Creator Of 'Dragon Ball' Manga Series

Akira Toriyama | Biography 2021

• By Reena Chikanbanjar
• Update : April 19, 2022

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Akira Toriyama is a celebrated Japanese manga artist (comic artist), best known for creating the most popular ‘Dragon Ball’ franchise.

Short Bio

Born and raised in Japan, Akira Toriyama was interested in drawing from a young age. He chose to do a designing course in his high school to become a manga artist. After a couple of mediocre manga works, he gained fame and appreciation in 1980 for creating the comedy manga series ‘Dr. Slump.’ He achieved tremendous success after making the globally popular manga series ‘Dragon Ball.’ His manga was also adapted into anime, TV movies, and video games.

He Spent His Childhood In His Hometown Of Kiyosu, Aichi Prefecture

Akira Toriyama was born on 5 April 1955 in Kiyosu, located in far western Aichi Prefecture, Japan. He was raised by his parents, Karazu and Tombi Toriyama, and he has one sister named Uzura. He spent his childhood and much of his formative years in Kiyosu, which was then a countryside just outside Nagoya, the capital of Japan’s Aichi Prefecture.

Speaking about his childhood in a January 2014 issue of Men’s Non-No magazine, Toriyama said, “I was a cheeky little brat: the kind who was strong to the weak, and who wouldn’t approach the strong. On top of that, my grades at the time were quite good, so I always had the privilege of being designated as class officer by the teacher.”

He Started Drawing At A Very Young Age

As manga was the only entertainment to fascinate children in those days, Toriyama began drawing pictures for fun. He used to draw animals like horses and chimpanzees as a child. He eventually started drawing manga and animation characters along with his elementary school friends.

“I’ve always liked to draw. When I was little, we didn’t have many forms of entertainment like we do today, so we were all drawing pictures. In elementary school, we were all drawing manga or animation characters and showing them to each other,” Toriyama recalled in an interview.

Unlike other children who considered art a pastime, Toriyama had a passion for drawing. He continued creating images on paper and also started drawing portraits of his schoolmates.

He was also fascinated by the art design in Disney animation, and he practically devoured it. In One Hundred and One Dalmatians, he said he liked the way the humans were drawn, and the animals were caricatured. He often imitated it. Later, he attended a neighborhood drawing class and got a prize for drawing pictures, watching Walt Disney’s 101 Dalmatians.

According to Toriyama, he also read manga series until around the fourth grade. As a child, he generally read manga series like ‘Astro Boy,’ ‘Gigantor,’ and ‘Osomatsu-kun.’ However, he said he did not get any particular influence or anything. He had no intention of becoming a cartoonist. As a result, his interest in comics and cartoons declined after his primary school years.

He Worked At An Advertising Firm Before Becoming A Manga Artist

In 1971, when Toriyama was 15, he pursued a design course at Aichi Prefectural Okoshi Technical High School. In the next five years, he graduated in graphic design from the Prefectural Industrial High School. He decided not to continue his studies after his last high school year, against his parents’ wishes. He took his first job at the age of 20 as an in-house graphic designer at an advertising company in Nagoya. After around three years, he quit the job and then kicked off his journey to become a manga artist.

He Faced Repeated Rejections During His Early Career As A Manga Artist

In 1977, when Toriyama was looking for a job, he discovered the Monthly Young Jump Award, a contest sponsored by Japan’s largest publishing company Shueisha. He contested to get recognized as one of the amateur artists. He participated in the contest for the first time in 1977 with ‘Awawa World,’ but he did not make the deadline. 

He then found out that Weekly Shōnen Jump, a weekly magazine of a major manga publisher Shueisha, was also doing the same sort of contest with prize money of 100,000 yen. So he participated in the contest for the second time in 1978 with ‘Mysterious Rain Jack,’ but he did not win because it was completely disqualified because of its Star Wars parody elements. 

“I was confident in my art, so the fact that I lost out was really frustrating. Almost entirely out of stubbornness, I set my heart on not giving up until I got the prize money. I immediately drew my next work and sent it in, but it was also no good,” Toriyama said.

However, Toriyama pleased one of the editors of Weekly Shōnen Jump, Kazuhiko Torishima, who asked him to send his work directly to him. Torishima was primarily impressed by Toriyama’s particular hand-lettering and onomatopoeia, similar to Western comics. Torishima later worked as the editor of Toriyama’s manga.

In 1978, Toriyama made his debut in the manga industry with ‘Wonder Island’ for Weekly Shōnen Jump, but it failed to catch the reader’s attention. After that, he continued to draw other manga characters, but they were all rejected. 

Toriyama said in an interview that he had no idea about how to draw a comic, so every single one of them was rejected. “So it was like, as I drew, I gradually learned how to do it,” he said.

Then, Torishima suggested Toriyama try drawing something with a girl as the main character, stating that he was good at drawing girls. So, he drew ‘Tomato, Girl Detective’ and got his first positive response. The minor success of ‘Tomato, Girl Detective’ gave him some hope to further his career in the manga. He also created the manga ‘Today’s Highlight Island,’ a story of a young schoolboy named Kanta, in 1979. 

He Achieved His First Great Success With ‘Dr. Slump’

Toriyama’s first great series was his comic manga ‘Dr. Slump’ in 1980. The manga depicts the story of a zany scientist Dr. Senbei Norimaki and his robot Arale. 

The manga was published weekly from January 1980 to August 1984 in Weekly Shōnen Jump. The manga was also published in 18 tankōbon volumes. According to Toriyama, ‘Dr.Slump’ was a stylish gag manga, so he was quite particular with the art when he drew it.

He received unlimited letters of encouragement from readers after the publication of Dr. Slump. This manga also won him the ‘1981 Shogakukan Manga Award’ for ‘Best Shōnen or Shōjo Manga Series of the Year.’ The manga was later adapted into an anime series, aired on Fuji TV from 1981 to 1986.

He Achieved Even More Success With ‘Dragon Ball’ and ‘Dragon Ball Z:’

After the massive success of ‘Dr. Slump,’ Toriyama created another manga, ‘Dragon Boy,’ inspired by Jackie Chan’s 1978 feature film Jui Kuen (Drunken Master). It was featured in Weekly Shōnen Jump in 1983. This character laid the foundation for his future fantasy-adventure manga ‘Dragon Ball,’ which would later get globally popular as a series. The manga was based on the adventure of energetic Son Goku, a character based on a mythological Chinese ‘Monkey King’ fable. 

Since ‘Dragon Ball’ is an action manga, Toriyama said in an interview that he did not want to draw overly elaborate illustrations in ‘Dragon Ball’ because the most important thing was the sense of speed. “I deliberately made even the main character Goku plain, doing things like giving him a simple style of eyes like a minor character, thinking that I’d put my all into his dialogue and movements,” he elaborated.

To concentrate on the plot developments and action, he even told his editor Torishima to let him draw as few color manuscripts as possible for this manga. 

‘Dragon Ball’ was not popular at the beginning, and he initially planned Dragon Ball for one year. However, with the rising popularity of ‘Dragon Ball,’ he changed his plan.

The manga was successfully published for 11 years, from 1984 to 1995, with the 519 chapters divided into 42 volumes. The manga series became widely acclaimed, and the sale eventually crossed 156 million copies in just one country, Japan. 

Because of its tremendous success, the manga was also published in foreign editions across Asia and Europe. It was also adapted into a string of anime series, television movies, and video games. It later became a highly rated TV anime series when the anime was aired in the United States on the Cartoon Network. 

After creating his final ‘Dragon Ball’ in 1989, Toriyama began working for its sequel, ‘Dragon Ball Z,’ with lesser comedy and more action and mainly featured martial arts. The manga premiered in Japan in 1988, and it would also become a highly rated animated television series like its predecessor. With a total of 291 episodes that were produced during the next seven years starting from 1989, the series went on to become a popular globally watched show.

