Dragon Ball is a beloved anime series and one of the classics that every fan must watch at least once in their life. The thrilling action and iconic characters are enough to convince anyone to give it a try, especially the heroic and simple Son Goku. However, as with any series, one version might be the better medium to witness the story through and the manga might take the cake here. Akira Toriyama has discussed how different the portrayal of Goku in the anime is as compared to his vision in the original manga.
In most cases, the original vision of the mangaka might get skewered by the anime adaptation and those changes can be forgivable. Criticism doesn’t entirely mean it’s an overall bad adaptation and Toriyama’s words are more of a reflection. However, it’s interesting to see how a simple art style can be hard to imitate in animation and the way it changes the view of Goku from the mangaka’s vision.
Dragon Ball’s Goku Isn’t As Simple As He Seems
The simple and goofy protagonist, Son Goku, isn’t actually meant to be heroic. While the anime makes it out to be that he fights to help and save people, Akira Toriyama disagrees. In his original vision, Goku fights because he just wants to fight strong guys. He even helps out the villains at the end because he’s not interested in saving the day. Fighting others is just his passion but the anime perhaps wanted a more child-friendly reason for fighting that would align with the shonen genre.
Apart from Goku’s characterization, Toriyama was also bothered by the animation style’s version of Goku. The manga art might be simplistic and even looks like a child could draw it but it’s actually a lot more complicated. These aspects made Toriyama feel the anime wasn’t entirely too faithful to his vision. Even those responsible for spin-offs of Dragon Ball find it difficult. In an interview, Toyotaro, the illustrator of Dragon Ball Super, states:
Since at first glance Toriyama-sensei‘s pictures are so simple, back when it was running in Jump all us kids felt like we could draw them. But when you actually try, it turns out totally different. No matter what you do, you can’t draw a “real” Goku…
To this, Toriyama responds:
I suppose that’s true. Heck, even when professional animators draw it, I sometimes feel like they get it wrong (laughs). My style is simple, but I guess that’s actually what makes it so tricky. Perhaps only I truly understand it.
It shows that only the original creator truly understands their creation and this is especially true for Toriyama, a legend who gave us one of the timeless classics.
Dragon Ball: A Creation Only Toriyama Can Perfect
Toei Animation might’ve been overcompensating for the simple style that Toriyama adopts for his manga. Not everything needs to be flashy and heroic. Son Goku can be a hero without having the purest of motives and his writing and style proves that.
Simple is also better in many cases and makes it even harder to replicate. Akira Toriyama is the only person who could ever bring out the true essence of Goku. His original vision is what makes the Dragon Ball series so timeless. The shonen genre doesn’t have to be complicated and he proves it.
Dragon Ball DAIMA and Dragon Ball Z are available on Crunchyroll.
