Since the tragic passing of Akira Toriyama last year, Dragon Ball fans have both mourned and wondered what the future of the shonen series will be. To honor his mentor and collaborator, the artist known as Toyotaro has stated in the past that he plans to continue working on the manga moving forward. Most recently, Toyotaro attended the Japan Expo in France, taking the opportunity to reveal more about how he plans to tackle Dragon Ball Super in the future without Akira Toriyama. Even though Akira Toriyama can never be replaced, Toyotaro is clearly working to honor his teacher with the continuing story of the Z-Fighters.
During the recent Japan Expo panel, Toyotaro stated that it wouldn’t be “impossible” to continue Dragon Ball Super without Akira Toriyama. As the artist explains, he was the one who would forget stories like the Moro and the Granolah The Survivor Arcs, sending them to Toriyama for approval. While Akira would give him notes, such as the creation of the Heeters in the Granolah storyline for example, many of the arcs were born from Toyotaro himself. The manga artist would also ask for Toriyama’s expertise when it came to certain parts of the storylines. Of course, Toyotaro confirmed that it wouldn’t be easy to continue Son Goku and friends’ advnentures but it is still a definite possibility.
Where Can Dragon Ball Super Go?
The last time we saw Dragon Ball Super’s manga was with a special chapter from Akira Toriyama and Toyotaro that showed readers how Goten and Trunks decided to become masked crime fighters. The prequel story was one written by Toriyama before his passing, taking place prior to the events of Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero and showing how the sons of Goku and Vegeta are enjoying their high school years. While this chapter and Dragon Ball Daima are prequel stories, we imagine that whenever the Dragon Ball Super series does return, it will look into the future past the fight against Cell Max.
Of the many story aspects that could be explored, the most obvious is the hanging thread that is Frieza and his ultimate transformation. “Black Frieza” first appeared at the tail end of the Granolah Arc, with the alien despot receiving this power-up thanks to discovering a Hyperbolic Time Chamber to train within. Spending the equivalent of years inside this alternate reality, Frieza has become the strongest being in the universe to the point where he was able to defeat Ultra Instinct Goku and Ultra Ego Vegeta in one hit. With the classic villain now holding a power level far above the heroes, the Saiyans have a wild new goal to hit and some serious training to undertake in order to do so.
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