Akira Toriyama with his masterpiece Dragon Ball once completely changed the world of mangas. Dragon Ball is the reason why as many Shonen series are today as they are and without Akira Toriyama there would never have been some world-famous manga as one piece, Bleach and Naruto-at least not in their current form.
Unfortunately, a dark side of the manga and anime industry is also hidden behind Dragon Ball.In a new interview, three former Toriyama employees revealed that his work on Dragon Ball at times took his passion and motivation to draw.
Despite the injury, Toriyama was “forced” to continue working on Dragon Ball
The three former manga editors Kazuhiko Torishima, Yu Kondo and Fuyuto Takeda, who were responsible for Dragon Ball and the coordination with Akira Toriyama, have put together with the Japanese podcast Kosokoso for an interview.
In conversation, the three ex-employees spoke about their experiences with Toriyama and the work conditions at Shueisha, the publisher of Shonen Jump. The podcast was made by X-user@Venixyssummarized and translated in English.
The three editors, for example, remember a particularly stressful period in which Toriyama had to work on two projects at the same time: a dragon ball and a so-called one shot chapter. Working conditions caused immense pressure because Shueisha wanted to have the colored chapters two weeks in advance at the time.
In the interview it is not clear which Dragon Ball chapter or one Shot is about. Thus, the exact period in this case is unknown.
Mangakas were therefore under immense time pressure. At the same time, Akira Toriyama was injured and suffered from tendonitis. The Dragon Ball creator even informed his then editor Kondo that he could no longer draw under these circumstances.
Despite his injury and his objections, Kondo and Torishima want to have met with him to change his mind. In order to convince Toriyama that he should continue to work on his projects, Torishima had subjected him to a test and provided an ultimatum.
He gave Toriyama a pen and asked him to write his own name. If he could still write his name despite the inflammation, then he could also draw. If he is no longer able to write his name, the two editors would give up and Toriyama would not push further.
The Dragon Ball creator was able to write his name and-even if it was very irritated and frustrated with the situation-agreed to complete the two chapters in good time.
Torishima threatened Toriyama with a move to Tokyo
In order to ensure that Toriyama would comply with the delivery deadlines of the individual manga chapter, Torishima has even given the Mangaka an open threat:If he only misses a single delivery period, he must move to Tokyo.
The reason for this? Toriyama lived in the country while Shonen Jump's main building was in Tokyo. Because there were no fax devices at the time, Torishima or Kondo always had to travel to Toriyama to physically pick up the new manuscripts and manga sites. Toriyama's move to Tokyo would have made communication easier.
When fax devices were finally introduced, Toriyama refused to install one at home for two years. His reason was that he then had no excuses, why the manuscripts were submitted too late and that he should have kept himself even more strictly on the delivery periods.
In order to be able to comply with the strict deadlines of Shueisha, Toriyama only slept between four to seven hours a week, according to his own statements. The working conditions should sometimes have been so hard that Toriyama could no longer distinguish the different traffic lights due to his exhaustion.
Despite the harsh conditions, the Dragon Ball creator did not want to move to Tokyo because he did not want to live in a place "where you can no longer see the horizon".
Toriyamas Motivationsverlust
Both Torishima, Kondo and Takeda remember that Toriyama no longer proposed new projects after the end of Dragon Ball and distanced itself from industry. Toriyama jokingly spoke of the fact that he no longer wanted to work.
In the eyes of Kondo, Akira Toriyama simply lost the passion for mangas and wanted to withdraw from the industry.
However, Takeda disagreed. According to his observations, he was certain that the Dragon Ball creator had no longer presented new projects for another reason:Dragon Ball was his masterpiece, which he could no longer top.
Torishima, on the other hand, is not so sure about Takeda's statement, since he had repeatedly proposed ideas for new manga projects in the past and the mangaka has always had excuses.
For example, Toriyama claimed to always have to sneeze uncontrollably when trying to draw new manga sites, or he lost his special “pencil”, which he always uses to draw.
Dragon Ball GT, Super and Daima
After it became known that Dragon Ball Z would soon end, there was panic at Shonen Jump and the different TV channels.Dragon Ball was not allowed to end and Dragon Ball GT was founded.At the time, Toriyama seemed to be irrelevant what happens to Dragon Ball.
According to the three former employees, Toriyama repeatedly replied “what you want.” As soon as a new proposal came to Dragon Ball. The Dragon Ball Mangaka had only worked minimally on Dragon Ball GT and left the rest of Shueisha and Toei animation.
With the start of Dragon Ball Super, Toriyama had only taken over the scripts and story writing in most cases while Toyotaro drew. Torishima realized that the Dragon Ball Mangaka hardly wanted to draw itself.
There was no word about Dragon Ball Daima in the interview. However, it can be assumed that Akira Toriyama enjoyed working on Daima, since in the past many employees have already spoken of how much he was involved and how passionately he worked on it.
Akira Toriyama's case shows the dark side of the manga and anime industry
Although this article is mainly about Akira Toriyama, it is important to mention that this is not an isolated case. In the world of anime and manga, workers and mangakas have to complete their works under hard conditions and strict delivery periods.
This also includes the massive pressure to produce new manga chapter or anime episodes in the shortest possible time. It does not rarely occur that the health of the individual people suffer from it and they are forced to take breaks again and again for health reasons.
Akira Toriyama's case is a clear example of working conditions in the manga industry. In the anime industry, this shows, for example, the incident of the Mappa animation studio, which has been criticized for its working conditions for several years.
In 2023 and 2024, the studio for his behavior towards the employees in the course of the production of Jujutsu Kaisen's second season was hard criticized. Several affected people have commented on the inhumane working conditions on social media and talked about how much their mental health suffered.
The topic was on bothRedditvery intensely discussed as well as from several websites such asIGNandanime2youcovered.
These strict work regulations are not unusual in Japan and often the norm - Japan's legislation is responsible for this. There are hardly any workers' rights or unions in Japan that protect people and prevent such inhumane working conditions.
It is important to remember that behind the anime and mangas that we enjoy with joy, is the hard work of a manga or a team of talented workers. It is the passion and passion of these people in this industry that we should appreciate. After all, there would be no anime and manga without them.
Which anime or manga is most important to you and has changed your life?
