Fans of Akari Nibu from the Japanese idol group Hinatazaka46 know that she is a lover of all things Dragon Ball.
Her passion for the series seems to be especially strong as of late, as she can be heard talking about the series on radio programs and even performing the Kamehameha at live performances with fans in the audience using penlights.

We heard that some of her earliest memories were of reading the Dragon Ball manga and that she has been obsessed ever since, so we were intrigued to hear just what Dragon Ball means to her.

Thankfully, Ms. Nibu leapt at the chance to talk about Dragon Ball with us, so we put together this interview to ask her all about her overflowing love for the series, why Gohan is her favorite character, and more!

*This article contains some spoilers for the movie Dragon Ball Super: SUPER HERO.

Contents

・ Bad Guys Aren't Villains Forever—They Get a Happy Ending Too
・ I'll Always Love Gohan!
・ Understanding the Depth of "Oh Well" as an Adult
・ The Moment Her Beloved Dragon Ball Collided with Her Career

——So, Ms. Nibu, we've heard you like the Dragon Ball manga.

Akari Nibu (henceforth, Nibu): I do! My family already had all the volumes in our house at the time I was born. I have two older brothers, and they both liked Dragon Ball growing up. So naturally I ended up reading it as far back as I can remember, and at some point I fell in love with it!

——Do you remember the first time you read the manga?

Nibu: I do! The first time I read it, it was like I couldn't stop if I wanted to! I was one of those kids who stays up secretly reading under the covers in bed when they're meant to be asleep. I can remember being so engrossed in trying to read all the volumes at once that I couldn’t sleep. My mom would be like, "Go to sleep, now!" but I just kept reading. I mean, that's the point of having them all, right? (laughs)

——Were there any scenes that had a big impact on you as a kid?

Nibu: Oh yeah, for sure. The scene when Goku punched a hole through Great Demon King Piccolo's chest. The part where he says, "I gotta gamble everything I got on this fist!!!" is still my favorite quote from the manga.

Nibu: I mean, come on! He takes down the Great Demon King Piccolo while only being able to use his right arm!

Not to mention that sheer white background... It really had a big impact on me.

——The background turning white all of a sudden like that makes you feel like everything falls silent, right?

Nibu: For sure. If we're talking about a story arc, though, the one that really excited me was the Frieza Arc.

They go to Planet Namek to get the Dragon Balls and revive the people who were killed in the fight against Vegeta, but then Vegeta himself ends up being there. To make matters worse, Frieza's there too, then the Ginyu Force show up. I really loved not knowing what was going to happen next—I just couldn't stop turning the pages.

Another thing is that during the Frieza Arc and Cell Arc, I really hated the bad guys, but at the end of the Majin Buu Arc, Buu ends up becoming friends with Mr. Satan, right? Like, it didn't just stop with him being a villain. I really liked that because I wasn't left hating the bad guy of the arc, and everyone ends up getting along. I guess I just like a happy ending!

——What do you think is the appeal of Dragon Ball in general?

Nibu: You mean overall?! Hmm... Well, at first it was the idea of an adventure to find wish-granting Dragon Balls, but then Goku starts meeting all these different rivals. Over time, the story changes to one about the characters and comradery, right? The first time we meet someone new, they're a rival, but then next time they're fighting alongside Goku to take down a bigger enemy. I really like how that continues throughout the series.

Take Vegeta for example, when we first met him, he was really aggressive and mean, but over time he becomes more kind and thoughtful—while pretending not to be—and you start to like him more and more.

What else... Dragon Ball is "just right". There aren't too many or too few characters, the earlier parts of the story interconnect with the later parts, the way the scale of the story grows larger over time—it's just all good! All the characters have their own stories and backgrounds too, so it's easy to talk about them with people, you know?

——The in-world timeline is also quite long, so you get to see characters at different stages in their lives. It makes the world and the characters feel more "alive", I suppose...

Nibu: Wow, you're right! The characters really are living their lives throughout the story! I think that's exactly the kind of thing that makes Dragon Ball great.

——You're known for your outspoken love of the character Gohan. What do you like about him?

Nibu: Put simply, I like the way he looks. (laughs)
I was stunned when that little boy with the bowl cut in the Frieza Arc turned into a strapping young man—the difference is night and day!

And even though he's stronger than anyone else when he's really trying, he actually wants to be a scholar, not a fighter. He's smart, kind... I just love everything about him.

——Do you have a favorite Gohan scene?

Nibu: I especially love how Gohan was portrayed in the Cell Arc. It was so cool when he turned Super Saiyan 2 and took back the Senzu Beans that Cell stole, or when he went around taking out the Cell Jrs. in one hit.

And of course, the scene when he defeats Cell with the Father-Son Kamehameha is really memorable.

——As a Gohan fan, I suppose you couldn't wait for the movie Dragon Ball Super: SUPER HERO to be released, right?

Nibu: Absolutely. As a Gohan fan, it was like, "Finally! Thank you!"
I was so happy to finally see a movie where Gohan gets his time to shine.

I thought that for the final battle against Cell Max he'd finish him off with a Kamehameha, so when he used the Makankosappo: Special Beam Cannon instead, I was blown away. There were scenes that reminded me of the Cell Arc too, and I really felt the master-student relationship between Piccolo and Gohan again. It was such a great movie.

——Have you seen the other Dragon Ball movies?

Nibu: I've seen all of them! My favorite was another where Gohan got to play a central role, Dragon Ball Z: Bojack Unbound.