For his years of contribution to comics, Toriyama received the ‘Prix Special 40th Anniversary Festival Award’ at France’s Angoulême International Comics Festival in 2013.

As of 2019, Toriyama’s original manga series sold 350 million copies worldwide.

Also Read: Hajime Isayama - 'Attack On Titans,' Book & Art

His ‘Dragon Ball Z’ Has Been Crossed Over With Other Manga and Video Games

One of the most famous and influential mangas of all time, ‘Dragon Ball Z’ has been crossed over with many other manga and video games, including ‘One Piece,’ ‘Naruto,’ ‘Toriko,’ and ‘Neko Majin.’

‘One Piece’ and ‘Dragon Ball Z’ Crossover

Two of the best-selling mangas, ‘One Piece’ and ‘Dragon Ball Z,’ were crossed over in 2006. Created in a collaboration between Toriyama and Oda, the crossover came as a one-shot manga named ‘Cross Epoch,’ which was published in Weekly Shonen Jump. The story of the crossover manga was set in an alternative universe where Shenron grants Mr. Satan’s wish to become a king. King Satan then invites all the characters from ‘One Piece’ and ‘Dragon Ball’ to attend a tea party. The various characters from the respective series hang out together at the party. The story eventually concludes when ‘Dragon Ball’ the character Goku meets ‘One Piece’ character Monkey D. Luffy at the tea party, and Goku allows Luffy to use his Flying Nimbus since Luffy cannot fly.

‘Naruto’ and ‘Dragon Ball Z’ Crossover

There have been numerous direct and indirect crossovers between Toriyama’s ‘Dragon Ball Z’ and Kishimoto’s ‘Naruto’ in different video games. Goku has battled Naruto in various video games. There are features in each of these video games which offer code that would unlock another video game character and vice versa. A first-run copy of ‘Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3’ offers a code that would unlock Goku’s outfit for Naruto. Similarly, a first-run copy of ‘Dragonball Z: Battle of Z’ provides a code that would unlock Naruto’s outfit for Goku.

Battle Stadium D.O.N.

There has also been a three-way crossover between ‘Dragon Ball Z’ (D.), ‘One Piece’ (O.), and ‘Naruto’ (N.) in 2006. The crossover was named ‘Battle Stadium D.O.N.,’ which features eight characters from ‘Dragon Ball Z,’ six characters from ‘One Piece,’ and six characters from ‘Naruto.’

He Has Created Other Many Manga

‘Akira Toriyama’s Hetappi Manga Kenkyujo’

‘Akira Toriyama’s Hetappi Manga KenkyÅ«jo,’ also known as ‘Akira Toriyama’s Clumsy Manga Laboratories,’ was the manga Toriyama co-authored with Akira Sakuma. It was an informational manga that contained drawing lessons and was serialized in Fresh Jump magazine from October 1982 to March 1984. The manga character Tori-bot teaches his young assistant Hetappi and the readers about the techniques to create manga, explaining everything from inking to the clarity of the story presented, combined with Toriyama’s classic humor elements. 

Later, a sequel of this manga was written and illustrated by Yusuke Murata titled ‘Hetappi Manga KenkyÅ«jo R’ (‘Hetappi Manga Research Lab R’). The manga was serialized once a month in Weekly Shōnen Jump from 2008 to 2010.

‘Go! Go! Ackman’

Toriyama’s short manga series, ‘Go! Go! Ackman’ follows a humorous story of a 200-year-old demon child, Ackman, who harvests souls for the Dark Devil Lord. The manga was published irregularly in V Jump magazine for 11 chapters from July 1993 to October 1994. The manga was one of the very few manga that were color printed in V Jump during that time. 

The manga was later adapted into an animated short film and three platform video games based on Ackman’s adventures.

‘Cowa!’

Toriyama’s other short manga series, ‘Cowa!,’ depicts a story of child monsters Paifu, Jose, Arpon, and the human Maruyama, as they embark on an adventure to collect medicine to save their town from the deadly epidemic from spreading. He drew this manga, taking one week ago between three workweeks to give him a slower pace to draw the series. 

