Akira Toriyama is one of the most influential manga creators, who has inspired many other creatives, like the creators of One Piece and Naruto. He has made an impact on anime as a whole, innovating on the over-the-top transformations and power-scaling gimmicks in many other series. He started off writing comedic comics but went on to adapt serious tones when he started to write the Z portion ofDragon Ball. His raunchy humor can still be seen throughout his other works.
His work on Dragon Ball was one of the first introductions to anime for international audiences, creating many childhood memories for 90s kids and future generations. He has worked on many other series and one-shots during and after his run on Dragon Ball. We will celebrate the best manga Akira Toriyama has produced over his career.
10Dragon Ball: Super
Toriyama Takes The Back Seat In The Art Department
After Dragon Ball ended in 1995, Toriyama came back to the series in 2015 with Dragon Ball: Super, which followed our heroes four years after the Buu Saga. Although Toriyama’s successor, Toyotarou, draws the manga, it is still Toriyama who provides the story, which starts off by adapting the Dragon Ball Z movie, Battle of the Gods.
The story moves forward through many arcs, like the Goku Black saga, where we meet older future Trunks, and The Granola arc, where we see connections between Goku’s father, Bardock. The series has introduced new gods, forms, and abilities that have changed the status quo of Dragon Ball as a whole.
9Alien X Peke
An Alien Needs Help From Humans To Take Over Earth
Toriyama continued to write many one-off manga after his run on Dragon Ball. Alien X Peke was one of those concepts that ran for two chapters. We follow Peke, an alien who scouts for planets in his home world of Hanamaru to farm resources. He sees Planet Earth as easy pickings, but once he arrives, he falls off his ship as it continues to take off through the sky, leaving him with nothing but himself.
While not long, the story showed off Peke’s character, showing him not knowing how to properly interact with women and protecting the innocent from thugs—a characteristic he shares with Kid Goku.
8COWA!
A Children’s Story About A Kid Monster
In 1997, COWA! was published in Weekly Shōnen Jump, and ran for 14 chapters through 1998. The story follows Paifu, a monster child who lives in a village along with his ghost friend Jose Rodriguez. They live an average life until the adults of the village become ill, and it’s up to them to find a witch and find a cure.
Although the art is a big departure from what we expect from Toriyama, it highlights the fun and wacky tone that aims for a younger audience. The story is fun as the characters leave the comfort of their spooky homes and enter the unknown world among humans to save the village. It’s a great read for the kids.
7Saving Soldier Cashman
He Saves Lives To Save Cash
Saving Soldier Cashman takes a lot of inspiration from Dragon Ball, as many characters look similar, such as Cashman resembling Frieza and The Great Saiyaman. The story follows a space officer, Diora, who crash lands on Earth while chasing down intergalactic criminals.
Through the process, he crashes and lands on a human police officer, Chapad, accidentally killing him. With no money to fuel his spaceship to leave the planet, Diora takes on the appearance and identity of Chapad to live among humans. Working as a police officer doesn’t provide much money, so he uses his original alien form to be a for-hire superhero called Cashman.
6Go! Go! Ackman
A Demon-Boy’s Mission To Harvest Souls
In Go! Go! Ackman, we follow a 200-year-old demon boy named Ackman, who has just woken up from a 50-year nap. This prompts him to be assigned the mission to harvest and sell souls to the Great Demon King. Throughout his journey, Ackman is halted by an Angel-like boy named Tenshi, who constantly attempts to foil his plans but fails.
Despite running for 11 chapters, the series has been adapted into three games for the Super Nintendo and another for the Game Boy. It has seen some success, but there has not been a follow-up since the 1990s.
5Nekomajin
A Parody Of Dragon Ball
Nekomajin follows the antics of a cat-like creature who fights bad guys while using humor as he beats them up. It wasn’t until a few chapters later that we follow a different cat named Z, who now wears a gi like Goku, and he even uses a move called Nekohameha, which is similar to the Kamehameha.
With Z, he can interact with characters that have ties to other Dragon Ball characters, like a Saiyian named Onio and the son of Frieza, Kuiza. The story doesn’t take itself seriously and is seen as non-canon, but it brings readers back to the world of Dragon Ball from the end of Z.
4Jaco The Galactic Patrolman
Another Hero In The World Of Dragon Ball
Jaco The Galactic Patrolman takes place ten years before the events of Dragon Ball, where Jaco was sent to Earth with the sole mission to kill the Sayian who was sent to Earth from Planet Vegeta, but instead he crash lands on an island. Jaco meets a scientist named Omari, who promises to help him fix his ship.
While looking for parts in the city, they run into a woman named Tights, who is revealed to be the long-lost sister of an established Dragon Ball character, Bulma. Jaco saves Tights from muggers and shows her gratitude by helping him with the funds to fix his ship. Ten years later, Jaco reunites with Tights, and they go off to space and have adventures, explaining why she never appeared in the Dragon Ball series before 2013.
3Sand Land
An Up-And-Coming Series
Originally released in 2000, the series has recently made a comeback with a new movie, video game, and series to be released in 2024. The story follows a demon named Beelzebub who lives in the far-future, where the earth has been destroyed and is covered with sand.
With the only supply of water controlled by a self-appointed king, it’s up to Beelzebub, a demon named Thief, and a retired soldier named Sheriff Rao, to help the people of Sand Land combat the thirst that fuels violence and causes the idea of peace to be impossible.
2Dragon Ball
Do We Really Have To Introduce This Series?
Dragon Ball captured the hearts of many people from its first arcs, following Goku as he trained for tournaments to when he got older and began fighting intergalactic tyrants. The series has made an impact on manga and anime, creating a tone shift when it got to the Z portion of the manga, where Goku got older and achieved the legendary Super Saiyan form, enhancing his already powerful abilities and changing his appearance.
This form alone became the pinnacle of manga transformation, creating the trope that inspired other mangaka. Goku and the rest of the characters will always be iconic through their fights, abilities, and designs, all crafted by Akira Toriyama.
1Dr. Slump
Akira Toriyama’s First Mainstream Success
While Toriyama began publishing his works in 1977, it wasn’t until 1980 that we saw his first mainstream success in Dr. Slump, which ran till 1984. The story follows Senbie Norimaki, a scientist who creates an android named Arale, who lives as a normal girl in Penguin Village. While looking normal, Arale has super human abilities like super strength and speed, but lacks the capacity to have 20/20 vision as her creator isn’t perfect.
The series is filled with Toriyama’s signature humor, as one of the characters and rival to Senbie, Dr. Mashirito, is based on the real-life editor of Toriyama. The characters have also made appearances in Dragon Ball.
