Akira Toriyama (RIP) speaks on his top 5 favorite Dragonball fights

[Days of Future Piff]

In a 2009 interview, Akira Toriyama (RIP) spoke on his top 5 favorite battles in the Dragon Ball series.

#5

Spoiler

Goku vs Freeza
Kanzenban Volumes 21–22 / Chapters 308–327

"It’s where the Super Saiyan appears, to say the least. The time had come when I was finally able to follow through on my promise to Assistant-kun. And on top of that, I was able to express it very effectively, and the reception was good, so I have nothing else to add!"

#4

Spoiler

(PART 1)Kuririn vs Bacterian
Kanzenban Volume 3 / Chapter 36



(PART 2) Gotenks vs Majin Boo (Evil)
Kanzenban Volume 33 / Chapters 489–495

"To be honest, I greatly prefer these sorts of silly fights to serious battles. In what I found truly enjoyable while drawing the series, stories full of this sort of idiocy were at the top."

#3

Spoiler

Goku vs Recoome
Kanzenban Volume 19 / Chapters 279–280

"Moreso than being a showdown between two people, I like how Goku, who we’ve been waiting for this whole time, has finally arrived! To exaggerate things a bit, it would be fair to say that I drew out the Freeza arc for so long just for the sake of this scene."

#2

Spoiler

Young Trunks vs Mister Satan
Kanzenban Volume 29 / Chapter 436

"The character who it’s fair to say is my personal favorite, Mister Satan, appears. I enjoy his cheapness, and the brevity of the fight."

#1

Spoiler

Goku vs Demon King Piccolo
Kanzenban Volumes 10-11 / Chapters 142–161

"To be honest, I’ve forgotten quite a lot of the story and events in Dragon Ball, but being the first time [Goku] brought down a frighteningly powerful foe… this battle is #1. Within myself, as well, I had come to see the direction the story would go in after that."

Honorable Mention

Spoiler

In another Daizenshuu guidebook, Toriyama also mentions the Goku vs Tenshinhan battle (during the 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai) as a "famous fight".

What about famous fights from the Tenka’ichi Budōkai?

Son Goku vs Tenshinhan
“Thinking of a famous fight, it’d be Goku and Tenshinhan. It’s because their ability was almost exactly equal.”

Links:

Translations | SEG: Story Volume - Truth About Dragon Ball

A Q&A with creator Akira Toriyama on how he came up with the story elements of Dragon Ball.

www.kanzenshuu.com

Translations | Daizenshuu 4 - Akira Toriyama's Best

Dragon Ball author Akira Toriyama makes his "Best of" selections in Daizenshuu 4.

www.kanzenshuu.com

 

[cyndaquil]

Damn he really hated Vegeta

Not a single mention

 

[Paper Boi]

Damn he really hated Vegeta

Not a single mention

hairline wasn't on point

 

[DOSDUMUNI]

hairline wasn't on point

 

[zerorequiem]

I love that most of them don't involve SSJ. Fights were more grounded in DB and early DBZ. Now it's just Goku and the Saiyans music group.

 

[PoorAndDangerous]

Interesting choices that give insight into Toriyama's personality.

 

[Secure Da Bag]

hairline wasn't on point

He made his hairline like that

 

[-DMP-]

I always knew Tori hated vegeta. Held my boy back

 

[Panther]

Goku vs Tien was fire
Goku vs Majunior too

 

[Ed MOTHERFUCKING G]

Prince Vegeta wasn't listed because Toriyama didn't want to remind people that Kakrot has NEVER defeated Vegeta 1 on 1.

 

[Cuban Pete]

Prince Vegeta wasn't listed because Toriyama didn't want to remind people that Kakrot has NEVER defeated Vegeta 1 on 1.

My lists better than Tori smfh dude hated his own best moments... fukk you mean Krillin farting in some randoms face is in your top 5

My personal list of animated canon fights:

Dragon Ball:
1 - Goku vs Junior (Piccolo)
2 - Goku vs Demon King Piccolo
3 - Goku vs Mercenary Tao
4 - Goku vs Tien
5 - Jackie Chun vs Tien

DBZ

1 - Gohan vs Cell
2 - Goku vs Frieza
3 - Goku vs Majin Vegeta
4 - Goku and Vegeta vs Kid Buu
5 - Trunks vs Frieza and King Cold

Super

1 - Broly vs Goku, Vegeta, Frieza and Gogeta
2 - Goku, Vegeta, Vegito and Trunks vs Goku Black and Zamasu
3 - Goku vs Kefla
4 - MUI Goku vs Full Power Jiren
5 - SSBE Vegeta vs GoD Toppo

Honorable mention goes to Piccolo vs Android 17 with the GOAT undercard

 

[Days of Future Piff]

Akira Toriyama spoke on his favorite characters across several interviews.
Toriyama mentioned Goku, Piccolo and Mr. Satan/Hercule among his favorite characters in a 1995 interview:

Incidentally, who is your favorite character?