The manga was serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump between 1997 and 1998 for 14 chapters. The chapters were later collected into a single tankōbon volume. It was the first major manga Toriyama produced since the end of ‘Dragon Ball.’ 

This manga was a commercial hit because it was unique from Toriyama’s typical super power-driven manga series. It also helped him create more fluid ideas throughout most of his career.

‘Kajika’

In 1998, Toriyama created Kajika, a story of a young boy, Kajika, who becomes a fox boy after being cursed by a fox named Gigi that he brutally kills. Kajika was given the stipulation to save 1,000 life forms to return to his normal state. So, he embarks on a wide variety of adventures to become a normal boy again. This 12-chapter manga was released in a single tankōbon volume and was serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump from July 1998 to September 1998. The manga has a short but entertaining story, and critics praised it for its simple structure and writing style.

‘Sand Land’

‘Sand Land’ was Toriyama’s 14-chapter manga series featured in Weekly Shonen Jump in 2000. It was collected into a single tankōbon volume later that year. It follows a story about a world where everything dries up and turns to sand during the apocalypse. When a greedy king holds up all of the water, a detective named Sheriff Rao, along with two demons named Beelzebub and Thief, heads out, searching for a new source of water.

‘Neko Majin’

Toriyama’s ‘Neko Majin,’ a comedy manga series of one-shots spanning a total of eight installments, was released from 1999 to 2005. The three one-shots were serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump and five one-shots in Monthly Shōnen Jump. The story of the series follows the adventure of the Neko Majin race, a group of cat-like creatures who have a little bit of magic and enjoy practical jokes and martial arts.

The later section of the series was titled ‘Neko Majin Z,’ in which Toriyama made a parody of his most famous work, ‘Dragon Ball Z,’ and featured some of the characters’ cameo appearances. 

‘Jaco the Galactic Patrolman’

For ‘Jaco the Galactic Patrolman,’ Toriyama adopted a unique approach to storytelling. The manga highlights the exciting life of Jaco, who is sent to Earth to protect it from an evil alien who plots to destroy human existence. It was a short story serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump for 11 chapters from July to September 2013. 

Toriyama had originally planned to illustrate ten chapters in this manga, but he added a bonus chapter at the end, attaching another story altogether. In the final chapter, the series was revealed to be a prequel to Dragon Ball, and certain characters from the series also appeared throughout the Dragon Ball universe.

“I reviewed it from an objective standpoint, and, thinking that it might be a bit too subdued since there are no flashy battles and the art style feels a bit old, I added one chapter as a bonus. All it is is an extra, and yet everyone says only that last part was interesting,” he conveyed.

‘Dragon Ball Super’

Toriyama plotted and wrote the ‘Dragon Ball Super’ manga and subsequent anime of the same name. The manga started to be featured in V Jump magazine in June 2015. The manga introduced a new character called Black Goku in 2017. In the fourth volume of ‘Dragon Ball Super’ manga, Toriyama revealed that Black Goku was inspired by Copies of the Heroes, Kamen Rider Black, and the characters like Fake Ultraman. 

The anime series aired in Japan from July 2015 and ended in March 2018, but the manga continued to be illustrated by Mangaka Toyotarau. 

The series received a theatrical sequel with the title Dragon Ball Super: Broly in 2018. According to the film’s director Tatsuya Nagamine, The film set a new record for the Dragon Ball series, collecting over $100 million globally.

On 9 May 2021 (Goku day), Toei Animation revealed that a new Dragon Ball Super movie was in the pipeline to be released in 2022. Toei stated at the time that Toriyama was overseeing the movie as the screenplay writer and character designer. Toriyama also said that he led most of the story and dialogue in the new movie, which will feature ‘extreme and entertaining bouts’ and an ‘unexpected’ character.

The new movie was later revealed as Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, and it was originally scheduled to premiere on 22 April 2022 in Japan and internationally in the summer of 2022. However, the original release date was delayed due to the hacking of the company’s servers. Later, on 14 April 2022, Toei Animation confirmed that the long-awaited movie would be released in theaters across Japan on 11 June 2022.

Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero will be the first full CGI Dragon Ball movie, and the movie will be set chronologically right after Dragon Ball Super: Broly.

What Tools Does Akira Toriyama Use For Drawing?

In a May 2013 interview, Toriyama said that he used colored paper during the serialization of ‘Dr. Slump.’ According to him, the color in the base paper brings out a sense of unity in the coloring.

In October of the same year, Shenlong Times published a list of Toriyama’s primary drawing tools that included manuscript paper, pen and pen holder, ink, color ink, ruler, drawing brush, mechanical pencil, and whiteout for correction. 

Toriyama told Shenlong Times that he used to get free manuscript paper from a paper seller that had done business with Shueisha before. He said he used to have a mechanical pencil with 0.5mm 2B lead, which he genuinely liked. However, he lost it and did not find the same model in the market. He said he has used various ones since then but never found one like that one.

Furthermore, he used a fine-point drawing brush made by Tenshōdō. He said the brush was so durable that he colored all of ‘Dragon Balls’ color illustrations with that single brush. 

He primarily used a G-Pen from Zebra, but he said he used a felt-tip pen called “Pigma” to draw ‘Neko Majin.’ Additionally, he used Pilot’s document ink and the color ink and whiteout from a manufacturer called Luma. 

Toriyama gradually shifted to digital production around the end of the ‘Dragon Ball’ serialization when he got a computer from the toy-maker Bandai. He shared that he took lessons from the company itself before using it. Further sharing how digital tools helped his illustrations, he said, “I was incredibly grateful for this tool, as I had gotten a bit fed-up with drawing illustrations. At that time, if not for the PC, I think I might have completely lost interest in drawing. I don’t have to be constantly prepping and washing out coloring implements, after all.”

However, Toriyama said he generally used digital tools only to color in his manuscripts. He would draw things using a pen, the same as before, and then scan them in and color them with the PC. 

He Is A Creator Of ‘Akira Toriyama’s Manga Theater’

‘Akira Toriyama’s Manga Theater’ is an extensive collection of imaginative and action-packed short stories and the compilation of many one-shots by Toriyama. It is divided into three distinct volumes originally released in 1983, 1988, and 1997 respectively.

‘Akira Toriyama’s Manga Theater Vol. 1’ features ‘Wonder Island,’ ‘Tomato the Cutesy Gumshoe,’ ‘Pola & Roid,’ ‘Mad Matic,’ and ‘Chobit.’ Volume 2 features ‘Today’s Highlight Island,’ ‘Escape,’ ‘Pink,’ ‘Dragon Boy,’ ‘The Adventures of Tongpoo, ‘Mr. Hō,’ ‘Young Master Ken’nosuke,’ and ‘The Elder.’ The third volume consists of ‘Little Mamejiro,’ ‘Karamaru and the Perfect Day,’ ‘Soldier of Savings Cashman,’ ‘Dub & Peter 1,’ and ‘Go! Go! Ackman.’

On 3 February 2022, VIZ Media LLC published ‘Akira Toriyama’s Manga Theater’ as a single hardcover edition. It features a collection of short stories of the first few decades of Toriyama's career, serving as a collection of his early works and a history of his life as a manga writer and illustrator.

He Has Designed Characters For Several Video Games

Toriyama has also designed and developed several video game characters. He has shaped the art style of many legendary Japanese role-playing game (JRPG) titles, including the ‘Dragon Quest’ series and ‘Chrono Trigger.’

Toriyama was hired by the Japanese video game company Enix to produce the artwork for the role-playing video game ‘Dragon Quest.’ He assisted in designing the video game characters for ‘Dragon Quest’ in 1986. Though Yuju Horii and his team had primarily created the ‘Dragon Quest’ video game series, Toriyama later illustrated the look of the entire series. He ultimately became known as the main character and monster designer of the ‘Dragon Quest’ series.

‘Dragon Quest’ is the first title in the ‘Dragon Quest’ series, developed by Chunsoft and published by Enix for the MSX and the Famicom. The video game was released in North America as Dragon Warrior in 1987.

