The Akira Toriyama Archive frequently unearths rare pieces of art from Toriyama's iconic shonen franchise, Dragon Ball. This time, the archive revealed a particularly unique gem – a draft illustration of Goku that was used in one of the manga's first title pages.

Several times a week, the Toriyama Archive publishes a “rare and hard-to-find” image from Toriyama’s past. However, each piece is only available on the site for a 24-hour period. As detailed in Dragon Ballofficial website, the aforementioned illustration shows a young Goku with a "determined" facial expression—one he often uses when facing a difficult opponent. According to the description, the chapter corresponding to this particular title illustration focused on Goku's fight against Nam (Namu in Japanese). The Japanese version of the website describes the image as a "genga"—a term used for a key animation or illustration produced before final cleanup and editing. This particular illustration was used for issue #45 of Weekly Shonen Jumporiginally published October 8, 1985.

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Weekly Shonen Jump's Dragon Ball serialization was a huge success for the magazine.

Weekly Shonen Jump started serializing Dragon Ball in December 1984, introducing readers across Japan to a strange but courageous child named Son Goku. The manga's early sagas chronicle Goku's journey to track down the titular Dragon Balls—legendary objects that, when united, can be used to grant a single wish. Although Toriyama had already made a name for himself in the manga world with Dr.Fall, Dragon Ball is the series that catapulted the artist to international stardom, making him one of the best-selling manga authors of all time. As of February 2024, the series has been published in over 40 different countries and has sold an impressive 260 million copies. Dragon Ball Superthe direct sequel to the manga Dragon Ball Z, illustrated by Toriyama's successor, Toyotarou, is still ongoing. Although Super temporarily ceased publication earlier this year following Toriyama's death, V-jump The magazine confirmed that the series will eventually resume serialization in future issues.

Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball franchise continues to expand internationally

Since 1984, Dragon Ball has expanded into a global multimedia phenomenon that is rapidly approaching its 40th anniversary. To commemorate this historic milestone, the franchise partners have organized several commemorative projects. Among the most anticipated is Upcoming anime series from Toei Animation Dragon Ball Daima, which features an all-new story written by Toriyama. Additionally, Saikyo Jump is currently running a special feature called Dragon Ball Super Gallery, which presents reinterpretations of classics Dragon Ball covers from throughout the manga's long history. This gallery features contributions from dozens of popular manga artists, including Masashi Kishimoto (naruto), Tatsuya Endo (Spy vs. Family), Hiroyuki Asada (Bee Letter) and Takeshi Obata (Death Note), among many others. Saikyo Jump will publish the final entry in November 2024.

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The original Dragon Ball The manga is available in English from VIZ Media. The respective anime adaptations of the series, which include Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT and Dragon Ball Super, are available to stream on Hulu and Crunchyroll. Dragon Ball Daima is scheduled to premiere in fall 2024, although a specific release date has not been announced at this time.

Dragon Ball

Son Goku, a fighter with a monkey tail, sets out on a quest with a variety of strange characters in search of the Dragon Balls, a set of crystals that can give their bearer anything they desire.

Author

Akira Toriyama

Artist

Akira Toriyama

Release date

November 20, 1984

Gender

Adventure, Fantasy, Comedy, Martial Arts

Chapters

519

Volumes

42

Adaptation

Dragon Ball (1986)

Editor

Shueisha, Madman Entertainment, Viz Media

Source: Dragon Ball official website