Why did Dragon Balls art style change so much? 

The Real question is: "How did Vegeta get taller?" he was the legendary SUPER-MANLET and now he's just sort of short.

Fans: "It's too square" Toriyama: "You underestimate my Geometric powers"

I just wish Super's style was closer to DBZ.

DBZ fans: recognize saga by lines in artwork. Akira Toriyama: forgets everyone’s hair color and ages and Launch.

I love the way SS1 was drawn in the early android season. That's my favourite art style.

Also to factor in on the changing style, on the manga side, is the fact that Dragon Ball was a weekly manga. And Toriyama had one assistant, while he draw most of the manga. Do that for 10 years, you learn real quick to be more efficient, while trying to maintain quality. It's not easy, nor any surprise that Toriyama did not go back to long running weekly manga ever again.

I always thought that the art style in DBZ buu arc changed to show how stronger goku had become. His muscles are way more defined, bigger and look way more cooler lol. But yeah, personally the artwork looks way better in the later part of the series.

Not only has the art been dumbed downed in Dragon Ball Super, but also the violence. In comparison DB DBZ were always more grittier. Miss those days.

Has anyone noticed that almost all the main villains in DB universe have no eyebrows and their ears are like hollow tubes except for piccolo, Dr. Gero and Moro of course. Was toriyama aware of this?

Ive always liked how this worked out. I feel like his style changed as a reflection of their growth kinda too. Like goku's teen/20s he still had that roundish shape but it was also soemwhat square and as he grew with age and skill he became more stronger and his physique changed alot.

Even though the style of the Broly Movie in 2018 wasn't talked about too much in this vid I like it a lot because it reminds me of Toriyama's later work where he had more angular design and and less pentsrokes, the 2018 movie took this approach and the only difference is that lines are softer and not that angular per se until the latter part of the movie which had more of an emphasis on fighting. Thanks for making this video and I hope to see more cool content from you :)

The last saga of the original DB to the Frieza saga, that was peak Toriyama art. Edit: Guys, I'm obviously talking about the manga, not anime lol

I think my favorite art style in the manga might be from the 23rd Budokai fight with Piccolo jr. to the end of the early Saiyan arc (1:44), right before things got a bit too angular. When just the body anatomy was rounder, but I do admit the angularity works the best in the Cell arc to convey the seriousness and intensity of the character's strength that probably wouldn't work with a rounded style. The characters do look cooler more angular but the square muscles do make the characters look a bit too stiff at times in base form. The higher forms being angular though makes sense.

Personally im the biggest fan of the rounder art, not the super early version but like mid-DB to early Z

As a kid I just always assumed it was because even though Saiyans don’t age much people still look a little different throughout the years

I just thought the art style changing was the characters getting more jacked... lol

The art simply evolved as the series' mood became much more aggressive. The cleaner and sharper lines just seem more powerful.

Toriyama art style is da best

All styles still looked really cool

The way Toriyama change and evolved his art style to make Dragon Ball very different from Dr. Slump and again for the Z portion when series shift to a much more serious tone highlights his skills as an Artist.

I think Toriyama's old style is the best. Especially the Cell saga one. I can't believe YT didn't show me this notification

Those were the reasons why the artstyle at large changed, but there were additional reasons why certain characters were changed so much through the story. For example, when Vegeta was first introduced he was extremely short and noticeably less muscular, even though he was already like 30 and had been in many battles. The reason for this was because he wasn't originally meant to join the main cast. He was just going to be the villian of the Saiyan saga, and then a reluctant (but still evil) ally during Namek. Once Frieza killed him, that was supposed to be it, he was not going to revive. However, because the character became so popular with the fanbase, Toriyama eventually decided to bring him back, and since he was going to become one of the "heroes", Toriyama realized he had to give him a more...appealing general design. This is why Vegeta suddenly grew over a head taller and became a lot more muscular in later sagas. This is also the root of several people's assumption that "Toriyama hates Vegeta" because he doesn't give him the same amount of spotlight as Goku. No, the reason had nothing to do with hate, and more to do with the fact that since he created him with the intent of simply being a temporary villian, he wasn't keen on suddenly having to give this former villian the same attention and spotlight as Goku and Gohan (who were both always planned to be the at the center). Toriayama later went to say that Vegeta became a very "useful" character to have around, for better or worse, and considering how unimportant the character was originally going to be, I'd say he's given Vegeta far more attention and love that most people realize.

Am I the only one who prefers the older, rounder art style that was consistent through the original Dragon Ball and beginning of DBZ?

That side by side comparison of movie 7 and 8 blew my mind

0:06 So that's where Jiren got his design from.🤔

I’d say my favorite look had to be Namek Saga to early Android Saga. I felt the lines and edges felt like they’re weren’t to edgy like they ended up in the Buu saga and I also prefer the original Super Saiyan color pallet. More white hot yellow with a magma looking aura than sunflower yellow and a more electric looking aura. It felt like that nice middle ground between OG DB style and the more edgy look we got from Buu to GT.

