Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball has become one of the anime's top franchises over the last 40+ years, and millions of fans from across the globe are familiar with Goku, Vegeta, and other iconic characters of the massively popular shonen series. To celebrate the manga's 40th anniversary. Dragon Ball started a campaign asking other famous manga artists to illustrate new covers for the manga. Now, Mikio Ikemoto, the artist behind Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, has revealed his take on the series.
The official Dragon Ball website recently released a never-before-seen Dragon Ball artwork from Mikio Ikemoto, who was asked to join in this anniversary campaign, and as you can see below, they chose a special piece of cover art to adapt. The Boruto artist recreated the cover art of Vol. 7 of Dragon Ball, which features Goku and Bulma on a motorcycle.
It's clear that Ikemoto and Toriyama have different art styles. The two cover artworks clearly have differences to them, and as you can see Goku and Bulma look leaner with softer designs in Ikemoto's art compared to the original's cover's heavier shades, but this is a brilliant, more modern take on a classic Dragon Ball art.
The Boruto mangaka wasn't the only artist who was asked to share their take on Dragon Ball for this anniversary event. So far, Demon Slayer artist Koyoharu Gotouge has joined the celebration alongside Mitsubishi Shimabukuro, Yusei Matsui, Hiroshi Shiibashi, Kenta Shinohara, Tatsuya Endo, Kenta Shinohara, Tattsuki Fujimoto, Tite Kubo, Masashi Kishimoto, Hiroshi Shiibashi, Ryuhei Tamura, and more. There will be a new cover released monthly through November 2024, so expect more tributes in the near future.
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Both Dragon Ball and Naruto franchises have millions of fans, so it's cool to see Ikemoto's take on Goku and Bulma. If you're wondering when the next manga chapters for both series will arrive, expect Dragon Ball Super Chapter 88 and Boruto: Naruto Next Generations Chapter 74 to arrive in October 2022. Dragon Ball Super is expected to begin a new arc after the conclusion of the Granolah the Survivor Saga.
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