Dragon Ballhas a number of iconic villains, but Majin Buu and his notorious sweet tooth happens to be one of the weirdest. Interestingly enough, though, Buu’s love of sweets has a real life origin.
Majin Buu is, of course, the primary villain of the eponymous Buu Saga, which sees the ancient magical being released from his seal and set loose upon the Earth. Buu terrorizes humanity, and has a particular penchant for turning people into food items, often specifically sweets. This quirk madeBuu a very memorable enemy, and when Buu was separated into his good and evil parts, the good Buu did retain his preference for sweets, although he stopped turning people into candy. Now, fans are learning how Buu developed this sweet tooth, and it has to do with Toriyama’s friend and editor, Fuyuto Takeda.
Buu’s Love of Sweets Came from Toriyama’s Editor
Takeda’s Own Sweet Tooth Inspired Buu’s
In a message onX (formerly Twitter) translated byDragon Ballsuper fan @Venixys,it’s stated that Buu’s love of sweets was based on an incident where Fuyuto Takeda, Toriyama’s third editor, had brought him some sweets as a gift, but soon broke into the candy himself, eating it alone in Toriyama’s house when Toriyama wasn’t having any sweets. This amusing anecdote was applied to Toriyama’s new villain, Buu, who soon became well known for his love of sugary snacks. It had the effect of making Buu both whimsical and terrifying, a perfect combination for a villain like him.
This isn’t the only story about Toriyama taking inspiration from his editors when it comes to his villains. Toriyama’s first editor, Kazuhiko Torishima, was said to be the inspiration for King Piccolo, while his second editor, Yu Kondo, was said to bepartially the inspiration for Frieza. Toriyama would later deny basing his villains on his editors “consciously,” but admitted that he might’ve done so subconsciously. It seems from this story about Takeda that Toriyama often drew from his real life experiences when makingDragon Ball, which might come as a surprise.
Drawing From Real Life is Normal for Writers
There’s Nothing Wrong With Taking Traits From Real People
While it might seem a little mean to have his editors be tied to his villains, there’s really nothing all that unusual about what Toriyama was doing. Artists and writers always draw from their real lives, and taking traits that people you know possess and giving them to characters can be a great way to help bring them to life, especially for a fantastical series likeDragon Ball. Buu’s love of sweets actually helped show him as someone who could potentially be negotiated with, as Mr. Satan proved. Still, it’s amusing to learn the origins of one ofDragon Ball’s biggest villains.
