DRAGON BALL Creator Akira Toriyama Selected Toyotarou To Continue His Legacy But Is He About To Start His Own?

DRAGON BALL Creator Akira Toriyama Selected Toyotarou To Continue His Legacy But Is He About To Start His Own?

The Dragon Ball fandom is currently in uproar over conflicting translations of a recent announcement regarding Toyotarou’s next manga project.

By MarkJulian - Jun 08, 2025 06:06 PM EST
Filed Under: Dragon Ball Z
Source: AnimeMojo.com

The Dragon Ball community is abuzz with speculation following conflicting translations of a recent announcement about Toyotarou’s upcoming manga project. Fans are split on whether the statement hints at a brand-new original series or something tied to the existing Dragon Ball universe, sparking heated debate and widespread confusion.

At the heart of the controversy is Toyotarou’s upcoming appearance at Japan Expo Paris, which is Europe’s largest event celebrating Japanese pop culture. Held annually at the Paris-Nord Villepinte Exhibition Centre, the festival draws massive crowds and serves as a major platform for high-profile industry reveals, adding even more intrigue to the announcement.

Dragon Ball Super mangaka Toyotarou has a panel at the event, and the description for his panel reads: 

If true, this development suggests that the chances of Dragon Ball Super continuing as a manga are virtually nonexistent.

The fact that Toyotarou, personally chosen by Akira Toriyama to illustrate and expand his Dragon Ball Super scripts, may not be leading the franchise's future following Toriyama’s passing strongly implies a breakdown in consensus among the key rights holders

According to Kanzenshuu, Akio Iyok, the former head of Shueisha’s Dragon Ball Room and longtime spokesperson for the late Akira Toriyama, is reportedly at odds with Shueisha over control of the Dragon Ball franchise. Iyoku now leads a newly formed company called Capsule Corporation Tokyo, which currently holds the licensing rights for the anime and video games, while Shueisha retains ownership of the manga.

Toriyama, known for his reclusive nature and aversion to public appearances, entrusted most business dealings to Iyoku. Given that, it's unclear what legal agreements may have been put in place before Toriyama’s passing, especially regarding the future management of the IP.

Amid the uncertainty, recent translations suggest that Toyotarou may be stepping back to focus on other creative work while the legal situation plays out behind the scenes.

That said, there’s still room for optimism.

A second translation of the announcement has surfaced, offering a slightly different interpretation of Toyotarou’s upcoming appearance at Japan Expo Paris, raising the possibility that the initial reading may have been inaccurate.

Is Toyotarou appearing at Japan Expo Paris to announce an entirely "new original manga," or is the event meant to serve as a  broad discussion of a “new creative challenge”?

If it's the latter, it could simply mean Toyotarou’s addressing the complexities of working on Dragon Ball Super without Akira Toriyama’s guidance.

Regardless, Dragon Ball Super fans should brace for potentially significant updates in the coming weeks.

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Wahhvacado
Wahhvacado - 6/8/2025, 6:21 PM
Hopefully this come following the Hlack Frieza arc. Looking forward to seeing how the story continues
HashTagSwagg
HashTagSwagg - 6/8/2025, 6:26 PM
Drop Super, continue with where Z left off with Goku and Uub and move forward instead of the conan breaking prequel bullshit, if you can't do anything original with it then at the very least retel GT the same way they did with Broly movie.
BreakTheCode
BreakTheCode - 6/8/2025, 7:16 PM
@HashTagSwagg - Wow. What a horrible take.
Vigor
Vigor - 6/8/2025, 9:16 PM
@HashTagSwagg - i love super. But also wished we got more Uub
HashTagSwagg
HashTagSwagg - 6/8/2025, 9:54 PM
@Vigor - I like Beerus, Whiss, Black, zamasu as characters, other than them, the rest of Super and decisions they made, dumbing down of Goku acting more like his Abriged counter part than the matured warrior we got in Z, regressing Vegeta back to his old way pre Buu Saga, Krillin who's retired multiplle times is apperently beng stronger then Tien, the dude who never stopped training ( also my favourite character, felt like a slap in the face), Roshi overpowering Tien (that was a second slap in face), Goku + Tien vs Gohan + Piccolo and all our boy can do is attempt to spam his damn tri-beam and doesn't even get to hit shit (witnessing that humiliation was a slap on the crotch). Jiren, the lamest big bad who's character design was just as half assed as his characterization, Caulifla and Kale and the tingly back feeling bullshit. SS Red and SS Blue ultimately amounting to a cheap palette swap to sell a new toy. I could go on with the issue's that plagued that series but to keep it short, the bad just outwayed the good.
Wahhvacado
Wahhvacado - 6/8/2025, 9:56 PM
@HashTagSwagg - He went so hard
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zeon00
zeon00 - 6/8/2025, 9:59 PM
@HashTagSwagg - they should retconned the ending of DBZ
HashTagSwagg
HashTagSwagg - 6/8/2025, 10:21 PM
@Wahhvacado - Lose my number immediately
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McMurdo
McMurdo - 6/8/2025, 11:38 PM
@HashTagSwagg - only way to go. It's been horrible since post Buu
McMurdo
McMurdo - 6/8/2025, 11:39 PM
@HashTagSwagg - Super is horrendous
HashTagSwagg
HashTagSwagg - 6/8/2025, 11:49 PM
@McMurdo - Super did to GT what the Disney Star Wars Sequel trilogy did for the Prequels.
TheJok3r
TheJok3r - 6/9/2025, 12:04 AM
@HashTagSwagg -