——As a Gohan fan, what's your take on the different versions of Gohan you get to enjoy in each of those two films?

Nibu: Okay, so in Bojack Unbound, it's set right after the Cell Arc, so you get to enjoy the young, energetic version of Gohan.

In SUPER HERO, he's already an adult and working as an academic, so you think, "Huh? Can he even fight anymore?" But then he awakens into Ultimate Gohan again, so I think this movie is where you get to enjoy that big contrast in his character to the fullest!

——Thank you for your analysis. You look so happy when you're talking about Gohan!

Nibu: Can I add something myself? (laughs)

I've actually started doing Kamehamehas at Hinatazaka46 concerts. I fire it out into the audience, and all the Ohisama (the nickname given to fans of Hinatazaka46) raise their penlights in a wave to make it shoot around. It makes me feel like a superhero myself, like I actually am Gohan!

——Wait, so you're firing a Kamehameha not as yourself but as Gohan? (laughs) That must be an incredible view.

Nibu: It's like a dream come true. The wave that all the Ohisama make is so beautiful. It's something that I'd never see if I didn't become an idol, so I'm very happy that I did.

The first time we did it was actually at the Hinatazaka46 Christmas concert, "Hinakuri", and we did it at the group's birthday anniversary concert, "Hinatansai", so I want to keep doing it once a year. The Ohisama are always telling me, "It was so fun doing the Kamehameha!" too.

——You must be the only idol to ever fire a Kamehameha at Tokyo Dome*.

*The Hinatansai concert was held at Tokyo Dome in March of 2023.

Nibu: I think you're right! I'll be bragging about it to my future grandkids. (laughs)

——Other than shooting Kamehamehas at concerts, how has Dragon Ball affected you?

Nibu: I used to play Senzu Bean make-believe with my brothers when I was a kid.

——"Senzu Bean make-believe"?

Nibu: There was this kind of small round ramune candy that looked like a Senzu Bean, and my brothers and I would play around like, "This is a Senzu Bean, you know!" "Wow!!" "I got my energy back!" (laughs)

And this was just in my family, but we'd also copy famous lines from Dragon Ball. Y'know, stuff like "Nappa, wait!!". But I can't really speak to staff like that when I'm working, right? (laughs)
So I have to restrain myself sometimes...

——In terms of age, the staff you work with might actually understand Dragon Ball references the best, right?

Nibu: That does happen sometimes. People my own age don't really get them sometimes, but when I meet someone older through work, I'll often start making Dragon Ball references.

——What kind of references?

Nibu: Okay, so I like video games, and you know how you play on a monitor? Monitors have this specification called Hertz—the higher the Hertz, the clearer and smoother the picture quality is.

And I had kind of a shock recently where I realized that this monitor with high Hertz that I play games on was actually set to low Hertz the whole time I'd been using it. When I switched the settings up to high, it was so incredibly smooth!

And the reference I made there was that it was like I'd been training on low Hertz.

——As though you were training on the Planet of the Kaio, where gravity is ten times stronger than Earth, right?

Nibu: Or like when they take off Kamesennin's turtle shells. (laughs) I really felt like it made me a lot stronger!

——It's fun when comparisons like that fit perfectly, isn't it?
By the way, is there anything you've learned from Dragon Ball that you apply in your work?

Nibu: Goku's "Oh well" philosophy, for sure. I used to just read that as any other line in the manga, but when I read it again as an adult, I felt like it was a lot deeper. If you can just think, "Oh well," when something bad happens and move on, it makes life a lot easier. That's why I'm trying to live the "Oh well" life now.

——It helps to stop yourself from getting dragged down by negative feelings, right?

Nibu: Well, I still get dragged down...sometimes... (laughs) But once I get past that, then I can switch to "Oh well" mode and move on!

——What kind of series is Dragon Ball from your perspective?

Nibu: Dragon Ball has just been the manga ever since I can remember. I've read a lot of manga throughout my life, but Dragon Ball is still number one. It's always been a source of joy and excitement for me. I think I'll love it for the rest of my life.

That's why it fills me with a strange kind of feeling when I'm able to connect with Dragon Ball, this thing I've always loved, through my work little by little. I never dreamed I'd be able to do things like this before I became an idol.

——You've always been talking about how much you loved Dragon Ball though, right?

Nibu: The first time I was able to do any official Dragon Ball-related work was with the Oratachi no Dragon Ball Kouza show in 2018.

*A show broadcast to celebrate the release of the movie Dragon Ball Super: Broly.

I was so happy around that time that I was re-reading Dragon Ball every day and watching the anime and movies. I watched all of Dragon Ball GT during that time too. My work was crossing over with my favorite series, my dreams were coming true—it was such a fun time for me. Every time I hear DAN DAN Kokoro Hikareteku now, all those feelings come flooding back.

——The Dragon Ball GT opening song, right?

Nibu: I almost cry every time I hear it. That's how amazing that time in my life was.

And the way I felt at that time—that I could make my dreams come true if I tried hard enough—comes back to me as memories through Dragon Ball, so it gives me the courage to believe that there are still good things waiting for me in the future. It takes me back to those days, so in that sense I guess you could say Dragon Ball is like a time machine for me.

Akari Nibu: Born on February 15, 2001, in Saitama Prefecture, Japan. AB blood type. Second generation member of the idol group Hanatazaka46. Writes and voice acts for the anime Minna no Mameo, which is currently broadcast as part of Onegai! Ranking Presents Sodaterebi on TV Asahi channels

Interview/Article: Daiki Hayakawa
Photography: Shinsuke Yasui