In the brilliant picture of global culture, Japanese manga occupies an important place with its unique charm. And there is a manga artist whose works are like dazzling stars, not only shining in Japan, but also setting off a lasting trend worldwide, deeply influencing generation after generation. This manga artist is Akira Toriyama.And now, the author of "Dragon Ball", Akira Toriyama, who was once regarded as a "god" by countless people, is gradually being forgotten by people? In fact, Akira Toriyama's story is a legendary journey of rural youth's counterattack, which is worth pondering again.
The Growth of Rural Teenagers: Akira Toriyama's Early Experiences
On April 5th, 1955, Akira Toriyama was born in Nishihara-gii Town, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. The surname "Toriyama" sounds a bit strange, even in the eyes of the Japanese, but it is indeed his real name. Nishihara-gii is a typical rural area, and Akira Toriyama's family is an ordinary peasant family, and his backyard is farmland. This rural living environment where "chickens and dogs can hear each other" had a profound impact on his two most important works, "Alale" and "Dragon Ball".
After entering high school, Akira Toriyama chose to major in design and participated in the "Comic Research Association" at school, serving as the president. After graduating from college, he worked at a design company. However, this somewhat lazy young man was often late, and in the end, he found that his salary was less than that of a girl who worked in an office. After three years of work, Akira Toriyama, 23, resolutely decided to resign and pursue his dream career - a comic artist.
It is said that Akira Toriyama's ambition to become a manga artist originated from a chance experience. Once, he found a manga manuscript lost by a manga artist on a tram. At that time, the compensation for Japanese manga artists was quite generous, and an ordinary writer could earn up to 10,000 yen for one page of the original manuscript. After reading the manuscript, Akira Toriyama thought, "What's the big deal? I can draw too!" At first, he only took on odd jobs such as flyers and illustrations. Later, based on the popular "Star Wars" movie at the time, he created a replica of a short manga, which was his first complete manga work. Afterwards, he decided to submit it to a magazine.
In the "manga country" of Japan, the two most popular manga magazines at that time were "Shonen Magazine" and "Shonen Jump". Most of the manga books in people's hands on trains or subways in Japan came from these two magazines. Akira Toriyama originally planned to submit his work to "Shonen Magazine" mainly because their "Newbie Award" prize money was as high as 500,000 yen, which was a considerable amount for him who had no fixed income at that time. Unfortunately, after checking, he found that the deadline for "Shonen Magazine" had passed, so he had no choice but to submit the manga to "Shonen Jump". This seemingly casual choice deeply influenced the development trajectory of the two magazines later on.
Qianli Horse and Bole: The Encounter of Akira Toriyama and Kazuhiko Toriyama
Akira Toriyama's first submission did not win an award because his work was a replica of "Star Wars" and lacked originality. His name was only listed in the magazine. However, his solid design skills and exquisite comic design caught the attention of an editor at "Shonen Jump" magazine. This editor was Kazuhiko Toriyama, who was then a novice Cainiao editor (later became a director of Shueisha). Toriyama Kazuhiko immediately noticed that Akira Toriyama was different from others, truly a "hero knows a hero".
Toriyama Kazuhiko is known for his "strictness", and he has returned no less than 1,000 drawings to Toriyama Akira. However, Toriyama Akira did not give up and still insisted on submitting his works to Toriyama. Perhaps in order to "retaliate" against Toriyama's constant rejection, Toriyama Akira designed Toriyama as an evil figure who attempted to rule the world - Dr. Masilit - in the comic "Alale". His hard work paid off, and a short story created by Toriyama Akira finally won Toriyama's appreciation. This comic tells an interesting story between a genius doctor and a group of villagers living in a penguin village. The setting of the penguin village is obviously a reflection of Toriyama Akira's rural life experience, which is a unique life experience that ordinary cartoonists do not have. While admiring, Kazuhiko Toriyama made a suggestion to Akira Toriyama: using the robot doll created by the genius doctor as the protagonist would make the comic more popular. At first, Akira Toriyama was not willing, but eventually accepted the suggestion.
In January 1980, the merger of "Shonen Jump" 5 and 6 began serializing a manga created by Akira Toriyama - "Arale". This work, which exudes a relaxed and simple atmosphere and is full of "Toriyama Akira's cold humor", caused a huge sensation in the Japanese manga industry, like an atomic bomb explosion. In 1981, the animated film "Arale" was released, with an audience rating of as high as 36.9%. The Japanese manga industry even defined this year as the "Arale Year". Arale's famous line of "Hey yo yo" once became a popular phrase throughout Japan. It can be said that the success of "Arale" allowed Akira Toriyama to establish a foothold in the Japanese manga industry. For most cartoonists, having such a work in their lifetime is enough to be gratifying. But 29-year-old Akira Toriyama is not satisfied with this.
