 He originally thought the story would last about a year, or end once the Dragon Balls were collected.Toriyama said that although the stories are purposefully easy to understand, he specifically aimed "Dragon Ball" at an older audience than "Dr. Slump".<ref></ref>

The manga was not popular initially.Although he suspected the fighting genre would appeal more to its "shōnen" audience, Toriyama tried to stick to the "Journey to the West" adventure aspect which he himself enjoyed.