Dragon Ball Daimawas the last project that series creator Akira Toriyama worked on, and now fans know exactly what Toriyama contributed to the series, thanks to a newly translated interview from Japan. Fans may be surprised to learn just how involved Toriyama was, and how the project truly bears his fingerprints.
Dragon Ball Daimawas announced prior to Toriyama’s death, but even at the time, his involvement was emphasized as something special, since Toriyama had rarely been too involved with the anime side of theDragon Ballfranchise. While Toriyama often provided character designs for other projects, he rarely had input in the story, as was the case for many of the classic 90’s-eraDragon Ballfilms. ForDaima, however, Toriyama had the chance to help shape the project from the very beginning, and seized upon this opportunity to create something truly unique.
Toriyama Worked Diligently at Crafting Daima’s Storyline
An interview with Akio Iyoku, a former editor forShonen Jumpwho now works exclusively withDragon Ball,from the Japanese newspaper Kitanippon Shimbun, wastranslated by X (Formerly Twitter) User @Venixys, and the subject matter deals primarily with Toriyama’s involvement with the series.Iyoku reveals that they initially didn’t expect much from Toriyama, but that the series creator gradually became more involved until finally he was doing “almost everything.”
“He created the entire story. He designed nearly all the characters–from those in the tavern to the various monsters appearing throughout the Demon Realm. Even the mechanical designs, like the aircraft, are his work,” said Iyoku. “He even conceptualized the entire world of the Demon Realm, which consists ofthe First, Second, and Third Realms, each with its own unique form and history.” Iyoku emphasized that Toriyama’s focus was on storytelling, going back and designing characters and setting around the story he wanted to tell. Toriyama also put in great effort designing characters, such as Panzy’s father, King Kadan.
Toriyama Created Everything Unique About Daima From Scratch
The Work Akira Toriyama Put In Exudes from Every Episode of Daima
From Iyoku’s description, it seems that even the setting of the Demon Realm was Toriyama’s creation, and that hadn’t been where they originally intended to set the story. He even compared the story ofDaimato a video game, where characters travel and pick up additional party members as they go along.Creating so many characters required a lot of work from Toriyama himself, but he put in tremendous effort with each and every one, as is apparent from many of the one-off and background characters, who still remain memorable.
Iyoku doesn’t get into whether elements likeGoku’s Super Saiyan 4or Vegeta’s Super Saiyan 3 scene were explicitly Toriyama’s ideas, but it can at least be assumed that Toriyama was aware of these story beats and didn’t have a problem with them.Dragon Ball Daimawas obviously a passion project for Toriyama, something that he enjoyed working on in what would turn out to be his final days.
