Did You Catch This Dragon Ball Easter Egg In Naruto?

While the world of anime may be large, it is often interconnected by various inside jokes and references. Many manga artists are close friends, and anime studios are not afraid to tie-in certain series with popular characters from other titles. For massive publishers like Shueisha, the company has a long history of green-lighting crossover easter eggs in some of its most famous titles. So, naturally, the powers at be were keen on okaying a a Dragon Ball easter egg for Naruto.

If you have read all of Naruto, then you know the franchise has a love for references, but the series has gone out of its ways to include overt nods. For creator Masashi Kishimoto, the artist felt strongly enough about Dragon Ball that he felt an easter egg was necessary, but the nod is a difficult one to spot.

In one of Naruto‘s early volumes, Kishimoto tucked away a subtle Dragon Ball easter egg that references one of the anime’s favorite fighters. The creator drew Naruto walking down a busy street in Konoha, and the boy even manages to try on a theatrical mask being sold by a stall nearby. The panel shows the store’s other mask options, and fans can clearly see that one of them is inspired by Chiaotzu. In fact, the mask in question is simply the the Earthlings face.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Chiaotzu, the character is a close friend and sidekick to Tien Shinhan. The character can be easily recognized due to his pale white skin and red cheeks. Chiaotzu made his debut in Dragon Ball, and he worked alongside Tien to ‘save’ villages from various threats in return for massive rewards. Chiaotzu may have psychic powers on his side, but the Earthling is not considered to be one of the planet’s strongest warriors.

In that past, Kishimoto has stressed that much of his inspiration to become a manga artist was derived from Dragon Ball. Speaking with Shonen Jump Alpha, the creator said, “At some point between second and fourth grade I got into Akira Toriyama Sensei’s Dr. Slump anime and Dragon Ball manga. I loved his characters. I was especially attached to Dr. Slump‘s Arale and Dragon Ball‘s Gout.”

Dragon Ball Super‘s “Universal Survival” saga is part of the recent simulcast agreement that sites like Crunchyroll and Funimation have scored. Dragon Ball Super airs on Crunchyroll Saturdays at 7:15 p.m. CST. Toonami aires the English dub on Adult Swim Saturdays at 11:30 p.m.