Last March, Saudi Arabia's Qiddiya Investment Company dropped a bombshell: they're building the world's only "Dragon Ball" theme park! The concept art alone sent Dragon Ball fans worldwide into a frenzy.
While many scratched their heads wondering, "Why not Japan?!" it's undeniable that Saudi Arabia has the financial muscle and scale to pull it off. However, Japanese media outlet "Diamond Life" recently reported that former legendary Weekly Shonen Jump Editor-in-Chief Kazuhiko Torishima is vehemently against it, declaring, "A Dragon Ball theme park shouldn't be built!" This news has sparked a heated debate among Japanese netizens.
Torishima's core argument? He firmly believes that "Jump works are nurtured by Japanese children." He slammed the project for ignoring readers and focusing solely on short-term profits, also touching on the importance of respecting original works when adapting manga into other media, and the responsibilities publishers bear.
He even stated that if he were still at Shueisha, this project would never have seen the light of day. The reason is simple: Japanese kids can't go.
He further pointed out that the situation in Saudi Arabia is inherently unstable, making it impossible for Japanese children to visit. While manga are created by publishers and authors, they are truly nurtured by their readers. It's the readers' money and support that make a work viable. Focusing solely on immediate profits, he argues, is putting the cart before the horse.
Torishima stated that if it were like Tokyo Disney, Japanese kids could obviously go. But Saudi Arabia is different; it's become something only wealthy adults can enjoy. "Shonen Jump" is a culture built up by Japanese children. Japan is the only country where kids actually buy manga magazines with their own money. Therefore, he disapproves of anything that disregards Japanese children.
He suggested that if the park could design a plan to allow Japanese children free entry, that would be understandable. Or, if it could facilitate meaningful exchanges between Japanese and Saudi kids through the characters, that would also work. But that's not what's happening now.
"It's like Shohei Ohtani donating gloves to all elementary schools in Japan," he said. "Without that kind of spirit, I can't endorse it." Torishima mentioned he only learned about the project through the news, seeing it as merely profiting off fan-supported characters and mistakenly thinking it's an achievement.
Of course, while Kazuhiko Torishima was indeed the editor for "Dragon Ball" back in the day, later rising to Editor-in-Chief of "Weekly Shonen Jump" and a managing director at Shueisha, he's no longer with Shueisha. He currently serves as a director at another publisher, Hakusensha.
Many fans believe this overseas project only surfaced after Akira Toriyama's passing, hoping that it's something Toriyama himself would have wished for and approved. Naturally, everyone also wishes it could be built in Japan, given that "Dragon Ball" is a masterpiece born and raised there.
However, some netizens argue that Japan simply lacks the funding, and that the "Dragon Ball" readers who supported it have now grown up, making it no big deal for adults to pay to travel abroad. They contend that opposing it "because Japanese kids can't go" is no real reason at all, and that attempting to build a facility of this scale in Japan would likely just end up as a laughingstock.
Of course, the planned "Dragon Ball" theme park still has a long way to go, with completion expected before 2030. What the final result will look like remains to be seen. Perhaps a more objective and grounded assessment of the park can only be made once it's actually finished.
( Related reading: Why Not Japan? Japanese Reporter Explores Saudi Arabia's Passion for ACG and Japan's Shortcomings Through the "Dragon Ball" Theme Park )
via： ダイヤモンド・ライフ