‘Dragon Ball Super’ Animator Reveals Toriyama’s Broly Redesign Demand

Dragon Ball Super made a big comeback when its first film, Dragon Ball Super: Broly, hit theaters last year, and fans are still viewing Broly to see what’s going on. So, you can understand why fans were understandably excited when a new interview with Naohiro Shintani went live and touched upon all the juicy details of Broly’s reboot.

When the film went live in Japan, a theatrical program was released in tandem that featured the interview. The translators at Kazenshuu turned the piece around in English, and it was there fans learned more about how Broly was physically redesigned.

“Broly was a different story, though. The only designs I received were up to him wearing his armor, and it gave off a very different impression than the Broly of the past,” Shintani explained. “Personally, I had a very strong image of Broly based on the previous movies, so I created my own design for him at Full Power from scratch. I just had the urge to see him lose his shirt and run wild at the end.”

Barring Shintani’s love of a very shirtless Broly, the animation director did say creator Akira Toriyama had final say on the Saiyan’s redesign. The artist did corrections on Shintani’s final mockup, and it turns out Toriyama had a rather surprising request for the artist.

“Toriyama had stated that he didn’t want him to be overly macho,” Shintani said, “so I aimed to make him look as huge as possible, yet still within the confines of not going overboard with it.”

With the film having finished its theatrical run in the U.S., fans have been able to share their take on Broly’s remake. Audiences responded very well to the Saiyan’s overhauled personality as Dragon Ball Super: Broly gave the fighter a greater backstory. The addition of an origin helped fans better related to Broly and the reasoning behind his berserker form, so it seems Shintani’s work on the Saiyan did what it set out to do.

So, do you approve of Broly’s updated look? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics and anime!

Dragon Ball Super: Broly is out now. You can read ComicBook.com’s spoiler-free review of the film here. Dragon Ball Super currently airs its English dub on Adult Swim during the Toonami block on Saturday evenings. It is also available to stream on Funimation and Amazon Video.