Spy X Family creator Tatsuya Endo has drawn new art of Dragon Ball's Emperor Pilaf.
Just a day after Endo's entry in the Dragon Ball Super Gallery Project was released, the acclaimed manga author also released a sketch of Emperor Pilaf and his followers, the dog ninja Shu and the technologically inclined Mai, through his personal Twitter account. In Akira Toriyama's original manga, Pilaf wants to use the wish-granting power of the Dragon Balls to establish himself as the ruler of the world, and the trio serve as the primary antagonists of Dragon Ball's very first story arc.
本日発売の最強ジャンプにて、ドラゴンボールの裏表紙企画に参加させて頂いてます。僭越ながら１５巻を担当させて頂きました。憧れの鳥山先生の記念企画に携われて本当に嬉しいです。
— 遠藤達哉 (@_tatsuyaendo_) March 4, 2022
よろしければお手に取ってみてください。 pic.twitter.com/AmjaNirnaU
While the Emperor and his team are quickly replaced by the Red Ribbon Army and King Piccolo as the biggest threats to the world, the trio of villains continued to appear regularly throughout young Goku's early adventures. Pilaf, Shu and Mai aren't seen much during the events of Dragon Ball Z, but they do resurface again in its sequel series, Dragon Ball Super, where it is revealed that the trio used the Dragon Balls to wish for youth, which resulted in all of them being transformed into children.
The new sketch was shared online shortly after Weekly Shonen Jump publisher Shueisha revealed Endo's entry into the Dragon Ball Super Gallery Project. The project was put together to celebrate the upcoming 40th anniversary of Dragon Ball's original publication, and sees 42 of Japan's most famous manga creators coming together to each redraw one of Toriyama's iconic covers from the highly influential manga series. Other creators who have participated in the project include Bleach creator Tite Kubo, Naruto author Masashi Kishimoto, Chainsaw Man's Tatsuki Fujimoto and Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba creator Koyoharu Gotouge. Endo redrew the cover to Dragon's Ball's ninth volume, which shows Goku and Krillin enjoying a joyride in a classic race car.
Tatsuya Endo is best known for creating Spy X Family, an espionage-themed comedy that has been one of the biggest hits to emerge from Shueisha's Shonen Jump+ digital manga service. The series tells the story of Twilight, a legendary super spy who goes undercover as an unassuming family man in order to get closer to his next target. Unfortunately for him, his new family has secrets of their own: his adopted daughter is an escaped government experiment with psychic powers, and his new wife lives a double life as the world's deadliest assassin. The manga has sold over 12.5 million copies worldwide and is currently being adapted into an anime series by Wit Studio (Ranking of Kings) and CloverWorks (My Dress-up Darling). The anime is scheduled to premiere in Japan next April, and Crunchyroll has confirmed that it will stream the series internationally.
Source: Twitter
