Culture news “Bland” and “boring” Without this arc that changed everything, the Dragon Ball manga could have been canceled
Dragon Ball is the most popular manga in the world, even ahead of One Piece and Naruto. However, Son Goku’s first adventures could well have signaled the premature end of the saga. Fortunately, one arc in particular saved the manga imagined by Akira Toriyama.
A tournament to save Dragon Ball
In 2024, Dragon Ball is part of popular culture and can boast of being the most famous manga in the world. The dozens of video games, the countless films without forgetting the animated series broadcast, the work of Akira Toriyama is still “hyped” almost 40 years after the publication of the first chapters in the Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine from Shueisha editions. The saga will also celebrate its 40th anniversary on November 20. However, the adventures of Son Goku and the Z Warriors could have ended prematurely. According to Akira Toriyama himself, the beginnings of Dragon Ball were very complicated. The manga did not meet with the expected success, which threatened its further publication.
Faced with figures considered unencouraging and an editor describing Goku as “bland” and “boring”, the mangaka has released his ultimate joker… a tournament to develop the main character of the series and hook readers with high-intensity fights. The one facing Jackie Chun (an obvious reference to the actor Jackie Chan) is still a model of the genre today. This was not the first time that Akira Toriyama used this process. Dr Slump had already been able to benefit from a similar narrative arc which had also delighted his audience. This martial arts tournament allowed Dragon Ball to become the saga we know today. It’s not for nothing that the concept of a tournament comes up regularly… Dragon Ball has made it its trademark.
A new Dragon Ball series in 2024
Dragon Ball fans will be able to discover a whole new part of Son Goku’s life from 2024. While the Dragon Ball Super animated series ended in 2018, a new anime was recently made official by Toei Animation. Dragon Ball Daima is an integral part of the franchise and takes place between the events of Dragon Ball Z and those of Dragon Ball Super. It follows Son Goku and his companions reduced to child size forced to go to a new world in the hope of putting an end to a conspiracy. Dragon Ball Daima will begin by October 2024 and will be broadcast in France on Crunchyroll.
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