Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama is well-known for creating the series on the fly. The esteemed manga author was open about how little he planned out the series, with many huge revelations made within a week when a new chapter would launch. Toriyama's Dragon Ball editors, Kazuhiko Torishima, Yu Kondo, and Fuyuto Takeda, were recently interviewed by Kosokoso for the J-Wave radio podcast. The editors further confirmed Toriyama's improvisational skills, claiming the author wouldn't often share information with the team and would come up with a new idea off the cuff while writing a new chapter. Pieces of the interview were translated by the fan account Venixys on X (formerly Twitter).
The interview offers an interesting insight into Toriyama's relationship with Dragon Ball, including his desire to end the series earlier than what happened and how the editors devised ways to make the series more enjoyable for Toriyama to write. One of the most shocking pieces of information concerns the fan-favorite character Trunks. While fans now know Trunks as the future son of Vegeta and Bulma, apparently that wasn't the original intention. According to the editors, Toriyama didn't even know who he was when he was first introduced.
Trunks' first appearance in Dragon Ball Z is one of the most iconic moments in the entire franchise. Frieza has arrived on Earth as a cyborg and prepares to annihilate the planet as revenge against Goku. It took Goku and his allies a full saga to defeat Frieza before, and with Goku still gone, everything seemed hopeless. That's when Trunks arrives literally out of nowhere, turns into a Super Saiyan (the second time it ever happened in the franchise), and makes quick work out of Frieza and his underlings. It was one of the most shocking and crowd-pleasing scenes in the series at that point. Trunks would quickly reveal to Goku he's the future son of Vegeta and Bulma.
According to the interview with the editors, Toriyama hadn't yet decided who exactly Trunks was when he first appeared. The interview goes over Toriyama's process and how he didn't like making long-term plans yet like making surprises. When the story seemingly gets stuck on a plot point, Toriyama would write something new to get himself out of it. That was the same approach Toriyama took when writing the Androids' Saga and Trunks introduction. Toriyama came up with the idea of Trunks being Vegeta's and Bulma's son after Trunks' first appearances, to the surprise of his editors.
His editors were initially confused by this revelation, especially since Bulma didn't show any interest in Vegeta at that point. The editors demanded how Toriyama would explain that relationship, but the author brushed it off and went forward with the idea. Trunks' backstory was part of Toriyama's philosophy of never overplanning things. He would introduce new ideas suddenly and change them on the fly if he found them boring or inconvenient. His editors praised him for his ability to improvise and come up with things on the fly, even though several of his team felt he was running out of passion heading into the Buu Saga.
Even though Toriyama making up the story of Dragon Ball as he went is well-documented, certain things feel too convenient to be made up on the cuff. Interestingly, the editors would claim Toriyama didn't come up with Trunks' backstory until after his first introduction, but too many factors come together for it to be a coincidence. Trunks wore a Capsule Corps jacket and had the same hairstyle as Bulma, signaling his connection to the Briefs' family and company from the get-go. He always felt like he had a connection to Bulma, even in his first appearance. However, Toriyama's improvised backstory for Trunks does explain why the relationship between Bulma and Vegata felt so sudden.
The editors were originally correct in their assessment. Neither Vegeta nor Bulma showed interest in each other, making that romance feel like it came out of nowhere. Nevertheless, even if it is exaggerated, Toriyama's skill as an improviser should not be underestimated. His lack of planning forced him to devise plot points and characters that became instrumental in Dragon Ball's success. While it may seem weird at the time, the Vegeta and Bulma romance has become a core aspect of the series. Fans wouldn't have great moments like Bulma threatening not to bathe with Vegeta in Dragon Ball Daima if Toriyama didn't decide, on a whim, to make them a couple to justify the existence of another character. If anything, this improvisation adds to the humor and charm of Toriyama's legacy for Dragon Ball, which any fan can regularly see.