Why Cell Was the Hardest Character to Draw in Dragon Ball Z
Bringing Cell to life in Dragon Ball Z was far from easy for Akira Toriyama and his team. The villain’s intricate design, especially the numerous spots covering his body, made animating him a frustrating challenge for the artists.
During the Made in Asia Spring 2025 event, Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru, a key animator and character designer, revealed that Cell’s unique appearance caused major headaches for the animation team.
Why Cell Was the Hardest Character to Draw in Dragon Ball Z
“If you look at the hand-drawn animation in Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, you’ll notice Cell appears at some point. When he transforms and moves, I would only sketch his base form and ask someone else to add the spots,” Nakatsuru explained. He even asked Naohiro Shintani, the character designer for Dragon Ball Super: Broly, to handle the spots, but the task became so tedious that Shintani gave up, saying, “I don’t want to do this anymore.”
Toriyama’s Struggles with Drawing Cell
Even Akira Toriyama himself admitted in interviews, including the Dragon Ball 30th Anniversary Super History Book, that illustrating Cell for Shonen Jump’s weekly schedule was exhausting.
“Complex characters are a nightmare when you have to draw them for weeks… Cell’s spots were such a pain,” he joked.
Interestingly, Toriyama initially planned to end Dragon Ball with the Cell Saga, allowing Gohan to take over as the main hero. However, his editors persuaded him to extend the series, leading to the Majin Buu Saga and Goku’s return as the central figure.
via Enomis
