Manga
Who is Toyotaro, the mangaka chosen to succeed Akira Toriyama?
The mangaka’s work has been in the spotlight in recent years since the arrival of Dragon Ball Super, but who will be in charge of drawing Toriyama’s work?
The passing of Akira Toriyama leaves us wondering what will become of his greatest legacy, ‘Dragon Ball’. And well, we have already seen something about this topic. Currently, the ‘Dragon Ball Super’ series continues, and although the creator himself mentioned that the series will end soon, there is still a key piece in its development. We are talking about the mangaka and illustrator known as Toyotaro, whose story we are going to take a look at.
Who is Toyotaro?
As mentioned before, if you have been following the Dragon Ball Super manga, Toyotaro’s name should be familiar to you. The Mangaka was born in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. During his childhood, he grew up with Dr. Slump and Dragon Ball anime, drawing his school notebooks and creating his own stories. Although he never thought of working as a mangaka, he learned to draw on his own and in 2012 he took his work to Shueisha, where after 6 months he began working on the webcomic ‘Dragon Ball Heroes: Victory Mission’, a tie-in to the video game ‘Dragon Ball Heroes’, which ran for 28 chapters.
Toyotaro would later be responsible for the ‘Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection ‘F’' adaptation, which debuted in April 2015 in V Jump, as well as the 2016 ‘Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2′ video game adaptation, which was available as part of the game’s collector’s edition.
It was during this last period that Toyotaro gained great importance in the manga world, as it was in 2015 that Toriyama personally chose him to continue the Dragon Ball manga in Dragon Ball Super. This was no small feat; it meant following in the footsteps of a legend and continuing a story beloved by generations.
What sets Toyotaro apart as a worthy successor is his ability to seamlessly blend his own artistic style with Toriyama’s iconic aesthetic. Fans of the series have praised Toyotaro for his attention to detail, his faithful interpretation of Toriyama’s characters, and his ability to capture the essence of the “Dragon Ball” universe. Toriyama himself felt that of all the people he worked with, Toyotaro’s art was the closest to his own. In addition, Toyotaro’s contributions to the lore, introducing new characters and story arcs, have breathed new life into the franchise while staying true to its roots.