A Dragon Ball Arc Written By Akira Toriyama Was So Revolutionary It Left Toyotarou Speechless

Akira Toriyama is the dream idol of almost every mangaka. The author has spent decades creating the most impressive arcs for Dragon Ball While fans were impressed with Super Saiyan, the battle against Vegeta, and villains like Majin Buu, editor Akira Toriyama was barely impressed until the advent of an arc.

The arc in question is the Future Trunks Saga, which debuted in the Dragon Ball Super manga. Toyotarou began praising the arc in an interview with Akira Toriyama, and it might help you see the arc in a completely different light.

Dragon Ball The publisher was shocked by Akira Toriyama’s original project

In the interview, Toyotarou admitted that he was shocked when he read the original draft of the Future Trunks arc. Toyotarou claims that it was the stark contrast between Zamasu and the other gods that made the arc stand out.

I thought the gods were absolutely good, so having one of them turn evil increased the tension. The sense of tension that emanates from the story from that point on was incredible.

According to the publisher, it’s difficult to make things tense in a story like this. Dragon Ball. However, Akira Toriyama had the perfect setting to create tension in the arc, and that was to introduce an alternate reality where the Dragon Balls do not exist. Thus, anyone who dies remains dead with no way to be revived.

Adding to this the fact that the villain’s true identity was hidden for a very long time added a sense of thrill and the unknown to the story. Additionally, Zamasu’s personality had never been seen before and a slightly morally grey character was introduced.

Dragon Ball villains are usually absolutely evil, so there’s nothing wrong with defeating them, but Zamasu was a slightly more complicated case of “twisted justice.”

The Future Trunks Saga involved a plot that crossed the boundaries of time and space. It shows how every little decision affects the world. The arc involved fights with Goku, Future Zamasu, and even involved some of the Gods of Destruction.

Akira Toriyama explains his perception of the Future Trunks saga

Akira Toriyama agrees with Toyotarou that Zamasu has a complicated nature. The mangaka explained that Zamashu is good at his core, just like Shin. However, the character was too demanding for his own good and it backfired terribly.

The author also admitted something disturbing about the arc:

If it was back when I was drawing the manga myself, I doubt I could have done it.

For the Future Trunks series, Toriyama had to depict the inner conflict between Zamasu and Trunks. But depicting such strong emotions in manga panels is extremely exhausting, which is why Akira Toriyama was relieved to have assistants to help him while he simply worked on the plot. This became a positive reinforcement for Toriyama since he claims that he cannot depict the psychology of the characters.

You can read Dragon Ball on Viz Media and watch the anime on Crunchyroll.