Toriyama found inspiration in the Astro Boy drawings of Osamu Tezuka. He was also inspired by the art of Disney’s 101 Dalmations. It’s a little known fact that Dragon Ball was partially inspired by Jackie Chan’s Drunken Master 2. He watched the movie so frequently that he was inspired to write a Kung Fu series. The series is also a combination of Saiyuki “The Monkey King” and his own personal invention.

Dr. Slump was Akira’s first successful series. This hugely popular title was about a scientist named Dr. Slump who created an android girl, Arale. She’s very strong, happy and totally clueless. The series ran between April 1981 and February 1986. The series poked fun at both American and Japanese pop culture and bared little resemblance to the Dragon Ball Z series. However, the style and humor closely resembled the Dragon Ball manga.

Dragon Ball Z was the sequel for the popular Dragon Ball series. It covered a grownup Goku and his adventures to protect the earth for powerful space creatures. The original Manga contained the stories of both Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z. It wasn’t until 2000 that two separate comics were created for the American audience.

After the Dragon Ball series ended, TOIE requested there be another installment in the franchise. While Toriyama didn’t have any direct involvement with the show, he did supervise its development. As a result, the series lasted a year and didn’t hold up to its predecessor’s legacy.

Besides Manga, Toriyama loves to play video games. His drawings were an intrical part of the Chrono Trigger title for the SNES. He also did the character design for Dragon Quest. In 2005, it was announced that Toriyama would be providing the character design for the Xbox title, Blue Dragon. He is said to like Jackie Chan movies and playing Myst computer games.

Akira Toriyama’s contribution to Japanese animation cannot be measured in quantity. Dragon Ball’s impact on the American Anime fans is comprable to the sixties Beetle’s invasion. Cartoon Network’s prolonging of each episode fueled the hunger for the elongated fight sequences and predictable turn of events. Why was Akira’s creation so successful? It’s hard to imagine that DBZ was one of a kind when it was initially released. There weren’t too many American cartoons that played out over the course of several episodes. Even critically acclaimed cartoons like Batman the Animated Series were self-contained and serial. The show was a hit or miss and could have turned as many potential fans away from Anime.

Akira Toriyama Timeline:

» 1955 = Akira was Born

» 1974 = Started School of Art

» 1977 = Quit School of Art

» 1978 = Akira's first Manga, Wonder Island

» 1979 = Created Manga Highlight Island

» 1980 = Toriyama's first Big Hit, Dr. Slump

» 1985 = Started the Dragonball Mangas

» 1995 = Akira Ends Dragonball Z