Akira Toriyama, the manga artist of Dragon Ball, has inspired many successors with his work. The creator of One Piece, Eiichiro Oda, was able to make a great compliment to Toriyama during his lifetime. He was so impressed by two drawings that he repeatedly drew the same body parts.
Which drawings are being talked about? In an interview from 2001, published in One Piece Color Walk number 1, Oda pays a great compliment to his mentor. He stated that he had never seen hands and armpits as well drawn as in Dragon Ball.
There were two scenes that particularly impressed Oda:
- Tao Bai Bai, a professional hitman, throws a pillar into the air to travel around on it. His hands, which carry and throw the pillar, greatly impressed Oda.
- Ranfan is a female fighter who participates in the 21st World Martial Arts Tournament. She employs a curious tactic to defeat her opponent: she strips down to her underwear to confuse them. Oda was particularly interested in her armpits in this scene.
The One Piece manga artist said that he was especially shocked by the hands and armpits in Dragon Ball because they were so well drawn. Toriyama was the first person for him to have drawn these body parts well.
So we owe the hands and armpits in One Piece to Dragon Ball. See for yourself with the following video:
The One Piece creator only drew hands and armpits
What was the consequence? Oda then only drew armpits and hands. We probably have Toriyama to thank for the fact that the hands and armpits in One Piece became so good. This allowed Oda to even dress the characters in sleeveless clothing without worrying about drawing the armpits.
A tweet from PiccoDamayonaiz shows one of the two scenes that Oda was so excited about:
How did Toriyama react to the compliment? The Dragon Ball creator initially did not respond to the compliment, but rather to a teasing remark from Oda. The One Piece manga artist mentioned that Toriyama had forgotten many of his characters.
In earlier interviews, Toriyama himself admitted that he had completely forgotten characters like Lunch. He therefore wrote her an ending at a later date. Characters like Yajirobi also temporarily disappeared without a trace because Toriyama apparently forgot them.
Toriyama defended himself in the interview by stating that Tao Bai Bai was not a very important character. However, he could still remember during the interview that he at least drew him.
Either way, the interview shows how close Oda and Toriyama were. It also gives us insight into how much Toriyama influenced other shonen stories with the Dragon Ball manga. Even if it’s just through hands and armpits.
The One Piece manga artist goes even further to ensure that his manga stays as good as possible: The One Piece manga artist consciously forgoes food and sleep to keep the story great