Toriyama continued to design characters for several sequels and spin-offs of the ‘Dragon Quest’ franchise. Additionally, he also helped develop the official ‘Dragon Quest’ manga and anime based on his art style.

Toriyama later shared in an interview with Siliconera.com in 2017 that he would not have taken the job of designing characters for video games if he had known that it would go for many years.

“It was very easy to convince me to take on the job of character designer for Dragon Quest. ‘What the heck is a role-playing game?,’ I thought. That was the sort of time it was,” Toriyama said. “Really, if I had known that it would still be going on after 30 years, I don’t think I would have taken the job! Honestly, if I had known how long it would last, I would have politely declined. I’m not good at doing the same thing over and over again.”

At the time, he also said that designing characters for ‘Dragon Quest’ was fun but difficult work, but with many people working on the series, he did not have to do many designs.

In addition to the ‘Dragon Quest’ series, Toriyama’s character designs were also featured in the video game series ‘Chrono Trigger’ (1995) and ‘Tobal No. 1’ (1996).

His manga series ‘Go! Go! Ackman’ has been adapted into three-part video games. He was also involved in character designing of Blue Dragon, which was created by Mistwalker — a studio that Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi founded.

Toriyama-designed another video game ‘Dragon Ball Fighter Z’ was released on 28 September 2018. The video game features a unique character called Android 21, which Toriyama designed himself for the game. In addition, Toriyama created another unique character, Bonyu, for the 2020 video game ‘Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot.’

He Has Published Several Art Books 

Toriyama has published several art books, including ‘Akira Toriyama - The World,’ ‘Dragon Ball: A Visual History,’ and ‘Akira Toriyama: Dragon Quest Illustrations.’

‘Akira Toriyama - The World’

‘Akira Toriyama - The World,’ a.k.a. ‘The World of Akira Toriyama’ is a series of five art books that were published in Japan between 1990 and 1995. The series included three actual artbooks, such as ‘Akira Toriyama -The World,’ ‘Akira Toriyama -The World Special,’ and ‘Akira Toriyama - The World Anime Special’ and two catalogs titled ‘The World of Akira Toriyama - Akira Toriyama Exhibition.’

‘Akira Toriyama - The World’

‘Akira Toriyama - The World’ was released on 15 January 1990. It features Toriyama’s notable works throughout the 1980s, including some illustrations from ‘Dr. Slump’ and ‘Dragon Ball’ chapters, some illustrations from Toriyama’s one-shots, and some drawings related to ‘Dragon Quest.’ It also features a short picture story titled Wolf. The artbook features a total of 81 colored illustrations.

‘Akira Toriyama - The World Special’

Released on 24 September 1990, ‘Akira Toriyama - The World Special’ contains an interview and comments of Toriyama on the preface of the artbook. The artbook features 83 colored illustrations, including Toriyama’s 1981 one-shot ‘Escape,’ ‘Dr Slump’ chapter ‘Poop-Boy Finds a Home’ in color, ‘Dragon Ball’ sketches for the Vegeta and Namek Sagas, and monsters of ‘Dragon Quest.’ It mainly contains illustrations from ‘Dragon Ball,’ ‘Dr. Slump,’ and ‘Dragon Quest’ and a few images of ‘Chobit’ and ‘Pola & Roid.’ 

‘Akira Toriyama - The World Anime Special’

‘Akira Toriyama - The World Anime Special’ is a special issue dedicated to the works of Akira Toriyama. Released in October 1990, this artbook presents information about the film Dragon Ball Z: The Tree of Might, which was shown as part of a triple feature titled Toriyama Akira: The World at the Toei Anime Fair on 7 July 1990. The artbook also presents information about the anime adaptations of Toriyama’s one-shots ‘Pink’ and ‘Kennosuke-sama’ and reviews Toriyama-produced first animated film Kosuke & Rikimaru - The Dragon of Konpei Island (1988). 

