CATDOLL: Dragon Ball's first editor: The Frieza arc should have been concluded as early as now

Dragon Ball is a household name that has influenced several generations and is one of the most successful boys' comics of the last century. However, many people criticized the work for being too long. Recently, Kazuhiko Torishima, who was the original editor of Dragon Ball, said frankly: "Dragon Ball should have ended with the Frieza arc."

​ Dragon Ball, the third most popular comic in history, has been translated and published in more than 30 countries, with a total of 230 million copies sold worldwide. It has been 30 years since the series was serialized, and has long surpassed the category of "national comics" and has become a favorite work of men, women, and children all over the world. In addition, the news of the latest theatrical version and new TV animation has also attracted widespread attention.

However, in reality, "Goku's long battle should have ended in the Frieza arc." - This was said by Kazuhiko Torishima, the first editor-in-chief of Dragon Ball. He shared his thoughts at a special event for the new Dragon Ball movie.

Speaking of Torishima, I believe many people will be familiar with him. He was the prototype of the enemy Dr. Master who appeared in "Arale". This also became a very famous topic at that time. He is currently also coordinating many magazine businesses. It can be said that he is a veritable "leader of Shueisha", so he also knows a lot of unknown inside stories.

For example, the appearance of enemy characters such as Piccolo, Frieza, and Majin Buu are actually based on the appearance of the editors of the works during the serialization period. Akira Toriyama has never been good at creating villains, so for him, the representative of "annoying guys" is the successive editors. And the character setting of Frieza also refers to the forced land acquisition incident that caused social problems at the time. As for Frieza's energy increase through transformation, it was influenced by the final boss in "Dragon Quest".

In addition, when it comes to the TV animation of "Dragon Ball", the title was changed to "Dragon Ball Z" during the broadcast. Torishima also explained: "Changing the title makes this work a new animation, so that the publicity funds can be used more fully." And "Z" was proposed by Akira Toriyama himself, which means "no more in the future."

Q: Dragon Ball has become more and more powerful, right? It has become a national-level anime. Now that you are watching this phenomenon from a relatively far distance, do you have any special feelings?

Torishima: Hmm~... Where should this end?

Q: That is to say, the ending is a more difficult question. Have you ever thought about where this work should end?

Torishima: I think it should end at the Frieza arc.

Yes, the original editor of Dragon Ball also admitted that the work dragged on too long. And Torishima was also unhappy about Dr. Gero and Android 18 who appeared as enemies after the Frieza arc: "If the protagonist has to fight an old man and a woman, it's better to end it."

Even Akira Toriyama, from the aforementioned statement "there will be no more in the future", can be seen that he has actually been seeking to complete the work. However, as the popularity of the work grew, more and more people and funds were involved, so it became increasingly difficult to complete it. Under no circumstances could Akira Toriyama add Cell as the villain and continue the series. The Frieza chapter of the single volume is from volume 21 to volume 28. In other words, in the entire 42-volume series, 14 volumes are actually superfluous.

We can’t imagine Dragon Ball without Cell and Buu, but the problems that many people criticized, such as “the combat power is exaggerated to the point of being worthless”, “the theme of seeking Dragon Ball is diluted”, and “death becomes meaningless”, did appear during this period. At that time, Torishima was no longer the editor of Akira Toriyama. In an interview, he repeatedly said: “I was unable to help Akira Toriyama during his most difficult period. If the Frieza arc could be completed, then Akira Toriyama should have created a third popular work (after Arale and Dragon Ball)?”

For more relevant information, please pay attention to: Dragon Ball: Super Zone

Indeed, Akira Toriyama has not released any representative comics since Dragon Ball. Torishima analyzed: "From a certain period, he was forced to draw comics. For a writer, Akira Toriyama is overloaded, and he can no longer have any inspiration in his mind." The cartoonist industry is a field where money is spent. Akira Toriyama is undoubtedly a super successful one, but he has also paid a huge price.

We can clearly see the relationship between "publishing houses that want to make money" and "genius creators who are overwhelmed by pressure." But at the same time, readers who "only support popular works" have also played a role in fueling the trend. This is especially true for magazines like JUMP, which "use questionnaire popularity as the standard for everything." Thinking about it this way, the mainstays of "JUMP" recently are often long works that have been serialized for more than 10 years. "One Piece" has released 77 volumes without any signs of completion, and "Hunter x Hunter" has been suspended for countless times, but it still exists in the name of serialization. "Naruto", which should have been completed last year, inadvertently started to launch a "spin-off". As for "Bleach", is it still being serialized?

In fact, the theatrical animation "Dragon Ball Z Resurrection "F"" released this year was also produced because of the unexpected popularity of its predecessor "Dragon Ball Z: Rise of the Gods". It is ironic that Akira Toriyama, who once expressed his unwillingness to continue in the name of "Z", was involved in the original work and script of Frieza's resurrection, and the work achieved a box office performance that exceeded that of the previous work.

There is no doubt that this time it will not be possible to "end with Frieza"? Now the TV animation "Dragon Ball: Super" has been confirmed to be officially broadcast in July. As the original author and scriptwriter, Akira Toriyama will continue the "Dragon Ball" series. It seems that he will produce 100 episodes first? ! In fact, the fact that the old rice can be reheated to this extent is definitely because the popularity of this product itself is too high. What do you think?

For more relevant information, please pay attention to: Dragon Ball: Super Zone