I'm often envious of today's kids, who have more entertainment and tech perks than we did back then. But there's only one thing they think they should envy us, and that's childhood cartoons.
Looking back now, the childhood of our generation was spent in the essence of appreciating the animation of various countries, full of irreplaceable happy memories, and it was really possible to laugh out loud in dreams.
The cartoons to be mentioned today have swept the world, carried the childhood of countless people, and deeply influenced many Chinese children. And its success is far from the creator of the manga behind it - Akira Toriyama, a man who is famous for his manga, a manga artist who has traveled from the countryside to the world, and his well-known work is called "Dragon Ball".
With the end of the "Dragon Ball" series, it was gradually diluted by the young market, and even Akira Toriyama, who was regarded as a "god" by a generation, was eventually forgotten in the passage of time. However, his story, the inspirational experience of a rural teenager counterattack, deserves to be known by every generation of young people.
The father of Dragon Ball, Akira Toriyama
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Akira Toriyama was born on April 5, 1955 in Nishi kasuga-nishii, Aichi Prefecture, Japan.
Many fans have misunderstood him, believing that "Akira Toriyama" is the pen name of the manga artist, after all, the surname "Toriyama" is strange even to the Japanese, but the real name of the person is indeed "Akira Toriyama".
Nishi Kasugai is a typical rural area, and Akira Toriyama is the child of an ordinary local peasant family, with only arable land in the backyard. But it is such a simple and fulfilling rural life that gives Akira Toriyama endless creative inspiration in the future, especially in the first part of "Ala Lei" (called "Strange Doctor and The Robot Doll" in China) and "Dragon Ball".
Akira Toriyama's association with manga begins with his high school, when he studied design and participated in the "Manga Research Club" in his free time. Perhaps it was the "talent of a cartoonist" that first appeared, he was popular with many people and was once elected president.
Now let's pull the time progress bar to the stage of Akira Toriyama on the social stage!
When Akira Toriyama graduated from University, like many young people, he took his original major as his main employment direction, so he joined a design company.
But Akira Toriyama is a fledgling young man after all, and coupled with his own special laziness, being late for work has gradually become a common thing. Until one day, he was ashamed to find that the salary he received every month was even higher than that of the girls who worked in the office.
This contrast deeply hurt Akira Toriyama's "self-esteem" as a man. So he made a "turning fate" decision, quit his three-year job, and chose to pursue his dream career, cartoonist.
Akira Toriyama at work
In fact, Akira Toriyama's choice of "manga career" was also closely related to the high-paying development of the Japanese manga industry at that time. It is understood that Akira Toriyama once picked up a lost manga manuscript when he was on the train, and he was angry after reading it: What is this painting, this level is too low, I can draw better than him!
Perhaps out of this wonderful self-confidence, Akira Toriyama officially began working as a "manga artist", taking on some simple odd jobs with leaflets or poster illustrations. This was certainly not the pursuit of Akira Toriyama, who used the extra time to create a short comic with a beginning and an end based on the movie "Star Wars" that was popular all over the world at that time.
Watching the birth of his first manga work, Akira Toriyama decided to submit it, but who would he submit it to? At that time, there were two popular manga magazines in the Japanese manga industry, namely "Shonen Magazine" and "Shonen Jump". Until modern society, these two magazines are still the main force of Japanese manga artists, and their status is difficult to shake.
Akira Toriyama decided to submit his work to Shonen Magazine because the magazine had a 500,000-yen "Newcomer Award," which was an irresistible temptation for Akira Toriyama, who had no regular source of income at the time.
Unfortunately, when Akira Toriyama was excited to submit an article, he found that the deadline for "Shonen Magic" had passed, so he had to turn around and submit the manga to Shonen JUMP. Now think back, the development of the two famous magazines in the next 20 years has long been completely changed by the 23-year-old hairy painter.
Young Akira Toriyama
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Akira Toriyama's "fledgling" work did not win the expected award, because it was a copy of Star Wars, not a purely original work at all, and finally only won the "honor" of the magazine with its name listed.
Of course, many successes come from opportunities, and even the best Maxima will eventually have to meet Bó Lè in order to show its difference.
Akira Toriyama studied design and used a solid design foundation in the creation of manga to make the image and content of manga novels new and exquisite. At that time, a "rookie" editor of shonen JUMP magazine was deeply attracted by Akira Toriyama's work.
