Before he was drawing Goku Perfected Ultra Instinct or dealing with the heavy expectations of Akira Toriyama’s legacy, the man we now know as Toyotaro was just another fan with a pen and a dream. Honestly, if you grew up in the early 2000s, you probably remember the chaos of the internet's "Pre-Super" era. It was a wild west of blurry JPEGs and fake rumors about Super Saiyan 5. This is where the story of Toyotaro Dragon Ball AF begins, though back then, he went by the pen name "Toyble."
It’s kinda crazy to think about.
A fan artist managed to bridge the gap between "fanfiction" and "official canon" in a way that literally never happens in the manga industry. Most people look at Dragon Ball Super today and see a polished product. But if you look closely at the panels of the AF doujinshi, you can see the DNA of the modern series. It’s all there. The framing, the speed lines, and that specific way of drawing hair that eventually caught Shueisha's eye.
What Toyotaro Dragon Ball AF actually was (and wasn't)
Let's clear something up right away because the internet has a terrible memory. Toyotaro didn't invent Dragon Ball AF. The term "AF" (After Future) started with a single image of a Super Saiyan 5 Goku—the one with the long silver hair and red skin—that appeared in a Spanish magazine called Hobby Consolas in the late 90s. That legendary art was actually by David Montiel Franco.
Toyotaro, or Toyble, just took that aesthetic and ran with it.
He started a manga series that picked up after the events of Dragon Ball GT. This wasn't some low-effort doodle project. It was a massive undertaking. He introduced Xicor (or Zaiko), a "son" of Goku created from the DNA of the Western Supreme Kai. It felt like a natural, if slightly edgier, extension of the Z-warrior mythos. The stakes were high. The art was shockingly close to Toriyama’s Z era style.
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People were confused. I remember kids on forums arguing that AF was actually being made by Toei in secret. That’s how good Toyotaro was even back then. He had this uncanny ability to mimic the "flow" of a Toriyama fight scene. It wasn't just about drawing a cool character; it was about how the panels moved.
The transition from Toyble to the big leagues
You’ve got to wonder what was going through his head when he got the call.
In 2012, Shueisha was looking for someone to draw the Dragon Ball Heroes manga. They didn't just pick a random corporate artist. They picked the guy who had already proven he could handle the franchise's soul. He dropped the Toyble moniker, became Toyotaro, and the rest is history. But the shadow of Toyotaro Dragon Ball AF never really left him.
If you compare the design of Xicor to some of the later Super villains, or even the way some of the "Godly" forms look, the influence is undeniable. The silver hair of Super Saiyan 5 essentially became the blueprint for Ultra Instinct. It's a full-circle moment that feels almost scripted.
He didn't finish the AF manga, though. That’s the part that still stings for some long-time fans. Once he went pro, the fan project had to stop. Legal reasons, mostly. You can’t exactly be the official artist for a billion-dollar IP while also publishing "illegal" stories using the same characters. It’s a conflict of interest that would make any lawyer's head spin.
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Why the AF legacy still matters in 2026
We're living in an era where the line between fan and creator is thinner than ever. Toyotaro is the ultimate "local boy makes good" story for the anime community. He represents the possibility that if you're good enough, the giants will eventually notice you.
But it’s also a lesson in artistic evolution.
When you look at his early work in AF, it’s heavily derivative. It’s supposed to be. He was trying to be Toriyama. As he moved into Dragon Ball Super, especially during the Moro and Granolah arcs, you started to see "Toyotaro" the artist, not just "Toyotaro" the mimic. His backgrounds got more detailed. His choreography became more complex. He started taking risks with panel layouts that Toriyama—who preferred a very clean, simple style—might not have tried.
- The Xicor Factor: The concept of a "Dark Goku" or a twisted family member was explored long before Goku Black.
- The Visual Language: He mastered the "impact frame" style in the fan-circles before it was a requirement for the V-Jump editors.
- The Community: AF kept the fandom alive during the "Dark Ages" (post-GT, pre-Battle of Gods).
Without the hype generated by these doujinshi creators, would Shueisha have even felt the need to revive the series? Maybe. But guys like Toyotaro and Young Jiji (another legendary AF artist) kept the engine warm while the creators were sleeping.
Common misconceptions about the AF era
A lot of people think AF was a single, cohesive story. It wasn't. It was a mess of different artists doing different things. Toyotaro’s version is just the one that everyone remembers because it was the most professional.
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Others think he’s "ruining" the series now by making it too much like his fanfics. That’s a bit of a reach. Every major plot point in the Super manga is still heavily guided by the outlines left behind by Toriyama. Toyotaro is the hands, but for the longest time, the brain was still the Master. Now, as the primary torchbearer, he has the impossible task of keeping that flame lit without letting his "fan" impulses take over too much.
It's a delicate balance.
How to find the roots of his style
If you're a hardcore fan, you should really go back and look at the old Toyble scans. Look at how he handled the pacing of the battles. There’s a specific way he draws characters getting hit in the stomach—the "gut-punch" pose—that he still uses today. It’s his signature.
You can also see where he struggled. His early AF work had some wonky proportions. Hands are hard to draw, and even a future professional had his "off" days. Seeing that growth is actually pretty inspiring for any aspiring artist.
Actionable Insights for Fans and Artists
If you want to truly understand the impact of Toyotaro Dragon Ball AF, you need to look at it as more than just a "fake" manga. It was a 20-year audition.
- Analyze the Panel Flow: Open a chapter of Dragon Ball Super and an old chapter of Toyble’s AF. Notice how he uses "empty space" to emphasize speed. This is a direct carry-over from his fanfic days.
- Trace the Design Origins: Look at the aura effects in the AF Super Saiyan 5 transformation. You'll see those same jagged, lightning-heavy lines in the modern portrayals of Beast Gohan or Ultra Ego Vegeta.
- Support the Transition: Recognize that creators often have to leave their "passion projects" behind to build something official. Don't be the fan complaining that he never finished AF; celebrate that he got the chance to make the real thing.
- Study the "Toriyama Line": Toyotaro’s biggest strength was learning how to simplify his lines to match the master. If you’re an artist, try to draw a character in the AF style versus the current Super style to see how he refined his "noise" into clean, professional art.
The transition from Toyble to Toyotaro is the most significant event in Dragon Ball history since the end of the original serialization. It proved that the fans were the ones keeping the spirit of the Dragon alive, and eventually, one of those fans was given the keys to the kingdom.