Dragon Ball: Revisiting Akira Toriyama's Take on Star Wars

Dragon Ball has been around for decades, and it has become a stand-out anime for so many fans around the world. As you can imagine, Akira Toriyama has been blown away by the success of his series as it continues to grow even today. This is a strange feeling only a few creators can ever know, and the man behind Star Wars is one of them. So really, it shouldn't be surprising for fans to know Toriyama has paid homage to the sci-fi series in the past.

Recently, Reddit was thrown into a hubbub when a piece of artwork from Toriyama surfaced in the Star Wars fandom. It was there fans were exposed to a drawing the Dragon Ball creator did years ago in celebration of the prequels. Toriyama chose to draw Anakin Skywalker as a child, and he had a special message to share ahead of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace's opening.

"Finally! A new Star Wars is coming!! This series, aside from the story, the world view and the designs are all great. I'm quite passionate about them, and they've influenced me a lot. It's been a long time coming, and I'm excited about the fourth movie!"

Young Anakin drawn by Dragon Ball Creator Akira Toriyama in 1999 from r/StarWars

Continuing, Toriyama said he wasn't all that interested in the human protagonists of Star Wars. He was into the villains and the aliens... as you might have expected.

"Personally, I have very little interest in the humans in this series, so the Darth Vader in his childhood doesn't really ring a bell for me (I'm looking forward to Ewan McGregor though), but looking at the trailers, the mechanics, robots, aliens, etc. look pretty good again, and the SFX look pretty awesome. It should definitely be interesting. I can't wait to see it."

Clearly, Toriyama is a big fan of Star Wars, so fans can only guess how he feels about the franchise now. He isn't the only mangaka to show their love for Star Wars as My Hero Academia's creator is a noted Jedi geek. So if you've ever wanted to see Toriyama try to draw aliens beyond those in Universe 7, maybe it is time we petitioned him to do a Star Wars short.

What do you think about this tribute? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB.