Toriyama...Hates Dragonball?!

['lo Legends]

Another thing that people seem to think, is that Toriyama hates Dragonball and wishes that it never happened. A bunch of people have this misconception that because Toriyama hated the rigorous 1-chapter a week schedule, that he hated Dragonball. I was on an anime board the other day (one that, for a lack of a better word, is idiotic) where there was a topic called "Isn't it about time they brought back Dragonball Z?". Mind you, this was an ANIME board, not a Dragonball board.

There were the normal replies...

"Dragonball? Thats dead and should stay dead"

"Dragonball? That's for, like, 12 year olds LOL"

And then, someone said...

"Dragonball? That SUCKS! Even Toriyama admits that it sucks. He hates it."

And the thing is...almost everyone agreed with him! They were all like...

"Yeah, that's true. He doesn't want anything to do with Dragonball. He said on multiple occaissions he hated it."

Now, is there really any source where Toriyama states that he "hates Dragonball"?

[VegettoEX]

Hardly.

He, like any human being, is embarassed about his own work. Not to mention spending over a decade writing it on such an insane weekly schedule. Can you really blame him for not wanting to do more, and not commit to anything long-running?

It's, once again, kids on the Internet taking quotes out of context, changing words here and there, and running with their own wild ideas.

[Heritic]

No he doesn't hate it. He is forgetful about some parts though. In an interview he doesn't remember some characters but it's been so long that he just can't remember every single character.

[Pedro The Hutt]

From what I've heard he's said that the Z part of the DB story isn't the best of his work, but that was pretty much it. (and somewhat understandable)

[SaiyaJedi]

He, like any human being, is embarassed about his own work.

I think it's also partially a Japanese thing. You're supposed to be humble about your own work, and not bragging about it... although manga authors would seem to go above and beyond the call of duty for that. (The higher the profile, the lower you have to duck not to stand out, maybe?)

Keep in mind, though, that Toriyama is hardly the worst at being "forgetful" or otherwise self-deprecating about his own work -- Naoko Takeuchi (author of Sailor Moon) calls her own work "shoddy" and "crap," yet still treats it with the same sort of nostalgia as Toriyama does DB. I think if anything, they have a kind of affection for their work (even if it's not the greatest, by their own admission), but HATE the kind of production schedules that went along with it.

At least, that's how it seems to me...

[Cain Highwind]

I could've sworn I read in an interview with him saying that if he had enough time he would go back an re-do Dragonball. Can't quite remember where I read it though.

[Caracal]

I can't say I've read that, but I agree with VegettoEX - sounds like some kids making up rubbish.