‘Dragon Ball’ Boss Reveals Akira Toriyama Did “Most Of The Work” For ‘Dragon Ball Daima’, Confirms Plans “To Expand” Franchise
With the conclusion of Dragon Ball Daima fast approaching, current franchise head Akio Iyoku has not only revealed the true extent of late series creator Akira Toriyama’s involvement in its production, but also confirmed that Goku’s latest adventure will be far from his last.
The President of Capsule Corporation Tokyo, a holding company established prior to Toriyama’s passing meant to oversee production of Dragon Ball‘s non-manga media productions, Iyoku opened up about the current state of the franchise during a recent Daima-centric interview given to the online Japanese news publication Mantan Web.
Speaking to the series’ production history, Iyoku revealed that not only did development on Daima begin while work was still being done on the Dragon Ball Super Super Hero theatrical film, but also that he was originally meant to have his usual minimal amount of involvement in the anime series’ production, only choosing to jump onboard after reading its initial draft.
“[Of any Dragon Ball anime], He had been the most involved with Daima the most,” said the Capsule Corp boss. “I was thinking of having him take a look at it, rather than having him make a full-length version, so as not to put a burden on him. However, Mr. Toriyama became more and more enthusiastic about the idea, and in the end, I asked him to create most of its story.”
As a result, recalled Iyoku, the legendary managaka ultimately “wrote the entire story as well as drew most of the characters.”
“For example, he drew everything from the characters in the bar [as seen in the series’ self-titled third episode, Daima], to the monsters that appear in various parts of the Demon Realm, the planes, and other mecha,” he explained. “I was most surprised by Warp-sama’s design. I was like, are you serious?! Only he could have come up with the idea of a goldfish-like mecha that could travel to other universes.”
“And then there is the worldview,” he continued. “There are three demon worlds in the Great Demon World, the first one, the second one, and he thought about the shape and origin of each one. There are almost fewer parts that he didn’t do.”
From there, Iyoku was pressed on his feelings regarding the “greatness” of Toriyama and his work, to which he affirmed, “The easiest way to understand it is through his drawings.”
“I think everyone can see that they are unique,” he explained. “From my experience working with him, I feel like his world is amazing. It is very difficult to create an original world. You have to ask yourself, ‘What is this world like? What kind of characters will appear?’ It is amazing. In addition, he had a spirit of service, which always surprised me.”
“I took a lot of time to work on it since we first talked about it six years ago,” he concluded, attempting to assure fans of him and his team’s dedication to honoring Toriyama’s creative intent. “We didn’t decide on a broadcast date from the beginning, and we didn’t think about when and how we would do it. There were so many elements that I had to rearrange, expand, and rework them over and over again to make it right.”
And though Daima may be coming to an undoubtedly explosive ending in a little over a week-and-a-half, Iyoku informed Mantan Web that whatever fate may befall Earth’s defenders at the finish line, it would not mark the end of their stories, as he and the team at Capsule Corp are already hard at work producing evermore pieces of Dragon Ball media.
“Animation and games are not created so quickly, and it takes time,” said the company president. “We are trying to develop them well while preparing for them. We would like to expand further.”
(While fans may find it curious that Iyoku made no specific mention of the Dragon Ball Super manga’s future, this is likely due to the fact that its production rights are currently in dispute between Capsule Corp and series publisher Shueisha, thus leaving it entirely unknown as to who will oversee it going forward.
At current, Dragon Ball Daima is set to bring its Demon Realm outing to a close when its final episode airs on February 28th.
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