Are the Daizenshuu written by Toriyama?

[smiley]

I know that the typical answer is "no", but what exactly is this based on? Is it established within the books themselves, or what?

Because:

- It says he is the author on Amazon

- His name is written on the covers. It even says "by Akira Toriyama" on Daizenshuu #1.

- Each of the Daizenshuu starts with an introduction note from Toriyama.

- ALL Shounen manga databooks are ALWAYS written by their respective authors, so why should Dragon Ball be any different?


Thank you.

[Savage68]

From what I know, he supervised them to some extent. Not sure if that only applies to certain volumes, though.

[smiley]

From what I know, he supervised them to some extent. Not sure if that only applies to certain volumes, though.

I know that is the popular opinion, but I'm asking what it is based on.

It even says he's the author on Kanzentai.

[Savage68]

Isn't Toriyama credited as the author on pretty much anything DB-related, though? It doesn't mean he executively produced it or anything.

[B]

You are taking it too literally. He's credited as "author" because they are based on Dragon Ball.

[smiley]

Okay, I'd like to hear what exactly him not being the author is based off of.

Because when someone's name is on the book, the book starts with an introduction note from that same guy, and various sources including one of the most popular selling websites on the internet credit him as the author of the book, the most obvious conclusion is that he is the author of the book.

Also no, if he wasn't the author of the book itself, he wouldn't be credited as one. He would be credited as the one who came up with the original concept and whatnot. This is why you don't see "Author: Akira Toriyama" on Dragon Ball GT openings. He's just credited as the one who wrote the original story.

[Savage68]

First of all, calm down.

Second...who do you expect to see credited as being the author on those books? A member of his staff? Some dude that works at Toei?

[smiley]

Whoever wrote the book, obviously. That's what an author is.

For example, the "Death Note: Fatally fun facts" guidebook is not written by the original author of the series, and he/she is just credited for being the one who came up the original story. The name of whoever wrote it is written on the cover, not the name of the mangaka.

Same for Dragon Ball GT, the DBZ movies and so on and forth. Also, I'm pretty calm. Just asking a question.

[DemonRin]

Look at Kanzentai's page

Editor: Watanabe Akinori

It was probably this guy. Toriyama probably gave him most of his Notes, threw him some supplementary information, and Watanabe edited it all together into organized text. Since most of the information (sans the anime information, obviously) came from Toriyama, Toriyama would obviously get the author credit, but the editor is the one actually responsible for writing the information out and categorizing it.

That's my thoughts on it anyway.

[desirecampbell]

- His name is written on the covers. It even says "by Akira Toriyama" on Daizenshuu #1.

He's a big name so he gets coverage - many books (fiction and non-fiction) are credited to fewer authors than actually worked on it.

- It says he is the author on Amazon

...Because his name is on the cover. Amazon isn't going to do it's homework on a million books.

- ALL Shounen manga databooks are ALWAYS written by their respective authors, so why should Dragon Ball be any different?

No they're not.

- Each of the Daizenshuu starts with an introduction note from Toriyama.

And if you read that introduction you'll see that he had little to do with the daizenshuu directly.

It seems that the fourth volume is a DragonBall "world guide". I think that the staff all worked very hard, particularly on the building's geometry, the maps, and whatnot. On top of just drawing things in a hit-or-miss fashion, there are many things that not even I had precisely determined. Were they not a bit fed up with how things didn't come together consistently? I'm very sorry.

[Olivier Hague]

- His name is written on the covers. It even says "by Akira Toriyama" on Daizenshuu #1.

Well, that's pretty much true, for the first one...

[Kaboom]

He didn't write it (or at least, the majority of it), his staff did. Toriyama supervised and approved it. That doesn't make the books perfect or anything, though.

[Hujio]

Also no, if he wasn't the author of the book itself, he wouldn't be credited as one. He would be credited as the one who came up with the original concept and whatnot.

Toriyama is credited as the author on each daizenshuu, but he really didn't have much to do with them at all. They (Shueisha) simply got a hold of him to sit down for an interview and write an introduction for each daizenshuu. Other than that, it was the staffs at Shueisha and Caramel Mama that put everything together and basically wrote them. He of course probably looked them over and gave his approval. For the most part, a lot of the information was already available, they just gathered it all up and organized it.

The real truth of the matter is he's only listed as author because he has the exclusive originality copyright on anything DragonBall. Anything that is published has to have his name listed as the author. That's just how it is. Legal stuff, basically. If you want to put a name to who probably wrote/oversaw the daizenshuu, I'd go with the editor Watanabe Akinori.

This is why you don't see "Author: Akira Toriyama" on Dragon Ball GT openings. He's just credited as the one who wrote the original story.

I'm not sure where you got this idea from, because Toriyama is listed as the "Original Author" (原作) on all of the anime properties, including DB, DBZ, DBGT, DBK, and all of the movies/specials. In DBGT and DBK they even still credit Shueisha and Weekly Shounen Jump for serializing the series.

[Miracles]

Also no, if he wasn't the author of the book itself, he wouldn't be credited as one. He would be credited as the one who came up with the original concept and whatnot.

Toriyama is credited as the author on each daizenshuu, but he really didn't have much to do with them at all. They (Shueisha) simply got a hold of him to sit down for an interview and write an introduction for each daizenshuu. Other than that, it was the staffs at Shueisha and Caramel Mama that put everything together and basically wrote them. He of course probably looked them over and gave his approval. For the most part, a lot of the information was already available, they just gathered it all up and organized it.

The real truth of the matter is he's only listed as author because he has the exclusive originality copyright on anything DragonBall. Anything that is published has to have his name listed as the author. That's just how it is. Legal stuff, basically. If you want to put a name to who probably wrote/oversaw the daizenshuu, I'd go with the editor Watanabe Akinori.

This is why you don't see "Author: Akira Toriyama" on Dragon Ball GT openings. He's just credited as the one who wrote the original story.

I'm not sure where you got this idea from, because Toriyama is listed as the "Original Author" (原作) on all of the anime properties, including DB, DBZ, DBGT, DBK, and all of the movies/specials. In DBGT and DBK they even still credit Shueisha and Weekly Shounen Jump for serializing the series.

There you have it. I take the daizenshuu as concrete.

[johnboy1]

There you have it. I take the daizenshuu as concrete.

Really? I take them as paper glued to a cardboard binding.