Did Dragon Ball Inspire New One Piece Character Design?

One Piece Film Red is getting closer to its release date of August 6 in Japan, and its latest trailer seems to contain a tribute to Dragon Ball and Akira Toriyama.

Teasers of characters who will be in the One Piece movie have started to be released. Their outfits in the movies are almost always different from what they wear in the show, and one character’s outfit stands out.

Blueno makes his return in a green tracksuit that will be familiar to Dragon Ball fans. The tracksuit is identical to the one worn by Gohan in Dragon Ball Super and in the movie Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection ‘F’ (2015).

This is likely a tribute, as Akira Toriyama and Dragon Ball have long served as an influence for One Piece and its creator, Eiichiro Oda. In a sit down with both of them present, Oda was full of praise for Toriyama

“Of course, he’s god! He is in an entirely different dimension. All in all, he’s just too good at drawing!”

As for the origin of the tracksuit, Toriyama likely designed Gohan wearing it because Toriyama himself is known to be a fan of them and to wear them often.

Gohan’s outfit was also similar to Toripo’s, a character from Blue Dragon (2006), a video game with character designs by Toriyama.

Toripo is Akira Toriyama’s own robotic likeness in the game, wearing the same style and color of tracksuit as Gohan’s and Blueno’s. Read this article about the origin of Robo Toriyama and Toripo for more info.

In One Piece, Blueno is a world government agent, who was part of the CP9 group. He was introduced in the Water 7 and Ennie Lobby arc, and has not appeared in the anime since. He has however appeared in a cover series in the manga, which is canon. His current whereabouts in the show are unknown. Kalifa, his fellow CP9 agent, was also announced to be in the movie in the same video.

As for Film Red, it is supposed to be the fandom’s biggest look at Shanks, a fan favorite who rarely appeared in the series. The trailer introduces his daughter, Uta, who has a unique power. It seems the movie will center around Uta, leaving Shank’s involvement unknown. Not much else is known about the plot at this point. Film Red does not relate to what is currently happening in the show and manga.

How do you feel about Oda’s tribute to Dragon Ball and Akira Toriyama? Does it get you excited to watch One Piece Film Red, or were you already a fan?

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