| Interviewer: Thank you all for being here even though you're very busy. Now let's begin, Dragon Ball is in its tenth year since February 1986 when it first aired. This is a long time, and still it's very popular. What do you think it is that draws people to it and keeps it so popular? Morishita: I think the drawing power lies within Toriyama's original power of the Dragon Ball world, that's what it is. Not only Son Gokou, but for many characters, there's a feeling of life inside them. Interviewer: Yeah, that's right, what other animation has children and grandchildren? We've never seen such a story. Morishita: If you noticed, teacher (Toriyama) wrote many different little stories all at once. Any character could have been the hero or heroine. Kikuji: Oh yeah, all of his characters were all really interesting, in Dragon Ball and Dr. Slump. In a country, people are similar, so that's why Toriyama's stories are so popular; when you glance at Son Gokou and Arale, even just a glance, you know they're cool or cute. (Kikuji is stating that all of Toriyama's characters are recognizable and evoke the same kind of emotion, even at first glance) Yamamoru: Toriyama secretly puts a feeling of life into his stories. (Smiles) Such as Gohan or Goten approaching Buruma. They can never be real, but he's always trying to make it seem that way. Koyama: Regarding stories like Dragon Ball, usually they're printed in Jump (or any comic magazine) and only run a short time on television. Akira Toriyama decided on the [flow of the] story and wrote the comic, at that time, scripts began to be created. So for the audience, this kind of parallelity made it easy for them to enjoy the stories. Interviewer: There's a lot of original content there. Koyama: Certainly, we'd catch up to the original comic so we can't go ahead. That's why we added the unique scenes. Sometimes using only a part of a story, we made another half of it. (Smiles) But the young scriptwriters improved their skills that way. This training was a beneficial project to help them grow. Matter of fact, we received some questions, "Where is that in the comic?” and thus the original part and the drafts mixed together well, I believe that was the attraction of the Dragon Ball anime. Interviewer: I think Nozawa's position is the place fans are affected by most directly. What do you think most attracts the fans of Dragon Ball? Nozawa: During Son Gokou's childhood, he is like a little brother or friend [to the fans]. When he got older later, he was like a big brother and if you had problems, he'd help you with them. Many of the letters I receive [from fans] say they feel that way. That's why; when he got married we panicked. We got soooo many letters. Interviewer: What kind of reactions was there? Nozawa: "I want to commit suicide!” some people said. Other people said, "Disgusting!” But then, they watched TV and calmed down. They felt safe again and said, "Oh, they don't lead a normal married life." Everyone felt that it was okay. It's like, how can I put it, he married, but he's still [acting like he's] single and fans loved him like a boyfriend, older brother or father. Koyama: I like some of Gokou's phrases like, "Ma, Iika." ("Well, whatever.") In any circumstance, he accepted it by saying that, and then he's thinking about what he could do. Very flexible, not stubborn because he accepts anything and moves on. I really like that. Also, after listening to it, fans would feel it's a good attitude. If he or she were bothered by cram school, they'd just say, "Ma, Iika." I like that kind of strength. Yamashiro: Gokou has a very good attitude. He has many problems, but he enjoys living with them and solving them. I believe that's why he's so popular. Nozawa: I think so too. It's a habit of mine to say, "Well, whatever. I'll figure out an easy way out and won't be killed." Remember Gohan's training? Both Gokou and Gohan had very tough training, but they made it feel easy for themselves and the audience felt relieved. Yamauchi: In the Trunks TV Special, after Gohan was dead, there was some dialogue between Trunks and Buruma about Gokou. She tells Trunks that he's not always overwhelmingly powerful, but he has an attitude that he uses to help solve problems. If he were too strong, then when he showed up, it would all be over. So when he shows up, people think, "Will he be okay?" Gokou will solve any problem, no matter what the age, this is why Gokou is embraced by all generations. Shimizu: It's an unusual thing, but the attraction to Dragon Ball, the story and characters, is wonderful. This is only a type of media that's accepted by Hollywood like the Indiana Jones movies. But because of the characters, Dragon Ball is accepted by the world, and that proves it's good. Also, this isn't just a typical "Hero" story. Yes there's good and evil, and Gokou is strong, but just strong. That's why Dragon Ball is deeper. The villains are absolutely evil, but everything finally works out, and it's always like a miracle. Of course, there's sometimes someone like Freeza who just gets killed. (Laughs) Basically, any bad main characters are forgiven, and real enemies are dealt with the same way. That is the part of Dragon Ball, which isn't a simple "Hero" story. That's the philosophy of the Dragon Ball World. I think Mr. Toriyama would deny these compliments and say, "Hey, I just wanted to make a simple interesting story." |