Is Akira Toriyama's Art Style His Own?

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Is Akira Toriyama's Art Style His Own?

Post by M-Vegeta » Fri Dec 16, 2005 2:41 pm

I always thought his art work look pretty original/unique compared to other art styles I've seen from Japanese animation/manga. But was he influenced by a style before his, taking it on or adding his own style to it?

I just wanted opinions from hardcore Dragonball fans after reading this at GameFAQ:

"Toriyama has to know that he doesn't have his own style. Like someone else said it is a very generic style based in another style that I can't think of the name. I am sure he knows this. We just need to catch up. He can alter his characters more than enough to make them unique. I don't know why he doesn't.

Just like a actor, a writer, or musician. If you have a huge success be prepared to be associated with that work for a long long time.

He would have to make some drastic changes in his drawings.

In Japan though, DBZ = Gold and DQ = Gold so no one can get enough of these people who look alike. So everyone's happy and they get paid.

If Toriyama is guilty of anything, it's riding what he knows will work for as long as he can. Smart business move but it will cost most people credibility in the long run. I don't know about Japan though. I think credibility counts even over there. Cause DBZ was a disaster of a series after the first few sagas and they even figured that out over there and eventually buried the dead DB horse that the companies were beating."
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Re: Is Akira Toriyama's Art Style His Own?

Post by Bejiita » Fri Dec 16, 2005 2:47 pm

M-Vegeta wrote:I always thought his art work look pretty original compared to other art styles I've seen from Japanese animation/manga. But was he influenced by a style before his, taking it on or adding his own style to it?

I just wanted opinions from hardcore Dragonball fans after reading this at GameFAQ:

"Toriyama has to know that he doesn't have his own style. Like someone else said it is a very generic style based in another style that I can't think of the name. I am sure he knows this. We just need to catch up. He can alter his characters more than enough to make them unique. I don't know why he doesn't.

Just like a actor, a writer, or musician. If you have a huge success be prepared to be associated with that work for a long long time.

He would have to make some drastic changes in his drawings.

In Japan though, DBZ = Gold and DQ = Gold so no one can get enough of these people who look alike. So everyone's happy and they get paid.

If Toriyama is guilty of anything, it's riding what he knows will work for as long as he can. Smart business move but it will cost most people credibility in the long run. I don't know about Japan though. I think credibility counts even over there. Cause DBZ was a disaster of a series after the first few sagas and they even figured that out over there and eventually buried the dead DB horse that the companies were beating."

That was a waste of writing, he says all this and he can't even think of the name the style is based on...Toriyama's style is unique, who else has seen familiar characters that have been around before DBZ was invented?

He could have wrote that a bit better as well.
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Post by Chibi Mystic Gohan » Fri Dec 16, 2005 2:49 pm

Yeah, I have no idea what they hell he was trying to say...

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Post by M-Vegeta » Fri Dec 16, 2005 2:56 pm

Sorry, I should of mentioned it was at the Dragon Quest VIII board. Someone went off complaing that Dragon Quest VIII ripped off DBZ ... even though it's the same guy who created both. :lol:

That's what the DQ (Dragon Quest) is in this line:

In Japan though, DBZ = Gold and DQ = Gold so no one can get enough of these people who look alike. So everyone's happy and they get paid.

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Post by Tsukento » Fri Dec 16, 2005 3:22 pm

I think it would've been funny had someone jumped in with some idiotic remark about Chrono Trigger being a "rip-off" on Dragon Ball Z. :P

The sheer intelligence of some people on GameFAQs worries me. o_O;

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Post by M-Vegeta » Fri Dec 16, 2005 3:28 pm

:lol:

"Toriyama has to know that he doesn't have his own style. Like someone else said it is a very generic style based in another style that I can't think of the name. I am sure he knows this"

But does anyone know what the hell he's talking about? What style is he talking about? Okay, well, was he at least influenced by another artist? I seriously want to know this.

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Post by Jerseymilk » Fri Dec 16, 2005 4:09 pm

I never waste my time with GameFaqs, the average I.Q. of people there is 0.01. That's oftentimes collectively. He was influenced by others such as Osamu Tezuka(Tetsuwan Atom, Kimba) and I remember him mentioning Disney, especially loved 101 Dalmations, but heck, everyone is always going to be influenced by their predecessors.

And of course all of his work is going to look similar! It's all drawn by him and his style! Just like Kenichi Sonada, Leiiji Matsumoto, Ken Akamatsu, Kia Asamiya, Yoshitaka Amano, etc. Need I go on? It's just inevitable. Everybody has their own unique way of drawing. Whenever you see designs by these guys, you know it's them. What a moron. -_-

Oh and "DB was a disaster of a series" was it? Ya, that's why the manga and anime ran for ten years, generated 17 movies and is now celebrating a 20th anniversary with a resurgence of interest in DB merchandise. And many of the most popular manga-kas in Japan right now, site him as one of their influences. Like I said, what a moron.
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Post by Sun_Wukong » Fri Dec 16, 2005 4:13 pm

You cant take anyone at Gamefaqs seriously. The board is run by 12 year olds. Sure Toriyama's style might not be that groundbreaking, but its certainly not generic. Every shounen manga aritst has a similar style. Thats how they can manage to group it into categories. -_-

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Post by Chaos Saiyajin » Fri Dec 16, 2005 8:00 pm

You cant take anyone at Gamefaqs seriously. The board is run by 12 year olds. Sure Toriyama's style might not be that groundbreaking, but its certainly not generic. Every shounen manga aritst has a similar style. Thats how they can manage to group it into categories. -_-
Really...I think the only language they speak on GameFAQs is 1337. -_-
Anyway, I've always heard the Toriyama's style was supposed to be a parody of Disney. :P
I think it would've been funny had someone jumped in with some idiotic remark about Chrono Trigger being a "rip-off" on Dragon Ball Z. :P
:lol: That's like the people I hear saying Ranma 1/2 is a ripoff of Inuyasha. :P
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Post by Eclipse » Sat Dec 17, 2005 12:08 am

Toriyama's style isn't unique? Total BS. I mean, everyone, even when they try to copy others, can't completely do it. Cause they have their own style, that's why. You might get close, quite close, but you'll never reach it. I really liked Toriyama's cartoony, quirky style. It was very nice. And during the course of the manga, you could easily see the art style slowly change. Even now, the new Dragon Ball ending, and Neko Majin Z still retain the classic Toriyama style we know and love, while it changes once again =D

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Post by Mattias » Sat Dec 17, 2005 1:15 am

Sure a lot of the characters looks like Gohan...so what?

Some of the character designs for Dragon Quest VII were pretty original. Sure there are similarities, and there would have to be, but that's possibly the most original work I've seen of Toriyama.
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Post by t-bone135 » Sat Dec 17, 2005 1:56 am

I have to say, Toriyama's style is definately unique visually. I see a lot of styles that just seem derivitive. With Toriyama, you can always tell what's him and what isn't. The reason I got so hooked on DB is because it stands out amoungst others in terms of it's look. It's just different and in a nice, refreshing way.
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Post by *PINHEAD* » Sat Dec 17, 2005 4:15 am

That's pretty much how unique styles are developed--finding other styles one enjoys and adding other elements and one's own twists. Isn't that how all artwork is made? So the only thing Toriyama's guilty of is developing a unique style the way unique styles are made. And, quite frankly, by the end of Dragon Ball, especially starting around the time of the Cell story arc, Toriyama's style stood out. You can definately distinguish Toriyama's style from other similar styles.
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Post by Bejiita » Sat Dec 17, 2005 7:36 am

Now I come to think of it the person who wrote the statement in question was probably an anime hater, and what's the closest thing an unknowledged person like him can compare DB to? Other anime! That's really all I can think of when it comes to similar styles, other anime. and if it is that he is a fool, anime has it's own style all together that shares the same similarities as every other anime out there.

It's mainly the speat drops, the facial expressions, the way people fall over when(usually when someone figures out what they were trying to say or when they are embarrassed). All the anime like things.


Other than all that this guy is just probably some fool, Game FAQ's is only good for one thing, game cheats and guides for free, that's it.

Toriyama's style is the style I got used to drawing, and now I can draw real people quite well, I have the skill to draw a basic face now, and a body, and it even helps me draw real life faces better too, just from drawing loads of Goku's and Vegeta's.
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viewtopic.php?f=7&t=1942]Chapter 1
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=2685]Chapter 2
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Post by Leotaku » Sat Dec 17, 2005 10:53 am

I'm not sure what his complaint is. Is he saying Akira Toriyama draws all his stuff the same?
...
Well gee...isn't that what makes it HIS style..? :?
Does he want him to jump around all over the place, drastically changing the look of every character he draws? None of it will fit together, and there won't be any consistency.

And its not like Akira Toriyama is the only person that does this. That's how pretty much EVERYONE works, and not just him, and not just Japanese artists.

Anyone here familiar with western comic book artists? A few off the top of my head that I'm familiar with, and KNOW they have been drawing similar for a while are people like Michael Turner, J. Scott Campbell, Jim Lee, Adam Hughes, Alex Ross...They establish a style, they don't do completely different things with every image they do.

Whether this guy would think that's good or not, I don't like how he seems to only be singling out Toriyama. He's definitely not the only one that does this.

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Post by Dayspring » Sat Dec 17, 2005 11:54 am

Good point. Especially with Alex Ross (Kingdom Come.... Mmmm...). If you look at Joe Madureira's artwork, he only made it big because he's developped a wicked manga-like style. Same with Clayton Henry. However, a lot of Western comics looks like them now.
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Post by Bejiita » Sat Dec 17, 2005 12:25 pm

It's not even as if all characters are that identical that you can say the are all the same, Goku's and Gohan's eyes are similar, well, Father and Son, Vegeta's eyes are slightly different, but Trunks bare a resemblence due to their father son relationship. Bulma's eyes are different, the Cyborgs have different eyes, Piccolo's eyes are different too.

The characters all differ slightly, but not to the extent that you think you are watching a different cartoon. It's not as if people moan at the Simpsons, they all have similar looks, and people even like Futurama better, and that is literally another version of the Simpsons.
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viewtopic.php?f=6&t=19169 [The new version]
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=1942]Chapter 1
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=2685]Chapter 2
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Post by B-kun » Sat Dec 17, 2005 12:39 pm

I don't know what the guy's talking about either. :/ Toriyama's still did improve, but that's just natural evolution which occurs in all long-lasting manga. In Yu-Gi-Oh!, Kazuki-sensei (I'd call him "Takahashi", but that'd get me confused with Ranma's creator..) drew Jounouchi completely different from the one we know in the various anime, and the character design improved dramatically after a few chapters. Also, Takeuchi-sensei of Sailor Moon fame's art improved happily over the five or so years. It's fun looking at Sailor V because the three books came out slowly while Sailor Moon was running, and the art changes dramatically between volumes (chapters).

... I forgot my own point.

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