Dragon Ball Super Artist’s Early Artwork of Goku Resurfaces

Dragon Ball fans owe at lot to the series’ creator Akira Toriyama. Without the artist, there would be no Goku, no Super Saiyan forms, and no Kamehameha. Decades ago, Toriyama wound up changing anime forever when he penned his first draft of the Dragon Ball manga, and his legacy lives on today. Thanks to Toriyama, his successor Toyotaro has taken over work on Dragon Ball Super to the curiosity of fans, but every artist had to start somewhere.

Now, fans are looking back at the earlier days of Toyotaro’s career. The artist has grown bounds since he was hired to draw Dragon Ball, and fans are comparing his recent work to one done years ago.

Over on Twitter, a piece of throwback artwork done by Toyotaro surfaced online. The art, which can be seen below, was included in a special 30th Anniversary book for Dragon Ball. The history guide included dozens of sketches penned by shonen creators, so it made since for Toyotaro to add a drawing since he took over the manga in 2016.

As you can see, the art shows a series of book spins sitting side by side to form an image of Goku. The Super Saiyan is looking behind him with a concerned expression, and it is easy to see why. In the background, a slew of characters like Beerus, Whis, Jaco, and more are heading right for him. The artwork shows the new characters of Dragon Ball Super being added to the franchise’s overall canon, and fans are amazed by how young Goku looks here.

After being tasked with drawing Dragon Ball Super in 2016, Toyotaro has come far with his artwork. With Goku in particular, the character looks more distressed in the manga’s newer releases, and fans have complimented his more complex style in turn.

What do you think about this earlier sketch of Goku? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics and anime!

Dragon Ball Super currently airs its English dub on Adult Swim during the Toonami programming block on Saturday evenings, and is also available to stream on Funimation and Amazon Video. The Japanese-language release of the series is complete, and available to stream on FunimationNOW and Crunchyroll. The manga has chapters that can currently be read for free thanks to Viz Media, and Dragon Ball Super’s big movie, Dragon Ball Super: Broly, is now available on Blu-ray and DVD.