Would you call Akira Toriyama a revolutionary 90s artist?

[emperior]

Agreed. Dr. Slump is Toriyama's silliness at full-on display and silly Toriyama is best Toriyama.

Are you guys serious? Then how come we are discussing this on a Dragon Ball forum and not a Dr Slump one, and why did Toriyama himself drop Dr Slump if not to do a better serie?

[Bansho64]

Without a doubt. His art and storytelling were both huge inspirations for millions. Without it, I doubt we'd have some of the fellow shonen that later accompanied Dragon Ball.

Agreed. Dr. Slump is Toriyama's silliness at full-on display and silly Toriyama is best Toriyama.

I personally don't feel the same way. The humor never really hit me and it bored the daylights outta me.

[Jinzoningen MULE]

I'm sorry, but no. Dr. Slump is Toriyama at his peak.

It depends. If we're talking comedically, I'd say mid-Slump to very early Dragon Ball is where he thrives. However, I prefer something with a long-term narrative structure, and Dragon Ball was obviously better in that regard, while still keeping to Toriyama's silly nature.

[Saikyo no Senshi]

Are you guys serious? Then how come we are discussing this on a Dragon Ball forum and not a Dr Slump one, and why did Toriyama himself drop Dr Slump if not to do a better serie?

So, what if he stopped doing it, it doesn't change the fact that Dr.Slump is far more funny and silly and is indicative of the gag manga artist Toriyama is known for. I, personally enjoy silly Toriyama with his raw humor the most.

Part 1 Dragon Ball has it, but it kind of shifts focus and then becomes a battle series which is understandable, but not the thing I like most about Toriyama.

[VegettoEX]

and why did Toriyama himself drop Dr Slump if not to do a better serie?

Toriyama had no intention of being roped into another massive series, and no illusions that it could possibly be a bigger success than Dr. Slump. That all happened organically.

[Soppa Saia People]

I'm sorry, but no. Dr. Slump is Toriyama at his peak.

It depends. If we're talking comedically, I'd say mid-Slump to very early Dragon Ball is where he thrives. However, I prefer something with a long-term narrative structure, and Dragon Ball was obviously better in that regard, while still keeping to Toriyama's silly nature.

I was more talking about his art style. It also seems to have more effort.

Agreed. Dr. Slump is Toriyama's silliness at full-on display and silly Toriyama is best Toriyama.

Are you guys serious? Then how come we are discussing this on a Dragon Ball forum and not a Dr Slump one, and why did Toriyama himself drop Dr Slump if not to do a better serie?

Because I still like Dragon Ball more. I love Dr. Slump, and I think it's his best series, I like DB more tho.

[Gog]

80s then, because Dr. Slump > Dragon Ball.

You've got that wrong mate

Dragon ball > Dr Slump.

I'm sorry, but no. Dr. Slump is Toriyama at his peak.

I'm sorry sir, but that analysis is factually incorrect Freeza saga was where Toriyama was at his peak. I hope you realize this

[Soppa Saia People]

You've got that wrong mate

Dragon ball > Dr Slump.

I'm sorry, but no. Dr. Slump is Toriyama at his peak.

I'm sorry sir, but that analysis is factually incorrect Freeza saga was where Toriyama was at his peak. I hope you realize this

Eh. It's okay. Starts off great, and then slowly declines.

[ChronoTwigger]

From a strict artistic point, Dragon Ball became his worst product.

Anyway Tori did a great work to introduce a simplified, all-pourpose way of drawing characters in relative less time.
There wasn't a large number of artists able to design big fat chara, small kids and a very large variation of kinds thus keeping the same recognizable style. He did this by a smart effort of simplify.

He was, indeed, the one that changed SD style in a full fledged, stand out and complete style, able to express everything, from comedy to drama.
He was able to do what Fujiko Fujio (Doraemon) only begun. Outsell and complete the SD art style.

[Gog]

I'm sorry, but no. Dr. Slump is Toriyama at his peak.

I'm sorry sir, but that analysis is factually incorrect Freeza saga was where Toriyama was at his peak. I hope you realize this

Eh. It's okay. Starts off great, and then slowly declines.

Okay, lets just agree that the Cell Saga is the worst thing Toriyama ever produced? Can we at least agree on that?

[ChronoTwigger]

I'm sorry sir, but that analysis is factually incorrect Freeza saga was where Toriyama was at his peak. I hope you realize this

Eh. It's okay. Starts off great, and then slowly declines.

Okay, lets just agree that the Cell Saga is the worst thing Toriyama ever produced? Can we at least agree on that?

At that time (i mean Frieza saga too) most of the production was left to Bird Studio.

[Gog]

Eh. It's okay. Starts off great, and then slowly declines.

Okay, lets just agree that the Cell Saga is the worst thing Toriyama ever produced? Can we at least agree on that?

At that time (i mean Frieza saga too) most of the production was left to Bird Studio.

No, I meant the manga, sorry that I didn't actually specify!

[Soppa Saia People]

I'm sorry sir, but that analysis is factually incorrect Freeza saga was where Toriyama was at his peak. I hope you realize this

Eh. It's okay. Starts off great, and then slowly declines.