The "rookie" editor, Kazuhiko Torishima, is now the chairman of the famous Shueisha, and he can see at a glance that this manga artist with the surname "Toriyama" is extraordinary and may be able to subvert the Japanese manga industry in the future. The "fateful" acquaintance between Kazuhiko Torishima and Akira Toriyama was ridiculed by fans as "bird and bird pity".
Although Kazuhiko Torishima was a "rookie" at the time, he had always been very strict with his works, and returned a total of no less than 1,000 original manga manuscripts from Akira Toriyama. If the average person estimates that he has already retreated, Akira Toriyama is a stubborn person, and he must insist on submitting articles to Torishima and must not approve or give up.
Inspired by Kazuhiko Torishima, Akira Toriyama has finally created an excellent short manga: a comic in which a genius Doctor and a group of residents living in Penguin Village have all kinds of interesting stories that happen in their daily lives. Of course, Penguin Village is a reflection of Toriyama's hometown of Nishi Kasugai Town, and only he can create that kind of manga set in the background, the so-called "art comes from life"!
Classic animation "Alare"
Kazuhiko Torishima is very satisfied with the new work and gives Akira Toriyama an opinion: the robot girl made by Dr. Genius is very cute, let her be the protagonist, so that the manga will be more popular!
Adhering to the mentality of the creator, Akira Toriyama initially disagreed, but under the "obscenity" of Kazuhiko Toriyama, he finally gave in. Then, in January 1980, a work created by novice manga artist Akira Toriyama was serialized in the film titled Alare.
It was a work that seemed very unusual at the time, full of "Akira Toriyama-style" humor, creating a simple and relaxed atmosphere, like an atomic bomb that exploded in the Japanese manga industry in an instant, and its power quickly spread to the whole world.
The following year, the manga "Alare" was selected by Toei Animation because of its high popularity, and it appeared on the TV screen as an anime. Soon after the release of the "Alare" animation, it won a high rating of 36.9% in Japan, and was introduced into China by many countries including China, becoming the favorite anime IP of countless people in childhood.
In order to commemorate the great success of the animation of "Alare", the Japanese manga industry called 1981 the "Year of Alare". At this time, Akira Toriyama was quite popular, gaining a high status in the Japanese manga industry and receiving a high income in life.
For the creator, it is enough to have a popular work like "Alare" in his life, which is enough to become the talk of his life. But don't forget, at this time, Akira Toriyama is still a 29-year-old young man, far from the age of his retirement.
So in 1984, just as society was immersed in the reverence for "Alare", Akira Toriyama surpassed himself with a new work and created a "Mount Everest" that Japanese manga artists still cannot surpass. Yes, as you've already guessed, that's Dragon Ball.
Classic Anime Dragon Ball
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But in fact, the birth of "Dragon Ball" was completely forced out by Akira Toriyama.
When Akira Toriyama created Alare, his original intention was to have a short manga. As a result, I did not expect that "Alare" became a big hit, and soon became the top pillar of the popularity of "Shonen JUMP", and the power to end it no longer belonged to Akira Toriyama himself.
In this way, Akira Toriyama painted "Alare" for four years, until 1984, when he finally couldn't stand it and discussed with the editor Kazuhiko Torishima to end the continuation of the work. After Akira Toriyama's struggle, Shonen JUMP finally agreed to his request to finish "Alare", but with one important condition: within three months, come up with a new manga work!
At this time, the 29-year-old Akira Toriyama had no choice, and after consulting with Kazuhiko Torishima, decided to create an original manga with "Chinese style" and "kung fu" elements.
Akira Toriyama and idol Jackie Chan
In the early 1980s, Sino-Japanese relations entered a "honeymoon period", china signaled friendship to Japan, and Japan was also full of curiosity about China. In addition, Akira Toriyama himself is a fan of Chinese culture, and he also likes bruce Lee and Jackie Chan's kung fu movies, which makes him not reject new creations.
Kazuhiko Torishima and Akira Toriyama discussed the hope that the classic cultural works of The two countries in the new manga, one is the classic Chinese classic "Journey to the West", but only borrows the relevant character names and other elements; the other is the Japanese Edo period classic "The Legend of the Eight Dogs in Minami Tsukasa", which sets the tone for the adventure of the "Dragon Ball" series to find the seven Dragon Balls.
