"Toriyama would be proud" - Dragon Ball fandom continues to put their faith in Toyotaro following latest illustration

Modified Jul 28, 2024 23:51 GMT

Dragon Ball fans celebrate a recent Toyotaro artwork (Image via Shueisha, Toyotaro, and Akira Toriyama).

Dragon Ball artist Toyotaro drew a Goku illustration for the series' panel for the San Diego Comic-Con event, which continues to display the mangaka's respect and tribute to the original author, Akira Toriyama. The future of the franchise is currently unknown after recent disputes between Shueisha, Capsule Corp, and Toriyama's family but there is a general sense of trust in Toyotaro's abilities.

It is worth pointing out that Toriyama took Toyotaro under his wing as his apprentice and artist for the Dragon Ball Super manga and most people agree that the latter should continue the manga on his own. Not only because of his drawing skills but also due to him having worked side by side with Toriyama, thus gaining an invaluable insight into how the series is made.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for the series. Any opinion expressed here belongs to the author and the people quoted and not Sportskeeda as a whole.

Dragon Ball artist Toyotaro makes a Goku illustration for the San Diego Comic-Con

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Toyotaro recently published a drawing he made of Goku, which is going to be a part of the franchise's panel at San Diego Comic-Con. This is also a part of the "Toyotaro Drew It!" special, which is a monthly feature where the mangaka makes an illustration for the public.

While the passing of author Akira Toriyama is still felt across the world and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future, the idea of Toyotaro continuing his legacy has been embraced by the majority of the fandom. Toyotaro also has the distinction of having worked with Toriyama for quite some time in the Super manga, thus gaining knowledge of how the series is made.

There have been a lot of discussions throughout the years comparing Toyotaro's art style to Toriyama's and it makes sense when considering that one took over from the latter in terms of the drawings. However, no matter who draws the Super manga, there are going to be some considerable differences because every artist has their own approach.

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Dragon Ball fans naturally took notice of this illustration and gave Toyotaro a lot of praise, with some people even mentioning that it was the best Goku he had ever drawn. Others even pointed out the differences in style between the two mangaka and how capable both are in their respective approaches to drawing.

"Toyo is really getting better. Obviously not as good as Toriyama but his style is great for what DBS is," someone said.

"This is probably Toyotaro's best Goku so far imo," another person said.

"His art is very distinct from Toriyama, and I like it alot. Sure he’s no Toriyama yet but I believe DBS is in good hands with him as the illustrator," someone else said.

It is also worth pointing out that there is no information on when the Super manga is going to return. Chapter 103 came out in March, a few days after Toriyama's passing, which suggests that the project was almost complete before said event and the manga has been on hiatus ever since.

The future of the Dragon Ball franchise is up in the air as of this writing but, if the manga carries on, a lot of people are willing to bet on Toyotaro. However, there is no certainty with the series at the moment.

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Edited by Sreerupa Das