Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama played a major role in the creation of Toei Animation's upcoming series, Dragon Ball Daima. However, in one of his last interviews, the late manga artist discussed how his close involvement came about purely by accident.
This interview was published by Tokyo Anime Award Festival 2024, a celebration of the country's most influential anime and manga artists. Prior to Toriyama's death, the festival's organizers had selected him as one of the winners in the "Contribution to the Animation Industry" category. Unfortunately, the event took place roughly one week after Toriyama's passing. As a commemorative gesture, the organizers created a dedicated display for the creator's work. Additionally, they also published Toriyama's comments about being awarded the prestigious honor, which included a surprising revelation about Daima.
Dragon Ball's Creator Didn't Originally Plan to Be Involved in Daima
X (formerly Twitter) user @SupaChronicles shared this revelation with their followers. "Dragon Ball Daima, which will be rolled out 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 with the project without realizing it. I was not only involved in the overall storyline, but also in the worldview, character design, mechas, and other aspects," Toriyama stated. We Are Explorers (or @kamisamaexp) shared a translated version of Toriyama's complete statement, which is also included below.
Toei Animation Has Likewise Stated Akira Toriyama Directly Shaped Daima's Creation
Dragon Ball Daima is one of several different projects designed to commemorate the franchise's 40th anniversary. The anime is a somewhat radical deviation from previous Dragon Ball properties, as it features a storyline 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 forms. Thus far, only a few short international trailers have been released, causing some to puzzle over Daima's apparent lack of active promotion by Toei Animation. However, Toei has 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.
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 the Dragon Ball manga, even after retiring from illustrating and passing on that role to Dragon Ball Super artist Toyotarou. Despite this, he only developed an interest in Toei's anime adaptations about a decade prior to his death. "To be honest, I've never had a great interest in anime, not even in the past. Even when my works have been adapted into anime format, I end up being embarrassed to admit that I don't like them...about ten years ago, I was invited to review the script for a Dragon Ball anime film and, at the same time, I ended up drawing the character's backgrounds and making some simple designs. It was amazing to discover that this kind of work could be rewarding and fun."
Toriyama's hard work and dedication have ensured that Dragon Ball will live on well after his death. Earlier this year, Toei Animation confirmed that Dragon Ball Daima was still slated for its original Fall 2024 release window. While the Dragon Ball Super manga was put on hiatus after the publication of Chapter 103, V-Jump recently announced that the series would eventually resume serialization. To tide fans over in the meantime, Toyotarou has released a fresh piece of Dragon Ball artwork showcasing Gohan's impressive Beast Form.
Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball manga series is available in English from VIZ Media. The series' various anime and film adaptations are available to stream on Hulu and Crunchyroll.
Source: X (formerly Twitter)
