Quotes from Akira Toriyama

For a long time, I've loved the kind of characters who are boastful yet petty. I was originally a gag manga artist, after all.

Both my assistant and my wife tell me that during battle scenes, when a character is making a 'guwaa' sort of face, my face also ends up going 'guwaa.' So afterwards, my whole face is tired. I guess it's because I'm the kind of guy who gets caught up in his own work.

Too much FANTASY loses REALITY, too much HOPE may seem somehow EMPTY.

Back when I watched 'Future Boy Conan,' I thought I might like to try my hand at animation, but now, not at all.

I really like the story of Bardock, Goku's father. It's quite dramatic and the kind of story I absolutely wouldn't draw if it were me. It was like watching a different kind of 'Dragon Ball' in a good way, so I thought it was nice.

In the beginning, I was planning to end 'Dragon Ball' when all seven Dragon Balls had been collected.

I believe that comics are entirely for entertainment.

Saiyans don't have much of a concept of 'family.'

In manga, nothing actually moves, and you just have to draw the poses in each panel, but in anime, you have to draw the movements between those poses.

I'm not the kind of person who enjoys big crowds very much.

If you make friends with dogs, they can be really cute!

I was a mischievous child. I was also on the tall side.

When I'm out and about, it's rare for me to be recognized. But for some reason, every now and then, someone will know who I am. It might be because my picture occasionally appeared in 'Weekly Jump.'

Weekly, monthly, or whatever, I'm just not good with being told I have to finish up according to a set schedule.

I would often draw in my sleep. That alone made for twice the work... I couldn't use the weird stuff I drew while dozing off, so I'd end up having to draw it all over again.

I have absolutely no preferences when it comes to food.

Basically, I'm always coming up with ideas for mixing the things I want to draw with things targeted at children.

I have memories of reading comics when I was in primary school, but that's about it.

In the second half of primary school, I liked live-action shows and giant-monster movies, and then in junior high, I got into regular movies.

It's a secret, but when I decided to apply to 'Shonen Magazine,' it was already past the deadline, so I had no choice but to go with 'Shonen Jump.' My motivation for becoming a cartoonist was... to put it bluntly, the ¥100,000 prize money.

I think it's best to know about lots of different things besides comics. I don't think you can become a cartoonist if you look at nothing but cartoons.

Ever since I was little, I've shied away from romance. It's not that I dislike women, but I'm not good with them.

I'm an economic human without any likes or dislikes!

With manga, in my art style, I don't do much in the way of techniques to create depth. But even though I don't do depth techniques through my art, I am conscious of depth itself.