Akira Toriyama marked the lives of millions of followers by drawing Dragon Ball, a manga that would go on to anime, becoming a legend. But the Japanese put an end to his passion for an unheard of reason for many.
He spoke about it in an interview, rescued by the portal Anime Hunch.
Let’s first review the history of Akira Toriyama. Born in Nagoya, Japan, in 1955, he began working at an advertising agency before becoming a mangaka.
Shonen Jump He opened the doors for him, producing manga like Dr. Slump, his first success (1980-84), and Dragon Ball (1984-1995), with which he achieved worldwide recognition.
He published several more, but none like the story of Goku and his friends, which, when released in anime and other formats, conquered the world.
Now why did Akira Toriyama decide to stop drawing manga? Because he lost his favorite wooden pen.
We don’t know if it’s the whole truth but it was what he told in an interview cited by Anime Hunch.
The story of Akira Toriyama’s wooden pen, the creator of Dragon Ball
This wooden pen He bought it when he was a teenager, and used it throughout his career, even before debuting with Dr. Slump.
He even modified it over time, adapting it to your needs. Despite the wear and tear, and trying other pencil holders, I always returned to the original.
But after finishing the Sand Land manga, he lost it. Although he bought a new one, and tried to modify it to look like the old one, he couldn’t make it.
“For Sand Land,” says Akira Toriyama, “I scanned the manuscript written on paper and imported it onto my PC. I then used software to apply solid colors and my own shades to finish it off. I probably got very little sleep. After finishing drawing all the stories, I lost my favorite wooden pen that I had been using since before my debut.”
“It was a pencil holder that had become familiar to my hand over a long period of time,” Toriyama continues. “I bought a new pencil holder and tried to sharpen it one way or another, but it just didn’t feel right. Since then, I’ve used it as an excuse to hardly draw manga.” concluded the mangaka, laughing.
How much will there be truth and how much exaggeration in the motive? We won’t know. It only remains to continue enjoying the wonderful work of Akira Toriyama.
