In two separate interviews, the creators of the popular manga and anime series “Dragon Ball” and “One Punch Man”, have shared their thoughts on their respective projects. Akira Toriyama revealed how “Dragon Ball” started out, while Yusuke Murata revealed how he was inspired to draw and eventually create “One Punch Man”.
Gohan Should Have Been The Hero
Creator of the famed manga and anime series, “Dragon Ball”, Akira Toriyama has revealed how it all began. After working on “Dr. Slump”, he created a one-shot kung fu manga called “Dragon Boy”, and it was received well by readers. Thanks to this, he decided to create a serialized version. Hence, the birth of “Dragon Ball” but went through a series of experimenting as seen in the different arcs produced.
There was a time Goku had a tail and this was because Toriyama originally based the characters from the popular Chinese novel, entitled “Journey To The West”, which had main characters in the forms of a monkey, pig, and a water buffalo. He revealed that before Goku became one of the strongest fighters, he actually went through defeats. The making of the characters just piled on as he progressed with the story of “Dragon Ball”.
Originally, Toriyama planned Gohan as the main protagonist of the story. However, he realized that it wouldn’t work out. He said that Gohan, compared to Goku, was ultimately not suited to become the hero of the “Dragon Ball” series. Though Goku became the hero, Toriyama admitted that his favorite character is Piccolo and also pointed out that he didn’t actually like Vegeta that much.
“One Punch Man” Creator Comments On Goku Vs. Saitama
Akira Toriyama has been working on “Dragon Ball” since 1984, and it is no surprise that he would be idolized by other popular manga creators. Yusuke Murata, the creator of “One Punch Man” manga remake, has been making drawings since 1990's, He revealed that he looked up to Toriyama as well as ONE, the artist who created the original web comic series of “One Punch Man”. According to Murata, Toriyama was the first person that influenced him to get into drawing.
He further revealed that he looked up to Toriyama so much, that he wished to have the same drawing skills as the popular animator. Thanks to Toriyama, Murata was inspired to work on various manga projects, which eventually led to the remake of “One Punch Man”. With his series led by a character, probably as strong as Goku, he admitted that he actually does not know who would win if Goku and “One Punch Man” hero, Saitama, fights each other.
