Toyotarou Reveals Akira Toriyama Drew Piccolo Bidding Farewell In Final Panel Of DBS Chapter 103

Illustrator of the Dragon Ball Super manga series Toyotarou took to his Twitter account to disclose a behind-the-scenes detail regarding the final panel of chapter 103 of the manga.

According to Toyotarou, his original draft of the chapter featured everyone simply turning their backs and departing. However, the last revision by the series’ creator, Akira Toriyama, introduced a significant change.

Toriyama requested that the character of Piccolo be shown offering a farewell to Pan’s kindergarten teacher.

However, Toyotarou shared that he only received the news of Toriyama’s passing after submitting the draft. Reflecting on this sequence of events, Toyotarou expressed that while he didn’t draw Piccolo with the intention of paying tribute to Toriyama, he couldn’t help but find additional layers of meaning in the final panel.

“After submitting the draft, I heard the news of the passing.

So, I didn’t draw Piccolo with that intention.
…But somehow, I can’t help but overlay another meaning onto it.

Toriyama-sensei. Thank you so much for everything. The nine years I got to work with you were like a miracle. Thank you very much. I offer my deepest condolences.“

Dragon Ball Super is a Japanese manga series written by Akira Toriyama and illustrated by Toyotarou. Set during the time frame of Toriyama’s original Dragon Ball manga, it follows the adventures of Son Goku and friends during the ten-year timeskip after the defeat of Majin Boo.

It began serialization in Shueisha’s monthly shonen manga magazine V Jump in June 2015. The manga is simulpublished in English by Viz Media and by Shueisha on their Manga Plus platform. It was the final manga that Toriyama had any involvement with before his death in March 2024.

An anime television series produced by Toei Animation aired in Japan from July 2015 to March 2018. A sequel film, Dragon Ball Super: Broly, was released in December 2018. A second film, Super Hero, was released on June 11, 2022.

Source: Twitter