Renowned manga artist Toyotarou recently shared insights into his collaboration with Dragon Ball franchise creator Akira Toriyama, shedding light on Toriyama's final adjustments to Dragon Ball Super's latest chapter. .
In a Twitter thread dated March 27, Toyotarou revealed his original idea for Dragon Ball Super Chapter 103's ending page along with Toriyama's revised version.
While Toyotarou's original description had the main characters simply flying away after picking up little boy Pan from kindergarten, Toriyama's comments led to a subtle but important change:
Piccolo turned around, waved and smiled before leaving. Toyotarou describes Toriyama's change as “Piccolo saying goodbye to his kindergarten teacher.”
In fact, on the last page of volume 103, when I drew the names, everyone just turned their backs and flew away.
“Like Piccolo saying goodbye to his kindergarten teacher.”
That is the teacher's final correction.
(*I can't post names without permission so I redrawn them based on my pictures)
I looked through the obituary after submitting the manuscript. ↓ pic.twitter.com/YQX6kOJMqQ
— Toyotaro (@TOYOTARO_Vjump) March 28, 2024
User SupaChronicles, who provided a translation of Toyotarou's post, emphasized the artist's gratitude towards Toriyama, quoting him as saying:
“So I didn't draw Piccolo for that purpose. But I can't help but add another meaning to it. Toriyama-sensei, thank you very much for your hard work. To think that I could work with you for nine years is like a miracle.” Toyotarou ended the topic with a sincere gratitude: “Thank you very much. I pray your soul rests in peace.”
Toyotarou continued….
“So I didn't draw Piccolo for that purpose. But I can't help but add another meaning to it.
Toriyama-sensei, thank you very much for your hard work.
To think that I could work with you for 9 years is like a miracle. Thank you very…
– SUPA Chronicles (@SupaChronicles) March 28, 2024
Akira Toriyama, the man behind the Dragon Ball franchise since its inception in 1984, began his manga career with the popular Dr. Slump in 1980.
His artistic talents extend beyond manga to designing characters for various video games, including Blue Dragon, the Dragon Quest series, and Chrono Trigger. Dragon Ball itself emerged from Toriyama's previous work, Dragon Boy, serialized in 1983. Toriyama died on March 1 at the age of 68 from an acute subdural hematoma.
Following Toriyama's death, countless tributes have flooded in from creators, artists and world leaders, emphasizing the profound impact of his contributions.
Notably, French President Emmanuel Macron and actor Justin Chatwin, who played Goku in the ill-fated live-action adaptation Dragon Ball: Evolution, paid tribute to Toriyama's legacy.
Toyotarou, highly regarded for his illustrations in Dragon Ball Super since 2015, began his journey in the Dragon Ball universe with Dragon Ball Heroes: Victory Mission in 2012, an adaptation of the game Super Dragon Ball Heroes arcade trading cards.
Despite his extensive involvement in the franchise, Toyotarou's professional endeavors remain closely associated with Dragon Ball, including notable works such as Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection 'F' (2015), Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 The Manga (2016) and Super Dragon Ball Heroes: World Mission (2019), where he created the character Sealas.