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“The Nearly Complete Works of Akira Toriyama”: Work #029
Published by 23 February 2018, 8:31 AM EST

The official Dragon Ball website’s twenty-ninth entry in “The Nearly Complete Works of Akira Toriyama” — an on-going series highlighting rare and important pieces of the author’s work over the years — is page 138 from the 2003 anime guide book, Son Goku Densetsu, featuring Toriyama’s updated character designs for Bardock and his crew from the 1990 television special, as well as King Vegeta:

Most of these designs were originally seen in 1995’s sixth Daizenshuu, “Movies & TV Specials”. Alongside the designs, Toriyama provided brief notes with his thoughts on potential colors and names:

My personal thought is that Saiyan hair is black, but I also planned for them to have distinguishing features, so I changed them like this. But since it seems like you want the colors to be a little more varied, I won’t mind, even if it’s not black. (I’ve selfishly gone and changed the names, as well…)

The Son Goku Densetsu caption also notes that it seems Toriyama did not draw King Vegeta’s entire body or costume.

These designs are actually updated from original ones provided by character designer and animator Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru, which are shared earlier on page 102 of Son Goku Densetsu. It was here that we — seemingly! — got our first glimpse at these original designs and names. While Jaga (who would become Totapo) remained relatively close to the design and name pun (jagaimo meaning “potato”), Tomah (Toma) received a haircut and a different syllable emphasis, Pumbkin (Panbukin) received a slightly rearranged name and much more width, and Korn (Selypa) received an entire overhaul.

These original designs may seem familiar: the eyecatches (and final shot that concludes the ending theme) to the 1990 television special showcase some of the original Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru character designs in the background behind their “updated” versions.

For even more information, check out our article on the history of Bardock which includes the full background on his creation for the television special, usage in the manga, and continued exploitation in video games.

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