Summary

• Toriyama's favorite story arc was the Demon King Piccolo saga.
• The saga marked a tonal shift for the story, and featured its first character death.
• This arc completely changed what Dragon Ball was, paving the way for the Z era.

Fans have a lot of favorite arcs from Dragon Ball, but they may be surprised to learn which one was Akira Toriyama's favorite to work on. Toriyama once divulged in an interview which arc he enjoyed working on most, and it turns out to be a fairly early arc in Dragon Ball canon: the Demon King Piccolo saga.

The Demon King Piccolo storyline is one of the last in the anime before the change to Dragon Ball Z, but it's still quite early in the overall story of Dragon Ball. It marked a rather dramatic shift in the tone of the story, with Demon King Piccolo an absolutely, undeniably evil figure whose only goal was destruction and conquest. It was a substantial change from the tournaments and even the Red Ribbon Army, who could sometimes still have moments that would endear them to the audience.

These differences seem to have intrigued Toriyama, such that he considers this arc to be a favorite.

Toriyama's Favorite Arc As a Creator Makes Perfect Sense

The Demon King Piccolo Saga Changed Dragon Ball Forever

In an interview from the Daizenshuu 2 databook as translated by Kanzenshuu, Toriyama states, "With all the villains up to that point, there was always something likable about them. So Demon King Piccolo was born from me trying to create a truly bad guy. That period was the most interesting to draw."

The Demon King Piccolo saga is arguably the very beginning of Dragon Ball's ever-escalating battles. It introduces a new enemy who has no redeeming qualities and isn't even a human that can be reasoned with. The arc was the first in Dragon Ball to include a character's death, that being Krillin, who was killed by King Piccolo's son, Tambourine. That fact alone changes the tone of the story quite dramatically, robbing Goku of some of his innocence as he must deal with loss for the first time. King Piccolo even kills Shenron, removing the Dragon Balls from the picture for the first time, too.

With these facts in mind, it's not hard to see why Toriyama would find this a very compelling arc to work on. It places characters in new situations that they're unfamiliar with, causing them to grow in new ways. The Dragon Balls, which often remove dramatic tension due to their very existence, are no longer an option, forcing characters to actually face the drama of what's happening. While this is definitely before the Dragon Balls' ability to bring the dead back had been so thoroughly abused, it was still an option that the characters were aware of.

From a writer's perspective, this was all new territory for Dragon Ball, giving it an exciting quality that apparently even Toriyama felt. It changes the circumstances of the characters completely, putting them in a far more dire situation than any they'd seen before. The Demon King Piccolo saga essentially changed how every future arc of Dragon Ball would play out, increasing the drama and putting even more of a focus on the epic battles between good and evil.