In 2022, Toei released Dragon Ball Super: Superhero, a pretty good movie that introduced a new art style and put Piccolo and Gohan (aka his son) at the forefront. If you came away from the movie loving any of the characters, particularly the first, that seems to have been the goal all along.
During a recent radio program celebrating dragon ball 40th anniversary, executive producer Akio Iyoku spoke about the series’ past and current projects. According to notes translated by a Twitter user. peraparayume (thank you, CBR), Iyoku wanted Piccolo to be on par with Goku and Vegeta, who had leveled up significantly over the course of Dragon Ball Super run and the brolly movie. At that time, Piccolo had not, something that many fans of the character noticed. Iyoku was one of those fans and tried to address that issue.
According to his story, he sought advice from creator Akira Toriyama on how to do the right thing with Namek. In the end, their conversations sparked the idea for Toriyama to write superhero. That movie leaves Goku and Vegeta aside so Piccolo and Gohan can take center stage and take on a newly revived Red Ribbon Army. Over time, the duo unlock new forms to use, with Piccolo being a rather interesting addition. orange mode considered by Toriyama as your first proper upgrade.
Happy New Year!
Yesterday, January 1, Akio Iyoku spoke on the radio show “All Night Nippon – Dragon Ball 40th Anniversary Special” for about 20 minutes about various DB things, including Daima and what might be coming
Translated a few bitsFountain: pic.twitter.com/I12WCPxl2W
— Andy 案太郎 (@peraperayume) January 2, 2025
While Piccolo is in the current Dragon Ball Daima anime, his Orange form hasn’t appeared in that yet, same goes for last year’s fighting game. Dragon Ball: Zero Sparks. (He was, however, added to Xenoverse 2 as DLC). It seems like the movie did its job and made people want Piccolo more. Now, it’s just a question of how Toei balances that demand with that of other fan-favorite characters, even more so since Toriyama’s passing early last year.
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