While fans may desperately wish for it, there may never be an official canon for the Dragon Ball franchise. The long-running series was introduced decades ago under Akira Toriyama, and it has since spawned off dozens of video games, anime series, and films. For fans, any project that has Toriyama’s seal of approval is a coveted one, so everyone can rest assured knowing that the creator had plenty of say in the newest Dragon Ball spin-off manga.

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Recently, Buzzfeed Japan sat down with an unnamed editor at Shueisha to talk about a hugely popular spin-off manga based on Dragon Ball. The project is known as “Dragon Ball Side-Story: The Case of Being Reincarnated as Yamcha,” and it turns one of the franchise’s most loved-hated character into a hero. Fans have been curious about how much input Toriyama had on the manga, and the editor said the publisher had an easy time getting the man’s approval.

“We consulted with him during the planning stages,” the editor admitted. “We thought he was going to veto it, but he very generously gave his consent.”

“We also showed him the storyboards, and he gave ideas for improving it. He said the completed manuscript was funny, which made me very happy.”

As for the creator’s suggestions, Toriyama had a few notes here and there. The editor said, “He said the protagonist should die in a funny way, and also outlined the protagonist’s personality; pointers like that on how to make it easier for readers to get into the story.”

According to the anonymous editor, there were few problems delaying the viral manga from being published. With Toriyama on board, the only issue that made the team falter was a particular episode of the recent Dragon Ball Super anime.

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“Midway through writing it we found out that the TV anime Dragon Ball Super was also having a Yamcha episode, so it was difficult timing the two to line up,” the editor revealed.

[HT] Kanzenshuu

Dragon Ball SuperSunday at on Fuji Television Network

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