In a recent interview to commemorate the release of the upcoming Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero Movie, author Akira Toriyama reaffirmed that Piccolo is his favorite character.

“Actually, Piccolo is my favorite character. He is always so quiet, so it’s probably the first time that he’s been so talkative and active,” Toriyama said.

Toriyama was speaking about the major roles that Gohan and Piccolo would play in the upcoming movie while he revealed this detail.

In the interview, Toriyama also said that the aim to make Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero Movie was to give Gohan a chance to show his abilities, which is rumored to be better than anyone else. However, Piccolo is the only one who can motivate and bring out the best of Gohan rather than Goku, his own father.

“Gohan is actually stronger than anyone…, or so it’s said, but lately he hasn’t really gotten a chance to shine,” the mangaka said. “In order to motivate Gohan, it takes his revered teacher Piccolo rather than his father Goku.”

The full interview will be available to read as a special pamphlet distributed to the visitors at the movie theatre.

In a previous comment, the Dragon Ball author stated that his favorite characters in the Dragon Ball series were Tien Shinhan and Future Trunks, as well as Krillin and Mr. Satan. However, later in 1995, at the Super Interview at the Rōgairō Chinese Restaurant, Toriyama revealed that he likes Piccolo about the same as he like Goku.

An excerpt of Toriyama’s comment says, “Yeah, I guess I like Piccolo the most after all. Out of all the enemies, Demon King Piccolo is the one I like most, and even after that, I like Piccolo the most. I like Piccolo about the same as I like Goku.”

Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero movie will open in Japan on June 11 before its global release. The movie will get a stage greeting on the same day at Shinjuku Wald 9. Voice actors Masako Nozawa, Toshio Furukawa, Miyu Irino, Hiroshi Kamiya, Mamoru Miyano and director Tetsuro Kodama will be in attendance.

Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, was scheduled to be released on April 22 in Japan and was slated to open in North America this summer, however, it was postponed due to the Toei Animation hack on March 6.

Crunchyroll announced the release of Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero movie globally, while Sony Pictures India hinted towards an Indian theatrical release of the movie.

The fully 3DCG film is being directed by Tetsuro Kodama at Toei Animation, and Naoki Satō is composing the music. Nobuhito Sue is the art director, Chikashi Kubota is the animation director, and Jae Hoon Jung is the CG director.

Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero is the second film to be released for the Dragon Ball: Super series and will be the 21st overall in the entire Dragon Ball franchise.

Source: Twitter, Kanzenshuu