In a new edition of the Toriyama Archives, the official Dragon Ball site has dug up and shared Akira Toriyama's original artwork of Super Saiyan Gohan's battle with Perfect Cell in the Cell Games. Featured a little over 35 years ago in Weekly Shonen Jump 1993 No. 3/4 on December 22, 1992, Dragon Ball Chapter 404 picks up immediately after Goku gives up fighting Cell and tosses him a Senzu Bean so he'll be at full power to battle the real strongest person on Earth: Goku's son, Gohan.
Dragon Ball Reveals Rare 36-Year Old Goku Artwork From Frieza Saga’s Final Battle
The Official Dragon Ball Site has revealed rare Frieza Saga Goku artwork from when Akira Toriyama was drawing the manga for Shonen Jump in 1990.
Chapter 404 of Dragon Ball is a rare issue where Akira Toriyama colored every page, as opposed to keeping the chapter in black and white. The first two pages are in full color, showing off Gohan powering up to fight Cell, before swapping over to Akira Toriyama's limited color palette for the rest of the chapter. Dragon Ball Chapter 404 notably confirms that Super Saiyan Gohan is definitively stronger than Super Saiyan Goku and the strongest character in the cast, a title he'd soon lose but reclaim by the end of the Majin Buu Saga.
Super Saiyan Gohan Powers Up To Fight Cell In Akira Toriyama's Original Version Of The Cell Games' Final Battle
January 8, 2025's pick for the Toriyama Archives is without a doubt one of the best pages Akira Toriyama drew for the Dragon Ball manga. Beautifully colored in Toriyama's signature watercolor style, the right-hand side of the page shows Vegeta, Yamcha, Trunks, Krillin, Piccolo, Android 16, and Super Saiyan Goku all reacting to Super Saiyan Gohan casually powering up his Ki before fighting Cell. Notably, everyone has a different reaction to Gohan and the page's composition is framed in a way that highlights Gohan's power & status over the rest of the cast.
Vegeta sweats, almost terrified by how much latent power Gohan has within himself. Yamcha, Trunks, and Krillin are all shocked at the power-up, with the sheer force of Gohan's Ki blowing Trunks' hair back. Piccolo stands in awe of his young protégé's new-found Power Level, while Android 16 stands at attention observing SSJ Gohan's raw and overwhelming Battle Power. The only character totally unfazed is Goku, who smiles proudly at his son in a slightly larger panel than his peers, his hair flowing in the wind. In a massive panel all to himself on the left, Gohan stands ready to fight Cell in a calm, collected pose, his Ki flowing out of him with total control.
While Goku making Gohan fight Cell is still a controversial moment for Dragon Ball Z fans today, Goku's expression is one of pure confidence. Goku knows without the shadow of a doubt that Gohan is the only person strong enough to defeat Cell – and he's right. Even as a Super Saiyan 1, Gohan was powerful enough to kill Perfect Cell right away and the strongest Super Saiyan in Dragon Ball at this point in time. The opening page for Dragon Ball Chapter 404 beautifully illustrates Gohan's strength, making it a worthy candidate for an official coloring by Akira Toriyama.
Not Counting Fusions, Gohan Is The Strongest Character In Dragon Ball Z
Although Toei's Dragon Ball Z anime adaptation changes details around so that Goku ends the series as the strongest character in DBZ, Gohan is actually the strongest character in Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball – as far as unfused characters are concerned, that is. Following the end of the Cell Games, Gohan begins slacking off and loses his top spot by the start of the Majin Buu Saga. He can barely turn Super Saiyan 2, and Super Saiyan 3 Goku is obviously stronger than SSJ2 Gohan at this point. It can even be argued that Super Saiyan 2 Majin Vegeta was stronger than Gohan for a minute.
Dragon Ball: The Only Saiyan Who Can Beat Black Frieza, Explained
No one has been able to measure up to Black Frieza, but this Saiyan may be the only one who can beat him.
Gohan reclaimed his status as the strongest character in Dragon Ball Z after the Old Kai unlocked his potential near the end of the Fusion Saga. With all his latent power available innately, Ultimate Gohan became the most powerful character in Dragon Ball without even needing to transform into a Super Saiyan. Ultimate Gohan was so strong, he could have killed Super Buu right away and the only reason he didn't is that Goten & Trunks wanted a chance at a rematch by fusing into Gotenks.
Ultimae Gohan does unfortunately end up losing to Buutenks, but this doesn't diminish just how overwhelmingly powerful he is at the end of Dragon Ball Z. During Goku's final Spirit Bomb against Kid Buu, Gohan donates so much Genki on his own that Goku actually acknowledges just how much stronger the Spirit Bomb is thanks to Gohan's donation. Gohan remains the strongest character all the way to the Peaceful World Saga and DBZ's ending. Dragon Ball Super retconned things so that both Goku and Vegeta became stronger than Gohan, but as of Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, Gohan Beast is once again the strongest of the main characters and currently the heroes' best shot at taking down Black Frieza.
- Release Date
- 1989 - 1996
- Network
- Fuji TV
- Directors
- Daisuke Nishio, Shigeyasu Yamauchi, Osamu Kasai
- Writers
- Akira Toriyama, Neil Bligh, Hiroshi Toda, Katsuyuki Sumisawa, Aya Matsui, Keiji Terui, Reiko Yoshida, Toshiki Inoue
- Franchise(s)
- Dragon Ball
Cast
-
Masako NozawaSon Goku / Son Gohan / Son Goten (voice) -
Ryo HorikawaVegeta (voice)
- Creator(s)
- Akira Toriyama
