Dragon Ball Super fans torn over Toyotaro's next volume cover looking "like terrible fanart"

Modified Mar 22, 2025 20:00 GMT

Dragon Ball Super fans debate Toyotaro's most recent cover (Image via Shueisha).

The Dragon Ball Super manga recently resurfaced in the online discussion because volume number 24 has been published, featuring Goku, Vegeta, Gohan, Broly, and Piccolo using their most powerful forms thus far on the cover. This illustration, drawn by Toyotaro, has divided the fandom, with some loving it and others treating it "like terrible fanart."

Perhaps the main reason this Dragon Ball Super cover has been so divisive has been due to fans having done multiple illustrations of these five characters together with these forms for months prior to this publication. Therefore, some feel that Toyotaro is giving something to the fans while others believe he is taking their ideas and is not being original.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for the series.

Dragon Ball Super fans are divided by the recent Toyotaro manga cover

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The most recent cover of volume 24 of the Dragon Ball Super manga, as mentioned earlier, has sparked a lot of debate surrounding the concept behind it and Toyotaro's abilities as a mangaka. While the general perception has been positive, some feel that this illustration doesn't capture the feeling of the story and that the artist is ripping off art made by the fans.

That is because there have been multiple fanarts since Piccolo and Gohan unleashed their Orange and Beast forms, respectively, during the 2022 Superhero movie, featuring these five characters with their ultimate forms. There is a growing desire to see these characters fighting together as a team, especially because of their growing power, and the fanarts have been the end result of that.

Therefore, while some fans absolutely love the idea of Toyotaro doing an illustration based on that concept, others feel that he is just copying other people's art. This is a rather sensitive topic for a lot of fans since this mangaka is poised to fully take care of the manga now that author Akira Toriyama has passed away, with his work in the previous arcs being divisive as well.

More reactions online

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Toyotaro has been a rather polarizing figure when it comes to Dragon Ball Super and its future, mainly because of his work on the Granolah and Moro arcs, which is when he had more creative freedom. Some feel that he has the potential to be a great mangaka in his own right while others believe that he hasn't improved a lot as a storyteller after a decade with the series.

However, the work of Toyotaro as an artist was often well-received, with this illustration of Goku and his friends being arguably the first time that a cover of his has received such divisive opinions. However, it is something that highlights the difficulty of the task at hand for him, especially considering there is no certainty of when the manga is going to return.

"not a fan. This not dragon ball … rip the real goat toriyama," someone said.

"Greatest DB cover of all time!" another person said.

"Top 2 or 3 cover in the franchise," someone else said.

Dragon Ball Super is always going to be a major topic of discussion and this cover is a prime example of that axiom, which is something that is also bound to take place when the manga returns. However, there is no clarification, as of this writing, of when that is going to take place.

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Edited by Tiasha