I always really loved the artstyle from around the time 23rd budokai came around. That Goku vs Piccolo fight was the peak of Dragon Ball for me, both in the narrative and the style.

Man I reallyike that art of Vegeta SSJ on the thumbnail.

Fans: We dont like the square lines Toriyama: *I forgot the part where thats my problem*

Bro I love yur vids, like I literally feel the same way about newer art styles

Evolving Art style and maturing the art are definately noticeable with Dragon balls continuation. Though going from soft to sharp is easy by any means, but does help show how much has changed over the years as both the narrative changes with the art! Thank you again for this awesome info and the reveal behind the magic!

Fans should never butt into the manga, let the artist tell the story their way and how they want to tell it, you're just the fan

I’d like to see an evolution of Toyotaro video where we overview how much he had improved over the decade.

I can tell any of Toriyama's styles immediately as soon as I see it, no matter what. That's pretty iconic.

Artists tend to hate doing the same thing. Drawing the same way, keeing the same tone.

This video answered a question I didn't know I had.

The 80s anime asthetic in DragonBall and early arcs on DragonBall Z are more interesting to look at. After the 80s age was over anime toned down the violence and blood and started compensating on cooler and cleaner designs for the characters.

Had no idea Goku's neck grew longer over time, unless he was just hunched in one panel and was standing straight in the other.

Especially Mr.Satan, his design use to be very muscular tall gut with a small head,, and now he's skinny with a big head

I just love the classic style from the beginning of the manga. So good...

such an excellent and informative channel. super cool to see a broader look at DB's artstyle through the years great work as always

I love seeing mangaka's art evolve through the years. Just going through my collection of manga and looking at the early chapters to the more recent one, it's inspiring to look at because they show so much progress with their art. Inoue's Slam Dunk is a great example. By the end of the series you see so much what we expect from his incredible artwork

Awesome job, breaking down the art style of dragon ball can't wait to see more video's from you.👍👍👍

I’ve always felt there were pros/cons for every art style from the different animators they’ve utilized over the years. My personal favorite is probably /Android and Cell saga, I enjoy the paler more whiteish SSJ hair. I also like the OG Broly movie as well as Cooler, the Buu saga wasn’t bad either.

Cell and buu saga had the best art and designs. I don't know what they were thinking in super. The art style was so bad in that

The Manga is beautiful, but I love the way the anime looks on the Buu Arc as well

Great video. I think this basically illustrates that Toribot is essentially a genius. A lazy troll genius. Little planning, desire to piss off the fans, and a constant quest for doing less work... and from that we got DB. However he's changed from the height of his powers 30 years ago, in his prime his talent was enormous. On a personal opinion as some who dislikes the rounder style (including the Shintani roundness) what I like about the manga's evolving style is it makes the characters look like they are aging. It's natural for kids and even teens to have some "baby fat" and it's not until the early to mid 20s that most people kind of hit their "adult" form and even then there's a more subtle process that goes on. For me the manga kind of evokes that change and I appreciate it.

Great video as always and thanks for shout out👌

it's a clear refinement of style. It's an extremely common thing with Japanese mangakas. Eye Shield, Yu yu Hakusho, Grappler Baki, Berserk, Dragon Ball, Slam Dunk, Ranma, City Hunter, Claymore etc. all started off looking different, but gradually the art improved/changed as the artist continue to refine their style. Not just mangakas, anybody who does art can relate to this.

That was all very interesting , especially for me working in 2 anime projects ( in story )

This inadvertently gave more insight as to how the story telling of Dragonball changed as well. Both the pros and cons. Like I knew Toriyama didn't really plan it all out but he did enjoy thinking of the story at one point.

These videos are always fun. I enjoy looking at the art, and learning about why it looks the way it does.

Nice vid, great idea to look at why they style changed so much. I definitely feel like the anime adapted to the angular style better than Toriyama did (after a point it stopped looking intentional, and just like he was burnt out imo). That’s going by the decent animators though - Uchiyama obviously didn’t handle the change as well as the likes of Shimanuki.

0:11 is something that nobody seems to adress. It is the SSJ look. It was NOT only the Animators who did change their artstyle but also Toriyama. The moment where Goku mastered the full ssj his hair looked different. Look at 0:11 left is ssj unmastered (he used it against frieza and c19), right is the full mastered one (he looks like that after leaving the time chamber). I know this because my parents didn‘t allow me to watch dbz, so I just bought the manga. This different ssj look was something that I noticed as a child.

5:30 And after that some people STILL shows their ignorance claiming "Dragon Ball" to be "the father of the cliches and stereotypes", when it is literally breaking all of the cliches and stereotypes and it's story is even more relevant today considering how it achieved maybe the most interesting shonen story, which almost even no any modern shonen can achieve to this day.

Just from the thumbnail you can see vegetas neck went from being under his chin to behind his ears, everyone got huge necks and traps

The later artstyle looks really cool,but the old ones makes characters feel unique and animation more fluid

Very nice video. I see the point from Toriyama's side, but I infinitely prefer the drawing style and overall stories pre-DBZ, precisely because it had that road-trip feel, the world was kind of a magical place and characters were so different and interesting.

