Post by Summoner on May 31, 2020 15:34:02 GMT
(Original thread by SSJ)
Daizenshuu 1 Super Interview
When you compare the adventures and battles that Goku had over the course of ten years and six months to Akira Toriyama's experience drawing them, you could say that Toriyama had adventures and battles of his own. Just as Goku always continued to seek out strong rivals, Toriyama always continued to evolve.
Q: Since this volume is a collection of DragonBall illustrations, I thought that I'd center my questions on your pictures. Do you feel that you made any deliberate changes in your pictures between DragonBall and the earlier-serialized Dr. Slump?
A: Yeah, I don't really like to go for the same sort of pattern, so I change the pictures to suit the story. Because of this, even now if you tell me to draw with a Dr. Slump-esque touch, sure enough I can draw like that. I just use round lines.
When I got into the second half of DragonBall, I had already become more interested in thinking up the story then in drawing the pictures. Then I started to not place much emphasis on the pictures. The battles became intense, and I gradually came to switch to more simple lines.
At any rate, I despise doing the same thing. I'm fundamentally perverse that way. I got postcards from readers saying "Compared to the old days, it's really square now. It was better the way it used to be.", so I thought I'd go make it even more square. (laughs)
However, at the start I didn't really have much confidence in my battle scenes. I hadn't really drawn what you might call motion pictures before. That's because I started out in illustrations. It was really hard to do that first Tenkaichi Budoukai.
Q: It's rumored that you don't keep any reference materials at all in your studio, but when you first started drawing battle scenes, what did you have there to consult?
A: Yeah, what did I use? It's a pet peeve of mine when people look at other manga for hints. (laughs) However, stuff like movies that I watched a long time ago stay in my head, so maybe I used those.
Of course, I think that movies are the most useful. I've been ridiculously fond of movies since way back when.
Q: Do you watch them a lot even now?
A: I haven't gone to the movie theater since having children. I just do stuff like watch movies broadcast on television or rent whatever videos seem interesting. It doesn't matter what channel. I generally leave the television on while I'm working. Because of this, I can't watch anything with subtitles, since then I couldn't work. (laughs) I'm basically working, but I'll watch when I can tell by the music that an interesting scene is on. I focus on those movies that I want to see no matter what, but all the rest just flow by.
Q: Have any of those movies become a reference for DragonBall?
A: I didn't particularly consciously do that, not really. I mean, they're not useful at all as far as story goes. But they are good references for how to show something, explosions for example. It's not just a "bang", but like a flash of light followed by a "BOOOM!" sound.
Q: Speaking of which, it gets very intense during the battles.
A: That definitely comes from me referencing the rhythmic quality to the fights in Jackie Chan movies.
I use reference materials afterwards, when I'm drawing things like cars or airplanes. Plastic models are useful for this, because you can look at them from a variety of angles.
Q: I always thought it was amazing the way you draw cars and such in a deformed style.
A: Yeah, I do that because if you try and draw the car's design exactly correct, it takes a ridiculous amount of time. If you don't draw it accurately, it'll end up looking completely off somewhere. But if you draw it deformed, it's alright for a few things to be off. At any rate, I'll try anything that makes my work end sooner. (laughs) Well, my manga is a gag manga and the characters are all deformed humans anyway, so it'd be odd if everything else wasn't deformed as well.
Q: In addition to the real-world vehicles, many original vehicles appear in DragonBall.
A: It's the most fun to think up original mecha. (laughs) I draw them thinking about how you get into them and where the engine is located and whatnot.
Sure enough, when you draw cars and things that exist in the real word, you have to check reference materials every time you draw them. But with things that I thought up on my own, I don't have this problem, since you can't say anything. (laughs) Since I thought of it, I can just say that it's okay like this. (laughs)
Q: Next I'd like to ask you about color manuscripts: what do you use for coloring?
A: A color ink called "Ruma". A shoujo manga artist from a long time ago told me about it. Until then I had been using a water based color pen that came out squeakily and dissolved in water. This made covering a large area very tough. So when I used this color ink, it made me go "Ah, there's something this useful? Now I can get it wet and not squeak." (laughs)
Q: By the way, what is your favorite color?
A: I'd say green. Italian true green. Either that or yellow or orange.
Q: When you say yellow or orange, do you mean the color of Goku's dougi?
A: Yes. However, I didn't make his dougi that color because I liked it, but rather because it was the color of the dougi worn by Buddhist monks who trained in China. It was a color particular to China.
Q: When you're thinking of a new character, do you think them up from their model and personality? Or from a picture?
A: I think of the story and model, then I think of their personality, and finally I draw a picture of them. I guess that's the sort of stance I have.
After I came up with Cell's picture, I went "Damn it!" I thought that I was done with the manuscript, but I hadn't drawn those spots on his body yet (laughs); that happened a lot. That's the reason why there never were any characters that had screen tone, except for ones with very minor roles. It's not that I dislike screen tone, I want to use it. But it's difficult to use, so I can't. (laughs)
Q: Do you think of the color scheme for a character's clothes and body when drawing them in black and white?
A: Yeah, that's right, but I don't do it consciously. When I'm applying the color, I think "It was more or less this color". However, with people that I've already drawn in color before, I generally don't go back and check, so sometimes I end up using different colors than I did before. (laughs)
Q: In this book, you can see all the pictures in chronological order. Your particular touch and the way that you paint have changed over the years.
A: But I didn't really do this consciously. It basically changes without me knowing. But if I look at a tankoubon or something from a year back, I think "Ugh! This was done poorly."
Q: After a year?
A: Yeah. I think "Ah, I guess I've evolved a lot." (laughs) Even with pictures from a little while back, I still think it looks weird. For example, with even a manuscript from about half a year ago, I feel that the design is weird. With color manuscripts as well, after I've painted it I usually think "Ah, I messed up."
Q: Eh, really?
A: If there was time, I'd like to try and fix it, but there's never any time. (laughs)
Q: The way that you paint colors has also changed quite a bit.
A: Yeah. For example, in the old days I shaded off the light portions on hair, but shading it off took a lot of time. When I made an anime called Kosuke-same Rikimaru-sama (screened at the '89 Jump Anime Carnival, and later become a Jump Video), I looked at the pictures of the animator Toyoo Ashida, and I thought that the anime-style way of applying light and shadow wasn't bad. I made my pictures like that from then on.
The truth is, Mr. Ashida is someone that I've always respected.
Q: For color schemes, how do you decide what kind of style to do? Do you just paint various test versions or something?
A: I basically just color it once. I decide what color the largest area should be, and it feels like that determines the rest. With Goku or someone else whose colors are already determined, that determines the color of the background that's going to go with them.
Q: When you're drawing a single illustration, are you able to go all the way from sketching it out to painting the color on in mostly one sitting?
A: I usually do it in one sitting. When drawing I still put all my effort into it. I become extremely concentrated. I phase out all sounds completely.
Some time ago, I was drawing an exact illustration, and the lines were coming out all wavy. I thought "Ah, my hand is crazy, what's wrong with it?" Then the stand started to shake, and I went "What?! That was an earthquake!" (laughs)
Even if I lose sleep, I usually keep on working until I'm completely finished. I guess I just couldn't sleep if I left it halfway done. (laughs) It would just keep bugging me. I'd keep drawing in my dreams. When I woke up in the morning I'd go "Ah, I only dreamed that I finished it!" (laughs)
Q: Finally, out of ten years of DragonBall, which picture are you the most pleased with?
A: The one where Goku and Gohan are riding a thing that looks like a Harley with legs (page 88 � 140). This is the only one that you could say I'm pleased with.
Q: Only one piece over ten years?
A: Out of what I can remember, this is the only piece where both the color and the composition turned out well.
Q: Now that you mention it, I guess you could say you managed to skillfully freeze a moment of motion.
A: But I don't really think that's all that impressive. When I draw something, the incredibly annoying thing is that it doesn't come out like I pictured. I think this picture definitely has the composition that I imagined or the combination of colors that I imagined.
Because I'm fundamentally fastidious and fickle, I want to draw very differently. I don't lose interest, so I want to keep trying. That's why I always end up failing. (laughs) I'm able to not be pleased with it. But I reflect on what I've done, so I make progress. I'm always reflecting. (laughs)
Daizenshuu 2 Super Interview
Why did the story of DragonBall begin?
How was this fantastical story made?
The answers from Akira Toriyama are here.
You will know all about DragonBall's birth and development...
Q: Since this volume is a story guide, I thought that I'd ask you about things relating to DragonBall's story. First of all, why did you begin the story of DragonBall?
A: I had just ended "Dr. Slump", and for the time being I was thinking about what I should do for my next serialized work. I had many meetings with my editor at the time, Torishima-san. As it happened, at that time I loved Jacky Chan's movies and had seen "Drunken Master" dozens of times. Since I liked that sort of thing, Torishima-san advised me to try and make a kung-fu shounen manga, so I drew a one-shot called "Dragon Boy". That got an incredibly positive response from the readers, so I decided to go that route for my next serialized work.
Q: So from there you began to think of your new serialized work in earnest?
A: Since "Dr. Slump" had been in a Western scenery, I decided to change that impression and make my new work have a Chinese scenery. And if I was going to give it a Chinese feel, I thought I would make the story based on "Journey to the West". "Journey to the West" after all is absurd and has adventurous elements, so I guess I decided to make a slightly modernized "Journey to the West". I thought it would be easy if that story served as the basis, since all I would have to do would be to arrange things. (laughs)
Q: It seems that initially you were going to have Goku be an actual monkey. (see p.90)
A: Yeah, to have it be completely like "Journey to the West". This wasn't very innovative, so I decided to have the protagonist be a human, and made him an ordinary boy. But I wanted him to have some kind of distinguishing characteristic.
The protagonist in "Dragon Boy" had wings, so I wanted a distinguishing characteristic in that sense, where you could tell it was him just by looking. So I gave Goku a tail. So even if he was hidden behind a rock, if you could still see his tail you'd know that it was Goku.
From there I added the dragonballs, and if you gathered all seven your wish was granted. I thought that if the characters went searching for these, they could go through a journey like in "Journey to the West".
Q: And so when it was still new in serialization, before the Tenkaichi Budoukai began, the series had a considerable "Journey to the West" feeling to it.
A: Bulma was Tripitaka, Oolong was Zhu Bajie, and Yamcha was Sha Wujing. I initially thought that I'd end it after they finished collecting the dragonballs.
Q: And then the Tenkaichi Budoukai began. But why did you do that sort of a development?
A: Up until the Tenkaichi Budoukai began, the series hadn't been all that popular. That's what Torishima-san had told me. "Your protagonist is rather plain. That's why it's not popular." he said. Personally, since I was doing a fighting story for this series, I had intentionally made the protagonist's clothing excessively plain. So this annoyed me, but then I figured it out. "Well, let's increase its popularity" I thought. When I had designed Goku's character, the words that best represented him were "I want to become strong". So I thought I'd bring that to the front. Even during "Dr. Slump", the tournament-like events such as the Penguin Village Gran Prix or the Mini-Event had been amazingly popular. So I'd simply make the story into a tournament format. From there the Tenkaichi Budoukai was born. I temporarily withdrew the other characters besides Goku, brought back Kame-sennin, and added Kuririn as a new character. From there it got popular before I knew it.
Q: Still, unlike regular protagonists, Goku certainly didn't win the championship.
A: Yep. It took him until his third try to finally win. Everyone around me was saying "I'm sure Goku will win in the end." Even though I had wanted him to win, but since I'm perverse, when they said that to me I went "Like I'd let him win!" (laughs)
Q: The Tenkaichi Budoukai was the first turning point. And then the Red Ribbon Army appeared.
A: The Red Ribbon Army was the same as the Tenkaichi Budoukai, it just wasn't in a tournament format. At that time, there was a game for the Famicom called "Spartan X" which I often played. Strong enemies came at you real quick and you beat them up. It was even based on a kung-fu movie. Playing that showed me the visuals for a different scheme than the tournament. That's where Muscle Tower came from.
Q: And then at last Piccolo Daimao appeared.
A: With all the villains up to that point, there was always something likable about them. So Piccolo Daimao was born from me trying to create a truly bad guy. That period was the most interesting to draw.
Q: From there, the enemy characters rapidly began to escalate.
A: Having become the strongest on the Earth, Goku and co. had also beat the Saiyans who came from outside of Earth and then they went out into the universe. I came up with Freeza around the time of the Bubble, and the land shark was the worst person of all. So I made him the #1 land shark in the universe. But merely escalating the enemies was a pain, so I brought out the Ginyu Special-Squad. My son really loved sentai stuff, and I always watched it with him. Well, I brought that in. It's put out by Toei, same as the DragonBall Z anime. (laughs)
Q: The next to appear where the Artificial Humans and Cell.
A: Since they had become the strongest in even the universe, they next had to surpass time. So with that I did time-travel stuff, but it was really rough. Time paradox, is it? I quickly got bogged down.
I basically only thought of what I was doing for that week. Even I didn't know what was going to happen the next week. I'd draw the story like this, but I'd always discuss it with my editor to see what I should do for next week. (laughs)
Q: And then the Cell arc ended. Did you think that everyone felt you would put Gohan into the leading role?
A: I intended to put Gohan into the leading role. It didn't work out. I felt that compared to Goku, he was ultimately not suited for the part.
Q: Incidentally, who is your favorite character?
A: Yeah, I guess I like Piccolo the most after all. Out of all the enemies, Piccolo Daimao is the one I like most, and even after that I like Piccolo the most. I like Piccolo about the same as I like Goku. With Vegeta, well, I don't like him all that much, but he was extremely helpful to have around. For the recent stuff, it was fun drawing Satan. When I first brought him out, I didn't think that I would end up making Satan that important of a character. I thought he'd just be a one-shot character.
Satan is like that, but thinking up worthless gags is more enjoyable than doing the fight scenes. (laughs)
Q: That all really took off with Gotenks. There are legends that your editor Takeda-san would crack up each week when he saw the storyboards in the editing department. (laughs)
A: I suppose I am a gag-manga artist after all. (laughs)
But then after all, I'm always thinking of how there are a lot of guys on our side, but only one enemy. If you think about it, isn't it unfair? (laughs) They can just gang up on him. (laughs)
Q: So it's like Goku's line at the end of the battle with Majin Buu.
A: That's right. He said "You did well all on your own". I suppose that Goku's motive was that no matter what kind of enemy there was, he wanted to fight them one-on-one.
Daizenshuu 4 Super Interview
"After I decided on the setup and starting drawing it, I made the setting a world that wasn't really anywhere."
The world of DragonBall that Akira Toriyama created, where Goku, Vegeta, Bulma, Piccolo and the others were active, had a peculiar perspective on the world, the universe, life, and death. Akira Toriyama talks about the secrets of the DragonBall world, a world that readers can feel even a sense of nostalgia for.
Q: Since the fourth DragonBall daizenshuu is a world guide, I thought I'd focus my questions on discussing DragonBall's worldview. First off, the Earth that appears in DragonBall is considerably different from the real Earth.
A: Yeah, the manga that I've drawn up until now have all been worlds that aren't really anywhere, from the very first work that I drew. With Penguin Village as well, though it's said to be Earth, you don't know where it's located... Cashman (published in V-Jump) was in a slightly realistic world, but it had a sense of not being in any specific country.
Q: Why do you choose to set them in worlds that aren't really anywhere?
A: In the end, because it's easy. Basically with everything, I choose my criteria based on what can be easy. If I made the real world the setting, I'd have to draw looking at reference materials, for stuff like buildings and vehicles. When you do that, people complain even if it's just a little bit off.
Q: I'd think that normally, it'd be easier to draw if you had reference materials...
A: You think so? Aside from not having to look at reference materials, if I draw a story where I freely decide the background, then I guess I am setting it in a world that isn't anywhere.
Q: Do you not even look at reference materials for the scenery?
A: I basically don't look at them. Though at first, I looked at Chinese buildings and things like that. When serialization began, I wanted to completely change the image from what I had done up until then in "Dr. Slump". Since "Dr. Slump" had an American West Coast feel to it, this time around I wanted to completely change that and make it Oriental. At that time, my wife was interested in China, and I drew looking at the books of Chinese photographs that she bought.
