"Dragon Ball DAIMA" is a completely new series of the anime Dragon Ball, based on the popular manga by Akira Toriyama. The anime celebrates the 40th anniversary of Dragon Ball, and is the first new TV anime series in about six years since Dragon Ball Super, which ended its broadcast in March 2018. It is also a hot topic that the original author Toriyama is in charge of the original story, story, and character design. Many new characters will appear in the new setting of the Great Demon World, but to what extent is Toriyama involved in the work? We spoke to Ino Akio of Capsule Corporation Tokyo, who serves as executive producer of the Dragon Ball series.
◇The entire story and most of the characters were drawn
The original Dragon Ball manga was serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump (Shueisha) from 1984 to 1995, and the TV anime began in 1986. The total number of comics published worldwide exceeds 260 million copies. DAIMA depicts Son Goku and his friends, who have been turned into tiny figures by a conspiracy, as they adventure through the Great Demon Realm. It is broadcast every Friday at 11:40 pm on Fuji TV.
Toriyama has been involved in the "Dragon Ball" anime in various ways, but Ino said, "DAIMA is the most he has been involved in so far." The planning for "DAIMA" began about six years ago, around the time the 2022 animated film "Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero" was being produced.
Ino said, "In order to avoid putting a burden on the teacher, I didn't want him to make the entire thing, but rather just wanted him to take a look at it, and I asked him what he thought." However, Toriyama became more and more enthusiastic, and in the end, he ended up making almost all of it.
"He wrote the entire story. He also drew most of the characters. For example, he drew everything from the characters in the bar to the monsters that appear in various parts of the demon world. The same goes for the planes and other mecha. The thing that surprised me the most was the design of the warp. I was like, are you serious?! Only he could come up with the idea of going to another universe with a goldfish-like mecha. And the world view. There are three demon worlds in the Great Demon World, the first one, the second one, and he thought about the shape and origin of each one. There are almost fewer parts that he didn't do."
◇The thrilling story and the spirit of service
Ino has been close to Toriyama for a long time. What does she think about Toriyama's "greatness"?
"The easiest thing to understand is the illustrations. I think everyone can see that they are one of a kind. From my time working with him, I've noticed how incredible the story is. It's extremely difficult to create an original world. What is this world like? What kind of characters will appear? He puts so much effort into creating it, which in a way feels incredible. What's more, he has a spirit of service that always amazes me."
"DAIMA" is also an anime that makes you feel Toriyama's "greatness."
"It's been six years since we first discussed it, so it took a long time to get to work on it. We didn't decide on a broadcast date from the beginning, and we didn't think about when or how it would be aired, so we made it without worrying about time. There were a lot of elements, so we rearranged and expanded it, and revised it many times, and we made it carefully."
"DAIMA" will air its final episode on February 28. You'll be able to feel Toriyama's "greatness" until the very end.
