The “Dragon Ball Super” manga has long had a name other than Akira Toriyama behind its illustrations:. Indeed, the cartoonist who made a name for himself with his fan stories has become the heir to the franchise, working for years alongside Toriyama-sensei himself to continue developing the story of Goku and company. But is his farewell to the franchise closer than we might have imagined? The truth is, surprising as it may seem, it’s a discussion that’s been gaining momentum in recent days.
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What happened to Toyotaro, is he really leaving Dragon Ball Super?
Long story short: if you’re a fan of the cartoonist, you’ve got nothing to worry about, because the cartoonist will continue to direct “Dragon Ball Super”. So, what exactly happened to make this conversation a reality? It all goes back to the following tweet from Toyotaro himself:
宇都宮大学教育学部中学校教員養成課程美術科 pic.twitter.com/iLG92UKUy2
— とよたろう (@TOYOTARO_Vjump) June 19, 2023
And what exactly is going on with this tweet? Well, the following:
- Apparently, from this photo tweet, many people had extracted the possibility that Toyotaro was advancing his retirement from Dragon Ball Super.
- The translation is a bit fuzzy (mostly because I’m not fluent in Japanese), but it seems that many people had interpreted some sort of trip to Hawaii as his departure from Akira Toriyama’s franchise.
- However, in a later clarifying tweet (reported by SupaChronicles), Toyotaro comments that he just wanted to take selfies while near the university he graduated from. And no, there’s no trip to Hawaii that’s going to threaten his tenure on Dragon Ball Super.
- Anyway, if anyone had stumbled across the “confirmation” that Toyotaro would soon be leaving Dragon Ball Super, know that a message from the designer was simply misinterpreted.
Honestly, to this day, I can’t imagine “Dragon Ball Super” without Toyotaro. I think the franchise’s current illustrator has established himself as a superb artist who knows how to live up to the expectations of fans of the work. The story is another matter, and in that respect it’s worth remembering that there’s Akira Toriyama on one side and Victory Uchida on the other, but as far as the artistic component is concerned, you can hardly ask for better than what Toyotaro delivers today.
