Dragon Ball Should Really Consider This Viral Character Design Pitch

Dragon Ball seems to be in the midst of some stylistic flux right now, with films like Dragon Ball Super: Broly and Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero both bringing some groundbreaking new styles to the franchise. Well, if Dragon Ball is in the midst of an experimental phase, might we suggest the creators over at Toei taking a look at this fan artist's work? Because as you can see below, artist @BentoDRAWS has a take that fans seem to really be responding to! 

These Dragon Ball character designs by @BentoDRAWS include the likes of Krillin, Future Trunks, Goku, Piccolo, Gohan, and Vegeta. If you check out the artist's Instagram feed, you'll find many other Dragon Ball character designs, including Broly, Android 21, Super Saiyan Blue Goku, Super Saiyan 5 concept art, even Chiaotzu! The art style seems reminiscent of anime and video games that blend painted art and animation, making it a design style that plenty of gamer/anime fans recognize and enjoy. 

In addition to Dragon Ball, @BentoDRAWS' gallery of work includes games like Halo, Sonic, and Mass Effect; other anime like Attack on Titan, Pokémon, My Hero Academia, One-Punch Man, and Avatar: The Last Airbender; even popular franchises like Marvel. Check it out! 

As stated, Dragon Ball has been trying out some big new stylistic departures in the last few years. Dragon Ball Super's Broly movie has cemented a new fan-favorite animation design ("Shintani Style") that was built from the ground-up by animator Naohiro Shintani; many fans now want that to be THE standard in the franchise. Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero got fans riled up by bringing CGI into the series for the first time, to create some of the most unique (and epic) fight visual the franchise has ever seen. For the all the backlash, Super Hero has become the most successful Dragon Ball movie of all time, proving that taking big risks with the style of the series can (literally) pay off. 

Right now, Dragon Ball Super is teasing some exciting new things on deck. The "Super Hero" story arc seems to be moving into the manga, which has fans excited for some long-overdue updates to characters like Trunks and Goten. After so many years off the air, the Dragon Ball Super anime also seems to be teasing a possible return, with story elements that could help (finally) tie the manga, anime, and movies together into one cohesive franchise canon. 

READ MORE: Dragon Ball Artist Hypes Super Saiyan 3 Goku in New Promo | Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero Reveals First Look at New Manga | Dragon Ball Super Announces its Next Major Arc