Dragon Quest VI - First (?) Scan

[Khuutra]

Kenryoku_Maxis said:

As usual, a Dragon Quest thread just derails into 'lol DBZ'.

 

Khuutra said:

tedsteriscool said:

Words Of Wisdom said:
Goku has blue hair now. Neat.

Oh crap they all do look like DBZ characters! I spot Goku (bottom), Bulma (bottom right), and Trunks (top right) automatically.

Toriyama's art style is more about being dynamic and conveying action than it is visual distinction between characters.

Which is kind of bizarre to say, because all of the characters in the original Dragon Ball looked really unique. I think his primary problem in this respect is that he doesn't like to deviate from one particular design that he uses for heroes.

The thing is, most people in America only identify Toriyama with one thing, 'DBZ'.  Because that's the only thing they've seen of his and its one of the most popular Anime on TV.  When in Japan, of course Toriyama started off with a number of other things such as Dr. Slump, product designing, Game Designing and then Dragon Ball.  Many people don't even make the connection that the reason Chrono Trigger was made was because Sakaguchi wanted to make a game in the style of Akira Toriyama.  The style many people mock as being 'all the same' and 'bland'.  And Sugiyama has already made 3 games out of now (Chrono Trigger, Blue Dragon and Blue Dragon Plus).

The funny thing is, Akira Toriyama is probably one of the most influential manga authors in Anime history, inspiring much of the most popular Shonen/SciFi Anime/Manga/Gaming market today.

When I refer to his art being dynamic, I'm really talking about the set piece art from Chrono Trigger and Dragon Quest III. The man has a command of perspective and motion that would still be the envy of shounen artists today.