Akira Toriyama
Inside me, 'Dragon Ball' became a thing of the past, but later, I got upset at the live-action film, revised the script for the anime film, and complained about the quality of the TV anime. I guess, at some point, it became a work that I like so much that I can't leave it alone.Collection: Alone
I felt that working at an office from the early morning was impossible for me. Anyway, I wanted to be free from that lifestyle as soon as possible. I wanted to take it easy.Collection: Morning
Back when I watched 'Future Boy Conan,' I thought I might like to try my hand at animation, but now, not at all.Collection: Future
After graduating from high school, I worked at an advertising agency as a designer. After I left, I spent a year doing nothing in particular. At age 23, I drew my first comic.Collection: Age
With manga, in my art style, I don't do much in the way of techniques to create depth. But even though I don't do depth techniques through my art, I am conscious of depth itself.Collection: Art
I usually live an extremely normal life, since I live in the countryside. Even when people call me 'famous' and such, I can't really fathom it, even now.Collection: Famous
I would often draw in my sleep. That alone made for twice the work... I couldn't use the weird stuff I drew while dozing off, so I'd end up having to draw it all over again.Collection: Alone
In spite of being so absorbed in comics when I was in primary school, for whatever reason, I stopped reading them that much once I started junior high. I think it's probably because I got caught up in movies and TV.Collection: Movies
I was one of the more talented ones at the design firm I joined, so I conducted my work pretty shrewdly. Except I wasn't a morning person, so I was quite frequently late for work. On top of that, it was a fairly big company, they were fussy about the dress code, and I got chewed out quite often.Collection: Morning
When I look at it, I don't really like people, and socializing is really awful. Outside of my family, friends, and those connected to my job, I don't think I actively want to meet anyone. I've always lived in the country, after all.Collection: Family
In the second half of primary school, I liked live-action shows and giant-monster movies, and then in junior high, I got into regular movies.Collection: Movies
The women I draw all have the same sort of personality. I can't draw gentle girls; I only know how to draw ones who are strong-willed.Collection: Women
I probably have the most fun thinking up original vehicles. I usually consider details such as how to get into them and where their engines are. When you draw a real-world car, you have to obtain some references. I'd hate to have someone point out that I'm wrong. But if it's something I invented, I can have it my way.Collection: Car
I'd want to be born once more as myself, but more talented.
Maybe I'm just like a child. I'm full of curiosity about things, and it's fine as long as it's fun at that time, yet at the same time, I hate things that are tough.
Rather than deliberately trying to draw something, use something you yourself like and want to draw, and I think the characters that come out of that will really have their own individuality.
If you want to depict something exactly the way it is, it takes a tremendous amount of time. If you don't get the details right, the inaccuracies will accumulate somewhere.
There's how, basically, Son Goku from 'Dragon Ball' doesn't fight for the sake of others but because he wants to fight against strong guys. So once 'Dragon Ball' got animated, at any rate, I've always been dissatisfied with the 'righteous hero'-type portrayal they gave him.
I'm a lazy person, but if I'm not absent-mindedly doing something, I can't really relax. I can't just veg out.
I'm flying by the seat of my pants, never creating with a thought to what's up ahead!
I prefer things nice and simple.
I'm not good at doing the same thing over and over again.
Since I'm a contrarian, I don't want to go along with what everyone else thinks.
I think it's best to know about lots of different things besides comics. I don't think you can become a cartoonist if you look at nothing but cartoons.
When I draw, I always recall my mindset when I was a child.
A good aspect of me is that I'm not too particular about things. A bad aspect is that I'm indecisive.
A teleporter would be nice. There are lots of places I want to go, but getting there is a pain.
I use a G-Pen from Zebra. Different people have different preferred pen nibs. I don't put much force on it when I draw, so I'll generally use a single nib for about three chapters.
There was a manga boom, so I read 'Astro Boy,' 'Osomatsu-kun,' and such. But what influenced me the most were things like 'Popeye' and Disney animation.
Come to think of it, even though I've received tons of fan letters and presents from everyone, I've never written anyone back. How rude of me!
Weekly, monthly, or whatever, I'm just not good with being told I have to finish up according to a set schedule.
The method of producing comics in Japan is very hectic, but it's also rewarding because it's possible to do both the story and art all by yourself.
Both my assistant and my wife tell me that during battle scenes, when a character is making a 'guwaa' sort of face, my face also ends up going 'guwaa.' So afterwards, my whole face is tired. I guess it's because I'm the kind of guy who gets caught up in his own work.
What I regret most after becoming a cartoonist is having used my real name. At first, I figured there was no way I'd sell anyhow, so I didn't even consider using a pen name.
I was a mischievous child. I was also on the tall side.
I'm just a manga artist, so I can't stand being scrutinized.
It's a secret, but when I decided to apply to 'Shonen Magazine,' it was already past the deadline, so I had no choice but to go with 'Shonen Jump.' My motivation for becoming a cartoonist was... to put it bluntly, the ¥100,000 prize money.
I'm an economic human without any likes or dislikes!
I'm entirely of the mindset that when it comes to books, they've got to be paper.
I really like the story of Bardock, Goku's father. It's quite dramatic and the kind of story I absolutely wouldn't draw if it were me. It was like watching a different kind of 'Dragon Ball' in a good way, so I thought it was nice.
In the beginning, I was planning to end 'Dragon Ball' when all seven Dragon Balls had been collected.
So many, many people have helped me out with 'Dragon Ball' through the years. Obviously, there are the fans from all over the world who've cheered me on.
It's too bad that 'Dragon Ball,' which I drew for a very long time, has ended. Just kidding. I'm incredibly glad. Now I can just leisurely sit around!
It's been a habit of mine since childhood to always be looking around. When I go shopping, I have more fun observing the town than shopping.
Ever since I was little, I've shied away from romance. It's not that I dislike women, but I'm not good with them.
There have been times when I didn't quite make my deadline.
I love girls, whether they wear glasses or not!
Basically with everything, I choose my criteria based on what can be easy. If I made the real world the setting, I'd have to draw looking at reference materials for stuff like buildings and vehicles. When you do that, people complain even if it's just a little bit off.
I've always liked to draw.
In manga, nothing actually moves, and you just have to draw the poses in each panel, but in anime, you have to draw the movements between those poses.