The reason Toriyama made Super Saiyans blonde revealed

[ScottyFamalam]

As we all know, he wanted to save ink on the B&W pages, but he never said why of all colors he decided on yellow. Or so I thought. From the French edition of The Legendary Manga guide:

Si en Super Saïyen, il a les cheveux hérissés sur la tête, c'est parce qu'au Japon il y a une expression qui dit être fâchée au point d'avoir les cheveux dressés sur la tête. Je les voulais blonds pour donner un côté glamour. En plus, c'est moins fatigant que de les colorier en noir.

If in Super Saiyan, his hair stands on end, it's because in Japan there is an expression that says being angry to the point of having your hair stand on end. I wanted them blond to give a glamorous side. In addition, it's less tiring than coloring them black.

He says he wanted to make it look glamorous. Oddly, this quote doesn't appear in the Spanish edition:

La razón por la que se ponen los pelos de punta al transformarse en supersaiyano viene de la expresión japonesa erizarse los pelos de ira y el cambio de color de pelo realza más la transformación. Además, pintar el pelo de Goku era un fastidio.

For that reason, and to give him a more severe expression, I added an outline to the eyes in the Super Saiyan state. The reason why the hairs stand up when he transforms into a Super Saiyan comes from the Japanese expression to stand on end in anger and the change of hair color enhances the transformation even more. Plus, painting Goku's hair was a pain.

@Eu sou Perfeito @Dagon Y'all got the Italian and Greek versions of this page?

 

[Dagon]

I don't, I'm still looking for a complete set.

It seems like the French version took enhancement to mean glamorous. Probably the source text said something like it make them look more striking or eye-catching or visually appealing.

 

[ScottyFamalam]

The Spanish version doesn't specifically mention blonde hair at all, but the French version does.

It's not uncommon for some things to get lost or missed in translation, which is why I'd like to see the other Italian and Greek versions to compare.

 

[ScottyFamalam]

This is actually from the 35th issue of the Legendary Manga guide. I'm not even sure if the Italian or Greek editions got that far

Edit: nvm they did lol

 

[Warmmedown]

You got the Japanese?

 

[ScottyFamalam]

The book was originally written in Japanese but that version was never released

 

[Warmmedown]

Are there other interviews where he talks about it, especially ones that are available in Japanese?

 

[ScottyFamalam]

The Daizenshuu, Dragon Ball Landmark, Dragon Ball Forever, Super Exciting Guide, Chozenshuu, 30th Anniversary books, etc. Probably any of those

 

[Yoshi]

Kenshi actually told me about this years ago.

 

[ScottyFamalam]

Kenshi actually told me about this years ago.

Maybe about Toriyama wanting to save ink, but I'm probably the first person who's mentioned Toriyama saying he wanted it to look more glamorous in the French translation of the Legendary Manga guide.

 

[Warmmedown]

The Daizenshuu, Dragon Ball Landmark, Dragon Ball Forever, Super Exciting Guide, Chozenshuu, 30th Anniversary books, etc. Probably any of those

So then I wouldn't put much credence on the "glamourous"/"enhances the transformation" part, unless it's in one of those Japanese sources too.

 

[ScottyFamalam]

Toriyama says a lot of things in The Legendary Manga guide that he didn't say in other guidebooks. For example, he talks about being inspired by a TV show he watched with his son when he designed Super Saiyan and he says the reason the hair goes up is that it's basically an exaggeration of piloerection (when one's hair raises due to their mood or nerves. Specifically, Toriyama says based it around idioms like someone saying "this is making my hair raise!" when frightened or surprised). He talks about this in both the Spanish and French versions of the pages, so clearly it was there in the original Japanese text.

The point is that the Legendary Manga guide had new information that you wouldn't find in most other interviews or guidebooks at the time and he even echoed a few of the things he revealed here in later books.

 

[Warmmedown]

Yeh but that part's a bad translation, since the French and Spanish don't match. Who knows which one is true (enhances vs glamorous).
If the stuff with his son is the same in the French and Spanish, then I'd put more credence on it.

Also btw how'd you translate them? It's an image. Is there a way to do that? Google Lens? Turn a confused boomer into an ok boomer.