The three volumes were re-released with the suffix Kai (改, "updated" or "altered") added to the title as part of the Shueisha Jump Remix imprint between June 2003 and 2004.

[3] After quitting his previous job, 23-year old Toriyama entered the manga industry by submitting a work to a contest held by Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine in order to win the prize money.

He said he learned a lot during this year and when Torishima told him to draw a female lead character, Toriyama hesitantly created Tomato the Cutesy Gumshoe (1979), which had some success.

[4] Within roughly six months of creating the popular Dr. Slump in 1980, Toriyama wanted to end the series but his publisher Shueisha would only allow him to do so if he agreed to start another serial for them shortly after.

[7] In 1981, Toriyama was one of ten artists selected to create a 45-page work for Weekly Shōnen Jump's Reader's Choice contest.

[9] Toriyama said that Pink (1982) was created at a time when he was no longer afraid to draw girls, and wanted to experiment with the girlish side of the title character.

[4] Selected to participate in Weekly Shōnen Jump's Reader's Choice contest for a third time, Toriyama had the bad luck of drawing the first slot and had to work over New Year's on 1983's Chobit.

[10] The artist was inspired by Hong Kong martial arts films such as Bruce Lee's Enter the Dragon (1973) and Jackie Chan's Drunken Master (1978).

[16] Toriyama blended jidaigeki and modern elements for the setting of 1989's Karamaru and the Perfect Day, which was created for the commemorative 1,050th issue of Weekly Shōnen Jump.

[38] Jonathon Greenall of Comic Book Resources wrote that Manga Theater proves there is far more to Akira Toriyama than Dragon Ball.

[44] Anime News Network had both Christopher Farris and Rebecca Silverman review the single volume English release of Akira Toriyama's Manga Theater.

[45] Giving it a 4.5 out of 5 rating, Farris wrote that while the different manga cover a "pretty wide net" as far as their content and appeal, most feature the comedic sensibilities that made Toriyama famous with Dr. Slump.

She explained that while he does all of that quite well, the works span a large period of his career but do not show an impressive range in terms of storytelling variety.

Silverman criticized the female characters as poorly written and suggested the book be read in moderation because the stories and gags start to feel repetitive after a while.

This version includes the two-chapter Alien X Peke (1996), published after the end of Dragon Ball, as well as the full-color seinen manga Lady Red (1987), which is read left-to-right.