New Book About Akira Toriyama - The Master of Manga

[Innagadadavida]

Toriyama is great! Very influential. He has an incredible workpool of fun and high quality works. But I don't know if he is a God of manga. He's more like the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Both deserve a spot in their respective hall of fame. Both are very much a product of their time but with a surprising longevity and adaptability. Not nessesarily a drastic game-changer.

[DerekPadula]

I just found this article stating that Akira Toriyama was awarded in the "Barcelona Motor Show" as the "Best Living Manga Author."

http://www.diariovasco.com/rc/20111106/ ... 52027.html

Use Google Translate to read the message.

However, there are no links to the actual award or Barcelona Motor Show website.

And humorously, at the time of this message, the image they used for Toriyama is actually of James Wong! Director of Dragon Ball Evolution! So the credibility of this paper is immediately suspect.



In any case, it seems Toriyama is being recognized around the world for his work.

[DerekPadula]

Here's my review of the book, in case anybody is interested in buying it: http://thedaoofdragonball.com/blog/book ... -of-manga/

Overall, very well done and professional. Recommended if you speak French. Still pretty good even if you don't. But it's probably worth waiting for an English translation.

[Saimaroimaru]

While Tori isn't the best, that does not degrade the fact that his work on Dragonball has had a great influence on manga today. He does deserve the title master. While Americans would known of manga before and after his work, Dragon Ball helped make anime and manga popular in the U.S. He defines an era along with others.

[MCDaveG]

Well, as this discussion drifted off-topic in sense: ''Is he a master or not.''
I'm really interested in the actual content of the book. Whole book about Toriyama written by some ''gaijin'', when Toriyama is kinda preserving his private life and is not in contact with outside living world except for Shueisha.....
What can be inside? I'm really suspicious.
There was this funny weird Dragon Ball encyclopedia some time ago.

[DerekPadula]

I contacted Oliver Richard's publisher and he agreed to an interview!

Do you guys have any questions for him? Anything you want to know about his book, Toriyama, his thoughts about manga and anime, etc?

[Saiga]

I contacted Oliver Richard's publisher and he agreed to an interview!

Do you guys have any questions for him? Anything you want to know about his book, Toriyama, his thoughts about manga and anime, etc?

That's great, I look forward to seeing the interview! I liked your review of the book.

As for questions... I'm drawing a total blank.

[DerekPadula]

That's okay. I'm glad you liked the review. Thanks!

The interview is tentatively scheduled for this Monday, so please let me know if you think of anything before then.

[SylentEcho]

If the "masters" of today consider him a master, then he definitely is one. He has inspired more things with his manga than we can count!

[hui43210]

He is "a" master but I would'nt say "the" master.

[Eire]

His works were influential and nobody can deny that. Twilight is popular too, has many followers, inspired writers, but can it be put near the best? In terms of building story, characters and background for them it would be better for Toriyama's works to not compare them to others.

[Raykugen]

I just found this article stating that Akira Toriyama was awarded in the "Barcelona Motor Show" as the "Best Living Manga Author."

motor show??????????????? It's called "Salón del manga de Barcelona" It's a manga convention ._.
Also, the guy from the photo isn't Toriyama, is James Wong xDDDDDDD


There's no photos about the inside of the book or something?

[Kuwabara]

Do you guys have any questions for him? Anything you want to know about his book, Toriyama, his thoughts about manga and anime, etc?

Ask him which modern anime series he believes holds the title of Dragon Ball's successor.

[DerekPadula]

Ah, good question. Will do. I wonder which one he'll choose.

Personally, I think it's Naruto.

[MCDaveG]

Do you guys have any questions for him? Anything you want to know about his book, Toriyama, his thoughts about manga and anime, etc?

Ask him which modern anime series he believes holds the title of Dragon Ball's successor.

But he won't be asking Toriyama.

[Perfect]

His works were influential and nobody can deny that. Twilight is popular too, has many followers, inspired writers, but can it be put near the best? In terms of building story, characters and background for them it would be better for Toriyama's works to not compare them to others.

Considering most of its attention is negative and the positive attention is out of ignorance for the most part, I think it's safe to say it's inspired very little compared to Dragon Ball; what it has inspired is worse than the shittiest shit Dragon Ball spawned (Naruto, etc).

[Eire]

Believe me, if I had known the comics I know now I wouldn't have touched Dragon Ball with a pool. Also Twilight is around for just several years, let it's fans to grow up to make proper comparison.
That doesn't change the fact that popularity doesn't equal quality. Calling a "master of manga" someone who can't deal with characters and rules created by his own hands seems too much for me.

