To Akira Toriyama

Every Saturday, I come home from school to watch one of Toriyama's legendary series, Dragon Ball Z, during the darkest saga yet. The android saga is brutal and intense yet character driven with iconic characters going through their arcs, whether it is Goku trying to overcome his heart virus, Vegeta learning to find ways to surpass Goku or Gohan learning to embrace his newfound power to defeat cells. It gave us some character-driven arcs and had masterful animation and choreography that elevated the series and inspired many iconic Shonen series, such as Masashi Kishimoto's Naruto and Eiichiro Oda's One Piece. Toriyama is not only a mesmerizing manga artist or storyteller but a role model who created an everlasting legacy to inspire the fans and the whole world and my dreams to become the best role model I can be. A legacy that inspires art itself and elevates those to keep pushing beyond their limits. A beautiful dream of filling the world with colour and action is continued by many fans who are still in awe of his innovative art and story. A world of Toriyama.

The Icon Himself

The World Of Dragon Ball

Before Toriyama's global phenomenon Dragon Ball Z was made, Toriyama achieved his first success in writing and drawing the comic manga "Dr Slump", which was serialized from January 1980 to August 1984. Dr Slump takes place in Penguin Village, a place full of harmony where humans and animals coexist. The story's protagonist is Senbei Norimaki, a genius raiding this village. To create the perfect girl robot, he constructed a flawless robot named Arale Norimaki. However, it takes a turn when Arale requires wearing glasses to see. Dr Slump's uncanny yet imaginative manga series has formed a foundation for Toriyama's comedic writing and distinctive art style yet to come for the early adventures of Son Goku in 1986's Dragon Ball. The manga series "Dragon Ball" was initially called "Dragon Boy", which was inspired by Jackie Chan's film Drunken Master and was featured in Weekly Shōnen Jump in 1983. The show revolves around an optimistic yet determined protagonist called "Son Goku" whose characteristics revolve around the Chinese mythology character "The Monkey King" who highlights a sense of righteousness and compassion which evolves throughout his whole journey from meeting a scientist named Bulma to help her find the dragon balls to pushing his limits to fight powerful beings to protect his planet. The show explores his character and others and how they influence his journey, with one fantastic example being the Prince Of All Saiyans, Vegeta.

Vegeta is one, if not one, of my favourite characters in fiction. The idea of an elite class warrior whose purpose is to conquer planets slowly being influenced by "Son Goku" and the characters around him to become a changed family man whose purpose is to use his pride to fight for his family. Vegeta's character further explores the idea of social hierarchy with the Saiyan race, introducing a class that determines their potential and place in the warrior race. This challenges the notion of whether our potential determines our place. This philosophy was implemented in Vegeta and challenges Goku's ideals of hard work vs talent. It taught me that even with talent, we never judge those capable of hard work and becoming the best they can be. It teaches us that our journey may differ from everyone else's, but our passion and determination will get us to the finish line. It is a fascinating philosophy that Toriyama has implemented and explored in his series, which culminates in "Son Goku", being the first Super Saiyan of legend to defeat the tyrannical emperor Lord Frieza himself. The world of Dragon Ball tells us that to find our place in this world, we must start somewhere and build our foundation from the bottom to achieve the impossible.

A Beautiful Legacy

Watching my first Dragon Ball movie, Battle Of Gods, despite only watching the Android and Frieza arc, was confusing yet magical as if it felt like revisiting an old friend. No matter if people watch 1 or 2 sagas of this fantastic franchise, Dragon Ball Z, is a legacy that is something to behold and continues to expand through many types of media, whether it is TeamFourStar's Abridged Dragon Ball Z Series, Toyotaro's Super manga, watching TotallyNotMark Dragon Ball Z's movie reviews, developing video games for the franchise. The legacy keeps evolving, whether made by Toyotaro, video game developers or the fans themselves. It solidifies that Dragon Ball Z isn't just a Shonen series but has evolved into an idea. An idea where we push our creativity beyond our limits and use our strength to be compassionate with people around us. To Toriyama, thank you for the legacy you have made and the massive impact on our lives, whether it is Goku defeating Demon King Piccolo, Vegeta attaining his Super Saiyan transformation, or Gohan beating Cell with a father and son Kamehameha. Akira Toriyama, thank you for everything.