I always loved saiyan/frieza saga vegeta desgin the most he's got that old school iconic look to him

Very informative, thanks for this vid!

Rest in peace Akira Toriyama ❤

My favorite style is classic, up to the Saiyan saga. Vegeta looked the best there.

i like how the style changes over time. and a particular style calls back to that particular era and story line in your mind. Thanks for the video! cheers!

one of my fav vids from you besides the coloring/shading one. the why is the most valuable for me

I've always thought DBZ looked it's best during the Buu Arc. Now I know who to thank. But at the same time I love Toriyama's Dr. Slump-style. It's nostalgic for me.

Absolutely loved the cell saga art style

Answers a lot of questions I had so thank you for making this! Also confirms what I suspected in my adulthood as I learned about character design: Toriyama loves Goku so much as a character he'll do unpredictable and chaotic things but not to hurt his beloved character. Funny how a second character can do that to you isn't it when everyone assumes it's the first.

loved it every step of the way. noticing these things only kept the creative juices flowing. 👍

I just thought since everyone was training so hard they needed people to look more swol

I think Piccolo Jr. Saga through the Saiyan Saga was the best artstyle the series ever had.

I was so memorised by the beautiful drawings that I absolutely couldn't concentrate on the narration.

Luv this channel, always wanted someone to do a breakdown about the designs and style.

The Buu Saga art style is amazing!

When I used to read Dragon Ball as a kid the change in artwork felt like a natural transition, the growth of the characters were visible in a sense I allways thought it was genious. Toriyama made history.

The SS2 drawing style during the Majin Vegeta arc is one of my favorites of all time.

Masaki Sato is the best of both worlds, he merges the old DB artstyle's idiosyncrasies with the angular DBZ style.

Your content is very good. You need to upload at least 1 video per week and try to do more than just Dragon Ball. I am sure your channel will grow amazingly in 6 months.

Great work as always bro!!!

This is this video I’ve always wanted to see. When I first got into db this was the question i always had. So thanks 😎

Maybe that was their way of showing how the characters got older and more mature.

give me end of DB/early DBZ/Raditz saga through Frieza any damn day. peak animation. just my fav

I think the best thing about the art style changing is that it shows how the characters progress. I loved that about it. So, it goes from rounded to more rigid and tough.

Whatever the art style was in DBS BROLY, that’s my favorite

It’s probably because of maybe aging or something else like vegeta in sayian saga looked kind of small but in the cell saga or android saga he grew a little bit and same with krillon he looks pretty damn tall but don’t get me wrong he sure it’s just that he has a big ass head in the android saga

I personally love the old style it was beautiful

I kinda agree with the old fans, it is too square, especially these days, was maybe best at the beginning of Z. If they did a mix of the two kinds of art, almost like Super: Broly was done. It would've been gorgeous

I miss the old art style like Saiyan saga style

Lmao, that Stan edit did not go unappreciated. Funny ass shit.

Dragon Ball's art style changed so much simply because that's how Toriyama was evolving to be. It happens to most artists throughout their career.

Amazing video brother

I vastly prefer the "square" style Toriyama adapted later on, even though I fell in love with the manga in the first 10 volumes, where it much more resembled Dr. Slump's style.

Can wait for that yamamuro part 2

It might not have fit aesthetically with the way the rest of the series panned out, but I absolutely love the art style that DBZ season 1 had. It was so unique, rounded, and it felt detailed but not to the point of comedy.

Wow this is a pretty amazing video honestly. It explains so much about everything. The change between 7/8 movie isn’t something I think most people would notice unless you knew and were looking for it. Unlike the original DB and later DBZ where you can really tell. I do like the circular art though.

I understand the purpose and his desire in shifting the art style but I'll always hold to that DBZ from the beginning up until when the Ginyu Force arrived was when the animation was at it's best. After that it declined. So much detail was lost for the sake of Toryiama wanting to convey and achieve a more serious tone and showing intensity in character emotions by simply changing the style. But I'll always like more detailed art instead. I feel like he could have still conveyed intensity and serious tone with detailed art, a skilled artist can do that. But whats done is and done and we are forever left with boxy less detailed art for the DB franchise now. DB Super Broly though was an artistic bonanza, the art was so detailed and amazing in that movie it almost felt like the old days.

love your vids man

I'm of the rare breed who prefers the older art style. Like, the image 0:40 seconds in just screams to me: "THAT is Dragonball." It's a shame it hasn't seen much, if any replication nor appreciation to this day. If a game like FighterZ could have that classic Dragonball linework with the coloring and shading of the special "manga" colors...oh...I would be all in. It would instantly be my favorite looking DB game, forever.

Fantastic video!

RIP AKIRA TORIYAMA

I've always preferred the old school art style as opposed to the new one, especially DBS. The new style just feels too artificial to me.