Akira Toriyama admts to his minimal involvement in the Dragon Ball movies and why exactly they are considered to be non-canon.
SUMMARY
Akira Toriyama admits that Dragon Ball movies are based in an entirely different dimension to the rest of the anime and manga.
He also explained that he had minimal involvement in most of the films, other than a few contributions.
In his final interview, the author admitted with embarrassment that he was actually never interested in anime and didn’t even watch many of Dragon Ball’s anime and movie adaptations.
Akira Toriyama is the legendary creator of the Dragon Ball franchise. Despite having passed away, he still lives on in the heart of every fan who has ever come across his works. For years, he has worked on the Dragon Ball manga, but somehow, he has never been very interested in their anime adaptations.
Gohan in Dragon Ball GT | Credits: Toei Animation
Dragon Ball has received a total of 24 movies so far, and most of them are non-canon due to their divergence from the original source material. In fact, Toriyama’s involvement with these is also minimal, leading to more debate.
Why Akira Toriyama Does Not Consider Dragon Ball Movies as Canon
Gohan in Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero | Credits: Toei Animation
While Dragon Ball GT is the only non-canon anime in the franchise, most of the movies are considered not considered canon. Some of these movies feature new villains or transformations that were never seen in the actual manga. Akira Toriyama himself does not consider the films to be in the same plotline as that of the anime or manga, as proved by his comments during an interview.
I take the movies as “stories in a different dimension from the main story of the comic”. I’m entirely just an audience member for them.
-Akira Toriyama
Despite the popularity of the Dragon Ball films, none of them are in the same continuity as Toriyama’s plot in the manga/anime. All of them retell or recontextualize scenes and elements taken from the main story. Some of them even portray events that never happened in the manga, and these elements were not included by Akira Toriyama in his story later on, thus leaving them as non-canon additions.
According to Toriyama, the movies simply don’t take place in the same dimension as that of the original Dragon Ball. Additionally, he is not extremely involved in the creation process of them either. Sure, he designed the characters and checked the drafts, along with adding some touchups, but he barely ever creates the stories by himself.
Akira Toriyama Simply Never Had Much Interest in Anime
Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods | Credits: Toei Animation
Akira Toriyama is a mangaka through and through, to the point that he is more enamored with his manga rather than the anime. In his final interview, the author admitted (with some level of embarrassment) that he did not even watch most of the anime created out of his own works.
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.
-Akira Toriyama
To justify his actions, he stated:
When you leave the story to people other than you, there’s the possibility that something greater than you had imagined will come into being, don’t you think?
-Akira Toriyama
Despite his subtle anti-anime stance, he slipped from his usual demeanor during the creation of Dragon Ball DAIMA. The author initially wanted to just give advice here and there but ended up deeply involved with the project before he could even realize it. For the latest Dragon Ball series, Akira Toriyama was involved in the overall storyline, worldview, character design, and many other aspects.
