In Dragon Ball, we follow the adventures and battles of Son-Goku. The Saiyan is remembered not only for his orange combat suit but also for his black messy hairstyle. The manga artist Akira Toriyama revealed in an interview where his idea for this hairstyle actually comes from.
Who served as inspiration for Son-Goku’s hairstyle? In an interview with “Dragon Ball Z Full Color Comics” magazine, Akira Toriyama revealed the origin of Son-Goku’s hairstyle. He stated that the wild messy mane was designed similar to the “horns” of Astro Boy.
For Toriyama, it was an unconscious decision, as he revealed in the interview:
I wasn’t aware of it when I created it, but now that I think about it, I believe it might have been influenced by Astro Boy. The angle of the “horns” and the flat part in the middle are somewhat similar.
Akira Toriyama, via Adoro Cinema
The “horns” refer to the spiky tufts of hair that Astro Boy has on his head. Since the boy is actually a robot, he doesn’t have real hair. It’s made of metal.
In terms of timing, it could also make sense: The manga for Astro Boy ran from 1952 to 1968. Toriyama was born in 1955. When the manga was completed, he was 13 years old. The manga must have had a significant impact on Toriyama in his childhood, leading him to draw inspiration from it for Dragon Ball – at least for Son-Goku’s and Son-Goten’s hairstyle.
Dragon Ball takes the next step this year with Daima:
Astro Boy transitions from circus performer to superhero
What is Astro Boy about? The manga is set in a futuristic world where robots and humans coexist. The titular Astro Boy was created by Dr. Tenma:
- Dr. Tenma’s son died in a car accident. The scientist wanted to replace him with Astro Boy to fill the emptiness in his heart.
- Dr. Tenma treated Astro Boy like his son. However, over time he realized that Astro Boy would never age and would therefore never replace his son.
- He sold Astro Boy to a cruel circus director, where the robot boy performed in the ring. There, he was discovered by Professor Ochanomizu and lovingly taken into his own home.
Since then, Astro Boy has been fighting for justice. He has superhuman strength and abilities that he uses against evil. In the total of 23 issues of the manga, he can fly, shoot lasers from his eyes, translate all kinds of languages, utilize machine guns in his hips, and much more.
There are numerous adaptations of Astro Boy. For example, there are several series that aired in the 60s and 80s. With Atom: The Beginning, there’s even a prequel that has only existed since 2014.
By the way, there’s also a good reason why Son-Goku changes his hair color when he becomes a Super Saiyan: Dragon Ball Z: Son-Goku has blonde hair when he becomes a Super Saiyan – there’s a good reason for that
