There are few mangaka who’ve had longer and more successful careers thanDragon Ball’s Akira Toriyama. One key element of Toriyama’s success was his distinctive art style, which influenced thousands of aspiring mangaka and artists, and that art style evolved over time, although never more noticeably than afterDragon Ballitself ended.
Akira Toriyama was known for a variety of different elements to his style; Toriyama obviously paid close attention to hair, for example, as hair style changes were often a sign of big things inDragon Ball(such as Super Saiyan).Toriyama was also well known for his approach to drawing machines, especially cars, which he would do in an extraordinarily detailed style that was, at the same time, evocative of “chibi” aesthetics. He often avoided attempts at realism, preferring to use exaggerated styles, which have become emblematic of anime as a whole to this very day.
How Akira Toriyama’s Style Shifted After Dragon Ball
Toriyama’s Editor Made Note of His Style Evolution
In an interview from the Japanese podcast KosoKoso,as translated to English by X (Formerly Twitter) user @Venixys, Toriyama’s former editor, Kazuhiko Torishima, commented on how difficult it was for others to match Toriyama’s style. Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru, a character designer who nowadays is known for matching Toriyama’s style, often struggled initially to capture Toriyama’s style; he was eventually sent to Toriyama’s studio to receive corrections to his art in person, and over time, came to emulate the classicDragon Ballstyle.
Torishima noted that Toriyama’s style evolved over time, particularly afterDragon Ballended. Toriyama had a distinctive balance of stiffer lines and more fluid ones which came together to create his distinctive style.However, some of this was lost in his transition from pen and paper drawing to digital art, making the lines less “expressive” than they had been. Torishima also speculates that some of the change in style may have come down to age, citingmanga’s godfather, Osamu Tezuka, who saw a distinctive shift in his own style after he hit his mid-50s, when he began to lose flexibility in his wrist.
In that sense, then, there were two distinct things affecting Toriyama’s style in this era: a period of adjustment to digital tools rather than physical ones, and the undeniable march of time. In the modern era, essentially only Eiichiro Oda, creator ofOne Piece, still draws his chapters by hand with pen and paper, with most other artists feeling they have little choice but to use modern digital tools, regardless of whether that suits their personal style or not.
Toriyama’s Style Changes Were Evident
The Evolution of Toriyama’s Art After Dragon Ball Was Readily Apparent
With changes in the tools he used, as well as his own body, it’s not surprising that Toriyama would develop a slightly new style afterDragon Ball. EvenDragon Ballwas quite different from some of his earlier works, likeDr. Slump, as it is, so there’s nothing wrong with his style continuing to evolve further over time. It’s easy to forget, but drawing can actually be a rather physically intense activity at times, and this ultimately factored into Toriyama’s decision to step away fromthe art inDragon Ball Super, leaving that up to his new apprentice, Toyotaro.
While Toyotaro is fantastic at capturing the spirit ofDragon Balland Toriyama in his art, it’s still fairly easy to tell a Toyotaro drawing apart from a Toriyama one, even at just a glance.Perfectly capturing Toriyama’s distinctive style just may not be possible to do, especially as he began to age. And, of course, there’s also the fact that even throughoutDragon Ball, Toriyama’s style was changing and evolving. This is especially apparent when one compares character appearances from different arcs, such as Goku during the Saiyan Saga to Goku during the Buu Saga.
Fans often prefer the style seen in the first half ofDragon Ball, as designs for characters became more complicated as the series went on–compare Cell to Piccolo, for example. Some also complain that later designs, such as Super Saiyan 3, were too muscular and thus complicated, making them more difficult to follow during fight scenes. Toriyama himself later backed away from such overly muscular designs, too, preferring thinner, fit-looking appearances for characters like Goku–something that was key to the development of Super Saiyan God, for example.
How Have Other Classic Mangaka Evolved Their Art Over Time?
Other Manga Artists Have Seen Their Own Growth and Changes
Toriyama’s contemporaries often had distinctive art evolution as well. One notable case would probably be Yoshihiro Togashi, whose style changed substantially throughout the run ofYu Yu Hakushoand, later,Hunter X Hunter. The former was especially strongly influenced byDragon Ballwith its comedic elements and darker story arcs later on, however Togashi always had a distinctive style all his own, which helped his work to flourish.Togashi unfortunately suffered some major damage to his hips and lower back, which dramatically impacted his ability to draw.
Toriyama’s influence on other mangaka truly can’t be overstated.His iconic art style and memorable characters became the inspiration for people fromOne Piece’s Eiichiro Oda toBleach’s Tite Kubo toNaruto’s Masashi Kishimoto, who in turn inspired a whole new generation of modern artists that still look back on Toriyama’s work with reverence and awe. While Toriyama may no longer be with us, his artwork always will be, and so long as that’s the case, he will continue to inspire new artists to take up the pen.
Toriyama’s art style may have changed over time, but that’s a natural consequence of being an artist. The advancement of technology, as well as his age, led to some noticeable differences in his style, but ultimately it was still instantly recognizable as Toriyama’s artwork. Akira Toriyama’s inimitable style remains uniquely his, regardless of how much it has changed over his long and illustrious career. Hopefully, future fans ofDragon Ballwill still be able to appreciate Toriyama’s unique art and its influence for decades to come.
