The Dragon Ball manga and anime series is one of the best-known manga and anime of all time, having set the trend of the shounen genre (aimed at boys) in many ways. Written by mangaka Akira Toriyama, it has also inspired several other famous franchises, such as Naruto and One Piece, having been published before them starting in 1984.
In recent years, Dragon Ball has made a comeback, having been revived in the form of a new anime series, a new manga, some movies, and even video games. In an interview with Toyotaro, an illustrator for the Dragon Ball Super manga, Toriyama spoke on the new arcs and characters in the manga while also taking a trip down memory lane and talking about some of the original villains.
Which Dragon Ball villain gave Akira Toriyama trouble?
In the interview, which was published in Volume 4 of the Dragon Ball Super manga, Toriyama and Toyotaro discussed the character Zamasu, a new villain, and how he was a complex villain. Toyotaro pointed out that the character of Majin Buu wasn’t complicated, and Toriyama agreed, before talking about the villain Cell. He said:
“Frankly, I even found Cell to be a bit of a hassle (laughs). With enemies it’s easier to just have them be straight-up bad guys so that they can just get beaten up. In that sense, I think Shojo manga (Shojo manga are aimed at girls and young women) are really incredible, since they have to continuously depict a girl’s state of mind (laughs). I don’t think I could handle that!”
Also read: 10 Strongest Villains in Dragon Ball Z- Who is the Strongest Being Goku Has Ever Fought?
Toriyama also admitted that he isn’t very good at showing the character’s psychology on the page, and that’s why he was able to create Zamasu since he is just handling the story for Dragon Ball Super.
What else did Toriyama say in the interview?
During the interview, Akira Toriyama also touched upon the personality and character of Zamasu, who started off as a good person but eventually took his form of justice too far. He said:
“At his core Zamasu is good like Shin (the Supreme Kai, akin to a god, though I guess you could say he was so fastidious that it backfired. But you know, for this “Future Trunks Arc” you had to depict Zamasu and Trunks’ inner conflict, right? If this was back when I was drawing the manga myself then I doubt if I could have done it.”
Toyotaro also pointed out that Zamasu was different from other villains in the series since he wasn’t absolutely evil, and wondered if he was able to get that across with his illustrations. Toriyama reassured him, saying:
“Don’t worry, you did great! It’s precisely because you drew it for me that the “Future Trunks Arc” was able to made! On my own, I doubt I would have been able to express Zamasu’s fall to the dark side.”
From this, we can gauge that Toriyama considers coming up with complex characters to be difficult, and is more comfortable with characters who are completely evil. He also seems to have enjoyed working with an illustrator, as evidenced by the interview.
Source: Comicbook.com
