It's been more than 40 years since the initial debut of taught valuable lessons to generations of fans across the world. Through its various sagas, iconic heroes and villains alike have stamped their names onto the public consciousness, immortalizing Dragon Ball in pop culture history.

Endlessly imitated, but never reproduced, Dragon Ball defined and permanently altered the shōnen genre during its initial run. Countless other popular series, like One Piece and Naruto, have listed Akira Toriyama's masterwork as one of their main inspirations, and have found great success in following its lead. There will never be another story like Dragon Ball, but that might just be a good thing.

Akira Toriyama began his professional manga career as a gag artist, producing comedic stories which, as the genre suggests, featured a reliance on gags or running jokes in lieu of any real substance. When it came time to work on Dragon Ball, the legendary author approached the series no differently. Writing a story with no end goal, or no plan for what might unfold next, typically reaps disastrous results. Any other artist would likely have crumbled under the weight of their own writing, but Akira Toriyama is a once-in-a-lifetime talent, who wrote a once-in-a-lifetime story.

Akira Toriyama Rarely Planned Ahead

The Genius Author Wrote His Story as He Went

In an age of anime and manga defined by stories with head-spinningly complex lore, Dragon Ball fits right in with its more current contemporaries. An extraterrestrial dictator with universal ambitions that destroys entire planets to prevent his own removal from power somehow leads to a strange, tailed boy becoming Earth's greatest defender. And that only covers Goku's origin story. From the outside looking in, Dragon Ball is a masterclass in carefully planned writing.

And Akira Toriyama meant for it to appear that way, despite his trademark lack of carefully planned writing. In truth, the series' author never really looked beyond what his pen was inking, and he would be the first to tell it that way. For Dragon Ball's 30-year anniversary in 2015, an interview was conducted with Toriyama about the creation of the series, in which some telling and humorous answers were given about his writing process.

When asked if he ever had any plans for future developments, the author replied, "I had figured that my only option was focusing on battles, but it's not like I thought about how the story would develop next," before adding, "Even though I was the one drawing it, there were still times when I was like, 'Wow, Vegeta's teaming up with them!'" Toriyama's own surprise at his story might have been a bit exaggerated, but his habit of writing the story as he went was confirmed by the man himself on numerous occasions.

The Cell Saga is famously home to the mastermind's on-the-fly writing. As later recalled in that same interview, his original vision for the arc's final antagonist was altered at least five different times. His editor was unsatisfied with Androids #19 and #20, so Toriyama came back with #17 and #18. The same editor was still unsatisfied, and the author introduced Cell. However, Toriyama didn't love Cell's design, and went on to change it twice.

Dragon Ball's Most Important Change Came From Necessity

Goku's Smaller Stature Made Fighting Scenes Difficult to Illustrate

Of all the writing decisions to happen on a whim in Dragon Ball, the most important came from a need to make the drawing process easier. The series' focus shifted from adventure to action with the introduction of the World Martial Arts Tournament, and in turn, its popularity skyrocketed as well. However, Toriyama faced an issue as more hand-to-hand combat found its way onto Dragon Ball's pages.

As the artist found out, drawing hand-to-hand combat with stubby little hands is actually rather difficult, and Toriyama decided that making Goku bigger would help Dragon Ball's fighting sequences. It was with no concern for future plot developments that Goku grew up, and yet the story which followed is what cemented its legacy. According to Toriyama, the decision was met with skepticism from higher-ups at Shōnen Jump, but his mind was made up.

Deciding to draw his next chapter before receiving the green light, Goku was aged up and Dragon Ball was never the same. From Demon King Piccolo to Majin Buu, the franchise enjoyed one of the greatest runs in anime and manga history. Without any proper planning, the mysterious tailed boy who lived in the mountains was made into an icon, and with the introduction of the Saiyan story line, a legend as well.

Goku's Most Iconic Power-Up Was Drawn to Save Time

The Super Saiyan Look Was a Product of Cutting Corners

Goku's change into an adult wasn't the only consequential writing decision to be made out of necessity. During the action-intensive Namek Saga, Akira Toriyama decided to make life easier for his assistant, whose job was to ink Goku's hair. As a result, the iconic Super Saiyan golden look was born, and Dragon Ball's sleek but striking transformation would influence countless manga artists for years to come.

When storytellers decide to write as they go, the results aren't always pretty. Though ironically, a large portion of today's manga and anime which feature such detail-oriented lore and world building have taken inspiration from Dragon Ball. It isn't often that a series can so effortlessly retain cohesion without any proper planning, and the manga world is better off that the days of writing like Toriyama have ed.

Dragon Ball has become legendary over the 40 years since the release of its first chapter, and the likelihood that a series like it manifests itself once again is low. Without the late Akira Toriyama at the helm, it's almost certain that the story would have suffered from its on-the-fly writing, but special writers are capable of special things. The future of Dragon Ball is uncertain without its creator, but fans can watch the currently running Dragon Ball Daima to experience its magic once more.