
Horror films
Martial arts films (especially Jackie Chan)

3. What was Dragon Boy, according to the video?

A movie that Toriyama directed
A character name that later became Bulma
A long-running series that replaced Dr. Slump
A oneshot that received a very positive reader response

Akira Toriyama's Journey: How Dragon Ball Was Born

Journey to the West influence and drafting Dragon Ball (02:27 – 06:08)

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1. Why did Toriyama want a setting different from Dr. Slump?

He wanted the story to operate in a very different world—an “opposite” of Dr. Slump.
He wanted to avoid all humor and make a horror manga.
He wanted to reuse the exact same setting to save time.
He wanted to make the story take place only in outer space.

2. What was a key criticism of the early draft where the main character was a literal monkey?

It included no action scenes at all.
It had too many chapters and was too long to publish.
It had too many modern city elements and not enough fantasy.
Readers wouldn’t have a strong emotional connection or be able to relate to the protagonist.

3. Why did Toriyama give Goku a tail?

To match the editor’s demand for a “sexier” design
To show he could transform into a dragon
To connect him to Jackie Chan films
To give him a distinguishing characteristic that made him recognizable

Akira Toriyama's Journey: How Dragon Ball Was Born

Publication, Kamehameha, and Dragon Ball’s later legacy (06:08 – 09:11)

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1. When did Dragon Ball first begin publication in Weekly Shonen Jump, according to the video?

1984, issue 51
1983, issue 51
1995, issue 25
1986, issue 26

2. Where did the name “Kamehameha” come from?

King Kamehameha of Hawaii
A character in Journey to the West
A famous Japanese martial arts school
A mountain in China

3. What did the disappointment with the live-action film lead Toriyama to do?

Rewrite the original manga from chapter 1
Become more involved in the series again, including helping rework Battle of Gods
Move Dragon Ball permanently to video games only
Quit manga completely

Akira Toriyama's Journey: How Dragon Ball Was Born

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1. What does the video suggest was a major driver behind Dragon Ball’s creation?

Toriyama’s desire to copy Journey to the West exactly
A collaboration with film directors in Hollywood
A plan to make an anime before writing any manga
A mix of editorial pressure, personal interests, and testing ideas through oneshots

2. How did Toriyama’s approach change from Dr. Slump to Dragon Ball?

From short, self-contained chapters to a continuous serialized story with more focus on story
From weekly publication to yearly publication
From hand-drawn art to computer animation
From action to purely slice-of-life comedy

3. Why does the video mention multiple earlier works (like Dragon Boy and other oneshots)?

To show they were direct sequels to Dragon Ball
To compare sales numbers between competing magazines
To explain how Toriyama experimented with concepts that later carried over into Dragon Ball
To prove Dragon Ball was originally written by someone else

Discussion Questions

Discuss the ideas from this video

Akira Toriyama's Journey: How Dragon Ball Was Born

How important do you think an editor’s influence is on a creator’s work? Can it improve creativity, or does it limit it?
The video shows Toriyama “testing the waters” with oneshots. If you were creating a new project, what small test would you do first?
Do you think using a classic story (like Journey to the West) as a structure is more like copying or more like inspiration? Why?
What makes a main character easy to relate to, and why might that matter for a long-running series?