Yeah, I guess I like Piccolo the most after all. Out of all the enemies, Demon King Piccolo is the one I like most, and even after that I like Piccolo the most. I like Piccolo about the same as I like Goku. With Vegeta, well, I don’t like him all that much, but he was extremely helpful to have around. For the recent stuff, it was fun drawing Satan. When I first brought him out, I didn’t think that I would end up making Satan that important of a character. I thought he’d just be a one-shot character.

Satan is like that, but thinking up worthless gags is more enjoyable than doing the fight scenes. (laughs)

When asked about his favorite character in a 2011 interview with One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda, Toriyama again mentioned Piccolo as a favorite:

Q: From here, we'll start talking about characters. Can you tell us each of your favorite character from your manga?


Toriyama: I believe mine would be Piccolo. He was the first character in my manga where I was like, "He has a scary face, but he's so cool!" It really is cliché when bad guys turn into good guys, but it just feels great drawing it!

Oda: That's right. It makes the readers happy as well. There is a part of you that gets happy even though you knew it was going to happen.

Toriyama: Yep, yep. Oda kun, which of your manga characters do you like?

Oda: Me..? Of course, I like Luffy. But, the character that I like the most is Gaimon. It's hard to think of anyone better than him. Just a man who has been stuck in a treasure box for 20 years. I think that was an amazing setup myself.

More of Akira Toriyama's thoughts on different characters:

> If you were to draw another “Dragon Ball”, who would the protagonist be?
Mister Satan
“Mister Satan would be the one I’d want to make into the protagonist. How about a gag manga with him and Boo?” The world grappling champion Mister Satan. Debuting in the second half of the story, he’s a cute character who took off on his own. It’d be nice if this gag manga were to become a reality!
Who would you want as your kid? Who would want as your parent?
As a kid: Dende
“He’s serious and can heal his own injuries. But he looks a little strange, so I guess he’d be picked on at school.”

As a parent: Bulma
“I’d be very rich, so I’d be relatively left to myself.” And on top of that he’d be a genius.
Who seems like they will live the longest, and who seems like they will die the earliest?
Looks like he’ll live long: Kame-Sen’nin
“It seems that he will live a surprisingly long time.” He certainly seems to be the happiest character.

Looks like he’ll die early: Vegeta
“Everybody dies eventually, but Vegeta seems like he has high blood pressure so he’ll probably go suddenly.”

> If you were to be reincarnated, who would you want to be?
Trunks
“It’d be nice to be the Trunks who doesn’t have the painful past. I’d be rich, be able to buy lots of toys, and be real strong. That’s what it looks like superficially.”

> Out of all your characters, which one is the most (blank)?
Cool: Goku
“I think it’s Goku.” The always pure strongest in the universe. Goku is #1 after all!

Gourmet: Satan
“I get the sense that he eats expensively. He’s high-class, but an OK sort.”
Shy: Piccolo
“I feel that the Namekians are basically a shy race.”
Fashionable: Trunks
“I thought it’d be Bulma, but once she became an old lady she dresses out of fashion.”
Mischievous: Kame-Sen’nin
“Of course it’d have to be this guy.” Was his perverseness the deciding factor?

Interestingly, Toriyama gave a very different answer when he spoke on his five favorite warriors in a 2010 interview for the Dragonball Extreme Battle Collection:

Toriyama-sensei, please list your five favorite warriors.

I basically think that quiet types are absolutely cool. I’ve thought that ever since I was a kid. Speaking of which, Tenshinhan and Trunks are like that too. They’re all a bunch of silent types (laughs). Kuririn’s not quiet, but I liked the sense that he was grudgingly hanging in there. At first I only intended him to be around for a little while, so I drew him pretty shoddily, but somewhere along the line he became Goku’s best friend (laughs). Mr. Satan’s the complete opposite of the silent type. It was fun drawing him because despite being so petty, he wasn’t really a bad character, so I like him too.

Toriyama-sensei’s five favorite warriors!!1

• Piccolo / Vegeta
  A pair who never say anything unless they have to, and have an air of aloof superiority. Their coolness is the real deal.
• Kuririn
  Kuririn stands against strong opponents, despite being freaked out the whole time. He’s now Goku’s closest friend!
• Mr. Satan
  Satan’s a character overflowing with human kindness and weakness. He’s loved the whole world over.
• Son Goku
  Toriyama-sensei’s #1 favorite character is Goku, of course! He’s a super warrior who’s both strong and gentle!

Sources:

Translations | Daizenshuu 2 - Akira Toriyama Super Interview

The second of six Daizenshuu interviews with Dragon Ball author Akira Toriyama in which he discusses the series' story and development.

www.kanzenshuu.com

Oda/Toriyama Long Interview

Translations | Daizenshuu 4 - Akira Toriyama's Best

Dragon Ball author Akira Toriyama makes his "Best of" selections in Daizenshuu 4.

www.kanzenshuu.com

Translations | Extreme Battle Collection: Round 02 - Toriyama Q&A

www.kanzenshuu.com

 

[nairdas]

I knew his list wouldn't be typical since he made the show.

My list would go like this tho.

1. Goku Vs Frieza
2. Goku Vs Vegeta (first time)
3. Android 17 Vs Piccolo
4. Goku Vs Cell
5. Goku Vs Maijin Vegeta

Really outside of those fights everything else was basically a wash.