Currently, Dragon Ball is in the midst of the story of Dragon Ball Super. However, an editor who was involved in the early days of the manga wished for a quicker ending.
When should Dragon Ball have ended? According to a former editor of Dragon Ball named Kazuhiko Torishima, the manga should have ended after the Freezer Saga. The corresponding chapters were released in 1991, which means that, according to him, Dragon Ball should have ended 34 years ago.
Nothing can be learned from Dragon Ball. But while reading it, one forgets everything else, and that is enough! The author clearly struggled, so Dragon Ball should have ended with the Freezer Arc.
However, Dragon Ball is still an ongoing manga. Currently, fans are waiting for a continuation of Dragon Ball Super, which went on a break because the creator of the manga passed away. Additionally, the successor of the mangaka first drew his own work, which he recently introduced.
Eichiiro Oda, the mangaka of One Piece, was also present during the interview. He agreed that manga is only meant to kill time. However, he did not comment on the possible ending of Dragon Ball.
Who said that? The X user sandman_AP is an insider in the anime industry. He quotes from a book full of quotes from Kazuhiko Torishima. He was the responsible editor of the Dragon Ball manga from 1984 to 1995 and worked closely with Akira Toriyama, the creator of the universe.
Since Torishima experienced the beginning of the manga series, the Freezer Saga, and subsequent story arcs, he can probably best assess when the manga should have ended. For his life’s work, he was even awarded (see j-mediaarts.jp).
The creator of Dragon Ball had the same opinion
What did the creator himself say about it? Akira Toriyama, the mangaka of Dragon Ball, actually wanted to finish the manga a long time ago. However, he would have let the story live for one more arc and would have ended it after the Cell arc.
As other former editors report, the pressure on Toriyama was so great that he added the saga to Majin Buu. This also makes it clear that Son-Gohan was supposed to be the successor of Son-Goku.
According to editor Torishima, Toriyama had no original ideas left after the Freezer arc. Perhaps Toriyama held the same opinion since he wanted to end Dragon Ball shortly after the victory over Cell.
Does Torishima not think much of Dragon Ball? Torishima’s quote sounds harsh. However, he shows in other interviews that he has a high regard for Dragon Ball. For example, in a recent interview, he states that the fights are extraordinary. As a counterexample, he cites Demon Slayer, stating that there is “room for improvement” (via X).
The fights in the Demon Slayer anime are celebrated by fans. The reason for this is the animations that occur with the breathing techniques. These did not exist in the manga, which is why Torishima’s criticism may be justified: Demon Slayer deceives its viewers in the anime about what fans love the most
