Roughly every month, Toyotarō provides a drawing of a Dragon Ball (or related…!) character — as well as an accompanying comment — on the official Japanese Dragon Ball website. Following up on the wealth of characters already drawn, for his May 2025 entry, Toyotarō has drawn the Goku (in Ultra Instinct) and Vegeta (in Super Saiyan Blue Evolution) as a collaboration with and in celebration of the 7th anniversary of the mobile game Dragon Ball Legends:
The illustration is distinct from the usual monthly drawings, and similar to his July 2024 drawing in conjunction with Comic-Con International: San Diego, there is no accompanying comment on the drawing itself. The Dragon Ball Official Site, however, includes a brief Q&A with Toyotarō about the drawing:
(NOTE: The following translation has been done from scratch, as opposed to the official website’s machine-translated English version)
Regarding this illustration, what were you especially particular about?
I thought about a pose of Goku and Vegeta fighting alongside each other that could stand on its own. Since I wanted it to have a lot of “oomph,” I made it so they were facing the camera, and was also very particular about their clothes and their expression.
Since their dōgi and suit are damaged, one can sense they’re in the middle of a fierce battle. When you were drawing it, which enemy did you imagine them fighting against?
I didn’t think of any enemy in particular, but I did imagine them being in the Tournament of Power, so the enemy would have to be Jiren. Since they’re pictured as having transformed at the end of a fierce battle, I thought their clothing should also fit the situation.
(CAPTION)
This is the final illustration, complete with coloring and background. Since their dōgi and armor are both broken, one can feel the sense of a fierce battle, fought to the limit!
Since this is an illustration of Goku and Vegeta fighting side-by-side, was there something you were particular about drawing when you lined them together?
Since their fists don’t align left-to-right, but top to bottom, I was careful about changing their poses so as to not have any reflection symmetry. I was also careful about giving their fists a feeling of three-dimensionality so as to make them feel like they really were standing on top of each other.
When you were drawing this illustration, which things were you careful about regarding the characters’ lines and expressions?
Since this illustration portrays Goku in Ultra Instinct and Vegeta in Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan: Evolution, I tried to express the quirks of each transformation through their expressions. Since Vegeta’s particular transformation doesn’t exist in the manga, and was therefore the first time I drew it, I was especially careful with his expression and the shape of his hair so that animated series fans wouldn’t feel any disconnection.
(CAPTION)
With special permission from Toyotarō-sensei, we present to you the line drawing of the illustration! One can really feel that great pains were taken to depict the smallest details, even in their expressions!
How do you feel about having the illustration you drew used in the startup screen of the game?
I am incredibly honored to have been given the honor of participating in such a momentous occasion for the game, here for its 7th anniversary. I would be incredibly happy if people were able to enjoy Dragon Ball Legends even more through this illustration.
Toyotarō-sensei, thank you so much for these insightful answers!
Later in the same article, an earlier draft of the sketch is shared, accompanied by the note translated above mentioning the detail put into each character’s respective expression:
The drawing is set to be included as a poster in the August 2025 issue of Shueisha’s V-Jump magazine, hitting Japanese shelves 20 June 2025.
This drawing and comment set has been added to the respective page in our “Translations” archive.
