One Punch Man Illustrator Shares Insane Dragon Ball Sketches

In the world of anime and manga, there are some characters who are undeniable heroes. One-Punch [...]

By Megan Peters

In the world of anime and manga, there are some characters who are undeniable heroes. One-Punch Man stands as one such character, and the bald superhero is proceeded by other greats like Son Goku. So, really, fans shouldn't be surprised that One-Punch Man's illustrator is paying respects to the Dragon Ball franchise.

Over on Twitter, Yusuke Murata showed off his sketching skills when he shared some fan-art with his followers. The artist, who oversees the One-Punch Man manga, posted drawings he did of Dragon Ball's top characters.

MORE: One Punch Man Creator Shares Unsettling Saitama Sketch

In the first sketch, fans are shown a tense showdown between Vegeta and Goku. Murata captioned the drawing, pitting the princely Saiyan against Goku's "lowly" status, but fans all know how much power the latter fighter houses.

Murata also shared another Dragon Ball sketch that focuses on another fan-favorite pair. A drawing of Android 18 with Krillin was posted on Twitter, and the couple looks as sleek as ever. Well, except for Krillin; The martial artist looks nervous being so close to his now-wife.

For One-Punch Man fans, they may be familiar with Murata's love of Dragon Ball already. In the past, fans have noticed some panels from One-Punch Man have closely mirrored iconic drawings from Akira Toriyama's seriers. For instance, a fight sequence from One-Punch Man's manga looks remarkably similar to a Dragon Ball panel where Goku rams his fist right into Piccolo's stomach.

Murata has also vocalized his admiration of Toriyama to fans on several occasions. Taking to U-Stream, the artist spoke with fans while drawing an anniversary poster for Dragon Ball. It was during the live-stream that Murata admitted he could never do Toriyama's iconic characters justice.

"If it's drawn too detailed, it won't match Toriyama-sensei's style, I'll have to stop at some point. My kids love Dragon Ball too. I'll bring a copy back after I completed it, and tell him daddy drew Dragon Ball. It's truly amazing that people from all generations watch Dragon Ball."

For those unfamiliar with the One Punch Man series, here is a summary of the plot from Viz Media:

"Nothing about Saitama passes the eyeball test when it comes to superheroes, from his lifeless expression to his bald head to his unimpressive physique. However, this average-looking guy has a not-so-average problem—he just can't seem to find an opponent strong enough to take on!"

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The series first started as an ongoing web-comic by the author that goes by One, in early 2009. The comic went viral and so a full remake and publication of the series began in 2012 on Shueisha's Young Jump Web Comics website. Viz Media brought the manga to America in 2016 in the Weekly Shonen Jump digital magazine. One Punch's anime series was created by Madhouse and first aired in Japan in late 2015, and was dubbed for English in the summer of 2016. The anime and manga both have had huge international success and recognition since release, winning New York Times Manga's Best Sellers List, was nominated for an Eisner Award, and the anime was also featured on the popular Toonami block.

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