"Super did to GT what the Disney Star Wars Sequel trilogy did for the Prequels."

Although GT is still a disappointing sequel, I will admit that I began to appreciate what it got right far more after Super became a thing.

@McMurdo -

"only way to go. It's been horrible since post Buu"

I wouldn't trust them with anything Dragon Ball related after how bad Super turned out, both in terms of writing and production. Although I did end up loving Daima (we got Ssj3 Vegeta finally), it didn't make up for the complete failure that Super was.
Reeds2Much
Reeds2Much - 6/9/2025, 3:04 AM
@HashTagSwagg - Roshi overpowering Tien

Roshi blew up the moon instantaneously. Piccolo blew up the moon instantaneously. Freeza took five minutes. In other words
grif
grif - 6/8/2025, 7:05 PM
his legacy was already shit. super is [frick]ing trash


McMurdo
McMurdo - 6/8/2025, 11:39 PM
@grif - maybe worse than trash
DocSpock
DocSpock - 6/8/2025, 7:28 PM

Oh no!!!

How will the world survive without more sh!tty japanese manga????

DTor91
DTor91 - 6/8/2025, 7:43 PM
@DocSpock - I bet you say the same about traditional comics too.
DocSpock
DocSpock - 6/8/2025, 8:14 PM
@DTor91 -

No. I love them. I have been reading and collecting them since the mid 60s.

harryba11zack
harryba11zack - 6/8/2025, 7:29 PM
that brolly movie was good but super really shit the bad.
TheFinestSmack
TheFinestSmack - 6/8/2025, 9:06 PM
Dragonball ended at the end of the Cell saga.
TheJok3r
TheJok3r - 6/9/2025, 12:15 AM
@TheFinestSmack - I'd say the Cell arc was the last time Dragon Ball was great, while the Buu and Daima arcs were just good. Super and GT though are between mediocre and trash depending on the arc.
ElJefe
ElJefe - 6/8/2025, 9:24 PM
Oohh manga on main….

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RitoRevolto
RitoRevolto - 6/8/2025, 10:45 PM
Can't speak for the manga since there have been deviations, but Super the anime is pretty lame.
GBest
GBest - 6/8/2025, 10:59 PM
Now I gotta go watch more DBZ...
TheJok3r
TheJok3r - 6/8/2025, 11:57 PM
Outside of 2013's Battle of Gods movie and last year's Daima, this revival has been utter trash, so I wouldn't be disappointed if they're finally putting this zombie franchise to rest. I say this as someone who absolutely loves DB & Z, but there's no denying that the franchise is current shell of its former self.
HashTagSwagg
HashTagSwagg - 6/9/2025, 12:02 AM
MahN166A
MahN166A - 6/9/2025, 1:11 AM
Yeahhhh. Honestly I’d say DragonBall needs a break. A long one.
Super is terrible with the exception of a few arcs and characters.

Superhero was trash and so was Beast Gohan.

Was glad to see them bring in SSJ4 in Daima, but the way they executed required a bit more context and exposition to explain why it had to be that Namekian to do it.

The manga is kinda all over the place.
The franchise itself just blatantly IGNORES a lot of the established lore and rules set in the Daizenshuu.

Just best to put it to bed for a while and let it marinate before they touch it again.
TheJok3r
TheJok3r - 6/9/2025, 1:58 AM
@MahN166A - I definitely agree that it needs a long break, but it also needs to go in a completely new direction. The story of Goku and his friends has been told to death; there's nothing left to cover. Dragon Ball needs to move forward, as in 100-200 years forward with an entire new cast of both heroes and villains. Every now and then you can have an OVA or limited series focused on Goku and his group, but the main series needs to move on from them; there's nothing left to tell.
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