Why do the Japanese characters of Seven Dragon Balls and Journey to the West resemble each other?

The Chinese classical novel Journey to the West has had a great influence on China and the world. That's why it has been reworked by some creators in the creation. Manga master Akira Toriyama's fervor for Journey to the West and even Chinese culture can be seen in this work of his.

Early Seven Dragon Ball is a funny work, while the drawing style is full of Chinese landscape and idyllic style, very classical kind of painting and soundtrack. In then there are the names of the main characters, the Monkey King, the King Bull and so on. Even the character is also very similar, the Monkey King are believe in themselves, dare to challenge the image. Oolong in the drama, on the other hand, is partially applied to the image of Inu Bajie, the pig, colorful.

Of course, with the development of the work, Akira Toriyama found that readers are very interested in the story of the fighting action, so slowly this work to the hot blooded fighting development, no longer at the beginning of the light-hearted funny

All in all, the seven Dragon Balls is borrowed from the Journey to the West plot of the approximate framework, in the creation of innovation, then produced an excellent work.