Dragon Ball is one of the premiere manga ever existing in the medium. Beginning in the 1980s, it introduced legions to Goku and several of his allies. This wouldn’t be possible if it weren’t for the late mangaka legend Akira Toriyama, an industry icon. His influence was so great that he created many other creations outside his magnum opus, so some diehards may not have even heard of them.
The other Akira Toriyama creations were often similar and different from Dragon Ball Z. These included the campy comedy of Doctor Slump and the adventure seen in the different versions of Sand Land. Following the creator’s unfortunate passing not too long ago, many fans of the medium are going back to explore all the overlooked Akira Toriyama works.
Updated by Timothy Blake Donohoo on June 4, 2024: Following the tragic death of the creator of Dragon Ball, many anime and manga fans are looking back at his entire bibliography. There were several other Akira Toriyama creations that were just as great, and now, some of his fans are” discovering” them for the first time. These other works by Toriyama included not just manga but even video games, showing how prolific he became.
10 Dragon Ball Characters Fans Wish Were Canon10Go! Go! Ackman
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The original Dragon Ball manga contains stunning panels that draw the eye, often depicting critical moments for main characters like Goku and Vegeta.
One of the many short manga that Akira Toriyama has created is called Go! Go! Ackman. It tells the story of a demon child with the titular name who has to kill people in order to sell their souls to the Great Demon Lord. Collecting them in a jar, his quest for souls was not unlike that of the series Soul Eater.
Essentially being a humorous story, Go! Go! Ackman was published irregularly within V Jump with about 11 chapters total. The series became popular enough to receive an animated short film and three platform video games based on the characters’ adventures.
9Cowa! Captured the Silly Humor of Toriyama
Another short manga series created by the great Akira Toriyama, Cowa! is a 14-chapter story that follows child monsters named Paifu, Jose, and Arpon. Together with a human named Maruyama, a sumo wrestler, they travel around to get medicine to save their town from the deadly flu.
What’s interesting about this manga is that it was the first major manga production that Toriyama has made since Dragon Ball originally ended. Moreover, he drew it in a three-week on, one-week off approach, which gave him a slower pace to draw the series. Thus, it’s in many ways the anti-Dragon Ball.
8Akira Toriyama Hetappi Manga Kenkyujo
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Also known as “Akira Toriyama’s Clumsy Manga Laboratories,” this informational manga contains lessons on getting into the industry. Thus, the book was different from other Akira Toriyama creations, albeit just as informational. It also had a big influence on several professionals in the industry.
Combined with classic Toriyama humor, he explains within his characterized Tori-bot the many techniques of the medium to his assistant Hetappi. Covering everything from inking the manga to the clarity of the story presented, this was a major success to the point of establishing a sequel decades later by Yusuke Murata of the One-Punch Man franchise.
7Kajika Was a Dragon Ball-Esque Toriyama Creation
A serialized Manga series created by Akira Toriyama in 1998, Kajika has 12 chapters and was published in several European territories. The series follows a young boy named Kajika as he journeys all over the world to become a normal boy again. Being incredibly strong, he used to be quite evil and killed a defenseless fox as a boy. However, after this, he was cursed and became a fox boy.
To turn back to normal, he must save 1,000 souls. Though more devious, there were many comparisons to the inhuman Goku and other Saiyans. It also had a similar format to Dragon Ball, in a way, with the quest in Kajika paralleling the search for the Dragon Balls. A short but entertaining story, it was praised for its easy-to-follow structure and writing style.
6Sand Land Is Now One of the Biggest Akira Toriyama Creations
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The short but popular Sand Land is an interesting Akira Toriyama tale. Set during the apocalypse, Sand Land is a world where everything has dried up and there is nothing but sand. With a greedy king holding up all of the water, Sheriff Rao, the demon prince Beelzebub, and his friend Thief search for a new source of water.
The story was praised for its fun, light tone and consistent art style compared to his previous work, Dragon Ball. Nonetheless, Akira Toriyama openly stated how much he hated drawing a tank. Ironically, Sand Land has gone on to become one of the biggest Akira Toriyama works besides Dragon Ball, with the franchise receiving an anime movie, an anime TV series, and a Sand Land video game.
Sand Land: The Series (2024)
TV-14AnimeActionAdventure810
In a post-apocalyptic wasteland, water is controlled by a greedy ruler. Sheriff Rao enlists the king of demons’ son Beelzebub and assistant Thief to find a lost lake, facing dangers across the desert.
Release DateMarch 20, 2024CastMutsumi Tamura , Kazuhiro Yamaji , Chō , Satoshi Tsuruoka , Nobuo Tobita , Ayumu Murase , Mikako KomatsuMain GenreAnimeSeasons1Creator(s)Akira ToriyamaWritersHayashi Mori , Akira ToriyamaStreaming Service(s)HuluFranchise(s)Sand LandDirectorsHiroshi Kôjina , Toshihisa Yokoshima5Blue Dragon Was an Anime and a Video Game
One of the many video games in which Akira Toriyama was involved, Blue Dragon was a JRPG created by studio Mistwalker. This studio was founded by Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi, giving the game an illustrious pedigree. Its old-school feel made sense, given that the art style made it an intrinsically Akira Toriyama creation.
