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Akira Toriyama feels your pain, anime fight fans.
Some six months into its run on broadcaster Fuji TV, "Dragon Ball Super," the follow-up to anime smash hit "Dragon Ball Z," hasn’t exactly set the world on fire. While the latest installments of the newly restarted "Dragon Ball" animated movie franchise have been met with warm responses, there’s been surprisingly little excitement generated by the second coming of one of the most successful and influential TV anime of all time.
Among other things, discerning viewers have been grumbling about "Dragon Ball Super’s" art, and at least in the cases shown here, it’s hard to say they’re being unreasonably picky.
But audiences aren’t the only ones who sometimes get miffed at the franchise’s lackluster portrayal of purportedly epic martial arts battles. In an interview included in the just released "30th Anniversary Dragon Ball Super History Book," which commemorates the three-decade mark since the first episode of "Dragon Ball" aired, Toriyama expressed his appreciation for his fans’ support, and also revealed that he’s not entirely without opinion on the way the adaptations of his manga are sometimes handled, saying: “I was upset about the live-action [American-produced] movie…and I complain when the quality of the TV anime is poor.”
Toriyama doesn’t specify whether he’s talking about "Dragon Ball Super" or some other segment of "Dragon Ball’s" TV incarnation, but we’re guessing someone got an earful for this.
It’s one thing to brush off the grumblings of obsessive fans, many of whom may have inflated expectations for the animation quality of the "Dragon Ball" franchise stemming from their nostalgic childhood memories of the anime, or from first experiencing it in its retouched "Dragon Ball Kai" form. But it’s a little harder to dismiss the criticisms of the series’ creator, so here’s hoping that Toriyama expressing his frustration helps slow the trend of TV broadcasts being the rough beta version of anime.
Source: Yahoo! News Japan
Read more stories from RocketNews24. -- Dragon Ball “should have ended with the Frieza Saga”, says Akira Toriyama’s former editor -- Vegeta to be the lead in a new Dragon Ball movie?! -- Cosplay, art, and power-ups: A look at the Dragon Ball 30th anniversary gallery in Little Tokyo
© Japan Today
6 Comments
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Mirai Hayashi
Why can't they just leave classics alone instead of trying to reboot them. Are we beyond the threshold of new ideas? Like trying to squeeze blood from a stone.
sf2k
yeah it's just a money grab. Reminds me of Neil Gaiman speech on YT. "Make Good Art"
Michael J Cassidy
I understand, quality is being ignored worldwide for price, too many MBA's in the world, all trying to impress the boss. Here is the USA some cheap imported products do not even work The 1st time used.
Alex80
Dragon ball was never so great in the first place, imho. But nobody can deny its popularity around all the world. Anyway, if you still like anime even though you are adult, I advise you a very good seinen series called BokuMachi (Erased). It's seriously better than tons of movies with real actors.
sighclops
@Alex80
Mate DB is the greatest, and definitely one of Japan's biggest ever entertainment exports. I know guys in their 30s back home with DB t-shirts (who happen to be bodybuilders), and I've even seen people with DB tattoos! Watching DB growing up (especially DBZ) was an important part of my childhood!
Alex80
@sighclops: the greatest? Not even in my top 50 probably. I know how much it is popular but it's matter of personal taste. In Italy since the end of the 70s we got tons of Japanese cartoons and I think during my childhood I watched way more interesting series than Dragon Ball.