If you've been keeping up with Dragon Ball Super from its inception then you're probably aware that Akira Toriyama (62) has advanced in age to the point where he can no longer consistently draw an ongoing manga series.  As such, the broader strokes and character designs for Super were done by Toriyama, however, the more intricate details and even a few minor characters were created by his handpicked successor, Toyotarou. 

But did you know there's a third-party involved in Super's creative direction? It's none other than Toei Animation.  That's because the anime adaptation of Dragon Ball Super actually surpassed the manga fairly early on in the series.  As such, the anime staff had to fill in a lot of blanks for certain arcs (particularly the Tournament of Power) as Toriyama only provided a very loose outline for certain character traits and story direction. 

In a recent interview, episode director Ryōta Nakamura and producer  Satoru Takami revealed what developments in Super were original Toriyama ideas and what the anime staff came up with on their own.  This development has led to several discrepancies between the manga and anime which will certainly lead to very interesting debates in the future about what's considered "canon." 

12. Vegito Blue

Back in March, a fascinating interview with one of Dragon Ball Super's episode directors and producers was posted on the official Dragon Ball website and revealed that a lot of the anime's ideas and development didn't come from series creator Akira Toriyama. Toriyama provided a loose outline early on in the show's creation and left it up to the Toei Animation staff to fill in the blanks.  Toriyama did review all the ideas that were proposed by Toei but very rarely objected to anything.

One such idea that came from Toei and not Toriyama was Vegito Blue's appearance during the Future Trunks arc.  Prior to the interview with Nakamura and Takami, it was revealed that the return of Vegito was an idea that stemmed from Toei, that Toyotaro then illustrated in the manga.  This was not a development that came directly from Toriyama.  Toei dropped a brand new Vegito card for the Dragon Ball Super dokkan fighting card game the same night that the episode aired so it's obvious that Vegito's return was purely motivated by merchandising and financial pursuits.

11. Universe 7's 10 Contestants - Roshi Over Yamcha and Frieza Replacing Buu

Nakamura would attempt to explain Toriyama's selection process for Universe 7's fighters towards the end of the interview.  "If he was just looking for battle power, then he would have only brought along people who could go Super Saiyan, like Goten or Trunks. I think Toriyama-sensei went out of his way to select those people as a way of telling us to have fights that would put them to good use, rather than simply having characters win by going Super Saiyan. I believe that was his aim in selecting those warriors."

Nakamura then added that it was up to the anime staff to convincing reasons for why some of the weaker fighters like Roshi were picked,  "Of course, Toriyama-sensei decided everyone from Goku to Freeza. The surprise of Freeza replacing Boo, in the end, was also Toriyama-sensei‘s idea. We then added in further details to Toriyama-sensei‘s main story."

10. Universe 11 vs Universe 7 Battle Outcomes

When the interviewer attempted to suss out just how much of the Tournament of Power arc was written by Toriyama before it started production, Nakamura stated, "The course of events for the Universe 7 warriors was written out in a document from beginning to end. For instance, who Piccolo fights and loses to, and who ultimately survives. Plus the course of the battle between Universe 7 and Universe 11… all of the main points were written out."

All of the tournament match-ups between main characters were decided by Toriyama, as well as their outcomes, however Toei filled in the techniques and strategies used by the fighters.

09. Jiren Originally Had Toppo's Personality

On Jiren, Takami explained, "In sensei‘s initial rough draft, there was no information indicating Jiren’s personality. Since the tough opponents in Dragon Ball Super up until then had been nihilistic, cool characters like Hit or Zamasu, we thought it might be best to make Jiren very talkative, so we came up with the background of him being a hero of justice. Jiren was central to this squadron of heroes."

However, when they proposed this characterization to Toriyama, it seemed the manga creator had already developed his own ideas of who Jiren was, according to Nakamura.  "When we suggested that to Toriyama-sensei, he replied that “Jiren is a character who doesn’t speak.” It was then that Toriyama-sensei sent us the backstory that his parents and martial arts master had been killed. He said that Jiren was this type of character, in contrast to Hit or Zamasu."

Takami then explained, "And so the characterization of Jiren that we originally came up with was passed on to Toppo."

08. Aside From Jiren, Toppo and Dyspo - The Rest Of The Pride Troopers Were Created By The Anime Staff

In fact, the concept of the Pride Troopers altogether were a creation of Toei.  In Toriyama's original outline, only the characters of Dyspo, Jiren and Toppo were created.  The decision to make them a hilarious parody of Ginyu Force-like superheroes was a development originating from the anime staff.

