What I Learnt From Akira Toriyama
On March 1st, 2024 Akira Toriyama passed away. For those who might be unfamiliar, he is the creator of the Dragon Ball universe and is considered by many to be one of the most influential figures in Manga history.
Some of my earliest childhood memories involve watching DBZ with my friends and my older brother. There was nothing better than eagerly waiting week after week to see Goku return from King Kai’s training and save his friends or rooting for Gohan to unleash his inner strength and take on Cell or being glued to the TV screen as Vegeta battled his pride for the sake of his loved ones.
I could go on and on about the different story arcs, beats, and scenes that made the story so special to me.
If I really think about it, Dragon Ball was the first story that I fell in love with. As a kid, I was enamoured by the characters, the epic fights, and the unbelievable transformations. The fights in particular were what made me an avid fan. It took me a little while to catch on to the themes and the lessons embedded in the story.
The story of Dragon Ball is universal. I was still in India when I started watching it and after moving to Canada, one of the ways I made friends was through Dragon Ball. In fact, one of my closest friends grew up watching DBZ in Germany. We met in Canada and bonded over silly Dragon Ball debates like who was stronger, Goku or Vegeta.
And even still, after all these years we talk about it and share different moments and clips of the anime. No matter how much time has passed, those moments never get old. They are everlasting. Just as Akira Toriyama’s legacy.
Of course, I have to mention the training.
If you’ve watched Dragon Ball, then you’d be familiar with the various training arcs the characters go through regularly. Whether it’s endless amounts of push-ups or squats or weighted callisthenics or hours upon hours of sparring, there was nothing like a good DBZ training arc.
Upon Akira Toriyama’s passing, you saw an outpour of gratitude from MMA fighters, Martial Artists and gym-goers around the world because, in many ways, Dragon Ball was the first introduction to training and working out. Even world-class athletes like LeBron James regularly use Dragon Ball imagery to inform their fans that they are recovering from an injury or are busy training.
In storytelling, there is a cliche about show and don’t tell. Meaning you want to show your readers what’s happening rather than telling them. And it was evident what Toriyama was showing with his training arcs.
The only way to achieve your dreams is through hard work. And the journey is a long one. It will take months and even years to build yourself up to where you can achieve your highest potential.
Toriyama linked self-development with a love for training. The characters weren’t merely training hard to gain fame and power. They were training so they could improve themselves and see what their true potential was.
This has stuck with me all these years. Part of my love for training and working is because of Dragon Ball and I know the same can be said for so many people around the world.
This blends into the idea of levelling up.
Even if you have never watched DBZ, you might be familiar with the word Super Saiyan. Now, your eyes won’t turn blue and your hair won’t change but, you might get the same type of aura as you improve yourself.
In DBZ that aura is related to getting stronger and unlocking a different level through self-improvement. In real life, you can build confidence and self-worth through self-improvement which changes the air around you. You find yourself standing up taller, taking initiative, and challenging yourself all because of how you view yourself.
I always liked the idea of linking the Hyperbolic Time Chamber to inner work. In Dragon Ball, the chamber is this isolated, otherworldly setting which allows the characters to improve themselves drastically while only a short amount of time passes in the real world. Similarly, you can make drastic improvements within yourself if you spend time in the inner world within you.
As you steadily work on yourself, you also begin to distinguish what’s right and what’s wrong. The things you’re willing to tolerate and speak out about. That’s the beauty of self-improvement. You build a sense of self-worth which comes with boundaries and a code. Through this, you bring about structure and order in your life.
These boundaries and codes don’t have to be complicated either. For Goku, it was something as simple as always standing up for his friends.
Another aspect of self-improvement is believing that you have more to give. That there is a deep reservoir of latent potential inside you. Sometimes we need another person to look at us and see what we are capable of and push us towards the greatness that lies dormant within. This is the story of Gohan who needed the support of his father and mentor figures to help unleash his hidden potential.
So, not everyone improves the same. Some have that inner discipline to relentlessly train and get better, while others need support to get the best out of them.
But, in order to improve, you have to have a clear vision of what you want in life.
This lesson was a constant reminder throughout the series. Whether it be Vegeta’s rage-filled rants about how he wants to be the strongest in the universe because he’s the prince of all Sayians or Goku’s child-like attitude of simply wanting to test himself against bigger and better competition.
You have to constantly find the next big challenge.
Each saga required the characters to level up but also to find the courage to face the next big challenge. This is an important reminder because goals are attainable. You can achieve what you have in mind but then what? Are you satisfied with life? Or will you then set your eyes on something even bigger that will require you to transform once again if you hope to achieve it?
This constant cycle of transformations and goal-setting mirrors real life. Many people feel dissatisfied because they aren’t chasing after something grand that will force them to pour every ounce of their energy into it.
One beautiful thing about the anime was that the goals were varied. When you assumed that Gohan would naturally take the next step and become like his father and follow the same arc, he took a left turn and carved his own path in life which didn’t involve physical maturity but did require intellectual maturity.
Find your own path. Set your own goals. And keep working hard.
But the anime wasn’t all about fighting and training. There were plenty of light and easy moments which spoke to the importance of having balance and relaxation. Perhaps as famous as Goku’s ability to fight was his ability to eat and sleep.
If you train and work toward your goal, you should also care about your recovery. Make sure you’re eating plenty and getting a lot of rest. Something that isn’t talked about as much in other stories with similar themes.
More than anything, Dragon Ball wasn’t afraid to be itself.
Nowadays, it seems like every show tries so hard to be edgy and philosophical to the point it feels inauthentic. It’s as if they are worried about shocking or catching the audience off guard rather than just being themselves. Dragon Ball was what it was. A fun show about a group of friends fighting a bunch of bad guys. It was the authenticity of the show that made it so lovable.
The same authenticity that is within everyone but we are afraid to really show who we are because we don’t want to be judged or made fun of.
A story doesn’t have to be littered with twists and turns for it to be good. A good story is simply doing what the aim of your story is to its fullest. So, with Dragon Ball, the aim is to show that you can triumph over evil if you stay on the side of love and work hard. And that those qualities are infectious. They can help transform you, your life and everyone around you. And through it, transform the world.
Work Hard, study well and eat and sleep plenty. That’s the Turtle Hermit way to learn.
Originally published at http://learnedlivingorg.wordpress.com on March 15, 2024.