Our coverage of this month’s new Dragon Ball books continues! In addition to an overview page in our “Databook Guide” and a complete review on Episode #0333 of our weekly podcast, we are happy to present a complete English translation of the new “Akira Toriyama Super Interview: Latest Edition” from the new Chōgashū (“Super Art Collection”). In addition to that, we are actually dipping into the past a little bit and providing an accompanying piece of history: an English translation of the Shenlong Times included with Daizenshuu 7: Large Encylopedia from 1996.
The new interview dives into Toriyama’s entire stretch of working on the series along with his switch from old-school to digital art, and the interview portion of the old Shenlong Times ties in nicely with a tidbit about the type of computer Toriyama began using. Also featured in this Shenlong Times are hilarious comments from fellow manga author (and friend of Toriyama) Masakazu Katsura. Both interviews also touch upon Toriyama’s involvement with Dragon Ball GT, making for an even nicer complement to each other and reason to share them together like this.
Enjoy, and look forward to more interview translations — old and new alike! — in the future.
6 Comments
I always crack up when I read the Katsura tidbits toward the end of the Shenlong Times interview. He and Toriyama really are like the ‘odd couple’ of manga authors, heh.
They mention Katsura drawing something for Shenlong Times, I’m assuming this is the one picture of Goku as well as the secondary page with a sketch of #18, Toriyama (as Katsura sees him anyway heh), and Katsura himself as ‘K2R Man’, right?
This was a bit sad to read, but I guess it’s what we already knew:
“Even now, Dragon Ball isn’t much of a fun motif to draw, but as a result, I think I was probably able to really loosen up and concentrate on the plot developments and action.”
A “z” is missing from Kazuhiko Torishima’s name in the new interview.
WEE GOT PAAAAWA
DORAGON BORU… ???
He mentions it isn’t a fun motif to draw, but maybe that is separate from being a fun story to tell nonetheless?? Just out of curiosity what was the original Japanese word that mottir was translated from?? Thanks for the wonderful translations, some nice behind the scenes information there!!
That sentence in Japanese is:
今でもドラゴンボールは絵を描いていてあまり楽しいモチーフではありませんが、結果としてうまく力が抜けて展開やアクションの方に集中できたのではないでしょうか。
The word he uses for “motif” is, er… “motif”.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/motif
mo·tif [moh-teef] Show IPA
noun
1.
a recurring subject, theme, idea, etc., especially in a literary, artistic, or musical work.
2.
a distinctive and recurring form, shape, figure, etc., in a design, as in a painting or on wallpaper.
3.
a dominant idea or feature: the profit motif of free enterprise.