Dragon Ball Debuts New Cover Art by Blue Exorcist Creator

Dragon Ball has been around for decades, and of course, we know the series is celebrating its biggest milestone right now. The franchise turned 40 years old recently, and it was there the franchise began its Dragon Ball Super Gallery project to honor Akira Toriyama’s manga. Cover art from Dragon Ball is being redone monthly to celebrate the work done by Toriyama, and this month just welcomed Kazue Kato of Blue Exorcist.

Yes, you read that right. It seems Kato just shared their take on Dragon Ball, and the artist of Blue Exorcist did not hold back. They decided to remake the cover of volume 25, and their art closely mimics what Toriyama did decades ago.

DRAGON BALL Volume 25 by Kazue Kato (Blue Exorcist).

This is part of the DRAGON BALL Super Gallery Project to commemorate the 40th Anniversary of the series. Every month, different mangaka will redesign one of the 42 covers of the series until November 2024. pic.twitter.com/NQgXzKdnmw

— Shonen Jump News (@WSJ_manga) July 3, 2023

As you can see below, the tribute puts Goku and Gohan on a speeder boat with Bulma and Krillin. The group are cruising on the Capsule Corps tech with ease, and Krillin looks ready to fish. The cover art depicts the perfect summer outing for these friends, and it is nice to see Goku enjoying a day out with no villains.

Of course, Kato’s art style is hard to mistake here. They managed to blend their signature aesthetic with colors used by Toriyama. This tribute is definitely one of the best to join the Dragon Ball gallery, and there are still plenty more to go. The event will not end until November 2024, so Toriyama has more artists to court just yet!

Now for those unfamiliar with Blue Exorcist, the supernatural series is calling your name. The Shonen Jump title is available to read on Manga Plus as well as the Shonen Jump app. The Blue Exorcist anime is also streaming on platforms like Hulu and Crunchyroll. So if you’d like to know more about the otherworldly series, you can read the official synopsis of Blue Exorcist below:

“Raised by Father Fujimoto, a famous exorcist, Rin Okumura never knew his real father. One day a fateful argument with Father Fujimoto forces Rin to face a terrible truth–the blood of the demon lord Satan runs in Rin’s veins! Rin swears to defeat Satan, but doing that means entering the mysterious True Cross Academy and becoming an exorcist himself. Can Rin fight demons and keep his infernal bloodline a secret? It won’t be easy, especially when drawing his father’s sword releases the demonic power within him!”

What do you think about Kato’s take on Dragon Ball? Where does this tribute rank amongst the gallery project to date? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB.