Dragon Ball: Akira Toriyama’s Official Successor Reveals Character Stronger Than Goku

Toyotarou, the current illustrator of Dragon Ball Super, just drew artwork for That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, and it’s sparking a wild conversation. As the artist officially chosen to carry on late Akira Toriyama’s legacy, everything Toyotarou touches gets extra attention from fans.

This time, he teamed up with Japanese manga site Comic Natalie to celebrate That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Season 4, drawing two of the series’ biggest names: Rimuru and Veldora. But this isn’t just a fun crossover moment. Once you look at what Rimuru and Veldora can actually do in their own show, it’s hard not to compare them to Goku.

Toyotarou Draws Rimuru and Veldora for TenSura Season 4

Veldora and Rimuru from That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime | Credit: Toyotarou / Comic Natalie

The art was made specifically for Comic Natalie’s ongoing coverage of TenSura Season 4, with Toyotarou asked to draw Rimuru and Veldora fighting side by side. You can take a proper look at it on Comic Natalie’s official website.

Even drawing someone else’s characters, Toyotarou’s signature Dragon Ball Super art style is quite evident. It’s a fun nod between two of anime’s biggest franchises, but it also puts a spotlight on just how strong these two isekai icons really are compared to our boy Goku.

How Strong Are Rimuru and Veldora Compared to Dragon Ball’s Goku?

Here’s where things get interesting. Veldora isn’t just some random dragon; he’s one of the “Catastrophe” level threats and a True Dragon in TenSura, a tier of beings capable of wiping out entire countries on a whim. A lot of the politics itself is centered on this character.

Rimuru, meanwhile, starts as a weak slime but eventually becomes a True Demon Lord, one of the strongest classifications in the entire anime, with abilities that let him predict attacks, copy powers, and reshape the battlefield entirely. It is his abilities near the end of the anime, which make him capable of having control of the universe itself, that make TenSura one of the most overpowered Isekai anime. By the end of the light novel, Rimuru basically becomes a god, and “overpowered” is a gross understatement of what he had become.

Compare that to Goku, who, despite being absurdly strong, still loses fights, still gets caught off guard, and still has clear limits. In fact, Goku isn’t even the strongest in his own anime. Rimuru and Veldora, at their peak, are on a level where the entire universe is basically background props.

The Dragon Ball Connections Hiding in TenSura

Veldora from That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime | Credit: 8-bit

What makes this crossover feel less random is that TenSura already has Dragon Ball DNA in it. In Season 2, Episode 23 of the anime, Veldora actually fires off his own Kamehameha, a direct reference to how much he loves manga (yes, Rimuru can even make him manga from his own memory, further proving his strength).

Fans have also pointed out how similar Rimuru’s slime form looks to the iconic Dragon Quest slime, the monster design Toriyama himself created back in 1986. So when Toyotarou draws these two, it’s less like stepping into unfamiliar territory and more like drawing distant cousins of his own world.

What other illustrations would you see in Toyotarou’s art style? Let us know in the comments.

Dragon Ball Super and That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime are streaming on Crunchyroll.