Akira Toriyama changed anime’s reach and creative landscape chiefly through Dragon Ball: the manga he created became a widely seen anime, an international publishing phenomenon and a lasting cross-media franchise. He was not the only force behind anime’s global growth. The Government of Japan’s 2024 retrospective describes the worldwide success of the Dragon Ball anime as marking the beginning of an anime and manga boom, while recognizing the work’s distinctive mix of humor, adventure, battles and imaginative design.
How did Akira Toriyama change anime?
Toriyama (1955–2024) created the Dragon Ball manga, first published in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump in 1984. Toei Animation adapted it for television and developed the property across other media. That distinction matters: Toriyama supplied the original characters, stories and visual imagination; the anime’s production and international circulation also depended on Toei, publishers, editors and many other collaborators.
The Government of Japan’s May 24, 2024 feature says the anime, which began broadcasting in the late 1980s, achieved worldwide success and marked the start of an anime and manga boom. That is a retrospective interpretation, not a quantified finding that one series caused anime’s global popularity. A careful account of Toriyama’s impact is that Dragon Ball helped carry Japanese animation and manga to much larger international audiences.
The Government of Japan’s account of Toriyama’s legacy identifies several qualities behind the work’s appeal: simple yet profound storytelling, dynamic battles, humor, distinctive character designs and imaginative worlds. Together, those elements made the series accessible without making it feel small. Its comedy and adventure could welcome a broad audience, while its conflicts and evolving characters gave the story room to grow.
#1 Best Overall
Why was Dragon Ball so influential?
A visual world that was easy to recognize
Toriyama’s character designs and inventive settings gave Dragon Ball a strong visual identity. The JapanGov feature reports that Kyoto Seika University researcher Ito Yu considered Toriyama’s artistic skill central to the series’ wide acclaim and describes the designs and worlds as inspiring imitators. That influence is best understood as an important example for later creators, not proof that one artist established a single formula for all anime.
Action shaped by humor and adventure
The series brought kinetic combat together with comedy and a sense of discovery. Those contrasts helped battles feel like part of a larger adventure rather than the whole point of the story. Toriyama’s blend became recognizable and influential, but the available evidence does not support calling him the inventor of shonen battle storytelling or the sole source of later works’ approaches.
Manga that traveled across languages and formats
Toriyama’s influence extended beyond the screen. In the Government of Japan feature, Ito Yu explains that translated manga editions had often been mirrored for left-to-right reading, while Toriyama requested right-bound books for the complete Dragon Ball translation. Ito says this is said to be why right-binding became the global manga standard. The attribution is significant, but it should remain qualified: the account does not establish Toriyama as the sole cause of a worldwide publishing practice.
Reflecting on that publishing legacy, Ito said, “So, in many ways, the Dragon Ball series was a turning point.” The comment refers to the translation and binding context, not to a claim that the series alone transformed every aspect of manga publishing.
Rank #3
- Brand: mukawa
- Dragon Ball Super Series Vol 1-19 Books Collection Set By Akira Toriyama
How large did the Dragon Ball franchise become?
Its reach grew as the original manga became television anime, feature films, games and licensed products. Company figures show the scale at particular points in time, but they should not be treated as independently audited totals or as current counts.
| Measure | Reported figure | Source and qualification |
|---|---|---|
| Manga circulation | 260 million copies worldwide and counting | Toei Animation company figure in its October 13, 2023 announcement; not an undated current total. |
| Franchise formats | Six episodic series, including DAIMA; 21 feature films; games, a trading-card game and licensed merchandise | Toei Animation USA press material dated September 24, 2024; a dated company description, not a current tally. |
Toei Animation producer Atsushi Kido described the audience as cross-generational, saying the new series represented “the combined creative efforts of people who have been with the series since the beginning and those whose lives were shaped by it growing up.” This was a producer’s statement in Toei publicity, rather than an independent audience study. It nevertheless captures an important feature of a franchise sustained across generations: later installments can be made by people who first encountered the original as viewers.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Toriyama’s creative role continued into later anime
Toriyama’s contribution was not limited to the manga that launched the franchise. In its October 2023 announcement for Dragon Ball DAIMA, Toei credited him with original work, story and character design, as well as designs for vehicles, monsters and background characters. That credit shows his continued creative involvement in a later anime project, while leaving the animation and production work to Toei and the wider team.
Toei’s announcement is available at the company’s DAIMA release. Its description of Toriyama’s role is a concrete example of how his work could shape anime both as source material and through direct story and design contributions.
Quick wins for a faster PC:
Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Best Value
What Toriyama’s legacy does—and does not—mean
Toriyama’s importance is clearest when several kinds of influence are kept distinct:
- Creative influence: memorable character design, imaginative settings, comedy and energetic battle storytelling.
- International reach: a successful anime adaptation helped bring Dragon Ball, manga and Japanese animation to viewers and readers around the world, according to the Government of Japan’s 2024 retrospective.
- Cross-media longevity: television, films, games and licensed merchandise extended the original manga’s life well beyond the page.
- Collaborative production: Toriyama created the source work and contributed to later projects, while studios, publishers and other creative staff made the adaptations and franchise possible.
There is no comparable independent statistic in the cited accounts that measures how much Toriyama alone changed anime’s worldwide popularity. His legacy does not need that kind of claim to be substantial: Dragon Ball became a defining international success, and its humor, visual imagination and action helped shape how audiences encountered anime and manga.
Quick Recap
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