Afterwards, with the Tenkaichi Budoukai grounds as well, I put a lot of effort into drawing it. Before serialization had begun, my family and assistants had gone to Bali. Papaya Island, where the Tenkaichi Budoukai is held, is completely modeled after Bali. I consulted the photos that they had taken on the trip a lot, and was able to think up the buildings and such. Because of that, it was incredibly difficult. (laughs) Because afterwards I had to draw the Tenkaichi Budoukai grounds countless times. At those times I had to consult reference materials. (laughs)
Q: Was there any scenery after that that you consulted reference materials for?
A: Ye~ah, though there weren't a lot after that... ah, that's right, the place that Babidi's spaceship was buried at, I consulted a book of photos on Africa for it. They were photos that gave a feeling of incredible wilderness, and I drew an arrangement of that. In the second half, the settings were full of wildernesses, so it was tough to draw them distinctively.
Q: Looking at them with that in mind, even though all of them could be called wildernesses, they each become different landscapes.
A: That's it. I tried to give them different scenery each time, by changing things like the shapes of the rocks or the mountains in the distance. I thought a lot in that area. I had to know how it would be different from the places before, because after all, having the same scenery is no good.
Q: Throughout the story, wildernesses where nobody lived appeared everywhere.
A: After all, it'd be rough if Goku and the others fought in the middle of a city. I'd have to draw the residents who lived in the city, and the buildings would get destroyed. That's why whenever they were about to fight, Goku and the others would want to go to some wilderness where nobody lived. (laughs) They'd just use Bukujutsu to take off, like it had been arranged ahead of time.
Now that you mention it, once Goku and his allies learned Bukujutsu and were able to fly, advancing the story became really easy.
Q: What do you mean?
A: Because everyone became able to just fly straight to anywhere. That's why thinking up the story's development became easy, and above all the story's progress became speedy. Even looking at it with the pictures in mind, I became able to show things from an angle looking down upon the scenery. That was also why I initially introduced Kinto-Un. Up until then, they had to bring out planes and automobiles and the like one by one, and it was really tiresome.
Q: I guess then Shunkan-ido would be the ultimate for that.
A: Yeah, that's right. He went to Kaio's planet and the new Planet Namek. After he became able to perform Shunkan-ido, the variations in Goku's fighting style also increased.
Q: I'd imagine that thinking up the battle scenes would be hard each time.
A: Yeah. With the battles as well, I couldn't have them do the same thing each time after all. It was already good at the beginning when Goku was tiny, but in the second half when the battles started to gradually escalate, I thought up more and more amazing techniques. That's why it was fun drawing Majin Buu and Gotenks' fight. I thought up strange techniques in the spirit of a gag manga. (laughs)
Q: How do you think up the names for the special attacks?
A: I actually don't really like to give names to the techniques. In a battle of life and death, there's no way you can say the name of each technique. You'd be done in while yelling the technique's name. (laughs) But my editor told me it was best to give the techniques names. My wife was the one who named the Kamehameha. I was fretting, saying "Kame-sennin's special attack should be something-or-another ha, something-or-another ha..." and she said "Wouldn't Kamehameha be good?". That was good, silly, and fitted Kame-sennin's mood perfectly.
For the names of the techniques apart from the Kamehameha, I thought them all up myself. I gave them names that seemed like that particular character would think of. So with someone like Vegeta, wouldn't he name his techniques in English? (laughs) Piccolo's techniques were tasteful with kanji.
Q: Speaking of Piccolo, did you think from the beginning of his background as a Namekian alien?
A: Of course, I didn't think that at all (laughs). The Saiyan were like that as well. When I thought up Goku's tail and the Oozaru, I didn't think Goku was an alien or anything. Piccolo either. Because I thought that up when Kami-sama came out.
Mostly afterwards, I thought it through so that it would be consistent. For example, there's the chair that Planet Namek's Saichourou sat in. That was mostly the same as the chair that Piccolo Daimao had sat in when he first appeared. It was just missing the skulls.
Q: I see! Come to think of it, it did have the same shape.
A: I thought since Piccolo Daimao surely still had some memories of when he was on Planet Namek, wouldn't he make that kind of chair? So I thought up the shapes of Planet Namek's buildings and spaceships using the design of Piccolo Daimao's chair. When they went to Planet Namek, I was told that you'd fail if you went into space in a shounen manga. So when thinking up the background for Planet Namek, I tried to make it precisely consistent.
Q: The afterlife was another place besides Earth that became the setting of the story, after Planet Namek. What kind of style did you think up the afterlife?
A: For Kami-sama's temple, I gave it a comparatively mysterious feeling, but on the other hand I thought it'd be good to have the afterlife be realistic. So Enma Daio and the oni all wore suits like salary-men. I think you can see this by looking at the world map in this book, but there's a thing called the airport to Heaven. The background on that is that the people who go to Heaven all have to go by plane. This complete map was originally background information that I drew at the request of the anime people, but I took this opportunity to add the Kaioshin World, which wasn't included in the complete map before, to make it perfect. In truth, this complete world map is something I made after I finished drawing the story, to make everything consistent. (laughs) With me, I think up the story in advance, then come up with the world's background information to be consistent with it. I guess that if I was a normal manga artist who did things properly, I'd think up the background information first and then come up with the story. Saying that, you'd think that I don't really think through anything. There's a vague image, even before I create the story. (laughs)
Daizenshuu 1 Super Interview
When you compare the adventures and battles that Goku had over the course of ten years and six months to Akira Toriyama's experience drawing them, you could say that Toriyama had adventures and battles of his own. Just as Goku always continued to seek out strong rivals, Toriyama always continued to evolve.
Q: Since this volume is a collection of DragonBall illustrations, I thought that I'd center my questions on your pictures. Do you feel that you made any deliberate changes in your pictures between DragonBall and the earlier-serialized Dr. Slump?
A: Yeah, I don't really like to go for the same sort of pattern, so I change the pictures to suit the story. Because of this, even now if you tell me to draw with a Dr. Slump-esque touch, sure enough I can draw like that. I just use round lines.
When I got into the second half of DragonBall, I had already become more interested in thinking up the story then in drawing the pictures. Then I started to not place much emphasis on the pictures. The battles became intense, and I gradually came to switch to more simple lines.
At any rate, I despise doing the same thing. I'm fundamentally perverse that way. I got postcards from readers saying "Compared to the old days, it's really square now. It was better the way it used to be.", so I thought I'd go make it even more square. (laughs)
However, at the start I didn't really have much confidence in my battle scenes. I hadn't really drawn what you might call motion pictures before. That's because I started out in illustrations. It was really hard to do that first Tenkaichi Budoukai.
Q: It's rumored that you don't keep any reference materials at all in your studio, but when you first started drawing battle scenes, what did you have there to consult?
A: Yeah, what did I use? It's a pet peeve of mine when people look at other manga for hints. (laughs) However, stuff like movies that I watched a long time ago stay in my head, so maybe I used those.
Of course, I think that movies are the most useful. I've been ridiculously fond of movies since way back when.
Q: Do you watch them a lot even now?
A: I haven't gone to the movie theater since having children. I just do stuff like watch movies broadcast on television or rent whatever videos seem interesting. It doesn't matter what channel. I generally leave the television on while I'm working. Because of this, I can't watch anything with subtitles, since then I couldn't work. (laughs) I'm basically working, but I'll watch when I can tell by the music that an interesting scene is on. I focus on those movies that I want to see no matter what, but all the rest just flow by.
Q: Have any of those movies become a reference for DragonBall?
A: I didn't particularly consciously do that, not really. I mean, they're not useful at all as far as story goes. But they are good references for how to show something, explosions for example. It's not just a "bang", but like a flash of light followed by a "BOOOM!" sound.
Q: Speaking of which, it gets very intense during the battles.
A: That definitely comes from me referencing the rhythmic quality to the fights in Jackie Chan movies.
I use reference materials afterwards, when I'm drawing things like cars or airplanes. Plastic models are useful for this, because you can look at them from a variety of angles.
Q: I always thought it was amazing the way you draw cars and such in a deformed style.
A: Yeah, I do that because if you try and draw the car's design exactly correct, it takes a ridiculous amount of time. If you don't draw it accurately, it'll end up looking completely off somewhere. But if you draw it deformed, it's alright for a few things to be off. At any rate, I'll try anything that makes my work end sooner. (laughs) Well, my manga is a gag manga and the characters are all deformed humans anyway, so it'd be odd if everything else wasn't deformed as well.
Q: In addition to the real-world vehicles, many original vehicles appear in DragonBall.
A: It's the most fun to think up original mecha. (laughs) I draw them thinking about how you get into them and where the engine is located and whatnot.
Sure enough, when you draw cars and things that exist in the real word, you have to check reference materials every time you draw them. But with things that I thought up on my own, I don't have this problem, since you can't say anything. (laughs) Since I thought of it, I can just say that it's okay like this. (laughs)
Q: Next I'd like to ask you about color manuscripts: what do you use for coloring?
A: A color ink called "Ruma". A shoujo manga artist from a long time ago told me about it. Until then I had been using a water based color pen that came out squeakily and dissolved in water. This made covering a large area very tough. So when I used this color ink, it made me go "Ah, there's something this useful? Now I can get it wet and not squeak." (laughs)
Q: By the way, what is your favorite color?
A: I'd say green. Italian true green. Either that or yellow or orange.
Q: When you say yellow or orange, do you mean the color of Goku's dougi?
A: Yes. However, I didn't make his dougi that color because I liked it, but rather because it was the color of the dougi worn by Buddhist monks who trained in China. It was a color particular to China.
Q: When you're thinking of a new character, do you think them up from their model and personality? Or from a picture?
A: I think of the story and model, then I think of their personality, and finally I draw a picture of them. I guess that's the sort of stance I have.
After I came up with Cell's picture, I went "Damn it!" I thought that I was done with the manuscript, but I hadn't drawn those spots on his body yet (laughs); that happened a lot. That's the reason why there never were any characters that had screen tone, except for ones with very minor roles. It's not that I dislike screen tone, I want to use it. But it's difficult to use, so I can't. (laughs)
Q: Do you think of the color scheme for a character's clothes and body when drawing them in black and white?
A: Yeah, that's right, but I don't do it consciously. When I'm applying the color, I think "It was more or less this color". However, with people that I've already drawn in color before, I generally don't go back and check, so sometimes I end up using different colors than I did before. (laughs)
Q: In this book, you can see all the pictures in chronological order. Your particular touch and the way that you paint have changed over the years.
A: But I didn't really do this consciously. It basically changes without me knowing. But if I look at a tankoubon or something from a year back, I think "Ugh! This was done poorly."
