Being a part of Dragon Ball‘s animation team might seem like the biggest dream come true to many. But in reality, it was nothing short of a headache to actual animators who worked on the projects. The amount of detailing on the characters made almost every major staff member frustrated.
One character in particular that made the lives of animators difficult was Cell. This guy had way too many spots for anyone to be excited about animating him. But in order to stay true to Akira Toriyama’s designs, animators had no choice but to keep working with a smile on their faces.
Animating Dragon Ball was “a huge hassle”
Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru is a character designer and key animator for the Dragon Ball anime franchise. He was interviewed at Made in Asia Spring 2025 in Brussels. The animator was asked about his experience with Dragon Ball and how he maintained the proportions of the characters as well as the details across all shots.
Funnily enough, Nakatsuru answered that there is no set system to maintain proportions and details. It was all just “a huge hassle.” The animator went on to complain that he had to constantly make sure that the proportions were right, as well as the details. He had no idea if the produced content was actually correct.
When a large character shrinks to the background, details need to be reduced accordingly. But even the way they are simplified needs a level of sensitivity. According to Nakatsuru, that is where one can figure out the skill level of animators.
Dragon Ball animators got fed up with drawing Cell’s spots
Cell first debuted during the Cell Saga of Dragon Ball Z. His appearance varies according to his forms. In his humanoid form, he sports green spots on his body. These spots are evenly scattered throughout his body and are a central part of his appearance. Unfortunately, the exact spots that make him distinguishable are also the ones that animators hate the most.
Nakatsuru makes a point to speak about Cell in the interview. He explains that in the beginning of Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, Cell appears in the hand-drawn animation part. But when he moves, transforms, or shifts from the foreground to the background, he would only draw the basic form of Cell and leave the refining part to others.
He also asked another character designer, Shintani, for help, but the response was anything but positive.
I asked Shintani, who worked as the character designer for Broly to draw only Cell’s spots. But in the end, he got fed up and said, “I don’t want to do this anymore.”
-Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru
It is quite visible that none of the Dragon Ball animators wanted to have anything to do with Cell in particular. Not only is the character hated in the Dragon Ball universe, but he also brings negativity to real-life people who have to deal with him.
Dragon Ball Z is available to stream on Crunchyroll.
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