Saikyo Jump recently unveiled the latest entry for its Dragon Ball Super Gallery — an ambitious multi-year project that was created to commemorate the franchise’s 40th anniversary. This month, official Dragon Ball Super illustrator Toyotarou has submitted artwork honoring two classic Dragon Ball characters: Majinn Buu and Mr. Satan (also known by his English dub name, Hercule).
A Dragon Ball-centric news hub on X (formerly Twitter) called Shonen Jump News recently shared Toyotarou’s entry. This illustration, seen below, showcases a dynamic vehicular getaway scene with Buu and Mr. Satan as they attempt to escape from a group of monsters. The scene is directly inspired by the cover of Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball Volume 39, which similarly depicts a cheerful-looking Buu and a distressed Mr. Satan as they drive along in one of the latter’s cars. Toyotarou’s submission is the 35th official entry to the Super Gallery, which originally launched in September 2021.
The Dragon Ball Super Gallery Anniversary Project Continues to Spotlight Major Creators
Dragon Ball‘s 40th anniversary Super Gallery project is a massive collaborative event involving talented manga artists from all across Japan. Each month, Saikyo Jump showcases a brand-new illustration inspired by one of Akira Toriyama’s original Dragon Ball manga covers. The gallery’s debut entry featured artwork by Masashi Kishimoto, creator of the beloved Naruto franchise. Since 2021, a number of high-profile creators — many of whom grew up reading Dragon Ball — have done their part to honor what is inarguably one of the most iconic shonen franchises of all time. In addition to Kishimoto, official participants include Tite Kubo (Bleach), Koyoharu Gotouge (Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba), Hirohiko Araki (JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure), Gege Akutami (Jujutsu Kaisen) and Yusuke Murata (One-Punch Man). The last piece was submitted by Letter Bee creator Hiroyuki Asada, who presented Dragon Ball protagonist Son Goku with a dazzling shojo-style makeover.
Toyotarou has been involved with the Dragon Ball franchise since November 2012, which is the year that his spin-off manga, Dragon Ball Heroes: Victory Mission, made its debut in V-Jump magazine. In 2015, Toyotarou began collaborating with Toriyama on the Dragon BallSuper manga, the official sequel to Dragon Ball Z. Toei Animation has since adapted a large portion of Super to animation, wrapping up in 2018 with the last episode of the “Universal Survival” arc. However, the studio has not clarified if it plans to release future seasons of the Dragon Ball Super anime.
Official Dragon Ball Staff Reveal Perfect Cell Almost Had a Completely Different Face
Early Akira Toriyama concept art of Dragon Ball’s Perfect Cell depicts the “perfect warrior” with a much different look than his current appearance.
Dragon Ball Super’s Toyotarou Promotes Akira Toriyama’s Work With His “Tries to Draw” Series
Akira Toriyama died earlier this year after suffering an acute subdural hematoma — a tragic event that deeply affected many contemporary artists, Toyotarou included. “I drew manga because I wanted to be praised by Toriyama-sensei,” he publicly admitted shortly after the artist’s death. “He was everything to me.” Outside his work on Super, Toyotarou actively works to promote the life and legacy of his late collaborator, especially with his popular “Toyotarou Tries to Draw” series. Featured on Dragon Ball‘s official website, this monthly series often shines light on Toriyama’s more obscure franchises and characters. Notably, the last two entries featured two classic Toriyama-designed characters from the Blue Dragon and Tobal No. 1 gaming franchises.
The Dragon Ball manga series is available in English from VIZ Media. The series’ respective anime adaptations, including Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT and Dragon Ball Super, are available to stream on Hulu and Crunchyroll. Toei Animation’s upcoming anime installment, Dragon Ball Daima, is slated to premiere in Fall 2024.
