Akira Toriyama's Manga Theater

The original Japanese title of the series translates to "Akira Toriyama's ____piece Theater", and Akira Toriyama wrote that readers can fill in the blank with whatever they want. In the second volume, the author revealed that while he has created a number of one-shots, he begs to get out of doing anything more than 15 pages, so their page-counts are lower than the standard amount and therefore it takes time to compile enough to fill a volume. After quitting his previous job, 23-year old Toriyama entered the manga industry by submitting a work to a contest held by Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine in order to win the prize money. Although Toriyama had planned to quit manga after getting paid, because Wonder Island 2 was also a "flop," he said his stubbornness would not let him and he continued to draw failed stories for a year; claiming around 500, including the published ''Today's Highlight Island. He said he learned a lot during this year and when Torishima told him to draw a female lead character, Toriyama hesitantly created Tomato the Cutesy Gumshoe (1979), which had some success. Feeling encouraged, he decided to draw another female lead and created Dr. Slump. So he worked with Torishima on several one-shots for Weekly Shōnen Jump and the monthly Fresh Jump, but none were particularly successful. In 1981, Toriyama was one of ten artists selected to create a 45-page work for Weekly Shōnen Jump''s Reader's Choice contest. Used to doing 13 to 15-page chapters, he struggled with the deadline and so drew it all with an "autograph pen." Nonetheless, his manga Pola & Roid took first place. Toriyama was selected to participate in the Reader's Choice contest again in 1982 and submitted Mad Matic. In addition to his assistant Hisuwashi, he also utilized a mecha expert named Tanigami for the manga. Toriyama said that Pink (1982) was created at a time when he was no longer afraid to draw girls, and wanted to experiment with the girlish side of the title character. The artist was inspired by Hong Kong martial arts films such as Bruce Lee's Enter the Dragon (1973) and Jackie Chan's Drunken Master (1978). This led to the two-part Dragon Boy, published in the August and October 1983 issues of Fresh Jump. It follows a boy, adept at martial arts, who escorts a princess on a journey back to her home country. Toriyama's wife was fond of China and he used materials she had as reference, in addition to having her help draw the backgrounds. 1983's The Adventure of Tongpoo also features elements that would be included in Dragon Ball, such as "capsules." 1988's Little Mamejiro was initially planned to be a sequel to ''Young Master Ken'nosuke, but ultimately turned into an original work. Toriyama blended jidaigeki'' and modern elements for the setting of 1989's Karamaru and the Perfect Day, which was created for the commemorative 1,050th issue of Weekly Shōnen Jump. ==Publication==

Volume 1 The first installment, ''Akira Toriyama's Manga Theater Vol. 1'', was published on July 8, 1983. Re-released under the Shueisha Jump Remix imprint in June 2003. • :After being stuck on Wonder Island for 35 years, former World War II kamikaze pilot enlists to help him finally leave. Toriyama's debut work, published in Weekly Shōnen Jump issue #52 of 1978. • :Two unnamed policemen and their chief enlist the help of Detective , sending him to catch a criminal on Wonder Island. Published in the January 25, 1979 bonus issue of Weekly Shōnen Jump. • :Police officer Slump is paired with the incompetent, 18-year-old rookie , who apprehends the criminal Kenta Kuraaku. Published in the August 15, 1979 bonus issue of Weekly Shōnen Jump. • Pola & Roid :Pola hires space taxi driver Roid and the two end up fighting the evil emperor . Published in Weekly Shōnen Jump issue #17 of 1981. Toriyama's winning entry in the magazine's Reader's Choice Award. Toriyama's second entrance in the magazine's Reader's Choice Award. Toriyama's third entrance in the magazine's Reader's Choice Award. • Chobit 2 :Chobit and the Yamano family move to Tan Tan Town where she helps Mugifumi capture a wanted criminal. Published in the June 1983 issue of Fresh Jump. Volume 2 The second installment, ''Akira Toriyama's Manga Theater Vol. 2'', was published on March 10, 1988. Re-released under the Shueisha Jump Remix imprint in July 2003. • :While eating lunch at school, gets a toothache and is taken to see the island's doctor. Published in the April 20, 1979 special issue of Weekly Shōnen Jump. • Escape :On the planet Umekobucha in the year 2070, a young female is being pursued. Published in the January 1982 special issue of Weekly Shōnen Jump. • :A young boy adept in martial arts named escorts a princess on a journey back to her home country. Two chapters published in the August and October 1983 issues of Fresh Jump. • :Tongpoo, a cyborg who emergency lands on an alien planet, and , a young girl who crashed on the same planet two years ago, attempt to steal a spaceship to get home. Published in Weekly Shōnen Jump issue #52 of 1983. • :A former soldier agrees to help a young boy fight off the gang. When the boy's sister is kidnapped by the gang, Mr. Ho heads to her rescue. Published in Weekly Shōnen Jump issue #49 of 1986. • :After agreeing to go on a date, kindergartner Ken'nosuke has his friend teach him what one is. Published in Weekly Shōnen Jump issue #38 of 1987. • :Elder , who patrols Ponpon Village for anything amiss, pursues a fellow motorist after seeing him litter. Published in Weekly Shōnen Jump issue #5 of 1988. Volume 3 The third installment, ''Akira Toriyama's Manga Theater Vol. 3'', was published on August 4, 1997. Re-released under the Shueisha Jump Remix imprint in June 2004. • :Angered by his father, six-year-old decides to become a juvenile delinquent and asks his friend from the city to teach him how. Published in Weekly Shōnen Jump issue #38 of 1988. • :Young ninja Karamaru travels to town to sell mushrooms for his sick grandfather and meets a thief proclaiming to be a ninja. Published in Weekly Shōnen Jump issue #13 of 1989. • :After crash landing on earth, alien police officer impersonates a local police officer while secretly acting as the superhero , who saves people in exchange for money, with the goal of saving up enough to buy fuel for his spaceship. Three chapters published in V Jump on December 12, 1990, June 26, 1991 and November 27, 1991 when it was still only a special issue of Weekly Shōnen Jump. A remake, written by Takao Koyama, illustrated by Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru, and supervised by Toriyama, was serialized in V Jump from June 1997 to December 1998. • Go! Go! Ackman :A demon child named Ackman combats his angel nemesis while harvesting souls for the Great Demon King. Eleven chapters published in V Jump between July 1993 and October 1994. ==Reception==

