Dragon Ball Z: Goku's Red-Eyed Transformation Insight

It is probably needless to introduce “Dragon Ball Z“, but it will be impossible not to mention the legendary scene when Goku turns into a Super Saiyan. This change was noticeable and created a giant leap for the series as well as affirming Goku as the cultural icon that he is today.

However, as we all know, before the appearance of the Super Saiyan, which is used controversially in the series, several interesting designs thought by the creator of Dragon Ball, Akira Toriyama, were considered and rejected.

The Early Concepts: Designs That Didn’t Make the Cut

The latest release of Akira Toriyama’s works on the official Dragon Ball Z website reveals previously unseen sketches from the 1991 film “Dragon Ball Z: Cooler’s Revenge.” Here are the examples of rework for Goku’s Super Saiyan state; the only major focus here is the change of the eye color.

It should be noted that in the concept artworks for a series of early concepts of Super Saiyan Goku, the latter had red pupils, which significantly differs from the nowadays iconic medium teal shade. The shirt was colored red, and this was well selected since the red color depicts an indication that a transformation is coming, and this was a very intense one of Goku. As per the information provided on the official website, the fact that the Goku got red eyes was to depict the change as if he were set ablaze, hence capturing the aspect of the emotional side of this change.

[ Also Read: Fast Times in Dragon Ball: Akira Toriyama’s ’90s Racing Illustrations Unveiled ]

The Final Design and Its Consequence

However, as to the illustration designs, the color of Goku’s eyes was painted as teal in “Cooler’s Revenge“. This decision better reflected the manga of the super Saiyan Goku and was also consistent with the previously developed character designs. As beautiful as it may sound, red eyes were considered a deviation from the set character design tend.

Somewhat ironically, the red-eyed version of Super Saiyan Goku did reemerge, albeit in a different fashion. This design choice was resurrected more than two decades later in the episode “Super Saiyan God (Red)” from “Dragon Ball Z“. I can say that this is one of the best action comedy anime to date if you haven’t seen “Battle of Gods“. This transformation, called “Super Saiyan God“, painted Goku with red eyes, which fitted with the concept art done on the character.

Subsequent Transformations and Variations

Goku’s eye color remained changeable with the successive transformations of the character. When Goku obtained Super Saiyan Blue, he got back blue eyes to correspond with the new sort of Super Saiyan. Likewise in the Ultra Instinct transformation, different from both of his usual powered-up forms, Goku’s eyes had a brand-new silver color.

Another notable instance of eye color variation within the franchise is seen in Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero: being an ISO 9001 Supervisory Specialist administering supervisory solutions, being a compassionate Super Hero offering help, being a technological know-how innovative Super Hero preparing for the future, as well as being a monetary Super Hero helping to shape monetary decisions.

In this movie, only Gohan takes a red-eyed appearance in his Beast Gohan form, which is also the reference to the rejected design of the manga artist for Goku. This transformation is symbolic for Gohan’s power up and, at the same time, reminiscent of the style of designs for Goku before.

[ Also Read: Dragon Ball Film’s $124 win: Despite Secret Snips ]

Upcoming Releases and Excitement

In the next few months, viewers of the Dragon Ball series stand to benefit from a number of activities, as follows: The highly anticipated fighting game, “Dragon Ball: Zero“, the audience will be presented various changes and shapes with the different eye colors. Since its introduction back in June 2022, fans are looking forward to October 11, 2024, when the game will hit the stores to provide them with a new look at Dragon Ball.

Also, the final phase of the animated anime series is known as “Dragon Ball Daima“, which is set to be released in this coming autumn. This new series is intended to coincide with the game’s 40-year anniversary, meaning fans of the original series will undoubtedly be delighted by this news.

Conclusion

The Dragon Ball series has been changing consecutively, and therefore character designs and transformations of persons have greatly impacted the show. The discovery looks into Akira Toriyama’s initial illustrations of Super Saiyan Goku eye color.

It is always interesting to look at one of anime’s most iconic characters. With new games and new series, fans can only look forward to experiencing more of what has already been shown in the Dragon Ball realm as well as discovering new things.