Are you a student of Mathematics or predicate logic? If so you may have come upon certain things called functions - or formulas where you put in some values and it produces a result.

A + B = C is a simple formula, it has no specific example yet, but it applies universally that if two distinct numbers are put together, they give as output a third individual number. So 1 + 2 = 3.

Okay, before you think I wrote the wrong newsletter, hear me out - I am still all Anime. The point I am trying to make is a simple one, mainly that we individuals seem to generalize certain formulas out of individual examples. These are usually called tropes.

You know how American action movies are always about aliens, armageddons, disasters and what not happening only to the U.S.? Yeah, that’s a trope. Ever seen a Gerald Butler movie? Those all look like part of some Butlerverse. Not that it’s bad, I enjoy Gerald’s each and every action flick, even if they are repeated plotlines. I love him.

Basically, we can find common elements in multiple individual works. The same is the case for the world of Animanga. And it seems many of these tropes were set by the legendary story of Dragon Ball.

• Today, we will see how tropes have helped shape multiple animanga works of art

• We will look at how Dragon Ball has been a phenomenal influence on shaping tropes in Shonen

• How modern day Shonens have evolved to incorporate techniques over appearance-based transformations alone (such as Super Saiyan)

Well, it will be a fun ride, why don’t you stick til the end?

- From the Editor’s Desk

Rhytham Das, Editor-in-Chief, Spiel Anime

Akira Toriyama, author of the legendary Dragon Ball series, passes away at 68

Akira Toriyama, the legendary mangaka of the Dragon Ball series, died on March 1st, 2024, at the age of 68 as said by his studio.

His cause of death is said to be an acute subdural hematoma which is a form of bleeding that happens between the brain’s surface and its hard outer layer. Severe head injuries can cause these, which if not treated quickly, can lead to paralysis, unconsciousness, or even death due to the rise in blood pressure in the brain.

After the news about how Akira Toriyama died, Shueisha published an obituary on the official website of Shonen Jump. Through that, Masashi Kishimoto and Eiichiro Oda, the creators of Naruto and One Piece respectively, shared their message on Toriyama’s death.

HOW SHONENS HAVE REFINED THAT WHICH WAS LEFT BY DRAGON BALL

Dragon Ball has been considered legendary by well too many people. In this world of reality, a common consensus (or democracy, for that matter) does set of cultural truths.

Ever since Akira Toriyama left us in this world, we have been utterly nostalgic for the contribution Dragon Ball had in the Anime culture.

Dragon Ball was notably one of the first shonen series ever that depicted a power dynamic, levelling up, extraterrestrial threats, transformation forms, and whatnot.

How Dragon Ball set up what ‘Shonen’ even meant

Ever since Dragon Ball was first published by Shueisha in 1984, the Japanese manga industry was swept across by a series of similar works. Following firstly, Yu Yu Hakusho, which was first conceptualized in 1990, followed by a tremendous rush of more similar works.

Taking the helm, One Piece came out in 1997, Naruto in 1999 and Bleach in 2000, setting up what eventually became the ‘Big Three’ of all Animanga shonen.

However, even before all of these above-mentioned were put for publication, Dragon Ball, and the subsequent Dragon Ball Z and GT had already swept the floor. This was especially true for the United States and some parts of Europe. By 1996, much before the likes of the Big Three of Shonen were even published, the Anime of Dragon Ball series had long wrapped up (Dragon Ball GT).

Modern shonens and what they have taken from their ancestors

It stands to reason then, that much of what series like Jujutsu Kaisen, Demon Slayer, Chainsaw Man, and My Hero Academia, to name a few, have to offer today to its audience, has an ancestry that can be traced back to Dragon Ball.

Super Saiyan leading way for all transformation inspirations in Anime

The Shonen tropes involve some sense of power-up transformation, and I do believe the legendary Super Saiyan-jin was the primogenitor of the modern power-ups of Animanga today.

The Super Saiyan transformation was quite unlike anything else, it was one of a kind. Even in the contemporary West, no one had seen a concept of powering up so much that one’s entire appearance changed. For major parts, Batman, Superman or their Marvel competition such as Spiderman never really went through any outer change.

Today, we are ridden with changes and transformations in Anime and Manga, although none as brilliant as Super Saiyan. Mangakas have learned to not overuse a formula. But transformations have become more intricate and changed to creativity in coming up with techniques: such as different forms of breathing techniques in Demon Slayer, or concepts of Domain Expansions in Jujutsu Kaisen.

However, transformations are more prominently seen in the immediate follow-ups of DB. One Piece, Naruto and Bleach are ridden with Gear, Tailed Beast, and Zanpakuto transformations respectively.

Villains of later sagas don’t appear before their due

DB also set a standard for progressing arc by arc, introducing only one villain at a time. Although we take this for quite granted, looking back, such a saga by saga concept was not the norm back then.

Imagine if Majin Buu had invaded during the early Saiyan Saga when Nappa and Vegeta invaded Earth, I for sure have imagined this situation a lot. For all we know, Earth would have been wiped out. But obviously, it would be functionally unreasonable for the author to introduce undefeatable villains.

However undefeatable villains are quite easily incorporated today, take for example All For One in My Hero Academia. Or for example Muzan in Demon Slayer.

Both of these are examples of villains that the main protagonist never could beat. However, their existence is mediated by an equally powerful ally, in the above examples All Might and the existing Hashiras - to somehow tone down the difficulty and make the story progression reasonable.

This is just one example out of many, of how modern Shonen have taken precedence set by DB and taken, developed, and nourished them through and through. Heck, Jujutsu Kaisen even went further and incorporated not an OP villain, but an OP character as an ally - Gojou Satoru.

The majority of the series towards the late, however, used Gojou Satoru as a catalyst for the protagonist’s growth, showing again the brilliance of the author Gege. Although such growth did come about after tremendous deaths, deaths which could not be reversed using any form of dragon balls - a move the legendary ancestor was quite afraid of taking.

To end it in a few..

I am sure there are ‘much many’ examples to induce how Dragon Ball has impacted modern shonens, other than the fact that it entirely defined what ‘shonen’ stories are to be like. Whether Akira knew that his work would suffice the majority of the fantasies of young grown men, or it just happened to be this way and was later coined the fore-starter of Shonen series, is up to anyone’s predictions.

But these do make good topics, for newsletters such as ours. We do hope, however, that you do not find the need for venturing into any other Anime newsletter after having found our own.

Thank you for reading, do look forward to our next edition.

Signing off.