[Perfect]

Believe me, if I had known the comics I know now I wouldn't have touched Dragon Ball with a pool.

With a pool? A small body of water? I think you mean pole? Oh and why's that? I find Dragon Ball to be a great light-hearted adventure story that never takes itself too seriously. When I look at manga today, I see over-complicated fight scenes that're hard to follow (Dragon Ball's often been praised for having easy to follow, but articulate fight scenes), cliched stories and tropes that far exceed Dragon Ball (Which started a rather large number of them in the Shonen genre, and hell even out of that in some cases), stories that try to be what they're not (This accounts for 90% of manga), etc. Dragon Ball's a timeless classic, so whether or not you view it as "poorly written" or "you only like it for nostalgia factor", that's 100% completely subjective and can never be asserted as fact.

Also Twilight is around for just several years, let it's fans to grow up to make proper comparison.

Yes it has been around for several years and its fan-base is significantly smaller with every novel/movie, so that's a proper contrast you've made. However, it isn't relevant towards this conversation given that they have two entirely different demographics/target audiences (Plus Dragon Ball's demographic is a thousand times larger). To elaborate, the majority of Twilight fans tend to migrate away from the series as they age, in most cases. That's not the case for the majority of Dragon Ball fans. Even if it isn't their favorite series in 10 years, it doesn't mean they don't like it (Complete opposite of Twilight; forget the time difference). You're trying to compare two different mediums and it isn't really plausible.

That doesn't change the fact that popularity doesn't equal quality. Calling a "master of manga" someone who can't deal with characters and rules created by his own hands seems too much for me.

See now you're just being ignorant towards Toriyama. He can deal with his characters fine, he's proven that. He can't write romance, so he simply doesn't write it, or writes it in a comical way that works and fits; thus dealing with his characters properly. I think you're confusing Toei with Toriyama, because he seldom breaks his own established rules. If you look at the number of plot holes in the manga, there's barley any; at that they're subjective to actually being inconsistencies. The anime has TONS. Toei writers make plot holes out of filler for several reasons, that's fine, we can just enjoy the cartoon and get over it. It's not the end of the world the bad guys aren't supposed to have bodies, it just leaves more open-ended discussion about the mystical anime time line of the Dragon Ball franchise. However that's not the problem here, the problem's you saying more or less, the manga breaks its own laws from what seems to be implied, frequently; it doesn't. As I've stated, there's very few plot holes in the manga, and at that, the majority are open to interpretation (While some aren't).

Edit:
I think a lot of people are forgetting that, not only has he influenced more than one generation and shaped an entire genre, but he created some of the most popular manga works in the world. While Dr. Slump isn't as popular as say some of the other Shonen titles, it's still pretty well known in various countries. Dragon Ball is pretty much one of the most successful entertainment series to have graced the world. Now, don't confuse "one of the most" with "most". It's just one of the those titles that people know, even if they're not a fan or all that familiar with it, like Mario or Pokemon. Granted it's not as high up as something like Star Wars, but it's still a top tier franchise in that context (It has such an incredibly diverse fan-base); which was created by Toriyama.

[Saiga]

That response was... erm.. perfect, Perfect. My thoughts exactly.

I would definitely say that Akira was the master of manga, and I don't see how you could compare his works to Twilight. Opinions of quality aside, they're just worlds apart. Apples and oranges.

[Eire]

I, my, mine. That's 100% completely subjective and can never be asserted as fact. The same things you mentioned in first paragraph I could tell about Matsumoto (once very popular in Europe) while ranting about poor quality of nowadays SF shows, but that doesn't change the fact that now his works are told to have mostly nostalgic and historical value.

To elaborate, the majority of Twilight fans tend to migrate away from the series as they age, in most cases. That's not the case for the majority of Dragon Ball fans

Don't take Daizex as majority. The fact that people's tastes changes touches every medium. On regular convents/ forums people still taking DB as more than nostalgia are really minority of minority. Similar to Sailor Moon -once a hit, still told to be "must know classic" but somehow all re-airings are targeted to older fans.

He can deal with his characters fine, he's proven that.

By forgetting half of them as DB goes by. I don't say about characterisation, because it's subjective, but about that he couldn't deal with his own creation. My worst grudge against Toryiama is that he abandoned "one ressurection per person" rule that completely ruined the tension.

I don't have the urge to prove that things I like are the best in the world, while they aren't. I don't deny it's influence, but after years I see it's disadvantages.