Discussion regarding the entirety of the franchise in a general (meta) sense, including such aspects as: production, trends, merchandise, fan culture, and more.
GhostEmperorX wrote: Mon Mar 25, 2024 11:57 am
He was in New York City once though (2002), wasn't he?
And Germany of all places in 2004, so he did make very seldom public appearances. Only 200 were allowed in and reportedly the event would have been cancelled if anyone took out a camera.
I also recall Toriyama saying in one of the manga volumes he had been to Australia, although I assume that was just a trip with his wife, perhaps before he became famous.
But yeah I'm sure Toriyama would have been treated like royalty had he travelled anywhere in South America anytime after Dragon Ball made its way to the continent.
Do you have any info about international non-English broadcasts about the Dragon Ball anime or manga translations/editions? Please message me. Researching for a future book with Dragon Ball scholar Derek Padula
Ssj3Engels wrote: Sat Mar 09, 2024 10:55 pm
Damn...first Kikuchi, and now the "main man" himself...that's really sad...
Don't forget Hiromi Tsuru and Jôji Yanami. Now Masako Nozawa is one of the few who was associated with the anime since the beginning (Toriyama of course writing the source material) that's still around.
Of course, I know (and probably should have mentioned) about them, but I singled out Kikuchi and Toriyama because, to me personally, they represent the best of the anime. IOW, they are my "favorites". The same way I consider Howard Shore as #2, and Peter Jackson as #1, regarding my LOTR fandom (the movies, that is). Of course, there is a slight difference in that PJ was actually involved in the movies, since he was the freaking director, while Toriyama was almost exclusively involved with the manga, and had little to do with the anime, but I think you got the point!
If the OST is phenomenal, as in the case with DB and LOTR, I consider the composer on the same level as the creator/writer/director/etc.
Ssj3Engels wrote: Wed Mar 27, 2024 1:03 am
If the OST is phenomenal, as in the case with DB and LOTR, I consider the composer on the same level as the creator/writer/director/etc.
Most definitely, Shunsuke Kikuchi brought Akira Toriyama's manga to life, its just the perfect score whether it's the adventure, comedy, action or tranquill moments in Dragon Ball, his score just captures them all so well you can just listen to the music and visualize it all in your head. No one has ever been able to represent Dragon Ball in its entirety as faithfully as Kikuchi, Akihito Tokunaga came close, but there's always been that ideal sound missing since the series originally ended.
I know this thread is about Toriyama so I'll try to keep it that way, but I've never seen an official reason given for why Kikuchi was chosen to compose music for Dragon Ball, but it would be great to know. I wonder if it was a similar case to Masako Nozawa where Toriyama personally chose Kikuchi because thought he was the perfect fit? Maybe Toriyama was a fan of Kikuchi, as he was known to be a film buff, and Kikuchi was already in the business of composing for about 25 years by the time the Dragon Ball anime was first being produced.
Do you have any info about international non-English broadcasts about the Dragon Ball anime or manga translations/editions? Please message me. Researching for a future book with Dragon Ball scholar Derek Padula
Kikuchi was 100% definitely chosen to do the music for Dragonball because he did the music for Dr. Slump. So that's probably what your actual question should be.
Satan wrote:Lortedrøm! Bøh slog min datter ihjel! Hvad bilder du dig ind, Bøh?! Nu kommer Super-Satan og rydder op!
That's fair enough, I forgot about Dr Slump, although I never really gave that a try.
It's definitely on my list of things to check out, I probably owe it to myself as Slump was the series that made Toriyama his millions. Plenty of Dr Slump characte4s also exist in the Dragon Ball world too, like Senbei, Midori, Gatchan and of course Arale herself.
Do you have any info about international non-English broadcasts about the Dragon Ball anime or manga translations/editions? Please message me. Researching for a future book with Dragon Ball scholar Derek Padula
Adamant wrote: Thu Mar 28, 2024 6:34 am
Kikuchi was 100% definitely chosen to do the music for Dragonball because he did the music for Dr. Slump. So that's probably what your actual question should be.
I know most would just think Kikuchi was lazily inserted into DB but he swam like a fish on DB. And I dont mean JUST OG DB, he was awesome and kept evolving with Dragon Ball. There is a reason the scoring of the Original DB was so uniform and consistant and yet kept changing and maturing along with the show when it became DBZ.
A composer known as a "Hitmaker" scoring two hit anime adaptations based on hit manga series by Toriyama is quite the legacy.
(It does however raise questions I won't go into now.)
GhostEmperorX wrote: Thu Mar 28, 2024 11:24 am
A composer known as a "Hitmaker" scoring two hit anime adaptations based on hit manga series by Toriyama is quite the legacy.
(It does however raise questions I won't go into now.)
