I'm curious if Toriyama likes anime such as One Piece, Naruto, Detective Conan, etc.

[Lujin_16]

and took some inspiration from it..

The case between Zamasu and Black Goku reminds me a little bit of Detectiv Conan

[nickzambuto]

Those animes take inspiration from Dragon Ball, not the other way around.

[VegettoEX]

Quite the opposite. He's very consistently stated that he hasn't really watched anime since he was a kid, and even then, he didn't watch for long:

I was an avid anime watcher from the age of 7 until I was about 10, when I moved to manga. I think I am influenced by Osamu Tezuka’s and Walt Disney’s works which I watched during that time, such as Tetsuwan Atom (“Astro Boy”) and 101 Dalmations.

[shinmaru]

Quite the opposite. He's very consistently stated that he hasn't really watched anime since he was a kid, and even then, he didn't watch for long:

I was an avid anime watcher from the age of 7 until I was about 10, when I moved to manga. I think I am influenced by Osamu Tezuka’s and Walt Disney’s works which I watched during that time, such as Tetsuwan Atom (“Astro Boy”) and 101 Dalmations.

I really thought he liked One Piece very much.

[Gyt Kaliba]

I believe he has said he likes One Piece, but I doubt that meant he really follows it very much. He probably mostly saw it here and there due to his children's interest in it (again, if I'm recalling the interview where this was said right), and while he was working with Oda on stuff. So kind of an 'Oh hey this is pretty cool' feeling as he happened across it, rather than him actively reading or watching it.

[Cipher]

He doesn't strike me as an anime or manga otaku at all, and, as others have pointed out, has said in interviews that he doesn't consume much of either. Some people have attributed the success and idiosyncrasies of his work to the fact he wasn't much influenced by the field, especially other action series when Dragon Ball started going that route.*

For all Dr. Slump's pop culture references, very few (if any?) reference anime or manga. Ultraman and various giant monsters make frequent appearances, however, as do Western characters like the casts of Star Wars and Star Trek.

*That might be a little reductive, since he obviously loves manga and bet pretty much everything on learning the craft. But I've never gotten the sense he was hanging on popular shonen series once he moved outside their target audience. I could be wrong.

[Theophrastus]

I believe he has said he likes One Piece, but I doubt that meant he really follows it very much. He probably mostly saw it here and there due to his children's interest in it (again, if I'm recalling the interview where this was said right), and while he was working with Oda on stuff. So kind of an 'Oh hey this is pretty cool' feeling as he happened across it, rather than him actively reading or watching it.

It was in his interview with Oda in the first One Piece Color Walk art book:

Q: In conclusion, can I ask you to offer encouraging words to each other?


Oda: Please, be free and do whatever you want to! No matter what you do, I will be happy so long as you keep drawing illustrations, Toriyama sensei. However, I'm sure the editorial staff will say something like "Draw a series!"... (laugh)

Toriyama: I would like you to keep drawing in the 'ultra-mainstream', Oda kun. There's nothing else for me to say! My own child also reads One Piece really voraciously, too. So, I also read it... and I really understood why everyone was crazy about One Piece! So, just keep doing your best from now on!!

So yeah, from the sounds of that, he started reading it because one of his children really liked it and he probably wanted to be able to discuss it with them. Sounds like he appreciates it for what it is (or did 15 years ago, anyway), but I doubt he still actively follows it now that his children have grown up.

[swimtrunks]

Didn't Toriyama write a letter to the creator of Bleach to not give up or something, when Bleach was first cancelled?

[sintzu]

Didn't Toriyama write a letter to the creator of Bleach to not give up or something, when Bleach was first cancelled?

It wasn't cancelled, I think Kubo was having trouble getting a publisher to pick it up so he tried to lift his spirit.

[floofychan333]

He said he got into One Piece and maybe Naruto from his son.

[Captain Strawberry]

He said he got into One Piece and maybe Naruto from his son.

His son likes OP very much so he reads OP too

[Deathbringer]

That letter that Toriyama wrote to Tite Kubo has always intuited me, Zombiepowder and Bleach don't seem like the sort of thing Toriyama would be into especially since he doesn't even read that much manga.