Nakumara explained, "...since Jiren and co. all wore the same red and black suits, he allowed us to flesh it out like that."

07. Future Trunks arc

Super is not produced like Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z. That anime was made with Toriyama's original manga from 1984-1995 serving as a guide.  Super has passed the manga and thus, the anime staff has to, in lament's terms, wing it.  Complicating things further is the fact that the manga itself is written and drawn by Toyotaro, who operates off of notes from Toriyama.  

In a separate interview to promote the release of the Future Trunks arc in the manga, the relationship and dynamic between Toriyama and Toyotaro is clearly illustrated.  

In an example of how Toyotaro takes Toriyama's notes and turns them into several manga chapters, he explained, "Zamasu1 actually wasn’t all that strong of a character in the original draft I received from Toriyama-sensei. Though immortal, his strength was such that two Super Saiyan Blues were more than enough to take him on. It’s precisely because of this that in the original draft things unfolded so that his “immortality” and “Potara time limit” became key, and Goku and Vegeta took turns fighting him. Goku and Vegeta didn’t fuse in the original draft. Their personalities made any fusion after the Majin Boo arc impossible. However, I wanted to meet the readers’ expectations… And so, I made a scenario where “even if they shouldn’t really fuse, now they have absolutely no choice but to fuse”.

06. Toei Came Up w/ Caulifa Due To Broly's Popularity. Toriyama Created Kale In Response

Takami explained that it was Toei who wanted to include Broly or a Broly-like character as he's inesplicably popular, despite being a movie-only character.  "[Caulifla] wasn’t part of the initial rough draft. During a story conference, it was mentioned that Broli was very popular."  Nakamura explained that Toei came up with the designs for Kale and then sent them off to Toriyama for approval.  

Takami added, "We wanted a Broli-like character, but it would be boring to have it be exactly the same. So we made the character a girl, and designed her at Toei Animation. When we showed her to Toriyama-sensei, he went along with it and drew Caulifla."

05. Kale-Caulifa Fusion

Kale was simply put, Toei Animation pandering to Broly fans.  As such, pretty much all of the developments and characteristics for her and Caulifla were created by Toei.  It seems Toriyama simply created Caulifla so that the two would be a female parallel of the Goku and Vegeta relationship but then left the execution of the details to Toei.   

04. Caulifa Kale And Cabba Gaining Super Saiyan 2 So Fast

The Universe 6 saiyans gaining Super Saiyan 2 so fast was another development by the Toei staff.  Again, Toriyama simply provides character designs, fight match-ups and who emerges victorious.  The details of how all of these things occur fall on the shoulders of the anime staff.  To further that point, Kale wasn't even an original Toriyama creation.  

03. Ribrianne Was Meant To Only Be Heavyset. The Anime Staff Came Up With Her Transformation

"Universe 2 Ribrianne’s fat appearance from after she transforms was also designed by Toriyama-sensei. We took that and added in the idea that a cute girl would transform into that fat person," explained Takami.

It seems someone at Toei is a big fan of Sailor Moon as Ribrainne and her team's transformations were straight out of the Super Sailor Soldier series.

02. Ribrianne vs 18 Battle of Love

The interviewer went on to commend Nakamura and Takami for the battle of Ribrainne's idea of love versus Android 18's love for Krillin.  Nakamura was especially pleased by the compliment, "I’m glad to hear it! That was another one of our ideas. Frankly, Ribrianne is someone who singlemindedly shouts about ideals. I thought 18 made a good counterweight, as a grounded individual and a mother. I wanted that battle to show the difference between ideals and reality."

01. Freeza Giving His Energy To Goku 

Frieza giving Goku some of his energy after his failed spirit bomb wasn't part of Toriyama's original manuscript.  Takami explained, "That actually wasn’t part of Toriyama-sensei‘s original draft."

Nakamura further explained, " I thought of having it be the opposite of on Planet Namek, with Freeza now being the one to donate his ki. I think Freeza is a very strict person. If Goku were ringed out, it would be a problem for Freeza, too. After all, before they came to the Tournament of Power, Goku promised to bring Freeza back to life."

" In that sense, even though Goku and Freeza’s motivations for winning the tournament are different, I think their interests intersect. With that in mind, I didn’t think it would be unnatural for him to act like that. Although he hates Goku, he would judge it more to his advantage to give Goku some of his ki so that he could make use of him later. I view Freeza-san as someone who will use whatever means necessary to get what he wants."