‘The World of Akira Toriyama - Akira Toriyama Exhibition’

‘Akira Toriyama -The World’ two catalogs contain the noteworthy illustrations he exhibited at the Museum of Kawasaki city. The first exhibition catalog book titled ‘The World of Akira Toriyama - Akira Toriyama Exhibition’ was released in 1993, and its reprint was released in 1995. They feature Toriyama’s some of the best illustrations from ‘Dr. Slump,’ ‘Dragon Ball,’ ‘Dragon Quest,’ and his other stories.

‘Dragon Ball: A Visual History’

Toriyama’s artbook, ‘Dragon Ball: A Visual History,’ was published in the Japanese language in 2013. It features Toriyama’s color artwork, exclusive commentary, and sketches that were rarely seen. The artbook was later published in the English language by VIZ Media LLC on 12 November 2019.

‘Akira Toriyama: Dragon Quest Illustrations’

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the ‘Dragon Quest’ video games, Toriyama released an art book titled ‘Akira Toriyama Dragon Quest Illustrations’ in 2016. Published by Shueisha, the art book featured Toriyama’s more than 500 illustrations. The artbook was later published in English version on 11 December 2018 by VIZ Media LLC.

He Hosted ‘How to Draw’ With Akira Toriyama Session In 2004

In 2004, Toriyama organized an eight-step program called ‘How to Draw’ with Akira Toriyama Session at the Leipzig Book Fair in Leipzig, Germany. The session was attended by 200 people and was photographed and published in BANZAI!.

He Has Designed A Car For CQ Motors

In 2004, he got an opportunity to design a car for CQ Motors, a small electric and single-seated automobile that offered cars in five different colors. By 2005, CQ Motors began selling a car that was designed by Toriyama called QVOLT. It had a cartoonish design that was different from most of his work. The car he designed featured a seat for just one person and carried a speed of about 18 miles per hour. Only nine cars were produced for the general public. 

He Has Influenced Two Biggest Mangaka

Toriyama’s excellent artworks have inspired ordinary fans and the renowned mangaka of Japan. For example, Eiichiro Oda, creator of the hit manga series ‘One Piece,’ admired Toriyama’s artwork during the conversation between the two, which is translated into English on thegrandline.com. Oda shared that he first stumbled across Toriyama’s manga in the second episode of ‘Dragon Ball’ and instantly fell in love with it. Oda also appreciated the specific parts of Toriyama’s drawing, such as the armpits of character Ranfan and the hands of character Taopaipai.

Another renowned Japanese mangaka Masashi Kishimoto, creator of the manga series ‘Naruto,’ also admitted that Toriyama has been a “huge influence.” In the translated version of the conversation between Oda and Kishimoto on One Piece Podcast, Kishimoto says, “I’d have to say that Toriyama-sensei has been a huge influence. Of course, there’s Dragon Ball, but I really loved Dr. Slump, as well.” He elaborates, “I was considerably influenced by Dragon Ball in my story-building, I think. For example, the parts that are reminiscent of that shonen-magazine style that get you excited while reading. Or the part where Goku grows up and becomes a parent, I personally really liked that. Also, Toriyama-sensei’s balance between black and white color is superb; it makes it easy to look at, and he doesn’t even use that much screentone. I really think that’s cool.”

What Is Akira Toriyama’s Net Worth?

Toriyama has an estimated net worth of $45 million, according to Celebritynetworth. In February 2020, Comic Book Resources, a Canadian website dedicated to comic book-related news and discussion coverage, reported that Toriyama’s net worth was low, considering him as the creator of ‘Dragon Ball.’ The website ranked Toriyama as the second richest Mangaka in Japan at that time.

He Is Married To A Fellow Manga Artist And Has Two Children

On 2 May 1982, Toriyama married Yoshimi Kato, a shojo manga artist with her pen name Nachi Mikami, in Nagyoga, Japan. According to Toriyama, her wife had a longer career than him, but she gave up her career to take care of the housework after marriage.

The couple gave birth to their son, Sasuke, in 1987 and daughter, Kikka, in 1990.