Akira Toriyama’s influence on the manga and the anime industry is undisputed by all means. The mangaka made waves decades ago with his opus Dragon Ball and it holds relevance to this day. With millions of readers and viewers worldwide, the series has soared in popularity but that is not all.
Interestingly, he was at the helm with DAIMA’s production despite everyone’s concerns. From characters to landscape, Toriyama worked brilliantly on each element. But what actually stands out is their approach toward the time taken for the series, which was ultimately a boon and bane.
Akira Toriyama held the reins for his final project
Often, mangaka do not involve themselves in anime and its production process. However, with Akira Toriyama, that wasn’t the case, especially considering his final project. He previously gave the animators a layout and storyboard which served as a primer for the series.
On top of that, he worked in tandem with the manga artist Toyotarou for the series Dragon Ball Super. Toyotarou has previously worked on fan fiction for the series and has even been acknowledged by Toriyama sensei. The final project, however, was mostly done by Toriyama.
In retrospect, the mangaka was in a bad shape during DAIMA‘s production. He even opened up about his condition a few months before his passing. Needless to say, this concerned both animators as well as the colleague and despite that, he worked on the project entirely and even took control of it.
In an interview with Mantan Web, Ino Akio, the executive producer of the Dragon Ball series, revealed Toriyama’s involvement in the series. They said:
In order to avoid putting a burden on [sensei], I didn’t want him to make the entire thing, but rather just wanted him to take a look at it, and I asked him what he thought.
The Director’s concerns were overlooked and the mangaka went ahead with the process anyway. He later revealed how the mangaka designed the storyboard, characters, and outline for the project. It was done smoothly, however, time was both a boon and a bane for the production team.
Time was both a boon and a bane for Dragon Ball DAIMA’s production
Patience is the key, something we’re often told by elders. It worked out well with Dragon Ball DAIMA’s production, especially when we looked at the well-put elements and storyline. From worldbuilding to characters, the series stands out in its unique way.
A large part of this has to do with the series’ brilliant animation done by Toei. This also ties in well with the criticism of it being solely carried by animation. But there is more to it, especially with the amount of time it took to come to fruition. It was both a blessing and a curse for the animators.
Akio opened up about their approach to production and time taken. They said:
It’s been six years since we first discussed it, so it took a long time to work on it. We didn’t decide on a broadcast date from the beginning, and we didn’t think about when or how it would be aired, so we made it without worrying about time. There were a lot of elements, so we rearranged and expanded it, and revised it many times, and we made it carefully.
Indeed, the time played out well in the series’ production. The go with the flow approach was the best thing to do and it fits perfectly with the plot. It makes it more coherent but there are downsides as well.
The six years were still not enough to combat the issues with the series, be it marketing and hype. This is precisely the reason why it was overshadowed by other series. In the end, though, the series surpassed Toriyama sensei’s previous projects in many aspects.
Dragon Ball DAIMA is available for streaming on Crunchyroll.
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