Jonathon Greenall of Comic Book Resources wrote that Manga Theater proves there is far more to Akira Toriyama than Dragon Ball. "In fact, it displays how much range Toriyama has as he can create fascinating worlds and memorable characters within a few short pages." Greenall cited Pink as a highlight of the collection and described Wonder Island 2 as a "reference-packed romp full of pop-culture parodies". Anime News Network had both Christopher Farris and Rebecca Silverman review the single volume English release of ''Akira Toriyama's Manga Theater. Giving it a 4.5 out of 5 rating, Farris wrote that while the different manga cover a "pretty wide net" as far as their content and appeal, most feature the comedic sensibilities that made Toriyama famous with Dr. Slump''. He enjoyed seeing how the author's comedy evolved alongside his art and his anecdotes on creating the stories. Farris noted how impressed he was to see how strong Toriyama's comedy chops "always were" and at the "balance" he had achieved by the time of Go! Go! Ackman. Silverman gave the collection a 3 out of 5 rating and speculated that how much a reader enjoys the book is likely to be determined by how much they enjoy Toriyama's signature "goofy science-fiction, potty humor," and unintelligent characters. She explained that while he does all of that quite well, the works span a large period of his career but do not show an impressive range in terms of storytelling variety. Silverman criticized the female characters as poorly written and suggested the book be read in moderation because the stories and gags start to feel repetitive after a while. ==Related works==

In 2008, Shueisha released a two-volume bunkoban series of Toriyama's short works, entitled . This version includes the two-chapter Alien X Peke (1996), published after the end of Dragon Ball, as well as the full-color seinen manga Lady Red (1987), which is read left-to-right. The second volume also includes The Anime and Me (1989), a full-color autobiographical strip from the first Dragon Ball Z Anime Special magazine, as well as a new afterword by the author. The first volume was published on August 8, 2008, and the second on September 18, 2008. In 2014, a release collecting Toriyama's collaborations with Masakazu Katsura was published. Both Sachie-chan Good!! (2008) and Jiya (2009–10) were written by Toriyama and illustrated by Katsura. was published on April 4, 2014, and includes an interview with the two authors. ;Mankanzenseki Volume 1 • Lady Red :Lady Red is a former office worker who quit her job to fight crime, however, she does not have any money or strength and is taken advantage of sexually. Published in Super Jump issue #2 on April 10, 1987, when it was still only a special issue of Weekly Shōnen Jump. • Go! Go! Ackman • Dub & Peter 1 • The Elder • ''Young Master Ken'nosuke'' • Mr. Ho • Mad Matic • Pola & Roid • Wonder Island • Dragon Boy ;Mankanzenseki Volume 2 • :Alien Peke plans to take over Earth, but suffers an accident. Three months later, he is still trying to find his spaceship and starts working as a bodyguard for a human family. Two chapters published in Weekly Shōnen Jump issues #37/38 and 39 of 1996. • Soldier of Savings Cashman • Karamaru and the Perfect Day • Little Mamejiro • The Adventure of Tongpoo • Chobit • Escape • Pink • Tomato the Cutesy Gumshoe • ''Today's Highlight Island'' ;Katsura & Akira Short Stories • :Sachie, a junior high student and descendant of a ninja clan, and martial artist are recruited by aliens to defeat galactic criminals terrorizing their planet. Published in the May 2008 issue of Jump SQ on April 4. Published in English in Viz Media's free SJ Alpha Yearbook 2013, which was sent to annual subscribers of Weekly Shonen Jump Alpha in December 2012. • :Galactic Patrolman Jiya challenges a vampire and his giant flea army that are terrorizing Earth. Three chapters published in Weekly Young Jump between December 10, 2009 and January 7, 2010 for the magazine's 30th anniversary. ==Bibliography==