Toyotaro’s Latest Art Draws Backlash — 5ch: ‘Toriyama Was a Billion Times Better’

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The story

A thread on 5ch’s “Live Anything Goes” board (なんでも実況G) sparked criticism over the artwork in the latest chapter of “Dragon Ball Super,” drawn by manga artist Toyotaro. Commenters compared it to Akira Toriyama’s style, piling on with comments like “it lacks punch” and “it looks phoned-in.” Some argued that criticism is fair game since this is an official successor work, not a fan comic, while others fired back that if you don’t like it, just don’t watch it. The discussion expanded to cover comparisons with Toriyama’s own late-career art, along with testimony that Toyotaro’s work was actually good back in his doujin (fan-comic) days, as posters debated what’s really behind the apparent drop in quality.

What people said

1AnonymousOct 3, 2026 16:27
Toyotaro
The Original
2AnonymousOct 3, 2026 16:28
What's going on with Toyotaro's last panel?
3AnonymousOct 3, 2026 16:29
You could just not watch it, you know.
28AnonymousOct 3, 2026 16:46
Re: #3
If he were doing this on his own as a doujin, fine, but this is the official series — of course it's going to get criticized.
Dragon Ball isn't the kind of content where a low-effort comeback like "don't like it, don't watch it" even applies.
75AnonymousOct 3, 2026 17:13
Re: #28
Exactly, that's why people are saying "if you don't like it, don't watch it."
4AnonymousOct 3, 2026 16:29
Must be rough spending your whole life wrapped in the legend's loincloth (i.e., living off Toriyama's legacy).
5AnonymousOct 3, 2026 16:29
Compared to Toriyama it just feels like it's missing that punch somehow.
9AnonymousOct 3, 2026 16:32
It feels like lazy art with no motivation behind it.
That's a real problem, isn't it?
10AnonymousOct 3, 2026 16:34
Sure, a different art style is unavoidable, but why does the whole thing feel kind of amateurish overall?
12AnonymousOct 3, 2026 16:35
Wait, what was "Beast" again?
22AnonymousOct 3, 2026 16:44
Re: #12
It's the Beast form (野獣モード, lit. "wild beast mode").
17AnonymousOct 3, 2026 16:39
But didn't Toriyama's own art decline a ton in his later years too?
18AnonymousOct 3, 2026 16:40
Re: #17
Even so, it still wasn't as bad as Toyotaro's current work.
31AnonymousOct 3, 2026 16:48
Isn't the story stuck in limbo right around where Black Frieza showed up? (エタる = net slang for a series going on indefinite hiatus)
Maybe they should just have someone else draw it at this point.
There must be plenty of people who'd want to.
33AnonymousOct 3, 2026 16:50
Re: #31
Going forward it sounds like they'll keep adapting Toyotaro's manga into anime, so ever since the series stalled he's probably been tied up with Toei on anime-related work.
32AnonymousOct 3, 2026 16:48
This is what Toriyama's actual Goku looks like —
40AnonymousOct 3, 2026 16:53
The original was pretty similar near the end too, wasn't he?
43AnonymousOct 3, 2026 16:55
Re: #40
The last Toriyama work to run in Jump was "Jaco the Galactic Patrolman."
Even with Jaco, if you actually read it, you can tell — as a manga artist, Toriyama's skill is a billion times above Toyotaro's.
102AnonymousOct 3, 2026 17:36
Re: #40
Come on, compare him to his prime, not his decline, lol
46AnonymousOct 3, 2026 16:56
Hasn't the series been completely stalled ever since Toriyama passed away?
48AnonymousOct 3, 2026 16:58
Re: #46
It did restart though.
51AnonymousOct 3, 2026 17:01
Don't just explain an insane ki storm through dialogue, come on.
56AnonymousOct 3, 2026 17:04
Re: #51
That happened in the Majin Buu arc too.
59AnonymousOct 3, 2026 17:05
Can we please stop milking Dragon Ball already?
How long is this going to keep going?
64AnonymousOct 3, 2026 17:08
Who decided to hire Toyotaro, and why?
111AnonymousOct 3, 2026 17:42
Re: #64
Back when he was an amateur he drew seriously, so he was actually good.
65AnonymousOct 3, 2026 17:09
There are tons of artists more skilled than Toyotaro out there, but nobody who fit Toriyama's picky standards.
74AnonymousOct 3, 2026 17:13
Part of it is that Toriyama was just too much of a genius, but sadly, it feels like Toyotaro has actually gotten worse with age.
79AnonymousOct 3, 2026 17:15
Re: #74
Probably because back in his doujin days he was drawing for fun.
He's clearly declined since then.
77AnonymousOct 3, 2026 17:15
This one's rough too.
Toyotaro just doesn't have the talent for manga.
https://tadaup.jp/ArAH1Cj3.jpeg
86AnonymousOct 3, 2026 17:22
Re: #77
More than the panel layout, what really bugs me is calling the fight with Goku a "match" (試合), even though it's framed as training.
Something like "showdown" (勝負) would fit way better.
88AnonymousOct 3, 2026 17:23
Re: #77
All you ever post are images you dug up from somewhere.
83AnonymousOct 3, 2026 17:20






Toriyama's beam-clash scenes are genuinely artistic, so damn cool.
91AnonymousOct 3, 2026 17:25
Re: #75
The point is: you took over Dragon Ball, so "I'm not motivated so I'll just phone it in, don't like it don't watch it" doesn't fly here.
95AnonymousOct 3, 2026 17:27
Re: #91
Did he actually say himself, "I'm not motivated so I'm phoning it in"?
92AnonymousOct 3, 2026 17:26
Re: #85
Switching IDs over and over — pretty pathetic.

Background and Key Points of the Debate

Akira Toriyama passed away in March 2024, and since then the manga version of “Dragon Ball Super” has been continued by Toyotaro. The thread’s remark that “serialization stopped after Toriyama died and then resumed” reflects that timeline. The debate split into roughly two camps. The first was whether this can simply be waved off with “if you don’t like it, don’t watch it” — many pushed back hard, arguing that since this is an official successor work rather than a fan comic, criticism naturally comes with the territory. The second concerned the cause of the apparent drop in art quality: testimony that Toyotaro’s work was good back in his amateur days fueled suspicion that a heavy workload from serialization and anime-related work, or simply a lack of motivation, might be to blame — alongside a counterargument that he’s merely being compared to an exceptionally, uniquely gifted artist in Toriyama. It’s also worth noting that some say even Toriyama himself saw his own art decline in his later years, so readers should keep in mind that assessments can swing heavily depending on which point in an artist’s career is used as the benchmark.

※This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Live Anything Goes board) thread “[Sad News] Toyotaro’s Recent Work Is So Bad It’s Blowing Up Online wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.”

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