A talented Dragon Ball fan has created an epic gender-bending Vegeta cosplay.
Posted on Reddit and showcased at the recent Sakura Con, the costume shows the Prince of All Saiyan’s signature spiky black hair replaced with a long, flowy style. It also features a more feminine rendition of the classic Saiyan blue-and-white battle armor.
The massive Dragon Ball multimedia franchise began in 1984 with the publication of the first chapter of 706z87″ title=”akira”>Akira Toriyama’s manga of the same name in Shuiesha’s Weekly Shōnen Jump. The narrative follows Son Goku from childhood through adulthood as the battle-happy and food-obsessed youth trains in martial arts and goes on adventures. Over the years, Goku and his comrades encounter and combat a myriad of wacky but dangerous villains, including the galactic tyrant Frieza and bio-android Cell.
Dragon Ball‘s Mega-Franchise
Toriyama’s series stands alongside Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece and Takao Saito’s Golgo 13 as one of the best-selling in history with over 300 million copies in circulation across the globe. Because of its incredibly high level of popularity and acclaim, Dragon Ball spawned multiple anime adaptation by Toei Animation and a plethora of tie-in movies and spin-offs. The mega-franchise also includes a wealth of video games, collectibles and merchandise, theme park attractions, musical soundtracks and fan-made content, like cosplay.
The genderswapped Vegeta cosplay isn’t the only example of recent fan-made content for Dragon Ball. For example, a Twitter user by the name of Berserk Boy posted a colorful 8-bit animation of Goku and Vegeta blasting each other with powerful energy beams. Moreover, Filipina cosplayer rikkaxrose showed off their take of fan-favorite character, Bulma Briefs, dressing the blue-haired scientist and engineer in a classic bunny outfit.
Fans of Toriyama’s work have more to be excited about than just impressive cosplay and fan art. Notably, Toei Animation and Bandai Namco dropped a trailer for a new title in the Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi video game series. These games allow players to take control of fan-favorite characters like Son Goku and Vegeta and fight it out. Since the previous mainline entry in the series launched in 2007, the announcement of Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 4 came as a major surprise for many. Furthermore, Toriyama’s Sand Land manga, which has a similar aesthetic and tone as Dragon Ball, will receive a film adaptation later this year. Prominent voice actor Mutsumi Tamura (Tribe Nine) stars as the protagonist, Beelzebub.
VIZ Media distributes the Dragon Ball manga in North America.
Source: Reddit