DRAGON BALL Reveals 30-Year-Old Worldbuilding Sketch From The Late Akira Toriyama

DRAGON BALL Reveals 30-Year-Old Worldbuilding Sketch From The Late Akira Toriyama

The Toriyama Archives have revealed a 30-year-old sketch from the late Akira Toriyama that explores the worldbuilding elements of the Dragon Ball universe, delving into the lore and structural design.

By MattIsForReal - Jun 09, 2025 07:06 PM EST
Filed Under: Dragon Ball

The latest post in the Toriyama Archives (for June 10, 2025) has been shared, revealing a 30-year-old sketch from the late Akira Toriyama.

The image is a sketch drawn by Toiryama that expounds on the worldbuilding behind Dragon Ball.

"The image depicts a sphere-like world containing the Earth," the accompany post reads. "Above the Earth lies Heaven and below it, Hell. A valuable sketch wherein Toriyama has laid out the expansive world of Dragon Ball."

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Although Dragon Ball doesn't offer deeply religious views on heaven and hell, it does use these concepts to explore other ideas, such as redemption, justice, legacy, and the cyclical nature of life and power.

In the series, the spiritual realm is governed by King Yemma, a powerful deity who judges the souls of the dead and determines whether they go to Heaven or Hell. Heaven is typically shown as a peaceful, idyllic place filled with lush gardens and gentle spirits. In contrast, Hell is depicted in an exaggerated, comedic style, populated by bizarre demons and unusual forms of punishment.

Hosted on the Dragon Ball website, the Toriyama Archives are a way to showcase "rare, hard-to-find" images for the anime. The site is updated every other day with a new image that is seen only for 24 hours after its release.

Last month, fans were treated to a piece of 36-year-old concept art from Akira Toriyama that was used for the original designs for the Saians in the 1989 Dragon Ball Z episode, "Goku's Ancestors."

Akira Toiryama, unfortunately, passed away in March of last year, at the age of 68 years old due to an acute subdural hematoma. The sudden and unexpected death sent shock waves through the industry that was very much inspired by his work. 

Dragon Ball first debuted in 1984 with the original manga series published in Weekly Shonen Jump until 1995. It went on to become one of the most influential manga franchises of all time, spawning multiple anime series, movies, games, and merchandise.

The Dragon Ball franchise remains as popular as ever, but its fate has kind of been in flux since Toiryama's passing. Dragon Ball Super has been on pause, and we're really not sure what's next for the series in the anime world following the conclusion of Dragon Ball Daima, which served as Toriyama's final fully-completed project (he had worked on character designs and finalized the scrips, while also overseeing the entire project).

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