Majin Boo

Akira Toriyama is known as one of the innovators of the humorous manga scene. After graduating in Graphic Desing in 1974, he made his debut in Shônen Jump in 1978 with the absurd 'Wonder Island'. Other series followed, like 'Today's Highlight Island' and 'Tomato Girl Detective', and then Toriyama had his first hit manga with 'Dr Slump'. The series, about the little robot girl Arale, ran from 1980 to 1985 in Shônen Jump. Despite being a robot, Arale is subjected to all sorts of everyday things that concern little children. The series has also been turned into a television series. 'Dr Slump' also features the character Suppaman, a parody on the American superhero. While still working on this very popular series, Akira Toriyama created 'Dragon Ball', starring the character of Son Gokuu, in 1984. This was a series of parodies on ancient Chinese legends, containing such ingredients as science fiction and kung-fu. This series became very successful and was made into a popular animation series. Toriyama has made two series of 'Dragon Ball', the first one dealing with Son Gokuu as a child, and the second one as an adult. In the anime version, the second series is called 'Dragon Ball Z'. In addition to manga, Toriyama has been working in anime as well, and he has done graphic design for video games like 'Dragon Quest'. Text (c) Lambiek