Reflecting on the passing of original creator Akira Toriyama, Dragon Ball Super manga author and artist Toyotarō took to Twitter this week to share an anecdote about his review process with Toriyama for the most recent manga chapter.

Toyotarō noted that, at the end of his original draft for chapter 103, the characters all simply flew away with their backs turned. Upon review, Toriyama’s correction was for Piccolo to wave goodbye to Pan’s kindergarten teacher, which Toyotarō then felt had more meaning after Toriyama’s passing. Toyotarō then shared a new recreation of the original draft and correction — not the original versions, as he does not currently have permission to share those — in his extended Twitter thread:

So Dragon Ball Super will be on hiatus for now. Sorry about that. I’m not sure when chapters 101-103 will get printed in a collected volume, so please be sure to check them out on V-Jump! (You can also purchase back issues on Jump+!) Just one thing I would like to say regarding Chapter 103… (If you haven’t read it yet, spoilers ahead).

The truth is that, on the original storyboard that I drew for chapter 103, on the last page, everyone had their backs turned before flying off into the distance. But Sensei gave me one last correction: “Make Piccolo turn and wave goodbye to the kindergarten teacher.” (I couldn’t post the original storyboard without permission, so what you see below is my own recreation.) I got news of his passing after sending the finalized pages.

Therefore, it wasn’t with that intention that I drew Piccolo that way… but I now want to add that extra meaning onto that drawing. Thank you for everything, Toriyama-sensei. I was able to work alongside you for nine years. That really was a special time. Thank you so much. I pray from the bottom of my heart that you may rest in peace.

Examples of Toriyama’s corrections have been published before in the collected volumes of Dragon Ball Super, notably at the back of volumes 3, 6, 7, and 8.

Dragon Ball Super chapter 103 was published last week within the May 2024 issue of Shueisha’s V-Jump magazine (and received a simultaneous worldwide release in various languages via services such as Viz’s Shonen Jump and Shueisha’s Manga Plus). The series is now on an indefinite hiatus.