Since the first part of "Dragon Ball" mainly tells the story of "Little Goku" and his friends to live an adventurous life, looking for seven magical dragon balls scattered around the world, it was renamed "Dragon Ball" when it was introduced by the mainland.
Compared with the subsequent "Dragon Ball" works, "Dragon Ball" is the most profound influence on Chinese children, successfully leading the Chinese people into the "Dragon Ball World" created by Akira Toriyama, and recognizing another powerful "Sun Wukong".
Kazuhiko Torishima
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However, the advent of "Dragon Ball" encountered "open door black", the initial adventure plot did not get the recognition of fans, and the popularity once fell to the edge of more than a dozen, making it impossible to imagine that this is the work of the "great god" Toriyama Akira.
Just when Akira Toriyama was in distress, the discerning Kazuhiko Torishima jumped out again, and he said in a serious tone: You must add power to the story, that is, the theme element of "pursuing power"!
This time, Akira Toriyama chose to obey again, so the "World's First Budokai" appeared in the middle and late plot of "Dragon Ball", which was no longer a simple witty adventure, but successfully transformed into a bloody action.
Akira Toriyama is very attentive to this transformation, and the "World's First Budokai" will find a strong opponent for Goku in each game, and add a variety of original martial arts moves to the plot, such as "Turtle Sect Qigong" and "Sun Fist", "Dancing Air Technique" and so on.
I believe that many Dragon Ball fans really love the work of "Dragon Ball", precisely because of the bloody action drama in the middle and late stages, even if the comics of that year are black and white, it still cannot prevent us from experiencing the "passion" in it.
Dragon Ball was serialized for two more years, becoming the unshakable king of Japanese manga artists in 1987, having more than 80% of the loyal readers of Japanese manga at regular intervals, and maintaining the first place in the order on Shonen JUMP until the day it ended.
Dragon Ball Series comic book
At that time, there was no shortage of well-known manga in Shonen JUMP magazine, such as "Saint Seiya", "Slam Dunk Master" and "Big Dipper God Fist", which were all gods in our childhood hearts. Unfortunately, these comics met the "king" Dragon Ball, and they could only look inferior, after all, the Japanese manga industry at that time had this classification: "Dragon Ball" and other manga.
The popularity of "Dragon Ball", which is "unprecedented and future-like", led Toei Animation to cooperate with Akira Toriyama again and released the first animation of "Dragon Ball" in 1987, that is, "Dragon Ball". "Dragon Ball" cartoon is really too hot, in European countries and China and other places have won high ratings, and even challenged the status of traditional American animation, so that Americans are convinced to say a word: "Dragon Ball" is good!
Interestingly, the popularity of the anime opened up a new sales market for manga. In Denmark, which has a population of only 5.5 million, 1.5 million Copies of Dragon Ball comics have been sold. In the Chinese market, the "Dragon Ball" comics produced by the Hainan Photography And Fine Arts Publishing House in those years attracted countless teenagers to save money and buy back a volume of comics with poor pocket money, enjoying the unique reading pleasure of that era.
I still remember vividly that at that time, a few good friends would spend money to buy different episodes, and then borrow each other after watching them, which not only enjoyed the fun of watching comics, but also increased their indelible friendship with each other.
Dragon Ball comic book that is popular all over the world
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The popularity of "Alare" and "Dragon Ball" has made Akira Toriyama have unprecedented success. Although it is inevitable that using money to measure a person's success is a bit tacky, it is the most direct and universal standard.
In 1983, the 28-year-old Akira Toriyama paid personal income tax of about 647.45 million yen, equivalent to 40.14 million yuan at that time. It's unbelievable to think that this was 38 years ago, when anime peripherals and derivatives were not yet born, and Akira Toriyama achieved such a huge commercial success.
At that time, there was an interesting story in Japan: Akira Toriyama, who lived in Nagoya, had to drive to the airport every time he sent a manuscript to the "Shonen Magazine JUMP", but the road from home to the airport was very difficult, so he wanted to move. This can frighten the government of Nagoya, and the large taxpayers who pay more than 600 million yen a year will have to go, not only will the taxes be reduced, but also the tourism income of manga fans will be reduced. So in order to keep this big taxpayer, the Nagoya government actually built a highway from the Toriyama Akira family to the airport.
