The official Dragon Ball website’s twenty-second entry in “The Nearly Complete Works of Akira Toriyama” — an on-going series highlighting rare and important pieces of the author’s work over the years — is a postcard the author sent to his fanclub in February 1984. The website’s commentary notes the cute scene between Arale and Obotchaman being a rarity for Toriyama, who is not good with romance. It also notes that the postcard has, “Give me chocolate!… I don’t need any from boys!” written, though this is not visible on the side shown here; in Japan, chocolate is traditionally given by girls to boys on Valentine’s Day, which is reciprocated a month later on White Day.
February 14th is Valentine’s Day!! Do you have someone to give chocolate to? Will you get to receive chocolate? Tee hee hee. To be frank, right after I got married, I stopped receiving almost any chocolate, and that makes me sad! Please! Give me chocolate~! I don’t care if I get cavities!!
Come to mention it, thank you very much to those who send me New Year’s cards and fan letters. I’m extremely bad about writing letters, plus with how busy I am, there’s no way I could possibly send out responses. I apologize. I’m sorry. But I am actually reading them. Please don’t be discouraged, and keep sending me your letters!
By the way, if you see me driving my Honda City around my neighborhood, please wave. I’ll at least acknowledge you.
Toriyama mentioned Valentine’s Day several times in his author comments over the years, beginning with chapter 6 of Dr. Slump in the 1980 #10 issue of Weekly Shonen Jump:
The fallout of this was addressed alongside chapter 11 in the 1980 #15 issue:
During Dragon Ball‘s serialization, Toriyama began his Valentine’s Day mentions alongside chapter 211 with a disappointed reflection on who actually ate that year’s chocolate, followed by notes alongside chapters 214, 264, 313, and 362 thanking everyone for their chocolate.