Tokyo: Earth Online Manga Artist

Aichi Prefecture, Japan.

In a relatively quiet and luxurious mansion.

This is Akira Toriyama's residence, which is little known.

Since the end of "Dragon Ball", Akira Toriyama has been living a relatively low-key, reclusive retirement life.

He moved back to his hometown in Aichi Prefecture from Tokyo, living in a house he designed himself with a studio, surrounded by farmland and mountains, with the nearest convenience store a ten-minute drive away.

Aside from Dragon Ball-related events and events like the Tezuka Award, he rarely goes to Tokyo anymore.

His life also became more regular, and although Dragon Ball ended, he announced that he would no longer start long-running series.

However, after Dragon Ball ended, he continued to draw many short comics, such as the later COWA, Galactic Patrolman Jaco, as well as the Dragon Quest series and Chrono Trigger that he was in charge of.

He was also in charge of the plot and character design for later Dragon Ball Super and Dragon Ball movies, but these didn't require the same kind of deadlines as weekly serializations.

Overall, after Dragon Ball ended, he lived the secluded, slow-paced life he preferred.

When Dragon Ball had just ended, he probably still had to take care of the child occasionally during the nanny's spare time.

But now that his two children are adults and have their own jobs, he has naturally retired completely.

For example, I would walk the dog in the morning, paint for a few hours in the studio in the morning, have lunch with my wife at noon, and read comics or play with models in the afternoon.

I occasionally draw the comics mentioned above, and it's a job I maintain because of my interest and sense of responsibility.

Most of the time, he spends time with his children, raises his pets, and reads comics.

He's also a motorcycle enthusiast and a model kit lover, who enjoys modifying motorcycles and assembling models.

The garage is filled with several motorcycles that he modified himself, and the shelves in the workshop are filled with various models of cars and mecha.

Anyway, since Dragon Ball ended, he has been living a very comfortable life.

He had just returned home after walking his dog outside that day.

He led his family's white Shiba Inu on a long walk along the paddy field ridge. The paddy field ridge in winter had little scenery, only dry straw stubble and barren mountains in the distance.

However, as soon as I got home...

"Why didn't you bring your phone with you again?"

His wife, Yumi Kato, stood in the entryway, waving her phone in her hand, and said with a hint of complaint, "I thought you'd gone somewhere."

"Honey, I'm sorry, I forgot again."

Akira Toriyama just smiled sheepishly, hung the dog leash on the hook by the door, and rubbed his hands, which were stiff from the cold wind. "Is there something you need?"

He really dislikes carrying his phone out, even though phones are so small and convenient now, flip phones that can fit in his pocket without getting in the way.

But he still doesn't like carrying his phone, just like before. He always feels that carrying a phone when he goes out is like having a bell hanging around his body that others can find at any time.

Many people know this, so they usually don't call Akira Toriyama for anything; instead, they either visit him in person or use old-fashioned email to contact him.

This doesn't refer to email, but to traditional mail, the kind with a stamp that you put in a mailbox.

The editors-in-chief and senior editors at Shueisha were already used to it; whenever they needed to contact him, they would either send a letter or visit him in person.

This clearly shows that Akira Toriyama is indeed a very traditional person in terms of habits and personality.

"It's nothing, I'm just going out for a bit later and I was wondering if you could bring me anything back."

The wife put her phone back in her pocket and stood in the entryway adjusting her scarf in front of the mirror. "Didn't you say you wanted to buy some magazines yesterday?"

"No need."

Akira Toriyama smiled and picked up the magazines in his hand. He had stopped by the small bookstore in front of the station while walking his dog. "I bought them on my way out."

Then he took the dog back to the mansion, hung his coat on the hanger, and the Shiba Inu trotted around behind him, circled twice in the doghouse in the living room, and then lay down.

Akira Toriyama walked into the studio, placed the magazines he had just bought on the table, and pulled out "This Manga is Amazing! 2008" and this week's serialization in Weekly Shonen Jump.

He still quite likes magazines like "This Comic Is Amazing," which serve as a trendsetter and guide for comics, mainly because he's getting older.

Older people probably have a similar feeling: as they get older, even their old hobbies become less enjoyable.

Akira Toriyama is a huge fan of manga. He has loved reading manga since he was a child. He used to be so engrossed in reading manga that he would forget to eat for an entire day.

However, with limited energy now, I have less time to read comics, especially new ones.

With more and more comic magazines being published and new series constantly emerging, he no longer had the energy to follow them one by one.

Aside from his old publisher, Weekly Shonen Jump, which he still reads regularly, he rarely reads other manga.

JUMP is delivered to his home every week; the editor subscribed for him, and he never misses an issue.

He was also very worried that he might miss out on some masterpieces.

Last year, after Takarajimasha released "This Manga Is Amazing!", he bought it out of curiosity and then bought the collected volumes of other manga that were on the charts.

This method is very convenient. Someone has already screened the list for him, so he only needs to look at the list.

Furthermore, Akira Toriyama has a well-known hobby: he loves collecting autographs from manga artists.

He collects autographs from famous cartoonists, or those he admires, much like a stamp collector.

