The official Dragon Ball website is sharing another rare and valuable illustration by the late Akira Toriyama. In the May 2, 2024, edition of the Toriyama Archives, two young characters from completely different series meet up for the first time.
From Akira Toriyama - THE WORLD Anime Special, an original illustration of Gohan in his youth and Arale Norimaki from the Dr. Slump series are pictured together for the first time. Described on the official site before the post was deleted as a "Dream Team" meetup, both characters are drawn in casual clothing that fits their personalities. Gohan's clothes evoke a well-behaved schoolboy persona, while Arale's shirt and overalls have a more troublemaker vibe to them. The book Gohan reads features the little "gas mask guy" that Toriyama liked to depict himself as in his artwork.
Akira Toriyama - THE WORLD is a series of five art books published between 1990-1995 in Japan. The one that featured Gohan and Arale together came from the third book in the series that also featured behind-the-scenes information about the Dragon Ball Z: The Tree of Might anime movie. Toriyama's art books and other classic manga series like Dr. Slump are being reprinted in Japan following strong demand after the iconic manga author passed away in March.
Dragon Ball and Dr. Slump Have Had Official Anime Crossovers
Although Gohan has never canonically befriended Arale in the anime series, his father Goku has in two distinct phases in his life. In his youth, Goku was first introduced to Arale in the original Dragon Ball anime series during the "Red Ribbon Army Saga." In the special crossover event, Goku chases down General Blue for the Dragon Balls and Dragon Radar in Penguin Village and meets the absurd cast of Dr. Slump. The crossover officially begins in Episode 55, "Penguin Village," and ends in Episode 57, "Arale vs. Blue."
Dragon Ball Super's Dr. Slump Crossover Was an Intentional Parody
In the Dragon Ball Super TV anime, Goku reunites with Arale as an adult in Episode 69. However, Arale is being manipulated by the vengeful spirit of Dr. Mashirito by having her child-like desire to play enhanced to dangerous levels, resulting in the little robot girl causing chaos with her superhuman strength. The episode openly admits to being silly and intentionally out-of-the-ordinary for Dragon Ball Super, making numerous meta-references and poop jokes. Even someone as serious as Vegeta breaks the fourth wall by swearing to never fight anyone from an '80s gag manga again.
Dragon Ball Super is now available in English subbed and dubbed on Crunchyroll. Past Dragon Ball series and animated movies are also available on the anime streaming website. Viz Media handles the English release of both Dragon Ball and Dr. Slump.
Source: Dragon Ball official website
