Dragon Ball fans got a surprise when the earliest sketches of Majin Buu were revealed. These designs differ greatly from the final version seen in the series. The reveal comes from the Toriyama Archive section on the official Dragon Ball website, showcasing Akira Toriyama’s initial ideas.
The sketch page was shared with the note: “A valuable sketch showing the original design concepts for Majin Buu. It seems his round shape was decided at this stage, but other ideas about facial expressions, prototypes without antennas (and even versions with horns) were still being explored as they appeared.”
Majin Buu’s First Design Was Very Different
Majin Buu is the shape-shifting, immensely powerful threat created by Toriyama for the final arc of the original Dragon Ball manga. With incredible strength and near unstoppable power, Majin Buu quickly became one of the strongest characters in the original manga.
In the story, he first appears as a round, childlike figure, though both his shape and personality quickly evolve through numerous transformations.
When the first version of Majin Buu expelled the evil from his body, it created a slimmer version of the character, who then absorbed his original self. Throughout the Dragon Ball series, Majin Buu was recreated multiple times, with each form having a unique personality. He even achieved a true human form after Goku wished for him to be reborn as a good person, leading to the birth of the talented young warrior Uub.
These sketches reveal Toriyama’s many different ideas before settling on the final design, ranging from an “onion-shaped” form to versions with horns, showing his relentless creativity.
Controversial Dragon Ball Lawsuit
Currently, Dragon Ball fans await updates on the ongoing lawsuit between Shueisha and Akio Iyoku, a former editor and longtime close associate of Akira Toriyama. Although Iyoku left Shueisha in 2023, he filed a lawsuit seeking partial ownership of the franchise.
Notably, the lawsuit was filed after Toriyama’s departure in 2024 and has faced criticism from fans and insiders at Shueisha. The situation is complicated by publishing rights issues over specific parts of the franchise, so this legal battle is unlikely to be resolved soon.