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The perfect introduction to Akira Toriyama isn’t Dragon Ball [Popverse Jump]

After he finished Dragon Ball, Akira Toriyama had one last masterpiece in him.

Popverse Jump Header Sand Land
Image credit: Shueisha/ Popverse

Akira Toriyama is always going to be known as the man who created Goku. Dragon Ball and the sprawling, almost unending media franchise that it spawned will always be the most important part of his legacy, but it wasn’t the only manga that the man created. Dr. Slump was the manga that helped launch Akira Toriyama’s career as one of the most successful mangaka of all time, but his later work, Sand Land, might be the best non-Dragon Ball manga Akira Toriyama did, and it is criminally overlooked.

When the Dragon Ball manga ended in 1995, it would have been easy (and justifiable) for Akira Toriyama to rest easy for the rest of his life. He had not one but two hugely successful works to his name. Though it hasn’t achieved the kind of success that Dragon Ball has, Dr.

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Trent Cannon

Trent Cannon: Trent is a freelance writer who has been covering anime, video games, and pop culture for a decade. (He/Him)

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