This Xbox 360 exclusive title follows five friends as they travel all over the world to fight Nene, the evil ruler of the Grand Kingdom. Following a traditional turn-based system, the game was well-received but also criticized for having a fairly predictable story. Nevertheless, it was successful enough for a game, an anime, and even collectible cards.
4Neko Majin Was a Parody of Dragon Ball
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Neko Majin is a series of one-shots that are essentially Akira Toriyama parodying his own work. Spanning 8 works, it follows the titular race of the Neko Majin, who all enjoy jokes and martial arts. The Akira Toriyama creation was meant to poke fun at his entire bibliography, but it went on to do so for one work in particular.
Over time, the series becomes increasingly intertwined with the Dragon Ball universe while introducing wacky characters like Kuriza, the son of Frieza. Later, Goku himself shows up briefly. According to Akira Toriyama, he enjoyed the series’ silly feel.
3Chrono Trigger Was One of the Best RPGs Ever
Arguably considered one of the greatest JRPGs of all time, Chrono Trigger is essentially the brainchild of the creators of Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest. This union saw them work together to create one of the finest games in existence. Telling a tale of time travel and epic heroism, Chrono Trigger is still a lauded role-playing game that’s considered a classic.
With the art of Akira Toriyama during his peak in the Cell or Buu saga, the game helped captivate many gamers, and it became many favorites of all time. In fact, those mostly familiar with Dragon Ball Z can easily spot Toriyama’s art style, namely the spiky-haired Crono resembling a redheaded version of Goku. There was even an animated intro on the PlayStation 1 edition that truly made the Akira Toriyama creation into a playable anime.
Chrono Trigger
Chrono Trigger may be one of the oldest entries on this list however there is nothing outdated about this gaming experience. Chrono Trigger is developed by the same minds that brought us the famed Final Fantasy series. It’s no surprise that yet another RPG franchise of theirs would receive widespread acclaim. The game was first released on the SNES in 1995. Today the most accessible version of the game is the Nintendo DS port.
The gameplay contains standard RPG elements. A 2D world is navigated via a top down view of the map. If an enemy appears in the over world simply make contact to trigger a battle. The battling system uses hit points and stats to dictate the flow. If a character’s hit points reach zero they faint. If a member of your party faints the game must be restarted from a previous save point. This gives the game a high level of difficulty seeing as players must ensure that their party remains healthy throughout the journey. Players can equip items and accessories to increase stats. This leads to a simple battle system that players can easily grasp.
The three main attractions when it comes to Chrono Trigger are graphics, plot and sound. Upon release the graphics were praised for being way ahead of their time. Furthermore legendary Dragon Ball author Akira Toriyama heads the art and character design. His wonderfully iconic art style is brought to life with fantastic graphics. The plot includes time travel elements. Traditionally time travel is a red flag due to overly complex plot details. Thankfully this game keeps it relatively simple and uses time travel to enhance the highly original plot. Finally the music provided unprecedented levels of quality. Composed by Yasunori Mitsuda the Chrono Trigger soundtrack is believed to have changed the landscape of video game music for the better.
See at Amazon2Dr. Slump Is the Most Comedic Akira Toriyama Work
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Before Dragon Ball, the manga that put Akira Toriyama on the map was his gag manga Dr. Slump. Following the adventures of a young robotic android named Arale, this quirky manga series helped lay the foundation for the humor that Toriyama perfected. It’s thus perhaps the most pivotal of all Akira Toriyama creations, and it’s iconic in its own right.
While it isn’t as popular as his later creation of Dragon Ball, it did allow Akira Toriyama to become more comfortable as a mangaka. If it weren’t for the adventures of Arale, it would be very possible that Dragon Ball would never exist in the first place. Thankfully, Dr. Slump lives on through cameos and other references seen in the events of Dragon Ball and its sequels.
Dr. Slump: Arale-chan
PG-13ComedyFantasy
The wacky adventures of Penguin Village and its residents, primarily the crummy inventor Senbei Norimaki and his robot daughter Arale, a superhuman but naïve girl.
Release DateApril 8, 1981CastMami Koyama , Kenji Utsumi , Toshio FurukawaMain GenreAnimationSeasons5 SeasonsCreatorMasaki TsujiProducerTokizō Tsuchiya, Kenji ShimizuProduction CompanySunrise, Toei DogaNumber of Episodes243 Episodes1Dragon Quest Is the Biggest JRPG Series In Japan
Although the series is primarily a creation of Yuji Horii and his team, it was Akira Toriyama who illustrated the look of the entire Dragon Quest series. Released as Dragon Ball was first starting to become popular, the Dragon Quest series is the most popular JRPG line in Japan. A big part of its success is Toriyama’s art style, which resulted in several unique and incredible designs.
Adding in his quirky touch in ways that are both similar to while also distinct from his Dragon Ball look, the world of Dragon Quest is one full of adventure and fun. Whereas other properties have radically changed over the years, that’s not the same for one of the most beloved Akira Toriyama creations. The series has become so important that it eventually had a rep in Super Smash Bros Ultimate and recently had an 11th entry released back in 2018.