Yeah, even Wikipedia knows this much:
"The Tō-Ō Nippō Press also wrote that the success of the TV drama Abarenbō Shōgun, which aired for 800 episodes from 1978 to 2008, had people say; "If Shunsuke Kikuchi is in charge of the music, the show will be a hit."
Ssj3Engels wrote: Thu Mar 28, 2024 1:11 pm
Yeah, even Wikipedia knows this much:
"The Tō-Ō Nippō Press also wrote that the success of the TV drama Abarenbō Shōgun, which aired for 800 episodes from 1978 to 2008, had people say; "If Shunsuke Kikuchi is in charge of the music, the show will be a hit."
It's a bit curious though how, aside a few exceptions, most of his work tended to be for Toei and to a larger extent Nippon Columbia.
Given the fact that Dr. Slump & Dragon Ball were both authored by Toriyama who's clearly a legend in his own right, it's interesting to think about how much of the hit factor there was to go around. But I'll put that off for another time.
Are we too old to enjoy new Dragon Ball movies/series?
Spoiler:
Nickolaidas wrote: Sun Jun 14, 2015 2:10 am
Guys, I'm going to be straight with you. If you feel the show has gotten 'silly' ... it hasn't. You're just 'too old for this shit'. Seriously, 95% of the people in those boards do not fit the target demographic of the show, so don't expect the show to be 'everything you hoped for'. I'm referring to the people here who expect Super to be rich with dark moments, serious storytelling, meaningful characters etc etc. It won't. It's a show for kids. A show for kids being kids. Everyone in those boards has a manchild in him/her, clamoring to get out, and that's fine. But having unrealistic expectations (such as believing the show grew up alongside you) is naïve at best. Honestly, do you take seriously a story where the supposed God of Destruction halts his urges to blow up stuff in order to eat ice cream sundae? That's the show's silliness at full force, take it for what it is. The show hasn't matured one bit, so don't expect it too. Again, I'm not saying that's a bad thing. I'm saying *that* is DB and always will be.
Hard to believe that Toriyama has been gone for a year now. Sometimes it still feels surreal to think that he is no longer here. We don't have many big manga authors from the Showa era left. As we lost Takao Saito (Goglo 13), Kazuo Koike (Lone Wolf and Cub), Monkey Punch (Lupin the 3rd), Leiji Matsumoto (Galaxy Express 999), Kazuo Umezu (Drifting Classroom), etc over the last several years.
Last edited by Hellspawn28 on Sat Mar 01, 2025 11:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.
It's been a whole year already. I wasn’t active here at the time, but it was such a sad week for me. I didn’t know Toriyama personally, of course, but his stories had a huge impact on me. His work made me smile during some really dark times in my life. Because of him, I’ve made many real-life friends too.
Thank you, sensei. You will always be my hero. I hope you're at peace, wherever you are.
Just sit here and waste your precious time. When you want to do something, don't do it right away. Don't do it when you can. Read my posts instead. It's the only way to live a life without regrets.
The name "Daitouden" ("大闘伝") is derived from the word "Butouden" ("武闘伝"). "Butouden" is taken from the names of Dragon Ball games that use that word (the Super Butouden games for the Super Famicom/Super NES and the Sega Saturn exclusive Shin Butouden). The name ("Daitouden") replaces the "bu" ("武", meaning military, martial) kanji with the "dai" ("大", meaning big, large, great) kanji, forming the name "Daitouden". "Daitouden" literally means "great fighting legend" or "great fighting story".
It's comparable to the origin of the name "Nintendo" ("任天堂"), which is derived from the phrase "Leave luck to heaven" (「運を天に任せる。」, Un o ten ni makaseru). In a literal sense, "Nintendo" means "Temple of Heaven Under Duty".
I was a bit sad yesterday thinking about the fact we'll never get new smiling pictures of Akira Toriyama neither his absurd humor or storytelling and surprises I love. I'm into the end of Dr Slump and darn is that funny. I have at least a laugh per chapter, often several.
Yeah, Dragon Ball will certainly never be the same again, unless there is an afterlife where Toriyama is writing lots of new stories for us to all enjoy when our time comes (fingers crossed on that).
I'm going to the Battle of Gods re-release today. Nice to do something in Toriyama's memory.
Do you have any info about international non-English broadcasts about the Dragon Ball anime or manga translations/editions? Please message me. Researching for a future book with Dragon Ball scholar Derek Padula
The only time I ever checked to see if it was April 1st was when I read he passed away, that's how shocked I was. I honestly thought it was some sick joke, but no, it was real. The guy has been with us for so long working on the franchise that we just assumed he'd always be around. I always read about popular figures passing away, but Toriyama's was the first time it actually made me feel sad. We never knew him personally, but at the same time we kind of did through his works. His writing style is so unique, so hard to get right, that it will be a very long time, if ever someone can pull that off. Thank you Akira Toriyama for the gift of Dragon Ball, and may you rest in peace wherever you are.
She/Her 
