How did Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball impact the manga industry?

 When it comes to influence in the manga industry, Dragon Ball is the first name that pops up in people’s minds. Why is that? Well, to answer that, we’ll understand the simplistic plot of Dragon Ball. The story starts off with Kakarot landing on Earth, who’s a Saiyan from Planet Vegeta. Saiyans are a warrior race in the universe. Every planet feared the Saiyans. Kakarot’s rough landing on Earth made him lose his memories, which were supposed to be full of wrath and destruction. He is later adopted by Grandpa Son Gohan. Gohan then later named Kakarot as Son Goku. In the coming chapters of the manga, various villains are introduced who either turn into allies or are destroyed because of their evil deeds. Villians like Piccolo, Tien, and Vegeta become Goku’s friends and other villains like Raditz, Frieza, and Cell are defeated in battles. Such battles drive Goku to be the strongest warrior in the universe. Dragon Ball is all about pure power, will, strength, and hope. It inspires many people around the world to be better individuals.

Dragon Ball’s serialization was from 1984 to 1995. It was a shounen manga that was released weekly in Shounen Jump Magazine by Shueisha. Weekly magazines boomed because of Dragon Ball. Many modern manga authors were young when Dragon Ball was serialized, which inspired them to create their art. Few examples are Yuki Tabata (Black Clover) and Mikio Ikemoto (Boruto: Naruto Next Generations – Illustrator). Renowned mangakas of popular mangas like Masashi Kishimoto and Eiichiro Oda (Naruto and One Piece) have mentioned that Goku had inspired their series’ main characaters’ development and design. Dragon Ball carried Shounen Jump magazine sales in the years it was running. The industry’s Big 3 – One Piece, Naruto, and Bleach played that role later in post Dragon Ball era. Dragon Ball is considered huge in the anime Industry as well. Well-known comedy anime Gintama mentions the infamous ‘Kamehameha’ in it. This goes the same for Jujutsu Kaisen anime. Many popular culture media has taken inspiration. This includes Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Black Panther (2018), Captain Marvel (2019), Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings (2021).

Apart from the industry, Dragon Ball had other cultural impacts as well. All over Japan, May 9 is considered as ‘Goku Day’. It has been referenced in various American popular culture, from music and television to music and athletes. Many regions in Mexico had hosted public screenings of Dragon Ball Super finale in 2018 which filled stadiums and public spaces. Dragon Ball also has a place in meme culture. Vegeta’s quote “it’s over 9000!” and Goku’s Ultra Instinct are such examples.

As of August 2021, at least 260 million Dragon Ball manga copies had been sold, excluding pirated copies (400 million copies if included). But it is not always about numbers. Dragon Ball has a huge impact on popular culture media all around the world. Its story inspires many people to be better. Akira Toriyama still inspires many mangakas. It is still considered one of the best pieces of fiction, if not the best.

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