Q: After a year?
A: Yeah. I think "Ah, I guess I've evolved a lot." (laughs) Even with pictures from a little while back, I still think it looks weird. For example, with even a manuscript from about half a year ago, I feel that the design is weird. With color manuscripts as well, after I've painted it I usually think "Ah, I messed up."
Q: Eh, really?
A: If there was time, I'd like to try and fix it, but there's never any time. (laughs)
Q: The way that you paint colors has also changed quite a bit.
A: Yeah. For example, in the old days I shaded off the light portions on hair, but shading it off took a lot of time. When I made an anime called Kosuke-same Rikimaru-sama (screened at the '89 Jump Anime Carnival, and later become a Jump Video), I looked at the pictures of the animator Toyoo Ashida, and I thought that the anime-style way of applying light and shadow wasn't bad. I made my pictures like that from then on.
The truth is, Mr. Ashida is someone that I've always respected.
Q: For color schemes, how do you decide what kind of style to do? Do you just paint various test versions or something?
A: I basically just color it once. I decide what color the largest area should be, and it feels like that determines the rest. With Goku or someone else whose colors are already determined, that determines the color of the background that's going to go with them.
Q: When you're drawing a single illustration, are you able to go all the way from sketching it out to painting the color on in mostly one sitting?
A: I usually do it in one sitting. When drawing I still put all my effort into it. I become extremely concentrated. I phase out all sounds completely.
Some time ago, I was drawing an exact illustration, and the lines were coming out all wavy. I thought "Ah, my hand is crazy, what's wrong with it?" Then the stand started to shake, and I went "What?! That was an earthquake!" (laughs)
Even if I lose sleep, I usually keep on working until I'm completely finished. I guess I just couldn't sleep if I left it halfway done. (laughs) It would just keep bugging me. I'd keep drawing in my dreams. When I woke up in the morning I'd go "Ah, I only dreamed that I finished it!" (laughs)
Q: Finally, out of ten years of DragonBall, which picture are you the most pleased with?
A: The one where Goku and Gohan are riding a thing that looks like a Harley with legs (page 88 � 140). This is the only one that you could say I'm pleased with.
Q: Only one piece over ten years?
A: Out of what I can remember, this is the only piece where both the color and the composition turned out well.
Q: Now that you mention it, I guess you could say you managed to skillfully freeze a moment of motion.
A: But I don't really think that's all that impressive. When I draw something, the incredibly annoying thing is that it doesn't come out like I pictured. I think this picture definitely has the composition that I imagined or the combination of colors that I imagined.
Because I'm fundamentally fastidious and fickle, I want to draw very differently. I don't lose interest, so I want to keep trying. That's why I always end up failing. (laughs) I'm able to not be pleased with it. But I reflect on what I've done, so I make progress. I'm always reflecting. (laughs)
Daizenshuu 2 Super Interview
Why did the story of DragonBall begin?
How was this fantastical story made?
The answers from Akira Toriyama are here.
You will know all about DragonBall's birth and development...
Q: Since this volume is a story guide, I thought that I'd ask you about things relating to DragonBall's story. First of all, why did you begin the story of DragonBall?
A: I had just ended "Dr. Slump", and for the time being I was thinking about what I should do for my next serialized work. I had many meetings with my editor at the time, Torishima-san. As it happened, at that time I loved Jacky Chan's movies and had seen "Drunken Master" dozens of times. Since I liked that sort of thing, Torishima-san advised me to try and make a kung-fu shounen manga, so I drew a one-shot called "Dragon Boy". That got an incredibly positive response from the readers, so I decided to go that route for my next serialized work.
Q: So from there you began to think of your new serialized work in earnest?
A: Since "Dr. Slump" had been in a Western scenery, I decided to change that impression and make my new work have a Chinese scenery. And if I was going to give it a Chinese feel, I thought I would make the story based on "Journey to the West". "Journey to the West" after all is absurd and has adventurous elements, so I guess I decided to make a slightly modernized "Journey to the West". I thought it would be easy if that story served as the basis, since all I would have to do would be to arrange things. (laughs)
Q: It seems that initially you were going to have Goku be an actual monkey. (see p.90)
A: Yeah, to have it be completely like "Journey to the West". This wasn't very innovative, so I decided to have the protagonist be a human, and made him an ordinary boy. But I wanted him to have some kind of distinguishing characteristic.
The protagonist in "Dragon Boy" had wings, so I wanted a distinguishing characteristic in that sense, where you could tell it was him just by looking. So I gave Goku a tail. So even if he was hidden behind a rock, if you could still see his tail you'd know that it was Goku.
From there I added the dragonballs, and if you gathered all seven your wish was granted. I thought that if the characters went searching for these, they could go through a journey like in "Journey to the West".
Q: And so when it was still new in serialization, before the Tenkaichi Budoukai began, the series had a considerable "Journey to the West" feeling to it.
A: Bulma was Tripitaka, Oolong was Zhu Bajie, and Yamcha was Sha Wujing. I initially thought that I'd end it after they finished collecting the dragonballs.
Q: And then the Tenkaichi Budoukai began. But why did you do that sort of a development?
