Artist's commentary
Murata's comment
"While obediently following his masters’ teachings, Goku seeks to win the Tenkaichi Budoukai. After training hard, he then enters and wins the tournament, and, in so doing, ends up defeating Demon King Piccolo, saving the Earth from his designs on world domination.” This is the plot of the first half of Dragon Ball (right before the Saiyan arc). Even with just the plot, don’t you think the fun of Goku’s unassuming nature — being somehow laid-back despite being insanely strong — comes right out? He manages to defeat the Demon King, who’s trying to destroy the world, all without actually breaking the tournament rules. That’s what’s so great about him. Since he’s so strong, he ends up prioritizing things other people don’t. This might be what “being above it all” is all about, in the end. And this might be the same attitude that characterizes Toriyama-sensei himself, someone who created an international mega-hit while famously thinking things like, “I wanna get this manuscript over with so I can go build more plastic model kits!” or “inking his hair black all the time is a pain, so I’m just gonna make Super Saiyan have white hair.” And this isn’t limited limited to just manga – “the person” shows through in anything one makes. If you want to make a comic this thrilling, then you first need to be a thrilling person yourself. That’s how I see it.
Translation provided by Kanzenshuu