With the death of Akira Toriyama (Dragon Ball), Eiichiro Oda, the mastermind behind One Piece, revealed that the two mangaka were good friends. Toriyama was like a mentor to Oda, which is why he started drawing mangas in the first place. To honor his mentor, he drew a picture over 20 years ago that combines Dragon Ball and One Piece.
What kind of picture is it? The picture was published as part of Dragon Ball Children Band 1. In this edition, mangaka discussed how much Dragon Ball influenced their lives even while they were children. Oda was also among the participants.
Along with his story, Oda took the opportunity to create his own drawing of “Son-Goku.” In his version, it is Luffy, the protagonist of One Piece, who is flying through the air on the flying Nimbus cloud. In his hand, he holds the nearly endless staff that Son-Goku used for fighting in his childhood.
In the background, Shenlong can be seen, who in Oda’s version even breathes fire. He can be summoned by collecting all the Dragon Balls and granting the wish of the one who calls him.
You can view the picture on the following Twitter account. Just click on the 1st image:
The picture was personally signed by Oda. Right next to it, he added the phrase “I love Dragon Ball” to express his love for the manga. In his story, he recounts how one of his classmates could not cope with Krillin’s death and ran screaming through the hall.
Oda has already explained that he and Toriyama had a friendly relationship. The fact that the picture is over 20 years old highlights how strong a bond he must have had with his mentor. He is all the more saddened that Toriyama recently passed away.
Dragon Ball will still be with us in the future. One of his last works, Dragon Ball Daima, will begin in the fall of 2024:
More Tributes to Dragon Ball
Over time, there have been many other drawings that mangaka have created in honor of Toriyama. The creator of Naruto, Masashi Kishimoto, was one of them. In the above-linked tweet, there is a picture from him in third place, where he draws Krillin and Son-Goku as characters in Konohagakure.
The two have facial features typical of those from the Naruto manga. Presumably, they would have trained hard in the Naruto universe as they are still wearing their orange training suits.
The tweet also features 2 more pictures from the Bleach and Black Cat mangaka. In the coming days, more drawings are likely to be unearthed, showcasing crossovers between Dragon Ball and other franchises.
But Dragon Ball is not the only manga that has inspired others. An athlete is a big fan of Luffy and has dedicated his victory pose to him: One Piece: Luffy is the role model for a successful athlete who comes in second at a world championship.
