Dragon Ball is a work that can be said to have influenced the growth of several generations, and it is also one of the most successful shonen manga at the end of the last century. But the work was too long, and it was once criticized. Kazuhiko Torishima, who recently served as the first editor of the work, said frankly: The manga should end in the Frieza chapter.

In this regard, some Japanese media have made special reports, as follows:

Dragon Ball, which has the third largest circulation in the history of domestic manga, has been translated and published by more than 30 countries, and has accumulated 230 million copies around the world, has now been serialized for 30 years, and has long gone beyond the category of "national manga" and has become a favorite work of men, women and children all over the world. And the recent news of the latest theatrical version and the new TV animation has also attracted widespread attention.

However, in fact, "Goku's long battle should have ended in the Frieza chapter." - This was said by Kazuhiko Torishima, the original editor in charge of Dragon Ball. He shared his thoughts at a special event for the new theatrical version of "Dragon Ball" held recently.

When it comes to Bird Island, I believe many people will not feel unfamiliar. He is the prototype of Dr. Master, the enemy who appeared in the previous "Aralei". This also became a very famous topic in those years. At present, he is also in charge of many of the magazines, and he can be said to be a veritable "leader of Shueisha", so he also has a lot of unknown insider information.

For example, the appearance and characteristics of enemy characters such as Vic Arch, Frieza, and Majin Buu are actually based on the appearance of the editors in charge of the serialized works at that time. Akira Toriyama has never been good at creating villains, so for him, the representative of the "nasty guy" is the previous editor. In addition, Frieza's character setting also refers to the forced land expropriation incident that caused social problems at that time. As for Friessaton's transformation to increase his energy, it was influenced by the final boss in "Dragon Quest".

In addition, when it comes to the TV anime of "Dragon Ball", the title was changed to "Dragon Ball Z" during the broadcast process, and Torishima explained, "Changing the title to make this work a new anime, so that we can make more full use of the promotional expenses." And the "Z" was proposed by Akira Toriyama himself, which contains the meaning of "there will be no more in the future".

In this event, Bird Island exposed a lot of untold stories for us, but the most shocking thing should be the "length problem" we mentioned at the beginning of the article.

Q: Dragon Ball has gotten better and better, hasn't it? It has become a national animation and a national comic. And now that you're looking at this phenomenon from a relatively distant place, do you have any special feelings?

Torishima: Hmm~...... Where exactly should it end......

Q: In other words, how to end up is a headache. Have you ever thought about where this work should end?

Torishima: I think it's better to end at the place of the Frieza chapter.

That's right, the original editor in charge of Dragon Ball also admitted that the work dragged on too long. And Dr. Gro, who appeared as an enemy after the Frieza chapter, and Android 18 also made Torishima unhappy: "If the protagonist is already going to fight with the old man and the woman, then it's better to end it." ”

Even Akira Toriyama, as for his part, can see from the aforementioned remark that "there will be no more" that he has been seeking to bring the work to a finish.

However, as the popularity of the work grew, more and more people and money were involved, and it became more and more difficult to finish. In desperation, Akira Toriyama could only add Sharu as the villain and continue the serialization of the work. The Frieza chapter of the single book is 21~28 volumes. In other words, of the entire 42-volume series, 14 volumes are actually added to the story.

We can't imagine "Dragon Ball" without Saru and Buu appearing now, but the problems that many people criticized as "exaggerated combat power to the point of worthlessness", "the theme of seeking Dragon Ball being downplayed", and "death becoming meaningless" did arise during this period.

At that time, Torishima was no longer the editor of Akira Toriyama, and in an interview, he repeatedly said, "I was not able to help Akira Toriyama during the most difficult time. If it can be said that the Frieza chapter can be completed, then Akira Toriyama should create a third popular work (after "Aralei" and "Dragon Ball"), right? ”

Indeed, since Dragon Ball, Akira Toriyama has not released a representative manga work.

Torishima analyzed, "From a certain period of time, he was forced to draw manga. For a writer, Akira Toriyama is already overloaded, and inspiration no longer appears in his mind. ”

The manga industry is a field where a lot of money is thrown, and Akira Toriyama is certainly a super successful among them, but at the same time, it has come at a huge cost.

We can clearly see the relationship between "publishers who make money" and "talented creators who are knocked down by pressure". But at the same time, readers who "only support popular works" also play a role in fueling the fire. This is especially true for magazines like JUMP, which are based on questionnaire popularity.

When you think about it, the most recent titles that can be called the pillars of "JUMP" are often long-form works that have been serialized for more than 10 years. "One Piece" has been released 77 volumes without any signs of ending, and "Full-time Hunter" doesn't know how many times it has been suspended, anyway, it is still stored in the name of serialization, and "Naruto", which was supposed to end last year, inadvertently began to launch a "Gaiden" again...... Hey, isn't Bleach over yet?

Here, we sincerely hope that every author will not "go blank in the brain". (Although there may already be someone like this)

Speaking of which, the theatrical version of the anime "Dragon Ball Z Resurrection "F" released this year was also made because of the unexpected popularity gained by the previous work "Dragon Ball Z God vs. God". It is ironic that Akira Toriyama, who was in charge of the original and scripting of Frieza's resurrection, was involved in the work of expressing that he did not want to continue under the name "Z", and that the work achieved box office results that surpassed those of its predecessors.

There is no doubt that this time the work will not be able to "end here in Frieza", right?