Akira Toriyama Was Right: The One Flaw That Turned Dragon Ball Into a Shonen Punchline

Akira Toriyama loved creating Dragon Ball, but he wasn’t shy about calling out one thing he didn’t love: how the anime looked. After Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods came out, he gave an interview (posted on the official DB website, Kanzenshuu) where he basically said the show leaned way too hard on loud colors. And yeah, that choice still shapes how the series reads today.

Toriyama’s take, straight from the source

By the way, don't you think the Dragon Ball anime uses bold colors more than is really necessary?

In that same chat, he admitted he doesn’t really know the nuts and bolts of animation, but he still preferred holding those super-bright tones back and using them sparingly. Coming from the guy who created the whole thing, that carries some weight.

• Toriyama felt the anime’s color choices overshot what was needed.
• He said he would have limited those bold colors to specific moments instead of blanketing everything in them.

So do the colors actually change how Dragon Ball plays?

Short answer: kind of. The bold, saturated palette gives Dragon Ball its instantly recognizable vibe, but it also nudges the show toward a more playful, almost cartoon-ish feel. That charm works, but it isn’t necessarily what Toriyama had in mind.

Even people who aren’t diehard fans have mentioned the same thing over the years — not as a dunk, more as a taste thing: it can come off bright and a little kiddie. That was fine in its time, but in the current scene where anime isn’t treated as just-for-kids, the classic Dragon Ball look can feel a bit dated next to today’s slicker, moodier shonen aesthetics.

To be clear, the nostalgia factor is massive. Longtime fans will always love that palette. But when you stack it next to modern shows that use color to punch up tone and mood, it’s easy to see why Dragon Ball’s old-school brightness might be a tougher immediate sell for new viewers.

What if the anime had gone with a toned-down look?

Toriyama himself floated that idea — not to reinvent the wheel, just to dial the saturation down and deploy it when it counts. If the show had followed that route, you can imagine a version of Dragon Ball that hits just as hard action-wise but reads a little more mature visually. Would that have broadened its appeal today? Probably. Would it still be Dragon Ball? Absolutely.

At the end of the day, it’s preference: some people love the classic candy-bright vibe, others would have liked a more restrained palette. Both can be true.

Where to watch

If you want to revisit it and decide for yourself, all previously released Dragon Ball episodes are streaming on Crunchyroll.