His studio bookshelf has a whole row of autographed plaques, signed by Oda, Kishimoto, Inoue, and Togashi, each one carefully placed in a transparent protective bag.

He doesn't act like a famous cartoonist at all; instead, he collects things like a fan.

So "This Comic Is Amazing" can be considered a guide for him to collect autographs, and then he can see what good comics are available that suit his taste.

If I see something I like, I buy the standalone copy and then try to get the author to sign it.

As it turned out, last year's list recommendations were indeed quite good, and he found several works that suited his taste by following the list.

So he plans to buy it this year to watch it and then "catch up" on the series to get into the fandom.

He spread the magazine on the table and first flipped to the table of contents to glance at this year's approximate rankings.

"I wonder if Oda's One Piece will rank higher, and... will Attack on Titan, the anime by I don't eat pears, make the list."

As Akira Toriyama thought this, he scrolled down the ranking list with his finger and muttered to himself.

In recent years, his favorite work has been "One Piece", and he has praised "One Piece" on more than one occasion.

He praised it in interviews, in conversations with Oda, and never hesitated to express his love for the work in various public occasions, hoping that Oda would surpass him.

However, he also has another favorite cartoonist this year... namely, "Not Eating Pears".

Yes, it's not about my favorite comic works, but rather my favorite comic artists.

Akira Toriyama no longer liked Attack on Titan as much as he did at the beginning; he still preferred simpler, more positive, and upbeat manga.

At first, he quite liked Eri Aragaki's short story submission for the Tezuka Award for Attack on Titan.

Humanity was driven to the brink of despair by the Titans and then rose up in resistance. Eren transformed into a Titan and carried a stone to block the city wall; that scene was truly thrilling.

But what happens next...?

As the story of Titans takes a dark turn, with comrades being killed, the entire Levi Squad being wiped out, the Female Titan massacring the Survey Corps, comrades' bodies being pushed off a vehicle, and Petra's father pulling on Levi's sleeve and asking where his daughter was, he didn't really like those kinds of plot points.

He felt it was too heavy; not that it was bad, but it just wasn't suitable for him.

He's getting old and can't stand such heavy works; he prefers something lighter and more humorous, like One Piece.

Chapter 107 Akira Toriyama Advises About "Pears"

To put it bluntly, Akira Toriyama is a very traditional manga artist who likes classic shonen manga like One Piece.

The protagonist always looks forward, the partners are always trustworthy, and if they lose, they get up and fight again. There will never be a plot that makes people doubt their life, such as "It turns out that everything I did was wrong".

The main character can never make mistakes, but they also cannot be completely negated.

If the protagonist has been doing the wrong thing all along, then what's the point of continuing to persist?

Therefore, the protagonist must have sound values ​​and believe that he is mostly right.

This is Akira Toriyama's bottom line.

Attack on Titan is more dark and unorthodox, and the characters keep dying, which is not the kind of manga that Akira Toriyama likes.

He respects this kind of work, but he subconsciously feels uncomfortable when he watches it.

However, Akira Toriyama actually liked not eating pears.

The reason is actually because...

"The two short comics by 'Not Eating Pears' are really well drawn, especially 'Fog Hill of Five Elements'."

At this moment, Akira Toriyama thought of not eating pears and then thought of "Fog Hill of Five Elements," which was serialized in the short manga section of Weekly Shonen Jump last week.

When he turned to that page, he sat up straight on the sofa and looked at it intently for a long time.

He really liked the style of traditional Chinese painting from the People's Republic of China, with its freehand brushwork and ink wash, which was completely different from the precise and clean style of Japanese manga.

He himself is a so-called enthusiast of the culture of the People's Republic of China, otherwise what is Dragon Ball?

Isn't it because he really likes the traditional culture of the People's Republic of China, especially martial arts films?

He frankly told the outside world, "Without 'Drunken Master,' there would be no Dragon Ball," and that Jackie Chan's kung fu movies had a decisive influence on his creative style.

He also greatly admires the Four Great Classical Novels, and even named the characters in Dragon Ball after characters from Journey to the West.

The names Sun Wukong, Somersault Cloud, Bull Demon King, Flaming Mountain, etc., are all taken directly from "Journey to the West".

He had also read the other four classic novels and was familiar with the heroes in "Water Margin".

So, he took notice of Eri Aragaki when she drew "Wu Song" and it was published in Weekly Shonen Jump.

Akira Toriyama was also full of praise when he saw "Wu Song". He praised the plot, the storyboard and the unique art style.

Although it's a revenge story, which isn't exactly lighthearted or enjoyable, he still praised it highly because the artwork was exceptionally well done.

Then last week he saw Eri Aragaki's "Fog Hill of Five Elements" again, and he liked it even more.

Aside from its art style, the plot of "Fog Hill of Five Elements" is a classic, action-packed story with a setting where a hot-blooded young man gets into trouble and makes mistakes, eventually embarking on a path of redemption.

Wenren Yixuan got into trouble while trying to save his mother, and then fought monsters along the way to atone for his sins, which reminded him of Son Goku in the early days of Dragon Ball.

Isn't this the template for Sun Wukong?