THE IMPACT ON WORLD MANGA CULTURE AND

LEGACY OFTORIYAMA AKIRATORIYAMA Akira, the influential manga artist known for the celebrated Dragon Ball series, died on March 1,2024. What did he achieve during his life, and what hidden potential lies in Japanese manga culture, which wasmade into a global phenomenon by his works?
Dragon Ball, one of Japan’s most iconic manga andanime series, is an adventure story about the quest forthe magical Dragon Balls, seven orbs which summon
a wish-granting dragon when all are collected. Newsof the recent death of author TORIYAMA Akira
spread internationally, and tributes received from all

corners of the world testify to the global popularityof the man and his work.
The worldwide success of the Dragon Ball animeseries, which began broadcasting in the late 1980s,
marked the beginning of the Japanese anime andmanga boom. Dragon Ball’s simple yet profoundstoryline and dynamic battle scenes, studded withhumor, enraptured readers and viewers. Backed by his
superb artistic skill, Toriyama’s works have electrified
fans with their distinctively deformed character
designs and worlds that inspired many imitators.
“While his work was a form of entertainment all
could enjoy, I think its wide acclaim owed a lot to his
artistic talent for crafting such high-quality works,”
says ITO Yu, specially appointed associate professor
at the Kyoto Seika University International Manga
Research Center.
“In general, dialogue in Japanese manga is writtenvertically and the books are bound on the right side.
In the past, when translated versions were published,
the pages were mirrored to let people read thedialogue horizontally, from left to right [as in Westernlanguages]. When the complete Dragon Ball series
was translated and published, however, Toriyama
requested that all his books be right-bound, which issaid to be why that has become the global standard

Translated into 25 languages, theDragon Ball series became a worldwide
hit. ITO Yu’s private collection.

Above: The Kyoto International
Manga Museum houses 300,000
manga items in its collection,
displaying 50,000 volumes
across the total 200-meter
length of its Wall of Manga.
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE KYOTO
INTERNATIONAL MANGA MUSEUM

Left: Ito Yu has curated
numerous manga exhibitions,primarily at the Kyoto
International Manga Museum.
Here, he holds editions fromthe Manga Museum collectionof the Weekly Shonen Jumpmagazine, in which Dragon Ballwas carried.

The late manga artist TORIYAMA Akira shown drawing sketches forDr. Slump. At the time this photo was taken in November 1981, thestory was being serialized in the manga magazine Weekly Shonen Jump.
THE MAINICHI SHIMBUN/AFLO

for manga. So, in many ways, the Dragon Ball series
was a turning point,” explains Ito.
Japanese manga are now widely read around theworld, thanks in part to the Dragon Ball series, and thenature of the industry itself is having a global impact.
“In 2020, we produced a Shojo Manga exhibition inIndia. One of the distinct features of Japanese mangais that many of the authors and readers are women.
The very structure of Japan’s manga culture, where wesee a popular culture created by women for women,might bring hope to people in parts of the world
where women’s rights are lacking,” says Ito.
Some people say that the spread of Japanese manga
has created a borderless world, but Ito views it in aslightly different way: “It is not so much that theborders themselves have disappeared, but rather thatthe culture has transcended them. Changes may bemade to certain manga depending on the country; forinstance, age-related restrictions might be imposed,or extra clothing added to hide female skin. Thoseare not necessarily terrible things; instead, knowing
the differences should be a good starting point forunderstanding different cultures.”
Much like the eponymous Dragon Ball orbs,
scattered across the world, Toriyama Akira’s works
have reached all corners of the earth. What exactly
happens when we communicate with people aroundthe world through these works? Surely, it is a mutual
understanding that goes beyond national andcultural borders.