Of course, the popularity of "Dragon Ball" brought Akira Toriyama not only fame and wealth, but also the sweetest troubles - it can't be finished! For most cartoonists, short story creation is definitely a hobby, but long story creation becomes a nightmare.
The world's first budokai
Akira Toriyama originally planned the plot of the first Dragon Ball anime, that is, Goku defeated the Piccolo Demon King at the world's first martial arts meeting, thus saving the entire human world, and it should be over here.
But "Shonen JUMP" is not willing to agree, once "Dragon Ball" is finished, it means that there will be a serious decline in magazine sales, and the Shueisha behind it, as well as those companies that adapt animation, will have a chain reaction, and the Japanese manga industry will also cause turmoil. Yes, this is not an exaggeration, because Dragon Ball had such a terrifying influence at the time.
Since there was no way to finish, Akira Toriyama had to continue painting hard, so there was the later "Dragon Ball Z". And "Dragon Ball Z" can be said to be the great work of Akira Toriyama, which not only expands the world view to the universe, but also introduces new characters, new character settings, brings more intense battle screens, and makes countless Dragon Ball fans addicted.
"Monkey King" in the manga
But Akira Toriyama really doesn't want to paint, and since everyone doesn't want me to finish, then I'll just paint the protagonist to death! So in the "Dragon Ball Z" "Sharu Chapter", Toriyama Akira specially arranged Sun Wu rice as the main force, defeated Shalu, and by the way, let the original protagonist Sun Wukong take the "bento".
Just when Akira Toriyama relaxed, I thought it should be better, the protagonists are dead, then I can't go with the flow and finish. As a result, in addition to the requirements of the publishing house, Dragon Ball fans all over the world have unified their hearts "Don't end it", and Akira Toriyama had to lift his paintbrush and continue to update.
Therefore, in the second half of "Dragon Ball Z", when dueling with the ultimate boss Buu, Sun Wukong has to return to the human world even if he wears the angel aura, because the protagonist of the "Dragon Ball" series can only be him.
Sun Wukong and Ala Lei are in the same frame
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There is no unbroken feast in the world, and there is no unfinished manga, Akira Toriyama definitely let "Dragon Ball" say goodbye to everyone in 1995. That year, Shonen JUMP sold more than the previous record, reaching 6.53 million copies, as readers wanted to say goodbye to Dragon Ball, which had been with them for 11 years.
After losing Dragon Ball, shonen JUMP magazine sales declined until another feature-length masterpiece, One Piece, came out, reversing the decline in sales. Perhaps "One Piece" will repeat the phenomenon of the end of "Dragon Ball" one day in the future, and people will once again lament the hot-blooded comics that have accompanied them for many years, and another one is over.
To the surprise of many, after many years of the end of Dragon Ball, its influence has not faded, and its accumulated fan base is still so large. In order to continue the expectations of Dragon Ball fans, Toei Animation Company continued to broadcast original cartoons such as "Dragon Ball GT" and "Dragon Ball Super" after obtaining the consent of Akira Toriyama, which received unanimous praise from fans.
What about Akira Toriyama? At the end of Dragon Ball, he was only 40 years old, and it was too early to retire and enjoy his leisure.
But perhaps the creation of "Dragon Ball" was too arduous, directly draining Akira Toriyama's lifelong enthusiasm, resulting in him no longer having a long manga in his later period.
Akira Toriyama's self-created image
But does it matter? A "Ala Ray", a "Dragon Ball" is enough to make this cartoonist celebrity Qingshi, let countless fans respect and love him.
It is worth mentioning that as a representative of the golden age of Japanese manga, Akira Toriyama's "Dragon Ball" has influenced many descendants and made many young people embark on the road of "manga artists". Among them, Eiichiro Oda, author of "One Piece", and Kishimoto Kishimoto, author of "Naruto", are the most prominent, both of whom regard Akira Toriyama as a god-like presence in the manga industry.
In 2021, Akira Toriyama is 66 years old and believes that he has lived the life he desired, enjoying the peace and joy of his childhood.
Finally, I would like to thank a manga artist like Akira Toriyama for creating a bloody Dragon Ball world for us, bringing us another kind and brave Son Goku, and thank you for the enlightened and inclusive childhood that allowed us to have good contact with these excellent animations and let us have unparalleled childhood memories.