About the Author

...Akira Toriyama's creation of Dragon Ball was born out of a desire for a change of pace after his massive success with the comedy series Dr. Slump. While brainstorming for his next serialized work, Toriyama was heavily influenced by his personal love for Hong Kong martial arts films, particularly Jackie Chan's Drunken Master, which he reportedly watched dozens of times. His editor, Kazuhiko Torishima, noticed this passion and suggested he try a kung-fu-themed shonen manga. Toriyama first tested these concepts in a one-shot prototype titled Dragon Boy, which featured a young martial artist on a journey to escort a princess—a story that received a positive response and laid the mechanical groundwork for his next major project.

When it came time to formalize the series, Toriyama drew structural inspiration from the 16th-century Chinese classic novel Journey to the West. He initially conceived the main character, Son Goku, as a literal monkey to mirror the novel's Monkey King, Sun Wukong, but eventually settled on a human boy with a monkey tail to give him a unique distinguishing trait. To flesh out the world, he incorporated elements of Chinese culture and landscapes, influenced by a research trip he took to China with his wife. Launched on November 20, 1984, in Weekly Shōnen Jump, the series originally leaned more into its gag-manga roots before evolving into the intense, battle-focused narrative that became a global phenomenon.