Art style discussion

[SaiyanBaller22]

Where was the 04, 05, and 13 Art from?

[Attitudefan]

Attitudefan, every author is going to occasionally have one page dedicated to details. If you're going to put up comparison, you need to do it right. If you want to compare one page big panel vs one page big panel to show off the difference, I'm all for it, but when you clash it with a page full of panel dedicated to fights, you are being very biased about it.

I'm going to put up one full page comparison against your Piccolo v. Gokû.



Toriyama still got his details when drawing that panel. His speed lines are all fully drawn. The panel was beautifully drawn to showcase Gohan's power dominance. About the facial expression, notice how he drew Gohan's face. His mouth isn't fully square and his eyes were drawn in a way that shows his full blown rage. And that was way after Piccolo fought No. 17. His art in that arc is perfectly fine. The artist is going to have a bad art week, regardless of the skills they possess. The only consistent bad art he had was when he drew the Boo arc. Other than that, his art is consistently good.

Still is a great example of how Toriyama stopped drawing facial expressions in a wide variety. Pupils remain large, mouth square and not too different than other angry scowling faces. The hair looks very stiff.

Look at Ten vs Yamcha or Goku vs Vegeta and see the difference in how he draws their expressions with more dynamic camera angles.

The drawing is so stiff here compared to the Goku vs Piccolo one.

But hell, show the panels from when Vegeta blew up the area around him to kill all 4 good guys near the end of their fight on earth in the Saiyan arc or when he got hit with the sprout bomb. The line art, shading, motion lines on those panels are better than in the Cell arc, along with how Toriyama drew the characters emotions.

Toriyama got lazy in the later arcs and didn't share as much nor give characters different designs or emotions. They all scowl the same way unlike before.

Piccolo looked different and unique, with a devilish face but is later reduced to a Goku face type clone. Look at the jaw and the noses for that. He use to draw them differently between characters but stopped gradually during the fight with Freeza.


An image before Toriyama's peak years (23rd/Saiyan arc) and it is a more dynamic image. Hair flows, it isn't stiff, the camera angle is a difficult one to draw but catches the eye and has the viewer follow the movement from Goku, to his hands, to the ki blast. His eyebrows are not the stiff scowl he later gives everyone as default, there's expression and fluidity in the lines.

Here again is Goku and just his face alone shows how pumped up he is to show his new technique, ready to show Piccolo to eat his words. It's quite awesome how good Toriyama use to be at really expressing the tone and feelings of the characters in a simple image.

[DarkPrince_92]

Saiyan to end of Freeza Arc for me. Right before things got extra angular. I do like the Cell Arc too though.

[Vegitofaxx]

What do you think is the worst drawing of Son Goku in the original manga, that's not a gag or purposefully bad drawing?

[Vegitofaxx]

As i just read through the manga again, I want to state my new opinion.
My favorites are 87-91. That is all.
I still dislike 92 the most of all.

[Doctor.]

Where was the 04, 05, and 13 Art from?

2004: One of the Kanzenban volumes
2005: Neko Majin Z
2013: Promotional art for Battle of Gods.

[FortuneSSJ]

I choose 87/88 even though I love them all, expect the new ones (the image needs to be updated with 2014 ROF).
Its a shame he's not in his prime anymore. But that's how life is.

Toyble is a good substitute to me. Diggin his style.

[Vegitofaxx]

I choose 87/88 even though I love them all, expect the new ones (the image needs to be updated with 2014 ROF).
Its a shame he's not in his prime anymore. But that's how life is.

Toyble is a good substitute to me. Diggin his style.

I personally prefer Asura or Malik. But it's all subjective

[Lord Beerus]

Toyble is a good substitute to me. Diggin his style.

Toyble's artstyle only really works when he has time and isn't rushed like he is for DBH: Victory Mission

[Unicorn_Bazooka]

I always loved the angular way everything was drawn during the Buu Saga. It fits an action manga, and making it too detailed would've made it harder to read and keep up with the pace.

[FortuneSSJ]

Fun thing about that image. If Goku did a kamehameha with his feets nowadays, a lot of people would bash the idea.
I wonder how many fans remember/know about that scene.

[One_Instance]

I love '84 - '88, but '89 looks the best to me and really fits the tone of the show at that point. Though, I enjoy everything in the actual manga from '84 to '88 a lot more.

[Dyno]

Toriyama in his prime, mostly.

[Lord Beerus]

Toriyama in his prime, mostly.

Could you be a bit more specific?

[FortuneSSJ]

All forms in Tori's new style - fanmade.
Cannot unseen the flame pattern until the blue form. Blue flames are hotter.

[TheKingOfKamehamehas]

All forms in Tori's new style - fanmade.
Cannot unseen the flame pattern until the blue form. Blue flames are hotter.

Goku is way too skinny!

[Lord Beerus]

All forms in Tori's new style - fanmade.
Cannot unseen the flame pattern until the blue form. Blue flames are hotter.

Goku is way too skinny!

I think he looks better proportioned, being this lean and not over-muscular.

[DBZGTKOSDH]

All forms in Tori's new style - fanmade.
Cannot unseen the flame pattern until the blue form. Blue flames are hotter.

This looks awesome! Too bad Super Saiyan Grades 2 & 3 are missing though... Poor forms are forgotten all the time.

[TheKingOfKamehamehas]

All forms in Tori's new style - fanmade.
Cannot unseen the flame pattern until the blue form. Blue flames are hotter.

Goku is way too skinny!

I think he looks better proportioned, being this lean and not over-muscular.

Well His Super Saiyan 3 and 4 forms and maybe 1 too a certain extent looks way too skinny. I think the Kai 1.0 art was pretty good on muscle definition. Goku was drawn more muscular during the Freeza Saga by Toriyama.

Spoiler:

[FortuneSSJ]

Goku is way too skinny!

I present you Tori's new style. Everyone is skinny.