Dragon Ball Super: will Moro ever become an ally of Goku?

An interview with Dragon Ball Super manga artist Toyotaro, posted on the official Dragon Ball news site, offers a look at his thinking behind the Moro arc. It also sheds light on Akira Toriyama's role in that arc, which may surprise some readers. To me, it sounds like Toyotaro took the ball with this story, coming up with most of it while Toriyama approved it.

The translation comes from a Japanese-certified translator who holds the highest qualification available for the language, so I'm confident it's accurate. Here's what Toyotaro said, along with my thoughts.

Toyotaro and Toriyama planned the Moro arc together

Toyotaro describes the planning of the arc as cooperative between him and Toriyama. He also mentions some as yet unrevealed plans regarding a new character that are being kept secret. My first read was that this meant a new character Toriyama doesn't know about. Looking again, it's more about plans for a new character than a brand new character. That could be Merus or Moro, or it could be the reveal of Merus being an angel, which has been a big topic of discussion. I don't know yet, but we'll see.

What stands out is that there's more to come. People thought this arc was going to end a while ago, yet it had already run for a year at this point. It feels like, for this arc, Toyotaro isn't only drawing Toriyama's vision, or even sharing a cooperative vision. That's how it sounds to me: Toyotaro came up with most of it and Toriyama approved it.

Merus got a retro look and a pretty boy face

Since Jaco uses a bit of classical alien design, Toyotaro wanted to give Merus a somewhat retro look too. He thought the silver bob cut might evoke that. All it evoked for me was laughter at that terrible haircut. To be fair, Toyotaro has a pretty rough haircut himself, so they're probably in the same boat.

He also wanted Merus to be popular, so he made him a bit of a pretty boy. Differently structured ears are a traditional way to make alien designs stand apart. Because the Galactic Patrol cover their ears with communication devices, he made the nose a bit sharper instead. Although Jaco is naked under his jacket, Toyotaro clarifies that Merus wears a suit. The lines on it are meant to evoke a tracksuit and make the design feel more old-fashioned. That's mostly design stuff, and I don't think any of it is too groundbreaking.

Moro was meant to feel completely evil, like Piccolo Daimao

Toyotaro wanted Moro to feel completely evil, a guy who, like Piccolo Daimao, you could look at and instantly feel has to be defeated. He didn't want to leave the impression that this villain might become an ally afterward.

I figured that would be the case. Look at Jiren, Hit and the rebooted Broly. They'll probably end up as allies, or at least neutral with Goku. But Moro is at war with the gods, and I just don't see him ever being good. This interview is the clarification. Piccolo Daimao never turned good. It was Piccolo Jr., his reincarnation, who turned. The original Piccolo was pure evil, the evil side of Kami, and that's how it is with Moro. Even Frieza had his moment working with Goku in the Tournament of Power while staying evil. Going by this interview, Moro will never do any of that, though who knows.

To achieve that, Toyotaro based Moro's design on western-style demons and made him evocative of the grim reaper. Moro's goat design is based on a major goat-headed occult figure that, in many people's beliefs, is a representative of Lucifer. Look that figure up and you'll see where the idea came from. I knew that from the start, since goats carry strange occult and religious symbolism.

Moro's horns were the hardest part to draw

The horns were the most difficult part of drawing Moro. Unlike normal goat horns, they curl upward at the end. Even though he designed Moro himself, Toyotaro somewhat regretted that one element. It reminds me of Toriyama saying he regretted drawing so many spots on Cell, which I find funny.

On that note, there was a rumor that Cell hasn't been brought back because the spots are too hard for animators to draw. That's one of the dumbest things I've ever heard, so please don't believe it. All Toriyama said was that it was a pain. He never said anyone was unable to do it. Filling in those spots every time takes time, and it was annoying.

Toyotaro struggled to get Moro's horns right without reference, so he looked for physical goat figures to work from. He couldn't find one that met his needs, so he added putty to a goat figure's horns to create his own reference model. For any artists out there, that's a cool piece of process. The interview even includes photos of the goat models.

Why the Yardrats appear in two designs

Asked which characters readers should pay special attention to in volume 11, Toyotaro points to the two varieties of Yardrats. There were two separate designs in previous material: one that debuted in the anime and a cuter one Toriyama drew a while back. He was at a loss over which to include. After a talk with his V Jump editor, who is also a V Jump mascot character, he decided to use both. Just as there are many races on Earth, he figured different variations of one species shouldn't be an issue.

That makes sense. The Yardrats in Dragon Ball Z were a Toei Animation design. The Yardrats existed in the manga and were talked about, but Toriyama never drew them there. Years later, he drew his own, completely different version for Dragon Ball Online. In the Dragon Ball Super manga, Toyotaro put both in, and that's a good idea. Not everybody on a planet has to look the same. We all look different here, and Dragon Ball also has anthropomorphic people, so it's very smart that they did that.

Toyotaro adds that as a story moves into action, there's a tendency to make everything more serious, which could have given the Yardrats more rugged, typically sagelike traits. He resisted that in favor of some typical Dragon Ball cuteness, which is classic Dragon Ball. He sees the innocent-looking Yardrats as a breather between action-heavy parts of the story, an element he thinks makes the series more enjoyable.

Inside Toyotaro's studio and his Dragon Ball collection

The interview also shows Toyotaro's workspace, and his shelves are crammed with Dragon Ball manga and related materials. He keeps the manga within easy reach. It's the same set he bought in elementary school, and he isn't sure how many times he's read it. It's cool that he kept his original volumes.

Figures are one of his stress releases during busy periods. He always reserves new S.H.Figuarts releases. He'd like to collect other figures too, but once you start it becomes too many to deal with, so he holds off. He couldn't help himself with the Ginyu Force release, though. The studio also holds a muscled anatomy figure and a half glove for his left hand that Toyotaro made himself so he doesn't dirty his manuscripts while drawing left-handed. He writes his scripts on a digital memo pad because the battery lasts a long time and lets him work outside the studio.

This is what I've been saying for a long time: Toyotaro grew up a fan of Toriyama, he's still a Dragon Ball fan, and he got to work side by side with him. Whether you like Toyotaro is irrelevant. I don't always agree with what he does in the manga. But he's a fan who worked his way up to working with the man himself, and that's an inspirational story. If you want to be an artist, don't give up, because one day you might be working with one of your inspirations. I mean that sincerely. Life is crazy.

Volume 11 and who might carry Dragon Ball forward

The interview closes as a plug for volume 11 of the Dragon Ball Super manga, which was coming out in Japan at the time, with the Viz English edition still a while off. Toyotaro said he wants fans to keep enjoying the story until the heroes' next confrontation with Moro.

I like these interviews, and I'm very happy Toyotaro took part. It's interesting that he seems to have more power, or more control, over this arc. It makes me wonder whether they'll adapt it into a movie or a TV series, recap it, or do something else. I also wonder whether Toei and Shueisha are positioning Toyotaro as the next guy to continue Dragon Ball. I don't think he's the guy. I think Dragon Garow Lee is better. But I'm just guessing and don't know for sure, so let's wait and see what happens.