The Birth and Rise of Dragon Ball: From Dilemma to Glory
In 1984, when everyone was praising "Alale", Akira Toriyama created a peak in the Japanese manga industry - "Dragon Ball". The birth of "Dragon Ball" was actually forced by the situation. Akira Toriyama originally planned "Alale" to be just a short story, but unexpectedly the work became very popular and became the backbone of "Shonen Jump". He could only continue writing. Until 1984, Akira Toriyama really didn't want to continue and proposed to end "Alale". "Shonen Jump" proposed a condition: ending the serialization was possible, but a new manga must be produced within three months.
At the age of 29, Akira Toriyama was far from the age to "stop writing" and was already quite successful economically (which will be mentioned later), so he decided to create a new manga. This manga incorporates two obvious elements: "Chinese style" and "kung fu". In the early 1980s, China and Japan normalized diplomatic relations, and Japan provided low-interest and unpaid loans to China. The relationship between the two countries entered a "honeymoon period", and the Japanese people were curious about China. Against this backdrop, Akira Toriyama created a new manga based on the Chinese classical masterpiece "Journey to the West" and the Japanese Edo period work "The Legend of Hachinou". Due to the main storyline of the male protagonist "Little Goku" and his friends collecting seven Dragon Balls scattered around the world, this comic is named "Dragon Balls" (in Chinese mainland, the first version is translated as "Dragon Balls").
However, "Dragon Ball" encountered a "black door" in the early days of the Japanese manga industry. Although Akira Toriyama relied on the success of "Arale", "Dragon Ball" did not cause much response when it was first released, and its ranking on the manga rankings once fell outside the top ten. Although Goku's journey to find Dragon Ball with Bulma and Koba Jie was easy and humorous, the story was slightly loose, and readers were not used to it at first. At a critical moment, the insightful Kazuhiko Toriyama played a key role again. He suggested that Akira Toriyama add the theme of "pursuing power" to the story. Toriyama accepted this suggestion and changed Goku's mission from collecting seven Dragon Balls to participating in the "number one martial arts event in the world" and becoming the number one strong person in the world. This change made "Dragon Ball" rise rapidly and captured the hearts of manga enthusiasts throughout Japan and even the world.
The appearance of "The First Martial Arts Association in the World" is eye-catching. At each martial arts association, Akira Toriyama sets up a strong opponent for Goku, such as Sage Turtle, Tatsujin Rice, and Piccolo Big Demon King. Goku defeats Piccolo Big Demon King, which is his first true championship. After two years of serialization, in 1986, "Dragon Ball" became the undisputed king of the Japanese manga industry. At that time, 80% of readers in the entire Japanese manga market listed "Dragon Ball" as the top work supporting serialization. It should be noted that at that time, the magazine "Shonen Jump" was in its heyday, and the manga serialized during the same period were all masterpieces that were well-known, such as "Saint Seiya", "Hokuto Shinjuku", "SLAM DUNK", "Yuyu Hakushu", etc. However, these works were all inferior to "Dragon Ball". At that time, the Japanese manga industry could almost be divided into two categories: "Dragon Ball" and others.
In 1987, the animated film "Dragon Ball" was released, which pushed its popularity to a new peak. The animation had an audience rating of over 85% in European countries such as France, over 70% in Spain, and even challenged the status of traditional American comics in the US. The US even remade many live-action versions of "Dragon Ball". The popularity of the animation further promoted the spread of the comic. In Denmark, with a population of only 5.50 million, "Dragon Ball" comic sold more than 1.50 million copies; in Thailand, there are as many as 100 pirated publishers of "Dragon Ball". In China, the "Dragon Ball" published by Hainan Photography and Fine Arts Publishing House is very popular. The price of 1.9 yuan per book and 9.5 yuan per volume has made countless boys willing to save money to buy it at newsstands and then circulate it among colleagues.
Akira Toriyama's Great Success: Wealth and Influence
When it comes to Akira Toriyama's success, money can be used as a reference to some extent. In 1983, at the age of only 28, Akira Toriyama's personal income tax payment was as high as 600 million 47.45 million yen. When Dragon Ball and all its derivatives had not yet appeared, the amount of personal income tax alone was so astonishing.
Besides money, there is a widely circulated story in Japan. Akira Toriyama, who lived in Nagoya at that time, had to drive to the airport every time to send articles to the "Shonen JUMP" magazine in Tokyo. However, the road from his home to the airport was very difficult. Therefore, Akira Toriyama planned to move. But for the Nagoya government, this was undoubtedly a major loss. Moving away a manga artist who paid so much tax not only meant a reduction in tax revenue, but also a loss of tourism revenue from manga fans and damage to the city's image. Therefore, the Nagoya government immediately decided to build a highway from Akira Toriyama's home directly to the airport.
The Continuation and End of Dragon Ball: Sweet Troubles and Brilliant Ending
Dragon Ball brought Akira Toriyama the greatest honor of his career, but it also brought sweet troubles - no end allowed. According to Akira Toriyama's original plan, Dragon Ball should have ended with Goku defeating Piccolo at the world's number one martial arts event. However, Shonen Jump never agreed, because the fate of the magazine had already been closely linked to Dragon Ball. In 1984, the magazine sold an average of about 3.50 million copies, which increased year by year. In 1989, it broke through 5 million copies, and in 1991, it broke through 6 million copies, laying its unshakable position as the king of the Japanese manga industry. Once Dragon Ball comes to an end, not only will Shonen Jump magazine be impacted, but also a group of top Japanese anime companies such as Shueisha Publishing Group, Bandai Corporation, Fuji TV, Toei Animation, etc. behind it will be affected by a chain reaction, and even cause a shock in the entire Japanese manga industry, which is enough to reflect the huge influence of Dragon Ball at that time.
