Dragon Ball Super Artist Honors Akira Toriyama in New Artwork of Nearly 20-Year-Old Game Character

Earlier this year, the world lost Akira Toriyama, who, in addition to creating the Dragon Ball franchise, had a prolific career as a character designer for major video game franchises like Dragon Quest. In honor of the artist’s legacy, Dragon Ball Super artist Toyotarou has created new artwork showcasing one of Toriyama’s older video game heroes.

On Dragon Ball‘s official site, the latest entry in Toyotarou’s “Tries to Draw” series is artwork of Shu, who hails from the Blue Dragon video game franchise. As shown below, Toyotarou’s illustration depicts a young boy with a cheeky grin alongside the game’s titular icon. Shu’s design shares many classic Toriyama elements, including a spiky hairstyle that is highly reminiscent of Goku’s. Toyotarou also released a brief introductory statement alongside his drawing. “Akira Toriyama was in charge of character design for this game [Blue Dragon], but as a V Jumper fan (V Jump fan), I have to put in a word for the manga version drawn by Noriko Otake!” Toyotarou wrote. “It was a really great read, plus Toriyama was involved with designing the characters and more, so you can read and enjoy it as if it were a Toriyama manga!”

The Plot of the Blue Dragon Video Game and Anime Series

The first Blue Dragon RPG, which was developed by Mistwalker (Lost Odyssey) and Artoon (Blinx: The Time Sweeper), launched exclusively for Xbox 360 consoles in December 2006. Within the game’s world, the inhabitants are constantly under threat by a powerful being called the “Land Shark.” One day, the monster attacks Shu’s home village, causing most of the villagers to evacuate. Eventually, Shu and his friends discover that the Land Shark is actually a mechanical tool of Nene, the villainous monarch of the Grand Kingdom. On behalf of the fallen victims at Taita village, Shu and his allies embark on a quest to confront Nene and put an end to his mechanical army. In order to do so, Shu’s party assumes control of beings called “shadows” that are given life after splintering off from Nene’s tainted soul. Studio Pierrot (Naruto, Bleach) later adapted the game’s story into an anime series, which aired from April 2007 to March 2009.

In the wake of Toriyama’s death, Toyotarou has paid tribute to several lesser-known works by the late manga artist. On April 4, Dragon Ball‘s official site highlighted a series of Toyotarou drawings featuring characters from Dr. Slump, Savings Soldier Cashman and Dub & Peter 1 — three of Toriyama’s earliest manga. Dr. Slump, which debuted four years prior to Dragon Ball, chronicles the adventures of its titular scientist and his eccentric yet powerful robot daughter, Arale. Savings Soldier Cashman (1990-1991) follows the heroic exploits of “Cashman,” who begins a career as a superhero in order to collect repair funds for his broken-down ship. Dub & Peter 1 (1992-1993) revolves around local “bad boy” Dub and his artificially enhanced talking car, which he uses to impress girls.

Toyotarou’s Dragon Ball Super Has Been Confirmed to Return

Toyotarou started working alongside Toriyama in 2015, which is when Dragon Ball Super made its debut in the pages of V-Jump magazine. Following the conclusion of the “Super Hero” arc, Dragon Ball Super abruptly halted publication. However, Dragon Ball‘s website recently confirmed that Super will eventually return with a new story arc. Additionally, Toei Animation is still preparing for the Fall 2024 debut of Dragon Ball Daima, a brand-new anime that is intended to commemorate the franchise’s 40th anniversary. According to the show’s producers, Toriyama was more involved with Daima than with any previous anime project. While Toei has revealed little about the plot, it has been established that the series will revive many classic elements from the original Dragon Ball manga.

The latest chapters of Dragon Ball Super are available in English from VIZ Media. The manga’s respective anime adaptations, which include Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT and Dragon Ball Super, are available to stream on Hulu and Crunchyroll.

Source: Dragon Ball official site