Have you ever wondered what the original design that the master imagined was like? Akira Toriyama for the character of Mr. Popo When the time came to integrate it into the plot of dragon ball?
We don’t blame them if they had never done it, the reality is that the vast majority of casual fans of this manga and anime had never questioned it. Not at least until we first come across some other sketches of other characters.
Some time ago, for example, we shared with you the initial outlines of the villain who would end up being Majin Boo (known in Latin America as Majin Buu) and that has awakened a real curiosity in us about the entire creative process of this legendary manga artist.
Every time we come across the initial designs of a secondary or antagonistic Dragon Ball character, our honest impression is that Toriyama I was very clear about the general tone of the character, but I kept many variables in the air without landing.
So sometimes when we see these first sketches we often come across characters that do not totally fit with the ones we end up meeting in the comic or the animated version.
The case with Majin Boo was disturbing, especially with one of the drawings, but now with Mr. Popo the abyss between all the ideas is almost disturbing.
This was Mr. Popo in Akira Toriyama’s first sketches for the Dragon Ball manga
Let’s start with the basics first, for those who don’t know or for some reason can’t even locate the dear Mr. Popo. This is a character from the Dragon Ball anime and manga series that, as we already highlighted, was created by Akira Toriyama.
Strictly speaking, this boy is a mystical being who serves as an assistant to the Guardian of the Earth, the protective god of the planet, popularly known in the mythology of this franchise as Kamisama.
Perhaps what draws the most attention about Mr. Popo is his peculiar appearance, with his short stature, his dark skin, red lips, pointed ears, white turban and his face as expressive as it is comical.
But it was not always its original design, as shown in this sketch originally published in the book series Dragon Ball Daizenshuuwhere Akira Toriyama’s initial strokes are compiled for almost all the characters in the saga:
As we can see, at some very early point Mr. Popo was going to be an entity with a very strange body with a crest, which did not look exactly friendly, although it was unmistakable.
In a later attempt Toriyama had apparently turned the assistant into someone of the same race as the old Kamisama. But then he ended up landing with the design we all know.
However, even in this almost consolidated facet there are disturbing elements, such as Mr. Popo’s smile and lips, which give him an almost sinister appearance.