Akira Toriyama’s freestyle way of writing and drawing the original Dragon Ball manga is notorious among anime enthusiasts. The influential mangaka was against overplanning story beats and would constantly develop new ideas on the fly. While this leads to several story inconsistencies throughout the manga, it is undeniably part of the series’ charm. Kazuhiko Torishima, Yu Kondo, and Fuyuto Takeda, the original editorial team that worked with Toriyama on the manga, recently had an interview on the Kosokoso J-Wave Radio podcast. The trio gives more insight into the famed author’s work progress, confirming some last-standing rumors when Toriyama wanted to end the series and praising his improvising. Venixys on X (formerly Twitter) has since translated snippets of the podcast interview.
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The editorial team feared Toriyama was losing his passion towards the end of the run and devised ways to make the series more enjoyable to work on. The team would encourage Toriyama to use designs he liked drawing the most and add more levity to make the series more joyful. This led to the creation of Buu and the sillier aspects of the Majin Buu Saga, including Gotenks’ attacks. The editor attempted to keep the series lighter, leading to Mr. Satan, aka Hercule in the original dub, having a bigger role in the final saga.
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Mr. Satan Was Added to Make Dragon Ball more Enjoyable for Akira Toriyama
Toriyama wanted to finish Dragon Ball for a while before he ultimately did at the end of the Buu Saga, information that has been well-known to the general fanbase. The editors would constantly encourage him to continue and come up with new ideas to keep Toriyama more invested. The Androids Saga became much more difficult to organize, leading the editors and Toriyama to simplify the Buu Saga as much as possible. They convinced Toriyama to add more gags to the manga to make the series more fun. Toriyama began his career as a gag manga author, creating the popular Dr. Slump comedy series before starting Dragon Ball, putting the more humorous Buu Saga closer to Toriyama’s origins.
The editors cite Mr. Satan as an example of adding comedic elements to the story and making the manga more enjoyable for Toriyama to work on. Mr. Satan was introduced in the previous saga, the Androids Saga, as a comedic relief. He was the then champion of the world’s martial arts tournament, having accomplished the task without facing any serious opponents. Even though he had complete confidence in himself, his strength was minuscule compared to the main characters. The main joke was that the entire world believed him to be the strongest, yet he would constantly bumble his way through life-or-death situations. None of the heroes or villains took him seriously, which made the public’s constant adoration of him funnier.
The Majin Buu Saga is often viewed as the most comedic arc among the four main sagas of Dragon Ball Z, with Mr. Satan serving as one of the main reasons. While his role in the Androids Saga was relatively small, his role grew when his daughter, Videl, was added to the story. He would later befriend Majin Buu, leading to the split of personality between Majin Buu and Super Buu. He somehow ends up surviving all the biggest moments in the Majin Buu saga, including Earth’s destruction, and sticks around to help Goku and Vegeta fight Kid Buu. Mr. Satan ended up becoming vital to Kid Buu’s defeat, as he was the one who encouraged the people of Earth to give Goku their strength to fill the Spirit Bomb.
Mr. Satan Best Exemplifies Akira Toriyama’s Strength as a Comedic Author
The translations for the J-Wave interview hint that Mr. Satan’s rise to prominence in the original manga came as to surprise to the editors. Toriyama was notorious for coming up with the story on the fly, with many important story beats not being thought of until a week before the chapter was completed. Given the off-the-cuff nature of the Dragon Ball manga, it makes sense for multiple story beats to come out of nowhere, even to the surprise of the editors and author. Trunks wasn’t even decided to be Vegeta’s and Bulma’s son until after he debuted, at least according to the editorial team.
Mr. Satan was meant to be comedic relief, but he proved to be a convenient plot device for the climax. Even though the character was portrayed as incredibly shallow and vain, Toriyama found the humanity in the character, turning him into a fan favorite. Toriyama’s ability to mix offbeat humor with genuine pathos in high-tension situations is one of his greatest strengths. His editors praise him constantly for coming up with out-there ideas that raise stakes yet feel so unique to his brand of comedy. The editors signal Gotenks’ Ghost Kamikaze Attack as another example that infused Toriyama’s comedic sensitivities with cool action. The series continues to endure thanks to the contribution of Toriyama and his editors, setting up a foundation that has outlasted its creator.
H/T: Translations of the Kosokoso J-Wave Radio via @Venixys on X (formerly Twitter)
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