Shenlong Times — 6th Issue

Koyama: Freeza for me!!

Yamauchi: Ah, he said it. (laughs)

Koyama: I thought somebody’d say it, so I said it first. (laughs)

Morishita: Freeza was epoch-making, wasn’t he? I really do feel that it was with Freeza that a Toriyama work got its first true villain.

Nozawa: He was despicable… so much so that it was frustrating.

Koyama: The voice was also good. Ryūsei Nakao-san was a perfect fit….

Shimizu: The role suited him well.

Morishita: As villains go, it really was the most dramatic in terms of the flow with Freeza. Just when you thought Vegeta was an incredible character, it turns out that Freeza ruled over him. The story being connected by that feeling lent it a tremendous depth. Vegeta himself is his own individual, and a prince, and an incredible character. Even Goku’s father (Bardock, the main character of “A Final, Solitary Battle”) appears. The fact that Freeza in the middle of that sort of world gives him a serious amount of presence. He didn’t just simply pop up out of thin air.

Koyama: He was connected ever since Goku was born, even.

Yamamuro: In my case, since it was the first movie I was animation supervisor on, it’s Broli. He’s outrageously strong, but there’s something sad about him. I wondered about how to bring out that sort of facial expression….

Yamauchi: That was difficult, wasn’t it?

Koyama: Goku alone couldn’t win against Broli, no doubt.

Yamauchi: Broli, in terms of both Koyama-san‘s scenario and Yamamuro-san‘s character, has some hidden darkness to him. Even just standing there idly, he’s ominous. During production, I couldn’t tell whether he was scary or not. Koyama-san told me, “He’s scary,” and I was relieved. (laughs)

Kikuchi: With regards to characters, I like stuff like Kame-sen’nin from early on. I just like composing pieces with that sort of fun. So much that I’d want them to make a story with Kame-sen’nin as the main character if they could. Japan doesn’t have very many enjoyable things with a cheerful, perverted charm like that, after all.

Nozawa: That’s because old men skip straight to actions. (laughs)

Shimizu: To children, Goku has an aspect of being a sort of ideal human being; I often hear that, when disciplining one’s children, “Goku wouldn’t do that” is amazingly effective.

Nozawa: It seems that way. Apparently parents say things like “You’ll make Goku angry”. By the way, I always think this, but the naming of the characters who appear in Toriyama works is very easy for children to get, isn’t it? I think it’s wonderful…. If they’re a vegetable, it’s part of a vegetable series, and there’s a musical-instruments series, and so forth.

Kikuchi: The naming of the original characters from the theatrical films is a lot of fun, too.

Koyama: That’s right. That alone, I look forward to. (laughs) For the movies, the characters are mostly named on this end, so it’s fun. I like naming them. While pondering things I can’t quite get a handle on….

Morishita: Although there are times when it’s a struggle. (laughs)

Yamamuro: But the power of naming truly is amazing.

Nozawa: It’s important.

Yamauchi: That’s because naming has great power in bringing a character to life.

Koyama: That’s why, at the time of “The World’s Strongest Guy”, I went with foods from Nagoya. (laughs) Ebifurya, Kishime, Dr. Uiro, and so on…. Once the names are set, the characters come to life.

Nozawa: The characters are truly good. We made a whole 30-minute work of just Gohan and a robot, didn’t we? (Dragon Ball Z episode 9) Normally, I’d be too afraid and full of doubts to be able to do it. That sort of thing, I think I probably won’t be doing at all from here on out, either…. I just love that one.

Koyama: And also, what I was incredibly grateful for was the story of Bardock that we did in the TV Special. (A Solitary, Final Battle) That’s because we were given the privilege of doing an aspect of the story that wasn’t in the original work. After that, Sensei followed our lead with the original work…. He respected what we’d done, and even made the story consistent with ours. Nothing else matches that kind of blessing. I think it’s rare to allow the staff and cast to do things that freely. Toriyama-sensei is incredible in that respect. We have no intention of making something bad either, and he really gives us the motivation to do our utmost.

Shimizu: It’s true. I’m attached to that work. “I don’t mind if it’s a sad story, but there has to have been this background”, he said. We made it with quite an attention to detail.

Morishita: In working on Dragon Ball, I became extremely famous abroad, particularly in Asia. Just saying that I’m doing this work, the other person respects me. Even if they’re someone from Disney Productions, when I’m introduced by the main staff as a producer of Dragon Ball, they show a positive reaction. It has incredible influence. I haven’t even done anything, and yet there’s such power. (laughs) Solely because of that, they immediately place me on their level to an extent. I felt like I’d become an international celebrity, or something. (laughs)

Last time, I mentioned how my pet dog Toma might be getting a friend, but at the present time, I still haven’t decided what sort of dog to get. That’s because the vet told me that I should wait to get another until Toma’s vaccinations are completely finished. For the same reason, I haven’t taken her out on walks yet, either. Due to that, Toma has been doing all her exercise in the yard; in the evening, when I let the rabbits out into the yard with her, she plays by eagerly chasing after them. At first, I thought about stopping her, but she isn’t actually biting them, and the rabbits also seem to be approaching her on purpose as if to say, “Come and get me!” so I decided to leave them be. Thanks to that, both sides seem to be getting plenty of exercise.

My Favorite Cruising Machines

Honda CT110 Hunter Cub [TRAIL 110 “Postie Bike”]
Jump told me I could receive something from them in commemoration of Dragon Ball‘s 500th chapter, so I got this, just when I had been meaning to buy it. Lucky break. It’s only 110cc, so it isn’t fast, but it’s perfect for riding around the neighborhood. Very stylish.

Alex Moulton AM-7
It’s a bicycle from England, and judging by its small tires, it seems like your typical mini-cycle², but despite its looks, it’s actually a quite capable road-racer type. It’s strange, but I just think it looks cool. I had a friend customize it for me, and now it’s even better!! I have another one too, called the AM-GT, which is a bit extravagant.

It’s unbelievable, but even though it’s been a while since Dragon Ball‘s serialization ended, I still haven’t been able to build a single plastic model. It was all I could do just to re-do a single model gun. I’m pretty busy, to say the least. What’s taking up the most of my time is my plan to renovate and expand my home and office, which I’ve been thinking about absolutely non-stop. Well, I’m mostly doing it because I want to, so I don’t mind. Things like the Daizenshuu illustrations and this page, as well as designs for the Dragon Ball TV anime’s new series (even though it’s just a little bit), are exhausting, for some reason. It’s not like they take up that much time, and I know that I’m also doing them for my own sake, but I really just can’t get into thinking up illustrations for a manga that in my mind is already in the past, so I unconsciously end up dragging my feet with my work. Although there are also other odds and ends that bring me to my desk.

In any case, it looks like there’s no way I’ll be able to do a new one-shot manga until all of my current work is finished.

When I saw the color pages of Dr. Slump at the beginning of its serialization, I thought, “what beautiful artwork”. I’ve been a Toriyama fan ever since. The unexpected developments in Dragon Ball‘s story make me think, “Toriyama-sensei really is a genius”. Plus, the female characters are cute. Characters like Bulma are nice and sexy. (laughs)

Among the enemy characters, Demon King Piccolo felt fresh. I admired him—to think that villains could be done like this! Also, there’s Freeza. Even now, my daughter and I have fun imitating Freeza, with, “That one hurt!” (laughs) We watch the TV anime every week, too; the whole family are Dragon Ball fans.

(caption) The bunko edition of Okumoto-sensei‘s translation of Fabre’s “Souvenirs Entomologiques”, with cover illustrations drawn by Toriyama-sensei, will be released by Shueisha in March ’96. The anticipation!!