Godzilla Artist Honors the Kaiju with Classic Dragon Ball Homage

Godzilla is expected to have a good 2021 after the kaiju hit a series of delays last year. In about a month, the monster will return to theaters (and HBO Max) for the debut of Godzilla vs Kong. As you can imagine, all eyes are on the kaiju as he prepares for his new close-up, and a legendary Godzilla artist is honoring his comeback with a special Dragon Ball tribute.

The awoke comes courtesy of Shinji Nishikawa who is well-known by Godzilla fans. The artist shared an official black-and-white sketch the other day that shows Godzilla as a kid. And to make things even better, the monster is seen mimicking Goku’s pose as Godzilla rides Hedora as if the latter were the Flying Nimbus.

As you can see above, Godzilla is channeling his inner Goku as he flies along with his arms stretched out for balance. The monster’s chubby body comes straight from the original Dragon Ball anime, and Hedora seems to be taking his transformation well. The kaiju has undergone a major transformation to become the Flying Nimbus, so fans are loving this unexpected crossover.

Of course, the Flying Nimbus did not originate with Dragon Ball though the anime did popularize it globally. The original relic came from Journey to the West, a regaled Chinese novel that inspired Akira Toriyama to make his now-iconic series. Journey to the West follows a boy named Sun Wukong who goes on an epic quest, and he is able to walk amongst the clouds thanks to its magical boots. As such, Sun learns to commandeer the clouds as transport, so the Flying Nimbus took that idea and expanded it. Now, Godzilla seems to have gotten in on the trend, and we can’t blame him. The kaiju may be used to living life underwater, but there is something freeing about flying through the sky. We’re sure Godzilla heard all about it from Mothra, so we are glad to see the King of the Monsters flying high.

What do you think of this tribute? Which Dragon Ball hero should, say, Mothra mimic? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB.