Akira Toriyama's Manga Theater #1-4

Akira Toriyama's Manga Theater #1-4

Originally released in 1978

Written by Akira Toriyama

Art by Akira Toriyama

I saw that the Shonen Jump app had an assorted collection of one-shots by Akira Toriyama; I'm guessing that these were pilot concepts for series that ultimately didn't get made. (Though I'm guessing one of them, called Dragon Boy, is a pilot for Dragon Ball) I'll try that out for today.

My first impression is that you can definitely tell it's a Toriyama manga from the art alone; he has a very distinctive style, even if his designs for women (in this case, a small fairy-like creature) feel off compared to the likes of Arale or Bulma.

The chapters go by at a quick pace, likely helped by the fact that they're only fifteen pages long.  Even this early on, Toriyama has no problem with breaking the fourth wall or seeming to express annoyance with his editors. (At least, that's how I took one gag)

After two stories focusing on a bizarre island, the next one feels like a prototype for Dr. Slump, with an eighteen year old girl who looks kind of similar to Arale becoming a police detective.

There are other elements of Dr. Slump in there, though I'm glad that Toriyama ultimately went with a goofier sci-fi angle; setting it in an ordinary police station doesn't seem like it would have allowed for the sort of freedom that Dr. Slump had or resulted in the series becoming as popular as it did. (Shonen Jump already had a long-running police-themed comedy in a series that's called Kochikame for short)

These early concepts definitely feel rough around the edges, but I like seeing how the ideas changed and evolved as time went on. It's interesting to see how Toriyama's art and storytelling evolved over the years.

Others, like a one shot called "Pola and Roid", seem like ideas that he was toying around with while Dr. Slump was ongoing - it was published in 1981, when Slump was in Jump, and it references it on a few occasions. It's a fun little sci-fi romp that doesn't take itself seriously.

These were fun little side projects, and I like how Viz chose to publish these even if they're just one-offs. However, I'm guessing Toriyama's a special case; they likely wouldn't release a collection like this for many other manga authors. (though I have seen something similar for Ohba and Obata from Death Note and Oda from One Piece where various pilot chapters and one-offs got compiled releases)