Summary
Toriyama thrives on tight deadlines, leaving next week's chapter for tomorrow. The lack of planning led to iconic Dragon Ball moments, such as Cell's transformation. Toriyama's flexible writing style allows for flexible storytelling but can be risky.
Dragon ball is known for its surprising twists and dramatic reveals, but few fans would have guessed that the twist's outcome would surprise even the writers. However, apparently that often happens with Akira Toriyama, whose writing style makes even him “nervous,” according to an interview.
As a weekly manga, Akira Toriyama has to work under a fairly tight deadline, which seems to leave him with little time to plan the next chapters, as this week's story always has to take priority. . While most writers wouldn't dare try telling a long story without some sort of plan for what's going to happen, Toriyama seems to thrive in this type of environment and it allows him to react extremely period quickly responded to editorial criticism, as evidenced by the change in Android Saga's villain.
For Toriyama, it's all about finishing this week's chapter before the deadline, and next week's chapter will be a matter for tomorrow.
Toriyama's writing style creates many of Dragon Ball's iconic moments
Lack of planning is indispensable in Dragon Ball
In an interview from the Daizenshuu 6 databook, translated by Kanzenshuu, Toriyama talked about the creation of Potara earrings, saying that they were originally just for decoration, but became important when he realized that he could use Use them as a means to introduce combinations. Responding to the interviewer's surprise, Toriyama said: “Even I am always nervous. In the previous chapter, I wrote 'something amazing is about to happen', so I thought, 'I have no choice but to do something amazing.' That's hurt.”
The Potara earrings aren't the only example of this in Dragon Ball. As noted above, the Android Saga was complicated by notes from Toriyama's editor, who initially disagreed with the design for Android 19 and 20, then again with 17 and 18, causing Toriyama to Had to shift gears and change villains. of arc to Cell. When Toriyama's editor also didn't like Cell's appearance, he prompted Toriyama to transform Cell, creating the iconic character we know today. All of this was only possible because Toriyama did not have a strict plan that he had to follow.
Toriyama recognized the dangers of writing that way, saying that he “[was] always cross dangerous bridges like that.” It's easy to paint yourself into a corner without a plan, but fortunately, Toriyama always finds a way out of tough spots. Sometimes that means there are plot points that aren't very significant, such as his attempt to turn Gohan into the main character, but other times it leads to some incredible twists, such as Buu's shocking destruction of Earth.
Toriyama's versatility and laid-back style made for some of the series' best moments and earned him an extremely positive response with both his audience and his editors. It's fair to say that Dragon ball it wouldn't be what it is today if Toriyama applied a more conventional writing style to his work.