Okay, lets just agree that the Cell Saga is the worst thing Toriyama ever produced? Can we at least agree on that?

I find Super worse, but out of the original series, I'd agree.

[Gog]

Eh. It's okay. Starts off great, and then slowly declines.

Okay, lets just agree that the Cell Saga is the worst thing Toriyama ever produced? Can we at least agree on that?

I find Super worse, but out of the original series, I'd agree.

Eh opinions, I consider everything in super besides, BOG and ROF arc's to be superior

[Nejishiki]

Agreed. Dr. Slump is Toriyama's silliness at full-on display and silly Toriyama is best Toriyama.

Are you guys serious? Then how come we are discussing this on a Dragon Ball forum and not a Dr Slump one, and why did Toriyama himself drop Dr Slump if not to do a better serie?

You also drew Neko Majin and such around this time, right?
I like the relaxed silliness of Neko Majin. But I originally drew it intending it to be a one-shot with just a single chapter, so I didn’t feel like it could continue for so many chapters. The reason I started inserting Dragon Ball parody into it is probably because I started to hurt for material and ran away [from the original premise]. In my comics, if I bring out the author’s likes too strongly, it won’t be very popular to begin with, so it’s difficult to keep things in moderation. In other words, the hits Dr. Slump and Dragon Ball were works that I drew while suppressing my own preferences. I really have to thank Torishima-san, my editor at the time, for that.
In the case of Slump, before the start of serialization, I drew it intending the Doctor to be the main character. But Torishima-san told me that he wanted me to turn Arale-chan into the main character, and I remember that I resisted: “What? A girl as the main character?”

In the case of Dragon Ball, at the time I had exhausted my material for Dr. Slump and wanted to end it, but it was popular so I couldn’t. At that rough point, Torishima-san, who had learned that I liked Kung-Fu movies and often watched them, suggested to me, “If you like them that much, why don’t you draw a Kung-Fu comic? If it’s interesting, I’ll even let you end Dr. Slump.” That was a lifesaver as it was, but it was on the condition that “you have to start right on it in three months,” so I had almost no break, since I had other work and such, and I had no choice but to start drawing without clearly deciding on the contents. As a result, I suppose the fact that I didn’t even have time to think about this or that of my own preferences was actually a good thing. (laughs)

The second paragraph in Toriyama's answer is why Dragon Ball exists & Dr. Slump ended.

[sintzu]

I suppose the fact that I didn’t even have time to think about this or that of my own preferences was actually a good thing.

The second paragraph in Toriyama's answer is why Dragon Ball exists & Dr. Slump ended.

How do you think DB would've been if he planned the whole thing out ? I think it would've continued to be an adventure manga and we never would've gotten the battle centric arcs that we have or at least not the way we have them.

[Jinzoningen MULE]

How do you think DB would've been if he planned the whole thing out ? I think it would've continued to be an adventure manga and we never would've gotten the battle centric arcs that we have or at least not the way we have them.

That's not even a question. If he planned it out, he wouldn't be Toriyama.

[ChronoTwigger]

I suppose the fact that I didn’t even have time to think about this or that of my own preferences was actually a good thing.

The second paragraph in Toriyama's answer is why Dragon Ball exists & Dr. Slump ended.

How do you think DB would've been if he planned the whole thing out ? I think it would've continued to be an adventure manga and we never would've gotten the battle centric arcs that we have or at least not the way we have them.

Nah, it become a sci-fi super heroes series so far that no possible planning could have predicted this.

[Cipher]

That's not even a question. If he planned it out, he wouldn't be Toriyama.

Agreed. I don't think the series would have benefitted from planning. When Toriyama plans in advance, we get relatively simple, contained plots that let him have fun with the art. Dragon Ball's sprawling storylines and overall scope are a result of him being pushed into a corner on an almost weekly basis. But because he's a natural storyteller, everything somehow coheres.

[Nejishiki]

I think it would've continued to be an adventure manga and we never would've gotten the battle centric arcs that we have or at least not the way we have them.

Dragon Ball was destined to evolve into an action-focused story. His initial tale wasn't popular enough to begin with. Planning, which isn't like Toriyama, wouldn't benefit him.

And then the Tenka’ichi Budōkai began. But why did you do that sort of a development?
Up until the Tenka’ichi Budōkai began, the series hadn’t been all that popular. That’s what Torishima-san had told me. “Your protagonist is rather plain. That’s why it’s not popular.”, he said. Personally, since I was doing a fighting story for this series, I had intentionally made the protagonist’s clothing excessively plain. So this annoyed me, but then I figured it out. “Well, let’s increase its popularity” I thought. When I had designed Goku’s character, the words that best represented him were “I want to become strong”. So I thought I’d bring that to the front. Even during “Dr. Slump”, the tournament-like events such as the Penguin Village Gran Prix or the Mini-Event had been amazingly popular. So I’d simply make the story into a tournament format. From there the Tenka’ichi Budōkai was born. I temporarily withdrew the other characters besides Goku, brought back Kame-Sen’nin, and added Kuririn as a new character. From there it got popular before I knew it.

I'd recommend reading the rest of the article. Once he penned the 21st Tenkaichi Budoukai arc, he always carried some ideas of further escalation.