Under helplessness, Akira Toriyama could only continue to create. After Little Goku defeated the Piccolo Demon King, Akira Toriyama invited Goku's brother, the Saiyan Latiz, to visit Earth, expanding the battlefield of "Dragon Ball" from Earth to the entire universe. This idea can be called a genius move, especially since Vegeta and Naba arrived on Earth, the entire world of "Dragon Ball" has been dragged into a great conflict across the universe by the Saiyans. On Namek, the three forces of Earthlings, Frieza, and the lone Vegeta are entangled with each other, and the plot is thrilling and exciting. After Sun Wukong turned into a Super Saiyan and completely defeated Frieza in his final transformation form, Akira Toriyama found it difficult to set up stronger opponents for Sun Wukong (the combat power display was blown to powder).
However, even so, the manga cannot be ended, and Akira Toriyama can only continue. He introduced the concept of "time travel" (perhaps influenced by the popular "Terminator 2" at that time), and although the Shalu arc also has highlights, it can be seen that Akira Toriyama's creativity is somewhat inadequate, and some loopholes begin to appear in the story. Even though Akira Toriyama later arranged for Sun Wukong's son Sun Gohan to end Shalu, and even let Sun Wukong "receive a bento box", the manga still cannot be ended. In addition to the publisher's requirements, the call from Dragon Ball fans all over the world for "not ending" is also an important reason for Akira Toriyama's continued creation. So, a chapter with Buu as the ultimate big boss appeared, and Sun Wukong had to come back even with an angelic halo. In this chapter, although Akira Toriyama seems to have regained the relaxed and humorous style of Dragon Ball, the entire Dragon Ball world has become somewhat unsustainable.
In 1995, "Dragon Ball" finally came to an end. That year, "Shonen Jump" magazine sold an astonishing 6.53 million copies, because all readers wanted to say goodbye to "Dragon Ball" that had accompanied them for 11 years. After the end of "Dragon Ball", the sales of "Shonen Jump" magazine began to decline. Despite the support of excellent works such as "Rurouni Kenshin", the decline was still obvious until the appearance of "ONE PIECE". At this point, Sun Wukong truly bid farewell to readers. Starting from the Shalu chapter, Akira Toriyama hinted that Gohan was Goku's successor, indicating his weariness. After writing "death" for Sun Wukong, Akira Toriyama also issued an apology.
The profound impact of Dragon Ball: cultural symbols across time and space
Although "Dragon Ball" has ended, its influence has never faded, which can be regarded as a miracle in the Japanese manga industry. Today, more than 20 years after the end of the manga, there is still no sign of cooling down in the global "Dragon Ball fever". Around the world, jokes derived from "Dragon Ball" such as "Can collecting seven × × summon the Dragon God", "Transform into a Super Saiyan", and "Zhan Wu Zha" are still widely circulated among netizens. Previously, it was rumored that "Sun Wukong" was used as the image ambassador for the Tokyo Olympics, which refers to the Sun Wukong in "Dragon Ball", but also reflects the Japanese people's confidence in the global popularity of "Dragon Ball". So far, Dragon Ball has sold more than 230 million copies worldwide, not to mention the figurines, dolls, costumes, animations, movies, and various peripheral products derived from it.
After Akira Toriyama ended "Dragon Ball" at the age of 40, he seemed to have exhausted his lifelong passion and skills. Since then, he has only participated in some game character designs (such as "Dragon Quest") and some short story creations, and has never released a long manga again. However, how can we demand more from a manga artist who left behind two masterpieces, "Arale" and "Dragon Ball"?
Reflections on Japanese Anime and Childhood Memories
In the exchange and integration of global cultures, the influence of Japanese anime cannot be underestimated.From "Alale" to "Dragon Ball", "Saint Seiya", "SLAM DUNK", etc., these works constitute our youthful memories full of passion and passion.
A good manga has a profound impact on people. For example, "Little Football Shogun" has inspired many young people in Japan to love football. During the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup, 16 members of the Japanese men's national football team grew up watching "Little Football Shogun" and aspired to become football players. At the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games, Japan's No. 10 men's basketball team, Kousuke Takeuchi, said in an interview that everyone in the team has a set of "SLAM DUNK" and often takes it out to read. The Japan Basketball Association also awarded the "Special Contribution Award" to the author of "SLAM DUNK", Takehiko Inoue. Another example is that when "Light Chess" (translated as "Chess Soul" in China) became popular in Japan, about 4 million Go enthusiasts were added throughout Japan. All of these fully demonstrate the strong influence of excellent anime works.
We should thank manga masters like Akira Toriyama for shaping a wonderful manga world for us.