A: Up until the Tenkaichi Budoukai began, the series hadn't been all that popular. That's what Torishima-san had told me. "Your protagonist is rather plain. That's why it's not popular." he said. Personally, since I was doing a fighting story for this series, I had intentionally made the protagonist's clothing excessively plain. So this annoyed me, but then I figured it out. "Well, let's increase its popularity" I thought. When I had designed Goku's character, the words that best represented him were "I want to become strong". So I thought I'd bring that to the front. Even during "Dr. Slump", the tournament-like events such as the Penguin Village Gran Prix or the Mini-Event had been amazingly popular. So I'd simply make the story into a tournament format. From there the Tenkaichi Budoukai was born. I temporarily withdrew the other characters besides Goku, brought back Kame-sennin, and added Kuririn as a new character. From there it got popular before I knew it.
Q: Still, unlike regular protagonists, Goku certainly didn't win the championship.
A: Yep. It took him until his third try to finally win. Everyone around me was saying "I'm sure Goku will win in the end." Even though I had wanted him to win, but since I'm perverse, when they said that to me I went "Like I'd let him win!" (laughs)
Q: The Tenkaichi Budoukai was the first turning point. And then the Red Ribbon Army appeared.
A: The Red Ribbon Army was the same as the Tenkaichi Budoukai, it just wasn't in a tournament format. At that time, there was a game for the Famicom called "Spartan X" which I often played. Strong enemies came at you real quick and you beat them up. It was even based on a kung-fu movie. Playing that showed me the visuals for a different scheme than the tournament. That's where Muscle Tower came from.
Q: And then at last Piccolo Daimao appeared.
A: With all the villains up to that point, there was always something likable about them. So Piccolo Daimao was born from me trying to create a truly bad guy. That period was the most interesting to draw.
Q: From there, the enemy characters rapidly began to escalate.
A: Having become the strongest on the Earth, Goku and co. had also beat the Saiyans who came from outside of Earth and then they went out into the universe. I came up with Freeza around the time of the Bubble, and the land shark was the worst person of all. So I made him the #1 land shark in the universe. But merely escalating the enemies was a pain, so I brought out the Ginyu Special-Squad. My son really loved sentai stuff, and I always watched it with him. Well, I brought that in. It's put out by Toei, same as the DragonBall Z anime. (laughs)
Q: The next to appear where the Artificial Humans and Cell.
A: Since they had become the strongest in even the universe, they next had to surpass time. So with that I did time-travel stuff, but it was really rough. Time paradox, is it? I quickly got bogged down.
I basically only thought of what I was doing for that week. Even I didn't know what was going to happen the next week. I'd draw the story like this, but I'd always discuss it with my editor to see what I should do for next week. (laughs)
Q: And then the Cell arc ended. Did you think that everyone felt you would put Gohan into the leading role?
A: I intended to put Gohan into the leading role. It didn't work out. I felt that compared to Goku, he was ultimately not suited for the part.
Q: Incidentally, who is your favorite character?
A: Yeah, I guess I like Piccolo the most after all. Out of all the enemies, Piccolo Daimao is the one I like most, and even after that I like Piccolo the most. I like Piccolo about the same as I like Goku. With Vegeta, well, I don't like him all that much, but he was extremely helpful to have around. For the recent stuff, it was fun drawing Satan. When I first brought him out, I didn't think that I would end up making Satan that important of a character. I thought he'd just be a one-shot character.
Satan is like that, but thinking up worthless gags is more enjoyable than doing the fight scenes. (laughs)
Q: That all really took off with Gotenks. There are legends that your editor Takeda-san would crack up each week when he saw the storyboards in the editing department. (laughs)
A: I suppose I am a gag-manga artist after all. (laughs)
But then after all, I'm always thinking of how there are a lot of guys on our side, but only one enemy. If you think about it, isn't it unfair? (laughs) They can just gang up on him. (laughs)
Q: So it's like Goku's line at the end of the battle with Majin Buu.
A: That's right. He said "You did well all on your own". I suppose that Goku's motive was that no matter what kind of enemy there was, he wanted to fight them one-on-one.
Daizenshuu 4 Super Interview
"After I decided on the setup and starting drawing it, I made the setting a world that wasn't really anywhere."
The world of DragonBall that Akira Toriyama created, where Goku, Vegeta, Bulma, Piccolo and the others were active, had a peculiar perspective on the world, the universe, life, and death. Akira Toriyama talks about the secrets of the DragonBall world, a world that readers can feel even a sense of nostalgia for.
Q: Since the fourth DragonBall daizenshuu is a world guide, I thought I'd focus my questions on discussing DragonBall's worldview. First off, the Earth that appears in DragonBall is considerably different from the real Earth.
A: Yeah, the manga that I've drawn up until now have all been worlds that aren't really anywhere, from the very first work that I drew. With Penguin Village as well, though it's said to be Earth, you don't know where it's located... Cashman (published in V-Jump) was in a slightly realistic world, but it had a sense of not being in any specific country.
Q: Why do you choose to set them in worlds that aren't really anywhere?
A: In the end, because it's easy. Basically with everything, I choose my criteria based on what can be easy. If I made the real world the setting, I'd have to draw looking at reference materials, for stuff like buildings and vehicles. When you do that, people complain even if it's just a little bit off.
Q: I'd think that normally, it'd be easier to draw if you had reference materials...
A: You think so? Aside from not having to look at reference materials, if I draw a story where I freely decide the background, then I guess I am setting it in a world that isn't anywhere.
Q: Do you not even look at reference materials for the scenery?
A: I basically don't look at them. Though at first, I looked at Chinese buildings and things like that. When serialization began, I wanted to completely change the image from what I had done up until then in "Dr. Slump". Since "Dr. Slump" had an American West Coast feel to it, this time around I wanted to completely change that and make it Oriental. At that time, my wife was interested in China, and I drew looking at the books of Chinese photographs that she bought.
