Days ago, the world learned of the tragic death of Akira Toriyamathe creator of Dragon Ball. The sudden loss left fans emotional as millions of people shared tributes to the late artist. Now all eyes are on the Japan when the final interview Toriyama has surfaced, and it’s nothing short of exciting.
The interview is courtesy of Tokyo Anime Award Festival 2024. The event announced in December that it would be awarded to Akira Toriyama a career award and last weekend (March 8/11) the author was supposed to receive the award in person on stage. In tribute, the festival published an interview that made the Toriyama before the event, and this final interview shows the dedication of Toriyama.
To be honest, I’ve never had much interest in anime, and even when my work was turned into an animated format, I’m embarrassed to admit that I didn’t watch it much, I apologize to the staff.
About 10 years ago, out of the blue, I was asked to review the script for the Dragon Ball anime film and I drew some simple designs for the characters and settings. I thought: ‘I can leave the difficult parts to the people’ (laughs).
So it’s really embarrassing that I received the career award from Tokyo Anime Awards Festival. Thank you very much.
One of my most unforgettable memories in animation work is when I met the late animator Toyo Ashida for an anime project called ‘Kosuke-sama Rikimaru-sama’, which was produced for Shonen Jump Original. This project had no manga, so a meeting was held. He was a friendly person and we quickly bonded, and every time he saw his drawing style, he was moved by his careful and quick touch.
I thought, ‘Okay, I think I need this kind of touch to speed up the drawing process and make Dragon Ball look a lot smoother.’ Drawing time has been reduced to about two-thirds of what it used to be. We influenced each other in many ways and I think it was a truly rewarding moment. I pray for the repose of Ashida-san’s soul.
Dragon Ball DAIMA, which will be released 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 in the project without realizing it. I was not only involved in the overall plot, but also the worldview, character design, mechas and other aspects. I hope you enjoy watching the series, which I believe is not only intense and action-packed, but also full of substance.
Finally, I would like to thank everyone who has supported me so far! I’m not sure how much more I can do as I’m not very confident about my health, probably due to my lifestyle when I was younger, but I will try my best to create more interesting work, so please keep going supporting me.
