Dragon Ball Z: Frieza Returns in New Art from To-Love-Ru Artist

Dragon Ball Z's Frieza gets double cheeked up in a new illustration from Black Cat and To-Love-Ru artist Kentaro Yabuki.

Yabuki previously promised his fans on social media that he'd post some Dragon Ball fanart if he managed to achieve more than 530,000 followers on Twitter, and he made good on that promise on Jan. 16. The popular manga creator drew the first form of the reoccurring Dragon Ball villain Frieza in his own distinctive style. "I drew Frieza, who was happy to return in Dragon Ball Super!," Yabuki wrote. "I joking said I would draw him if my number of followers exceeded 530,000... but then it happened," Yabuki joked, before thanking his fans. "Thank you for giving me the opportunity to draw!"

Kentaro Yabuki originally made a name for himself with the manga series Black Cat, which he wrote and drew. The series ran from 2000 - 2004 in the pages of Weekly Shonen Jump and was praised for its fast paced action. Yabuki continued his success with 2006's To-Love-Ru, a sci-fi romantic comedy. Yabuki provided the art for the series, which was written by Saki Hasemi. Yabuki is currently working on his latest manga series, Ayakashi Triangle, a story about a ninja who finds himself transformed into a girl after an encounter with a malicious spirit. Like the artist's previous works, the new series is being released through Weekly Shonen Jump.

Yabuki isn't the only famous manga creator to offer their take on one of Akira Toriyama's iconic characters lately. A number of other famous manga artists, including Naruto's Masashi Kishimoto, Bleach creator Tite Kubo, and Chainsaw Man artist Tatsuki Fujimoto, have been redrawing classic Dragon Ball manga covers as part of a project meant to celebrate the franchise's upcoming 40th anniversary. The latest release in the project came from Demon Slayer creator Koyoharu Gotouge, who offered their take on the series with a family portrait of Vegeta, Bulma and Trunks.

Dragon Ball originally premiered in 1984, and was created by Akira Toriyama. Goku's adventures have since become the third best-selling manga series in history, with over 260 million copies in circulation worldwide. The series' second anime adaptation, Dragon Ball Z, was one of the breakthrough anime series of the 1990s and is credited with helping to popularize anime with mainstream audiences around the world. The series continues with the on-going Dragon Ball Super manga. Goku will return to theaters in 2022 with the franchise's latest movie, entitled Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero.

Source: Twitter