Summary
November 20 marks the day the firstDragon Ballchapter was officially published in Japan.Dragon Balldebuted on a Tuesday inShonen Jump(today, the magazine is released on Mondays) in 1984. This means 2024 is the40th anniversary of the franchise.
Sadly, it is not the happiest one. CreatorAkira Toriyama passed away in March, so what should be a celebration now holds a bit of sadness and mourning.Dragon Ball DAIMA,thelast work with the creator’s involvement, is now airing as part of the celebrations.
The officialDragon Ballsite features a section titledToriyama Archivesin which they post rareDragon Ballarts drawn by Toriyama himself. To celebrate the 40th anniversary, they posted a very nostalgic one:the first page of the first chapter, fully colored. Check out:
The original page is now unavailable, but it can still be found on websites such as the Internet Archive’sWayback Machine.
Dragon Ball’s Future After Toriyama
Dragon Ball DAIMA, issues and more
Fans would expect that after Toriyama’s passing, the franchise would still carry on, as it usually happens. Normally, it would depend on the family’s wishes but, as far as was reported, there aresome issues concerning the franchise’s rights. Actually, things were already a bit problematic before he died, and they are related to former V-Jump editor Akio Iyoku, a person who Toriyama seemingly trusted. All of this involves a fight for rights between Toriyama (and now his family), Shueisha and Iyoku’s company Capsule Corporation Tokyo, created to handle the distribution of the franchise.
While there has been no news on this issue being resolved, the projects that were ongoing before Toriyama’s death are running smoothly.Dragon Ball DAIMAis airing normally, and bothDragon Ball Sparking Zeroand a newDragon Ballarcade game (Japan exclusive) were released. But things like the probability of aDAIMAsequel might depend on the rights issue (who would give the “OK” to a sequel when the rights are apparently not settled?). TheDragon Ball Supermangais still on hiatus, and it could also be related to the same issue, although it seems unlikely.
For now, fans might not have many options except to look at both the past and the present, enjoying everything Toriyama was able to give us, whilehoping his legacymeans a bright future is coming for this and other franchises.
Source:Dragon Ball official websiteviaCBR
