Dragon Ball Z remains arguably the greatest installment of the entire Dragon Ball franchise, with moments that will remain iconic as long as the series is still around. No doubt, one of the most famous moments in Dragon Ball Z is the climatic battle between Teen Gohan and Perfect Cell, during the “Cell Games” arc. That battle was of course the first time that Dragon Ball Z introduced the Super Saiyan 2 form; one of the only times that the series put truly put Gohan front and center, and one of the most gorgeous animated moments in the entire Dragon Ball saga.
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As you can see, fans haven’t stopped loving new artistic renditions of the Gohan SSJ2 debut, and this fan (who’s now gaining traction on Reddit) did a pretty epic job. This image above depicts Gohan’s Super Saiyan 2 debut vs. Perfect Cell – done in the style of Dragon Ball Super: Broly animator, Naohiro Shintani.
The Dragon Ball fandom loves a good debate about the various animators that have taken the reigns of the series at different points – but Shintani has certainly made his mark Dragon Ball Super: Broly. It was certainly a big deal when his unique modern-meets-throwback style of Dragon Ball was introduced in the very first Dragon Ball Super movie teasers, generating buzz for the film long before fans even knew that Broly would be in it. Since the release of Broly, Shintani’s style has inspired a new wave of fan art and videos – not to mention a very real petition in the Dragon Ball fandom to have the style of the Dragon Ball Super movie become the status quo for the series, going forward. Time will tell if that’s case, as the wait still continues for any official announcements from Toei about Dragon Ball anime/movie projects.
In the meantime, it’s been a lot of fun to see fan artists take a crack at re-imagining key scenes from Dragon Ball, DBZ, DB GT, or DBS, with a Shintani makeover. Having Shintani due Gohan’s biggest moment in the series definitely would’ve been epic, based on this rendering. That said, Tadayoshi Yamamuro’s direction on “Awakening” and Gohan going SSJ2 for the first time, has stood the test of time like few other moments in the franchise.
Dragon Ball Super’s anime is still on hiatus, you can read the latest Dragon Ball Super manga chapters HERE.
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