While rumors of Toriyama’s planned ending for Dragon Ball have become widespread, the reality, according to his first editor, is very different.
While Dragon Ball fans can endlessly debate the comparative strengths of Goku and Vegeta, one “fact” that’s found near universal agreement across much of its fan base is that its creator, Akira Toriyama, never wanted the series to go as long as it has, and planned to end it after the Frieza saga. However, this popular theory is actually far from the truth, and Dragon Ball‘s first editor has finally debunked it.
In his new book Dr. Mashirito’s Strongest Manga Technique, Kazuhiko Torishima, the first editor to work with Toriyama in developing, launching, and guiding Dragon Ball details numerous conversations he’s had with the legendary mangaka over the years. Some of these conversations included discussions of Dragon Ball‘s ending. As Torishima recalls, at some point during his time as editor, the idea began circulation among fans that Toriyama had always had a plan to end the series after the Freiza saga but was forced by the editor (Torishima) or the publisher (Shueisha), to continue the series because it had become so popular. However, that was simply not true.
Toriyama Never Planned Too Far Ahead For Dragon Ball
Knowing Toriyama as well as he did, the rumor of ending the series after the Frieza saga seems to have bemused Torishima. As he recalls, from the earliest days of planning the Dragon Ball series, Toriyama never had a long-term, fixed idea of how the story would play out. This point is corroborated by Toriyama, who in a 1995 interview stated, “I hadn’t thought it up at all … and I had only really prepared storyboards for three chapters“. So the idea that he knew from the start that he would be ending the comic after the Frieza saga is incorrect. The actual truth, as Torishima recalls it, is that Toriyama understood that if the series continued after the Frieza arc, he’d have to come up with a more powerful “bad guy”. Believing he was not up to the task, Toriyama thought it’d be best to end the series there, but he was obviously dissuaded.
Torishima does admit that Toriyama never expected the series to last for long, a fact Toriyama reiterated during the 1995 interview when he said, “I figured it would probably end in about a year“. However, as the series grew in popularity, it became increasingly difficult to stop it, especially when considering the increasing fandom, the expectations of his editors, the requests of the publisher, and most importantly Toriyama’s own aspirations. So, while Toriyama never planned too far ahead, Dragon Ball‘s ever-expanding success always served as motivation to keep going.
Dragon Ball grew well beyond its original focus and fandom and has become a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. However, if the publisher and the editors did not push Toriyama, Dragon Ball would have had a much shorter run, and a much smaller chance to become as popular and influential as it has. However, thanks to the memoirs of Torishima, it’s possible to finally put to rest the rumors that Akira Toriyama originally planned to end Dragon Ball after the Frieza saga.
Sources: Kazenshuu, Shenlong Times #2