Afterwards, with the Tenkaichi Budoukai grounds as well, I put a lot of effort into drawing it. Before serialization had begun, my family and assistants had gone to Bali. Papaya Island, where the Tenkaichi Budoukai is held, is completely modeled after Bali. I consulted the photos that they had taken on the trip a lot, and was able to think up the buildings and such. Because of that, it was incredibly difficult. (laughs) Because afterwards I had to draw the Tenkaichi Budoukai grounds countless times. At those times I had to consult reference materials. (laughs)
Q: Was there any scenery after that that you consulted reference materials for?
A: Ye~ah, though there weren't a lot after that... ah, that's right, the place that Babidi's spaceship was buried at, I consulted a book of photos on Africa for it. They were photos that gave a feeling of incredible wilderness, and I drew an arrangement of that. In the second half, the settings were full of wildernesses, so it was tough to draw them distinctively.
Q: Looking at them with that in mind, even though all of them could be called wildernesses, they each become different landscapes.
A: That's it. I tried to give them different scenery each time, by changing things like the shapes of the rocks or the mountains in the distance. I thought a lot in that area. I had to know how it would be different from the places before, because after all, having the same scenery is no good.
Q: Throughout the story, wildernesses where nobody lived appeared everywhere.
A: After all, it'd be rough if Goku and the others fought in the middle of a city. I'd have to draw the residents who lived in the city, and the buildings would get destroyed. That's why whenever they were about to fight, Goku and the others would want to go to some wilderness where nobody lived. (laughs) They'd just use Bukujutsu to take off, like it had been arranged ahead of time.
Now that you mention it, once Goku and his allies learned Bukujutsu and were able to fly, advancing the story became really easy.
Q: What do you mean?
A: Because everyone became able to just fly straight to anywhere. That's why thinking up the story's development became easy, and above all the story's progress became speedy. Even looking at it with the pictures in mind, I became able to show things from an angle looking down upon the scenery. That was also why I initially introduced Kinto-Un. Up until then, they had to bring out planes and automobiles and the like one by one, and it was really tiresome.
Q: I guess then Shunkan-ido would be the ultimate for that.
A: Yeah, that's right. He went to Kaio's planet and the new Planet Namek. After he became able to perform Shunkan-ido, the variations in Goku's fighting style also increased.
Q: I'd imagine that thinking up the battle scenes would be hard each time.
A: Yeah. With the battles as well, I couldn't have them do the same thing each time after all. It was already good at the beginning when Goku was tiny, but in the second half when the battles started to gradually escalate, I thought up more and more amazing techniques. That's why it was fun drawing Majin Buu and Gotenks' fight. I thought up strange techniques in the spirit of a gag manga. (laughs)
Q: How do you think up the names for the special attacks?
A: I actually don't really like to give names to the techniques. In a battle of life and death, there's no way you can say the name of each technique. You'd be done in while yelling the technique's name. (laughs) But my editor told me it was best to give the techniques names. My wife was the one who named the Kamehameha. I was fretting, saying "Kame-sennin's special attack should be something-or-another ha, something-or-another ha..." and she said "Wouldn't Kamehameha be good?". That was good, silly, and fitted Kame-sennin's mood perfectly.
For the names of the techniques apart from the Kamehameha, I thought them all up myself. I gave them names that seemed like that particular character would think of. So with someone like Vegeta, wouldn't he name his techniques in English? (laughs) Piccolo's techniques were tasteful with kanji.
Q: Speaking of Piccolo, did you think from the beginning of his background as a Namekian alien?
A: Of course, I didn't think that at all (laughs). The Saiyan were like that as well. When I thought up Goku's tail and the Oozaru, I didn't think Goku was an alien or anything. Piccolo either. Because I thought that up when Kami-sama came out.
Mostly afterwards, I thought it through so that it would be consistent. For example, there's the chair that Planet Namek's Saichourou sat in. That was mostly the same as the chair that Piccolo Daimao had sat in when he first appeared. It was just missing the skulls.
Q: I see! Come to think of it, it did have the same shape.
A: I thought since Piccolo Daimao surely still had some memories of when he was on Planet Namek, wouldn't he make that kind of chair? So I thought up the shapes of Planet Namek's buildings and spaceships using the design of Piccolo Daimao's chair. When they went to Planet Namek, I was told that you'd fail if you went into space in a shounen manga. So when thinking up the background for Planet Namek, I tried to make it precisely consistent.
Q: The afterlife was another place besides Earth that became the setting of the story, after Planet Namek. What kind of style did you think up the afterlife?
A: For Kami-sama's temple, I gave it a comparatively mysterious feeling, but on the other hand I thought it'd be good to have the afterlife be realistic. So Enma Daio and the oni all wore suits like salary-men. I think you can see this by looking at the world map in this book, but there's a thing called the airport to Heaven. The background on that is that the people who go to Heaven all have to go by plane. This complete map was originally background information that I drew at the request of the anime people, but I took this opportunity to add the Kaioshin World, which wasn't included in the complete map before, to make it perfect. In truth, this complete world map is something I made after I finished drawing the story, to make everything consistent. (laughs) With me, I think up the story in advance, then come up with the world's background information to be consistent with it. I guess that if I was a normal manga artist who did things properly, I'd think up the background information first and then come up with the story. Saying that, you'd think that I don't really think through anything. There's a vague image, even before I create the story. (laughs)