The September 2021 issue of Shueisha’s Saikyō Jump magazine kicked off a “Dragon Ball Super Gallery” series in commemoration of the Dragon Ball franchise’s upcoming 40th anniversary. The celebration aims to have different artists all contribute their own spin on the original 42 tankōbon covers, with the images and an accompanying comment published as the magazine’s back cover.

Following the previous twenty-six entries, this month’s November 2023 issue brings us Katsura Hoshino (D.Gray-man) and their take on the series’ 36th volume cover:

Hoshino commented:

When I was a kid, I really admired Toriyama-sensei and drew Trunks and Goku a lot, as well as many manga and illustrations that copied his style. Sensei‘s linework, while simple, is also very difficult, with both depth and fun, and I had a lot of fun and excitement trying with all my might to emulate it.

When I got the opportunity to be a part of this project, while drawing, I kept telling my child self: “You’re drawing Dragon Ball! And Toriyama-sensei is actually going to see it!”

I was really excited and terribly nervous, but thank you so much for letting me draw this.

Saikyō Jump is currently a monthly magazine published in Japan by Shueisha under the “Jump” line of magazines. The magazine began as a quarterly publication in 2012, went monthly in 2013, went bimonthly in late-2014, and returned to a monthly format in 2021 (including a digital release for the first time). The magazine’s focus is spin-off and supplementary manga series aimed at a young audience, while also including game promotions, news coverage, and more. The magazine currently serializes content such as Yoshitaka Nagayama’s Super Dragon Ball Heroes: Ultra God Mission!!!! manga series and Yūji Kasai’s Super Dragon Ball Heroes: Avatars!! manga series. For calendar year 2019, Shueisha reported Saikyō Jump‘s circulation down at 130,000, with readership as 58.5% upper elementary school, 28% lower middle school, 11% middle school, and 2.5% high school or older.