The official Dragon Ball website’s fiftieth entry in “The Nearly Complete Works of Akira Toriyama” — an on-going series highlighting rare and important pieces of the author’s work over the years — is the author’s illustration and introductory message from the 2013 Akira Toriyama: The World of Dragon Ball exhibit attendee booklet.

Thank you for coming out to the Dragon Ball Exhibition!

In spite of being a work from quite a while back, there are many people who have either been fans ever since back then, or gotten interested in it recently; I am truly happy for it to be supported by all you fans from around the world.

And now, in 2013, they’ve made a brand-new animated movie!
I’ll be happy as can be if you enjoy watching it with heart-pounding excitement!
Only, it won’t make you cry.

— Akira Toriyama

The exhibit itself — timed around the theatrical release of Battle of Gods — featured a massive timeline along with a wealth of original sketches and illustrations from Akira Toriyama. We were able to attend the exhibit’s second stop in Osaka — check out our report for the full scoop!