Yu Kondo, the second editor of the Dragon Ball manga, has revealed why Kazuhiko Torishima picked him as his successor. Additionally, Kondo discussed his peculiar first meeting with the legendary Akira Toriyama.
Kondo, Torishima and Fuyuto Takeda were once again present on the KosoKoso podcast, where they discussed their former history on the Dragon Ball manga that ran for 11 years in Weekly Shonen Jump. The Japanese podcast is co-hosted by Torishima and Yuji Horii, creator of the Dragon Quest games that Toriyama worked on as a character designer. Their previous discussions revealed interesting tidbits about the Dragon Ball series and its late creator, who passed away in March 2024. One fascinating observation was that Dragon Ball Z experienced a significant, positive shift in tone and ideas thanks to Toriyama’s new relationship with Kondo, who took over as editor from Torishima. In the latest conversation, translated by @/Venixys on X (formerly Twitter), Kondo opened up about acquiring the sought-after role without even being aware of the open position.
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Dragon Ball’s Second Editor Was Intentionally Not a Shonen Jump Veteran
As Kondo explained, the transition of power happened rather abruptly. After Torishima became Editor-In-Chief of Shonen Jump, he handed over Dragon Ball to Kondo and demanded only one thing from him: buy a fax machine. Kondo recalled a peculiar moment during an award ceremony in December, where Torishima suddenly pulled him away to meet someone in a tracksuit. As Dragon Ball fans might have guessed based on the author’s robotic avatar, that tracksuit-wearing man was none other than Toriyama. While grateful, Kondo didn’t understand the purpose of the brief meeting until Torishima announced him as the new editor of Dragon Ball.
Being picked to work as an editor on a popular series like Dragon Ball shocked Kondo, who had only been working in the editorial department of Shonen Jump for six months. However, it was because of his limited experience at Shonen Jump that Torishima believed he was the perfect match for Toriyama — someone who hadn’t been influenced by the work ethics of Shonen Jump and could work with Toriyama practically and straightforwardly without being overly intrusive. Torishima didn’t want to get in Kondo’s way as editor, so he avoided overly preparing him for the role. He believed Toriyama himself would let Kondo know if there were any problems. Kondo hilariously notes that Torishima asked him if he had read Dragon Ball. Kondo said, “Yes.” Torishima said, “Then do whatever you want.”
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All episodes of Dragon Ball Daima, the franchise’s newest anime iteration, are available to stream on Crunchyroll. The English dub, starring Stephanie Nadolny as Goku (Mini), has begun premiering one new episode per week from Jan. 10. “Goku and company were living peaceful lives when they suddenly turned small due to a conspiracy!” the series’ official description reads. “When they discover that the reason for this may lie in a world known as the ‘Demon Realm,’ a mysterious young Majin named Glorio appears before them.”
Dragon Ball
- Author
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Akira Toriyama
- Artist
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Akira Toriyama
- Release Date
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November 20, 1984
- Chapters
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519
- Volumes
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42
Source: X (formerly Twitter)
