"Truly Embarrassing": Akira Toriyama's Final Interview Proves a Hilariously Ironic Fact About Dragon Ball's Creator (2024)

Dragon Ball is without a doubt one of the most influential anime and manga series of all time. However, upon being honored by the Tokyo Anime Award Festival with a Lifetime Achievement Award, Toriyama had a confession to make that may surprise some fans: he's just never been that into anime.

While Toriyama passed before the awards ceremony took place in March 2024, the award was first announced in December 2023, and Toriyama had prepared a written response, which was published in pamphlets handed out at the ceremony. This pamphlet was shared online and translated by @SupaChronicles on X (formerly Twitter), providing fans who couldn't attend the ceremony a chance to read Toriyama's last words to the public.

While Toriyama discusses a number of things, he felt the need to first admit that he's not that into animation--even if it's Dragon Ball.

Toriyama opened his statement by saying, "To be honest, I have never had much interest in anime, and even when my work was made into animated format, I feel embarrassed to admit that I did not watch much of it, apologies to the staff." This admission may come as a surprise to those who grew up with the Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z anime series, learning that the creator of the series never watched this incredibly popular adaptation of his own work.

Toriyama goes on to say, "Thus, it is truly embarrassing that I am the recipient of the Tokyo Anime Awards Festival's Lifetime Achievement Award. Thank you very much." One would normally expect a recipient of a lifetime achievement award to be particularly interested in the subject of the award, but for Toriyama at least, that's just not the case. According to past statements, Toriyama is far more interested in conventional live action movies than animated ones. Most of his experience with animation is from the production side, rather than the viewer's side, via his contributions on various Dragon Ball films over the years.

While some people might choose to hide or play down their lack of interest at such a ceremony, Toriyama felt the need to be bluntly honest, and it gives the whole message a bit of a comedic tone. Even if Toriyama didn't feel like he deserved such an honor, one simply can't deny the impact that he's had on the medium of anime as a whole. Dragon Ball remains one of the biggest franchises in the world, and as Toriyama himself notes at the end, he's had a big hand in the next anime installment, Dragon Ball Daima. Toriyama may not have felt that close to anime, but he's had a hand in its development regardless.

As what turned out to be a final message to his fans, Toriyama's writing is a little funny and a little touching, just like Dragon Ball itself can be at times. This mix of sincerity and humor is very much like Toriyama, capturing the legendary creator's personality surprisingly well. While Toriyama may not have loved anime the way that fans do, no one can argue that Toriyama and Dragon Ball's influence on anime is undeserving of such an award.

Dragon Ball

From the creative mind of Akira Toriyama, Dragon Ball is a mega multimedia franchise that spans back to the 1980s. Dragon Ball expanded quickly, starting as a serialized manga for Weekly Shonen Jump in Japan. It made its way overseas via manga and an anime adaptation that is enjoyed worldwide. Dragon Ball was the initial starting animated series that followed the adventures of the young Son Goku as he sought after the Dragon Balls. These mystical orbs would grant the wish of any who gathered them together. Then, the series would branch off into the immensely popular Dragon Ball Z, which followed Goku as an adult and featured high-intensity battles and Goku's never-ending search to be the strongest. The series has also enjoyed several popular video game adaptations and continues to release several new animated series and theatrical films up to the recent popular Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero.

Created by

Akira Toriyama

First Film

Dragon Ball: Curse of the Blood Rubies

Latest Film

Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero

First TV Show

Dragon Ball (1986)

Latest TV Show

Super Dragon Ball Heroes

First Episode Air Date

April 26, 1989

Latest Episode

2019-10-05

Cast

Sean Schemmel , Laura Bailey , Brian Drummond , Christopher Sabat , Scott McNeil

Current Series

Dragon Ball Super

Video Game(s)

Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 , Dragon Ball FighterZ , Dragon Ball: The Breakers , Super Dragon Ball Heroes: World Mission , Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Z , Dragon Ball Xenoverse , Dragon Ball Z Kakarot

Summary

From the creative mind of Akira Toriyama, Dragon Ball is a mega multimedia franchise that spans back to the 1980s. Dragon Ball expanded quickly, starting as a serialized manga for Weekly Shonen Jump in Japan. It made its way overseas via manga and an anime adaptation that is enjoyed worldwide. Dragon Ball was the initial starting animated series that followed the adventures of the young Son Goku as he sought after the Dragon Balls. These mystical orbs would grant the wish of any who gathered them together. Then, the series would branch off into the immensely popular Dragon Ball Z, which followed Goku as an adult and featured high-intensity battles and Goku's never-ending search to be the strongest. The series has also enjoyed several popular video game adaptations and continues to release several new animated series and theatrical films up to the recent popular Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero.