Legendary manga artist Akira Toriyama explained that he no longer draws manga due to a lack of equipment.
Kodoani.com – Dragon Ball Author Akira Toriyama recently revealed the real reason why he no longer draws manga.
As detailed on Anime Senpai, Toriyama gave up drawing manga due to losing his favorite wooden pen case. This particular pen case holds great spiritual value to the artist, as he bought it when he was 14 years old. He used this item his entire manga career up until the release of Dragon Ball Super, drawn by Toyotarou and written by Toriyama. The loss of this precious drawing tool occurred during the production of Sand Land, the upcoming story adaptation of Toriyama’s manga of the same name.
“Sand Land was completed by scanning an inked paper manuscript into a computer and using software to apply a uniform color to my own tone. I could hardly sleep at all…” Toriyama explained, “After finishing all the episodes, I lost someone I love. The wooden pen holder that I used before debut. It was the pen holder that I became familiar with. my hand was long ago, carved and honed with a knife and sandpaper… I bought a new pen holder and tried sharpening it one way or another, but it just doesn’t feel right. used it as an excuse to barely draw any manga. *laughs*”
Akira Toriyama has used the same pen for 51 years! He bought this pen holder when he was 14 years old, and has used it to ink every manga he’s ever drawn, including DBZ. But because his office is so messy, he often has to search for it before working. #DragonBallCultureDaily pic.twitter.com/djplflPYpQ
— Derek Padula (@derekpadula) November 11,
Toriyama cherishes his pen holder
Toriyama has discussed this pen holder on previous occasions. In an interview with Dragon Ball: El Manga Legendario magazine, Toriyama detailed how, despite owning many holders over the years, he always reverts to using the original. However, Toriyama also admits that, due to carelessness, he has a bad habit of losing. In the aforementioned interview, Toriyama said that it took him “more than half an hour to find” the pen case in his office.
Toriyama’s original Sand Land manga series ran in Weekly Shonen Jump from May to August 2000. Although much shorter than the Dragon Ball series, Sand Land received critical acclaim. thanks to its light-hearted yet engaging storyline, revolving around a greedy king who exploits his power by overcharging for water, their nation’s scarcest resource. To end tyranny, an elderly sheriff teams up with a demon prince named Beelzebub and an older demon named Thief to find the elusive Ghost Lake and put an end to the king’s mighty army. . The film has an early release scheduled for this August.
Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball and Sand Land manga is available in English from VIZ Media.
