Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru: Artstyle Breakdown

Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru etched his name out as one of Dragon Ball's top staff members decades ago. Whether it's thanks to unique designs like Super Saiyan 4 or his unrivaled ability to bring Toriyama's style on the big screen, his work sits as some of the best of that era.
So join me today as look at someone of his stylistic quirks you might've missed, in today's art style breakdown!
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►Patreon: / forgottenrelics
►Featured artist: / unic_art_work
►My Instagram: / d.bz_arts
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►Twitter: / zadoxz
💿Music credits:
khadija al hanafi - Youuuuu
neuns - BASTION
NJOY - ジューシーな (JUICY)
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[@AlexanderDiviFilius]

Nakatsuru’s art is almost always pleasing to the eye. His style appears to evolve constantly; his modern approach mimics Toriyama’s current style excellently. If Nakatsuru was Yamamuro’s stylistic inspiration, it makes sense that after Nakatsuru left with GT’s conclusion, Yamamuro’s style stagnated.

[@numburger]

"What era of Toriyama's art was the best?" genuinely sounds like a cool idea for a video. I love hearing people dissecting Toriyama's- more specifically his work with DB- art style, what with him changing it so many times and drastically each time.

[@CressAuri]

I love the retro aesthetic for the editing!

[@banana_bandanas1022]

Honestly your growth this past year has been amazing! I've always felt like drawing after watching your videos. I'm glad you are branching out, it may give me more ideas to doodle. Thanks!

[@forgottenrelics1197]

That's awesome man and thank you!

[@mrCetus]

All the support with the new push for content on the channel, Brodie! I love this type of animation content on KZbin, and there aren't a lot of people making it nowadays. Good on you.

[@Cbas619]

Damn I’m gonna miss DBZ breakdown videos like this one

[@LowellLucasJr.]

Great video as always and I look forward to what you'll do for future videos! Maybe you could discuss Kawajiri's works? From Wicked City to Demon Slayer and more, dude is phenomenal!!

[@numburger]

I gasped out loud when I saw the notification for this video

[@BryanPlush]

I love the layout in the video :D

[@forgottenrelics1197]

Thanks, wanted to play around with something different :)

[@beargocrazy_]

I'll deadass watch anything you put out, you do anime stuff so well that watching someone else do a break an anime down so odd. You even introduced me to some new anime that I ended up really enjoying, I'll watching all your stuff no matter what it be

[@christiangil-santamaria4499]

Deadass?

[@josephaugen247]

As a major Dragon Ball fan, I'm sad you're gonna make a lot less Dragon Ball videos. But I'm happy you're not quitting it all. I have watched every single of your videos, and some I have watched two, or three times. Great stuff! I will be missing your content. On the other hand, if you don't have ideas anymore it's not gonna be great.

[@slifer875]

You could call this new series "animation anthologies", each episode its a different series, i recommend fist of the north star, cowboy bebop, evangelion or ghost in the shell, or ghibli flims for animation breakdowns. Also dont limit yourself with just eastern stuff, disney, marvel and DC had amazing 2D animated stuff in the past, some of them where partly done by japanese studios.

[@eddievelez4723]

The polish on this video is superb, id love to see more series covered honestly in videos like these :)

[@mechajay3358]

I'm also down for a breakdown of Nakatsuru's work. Can't wait to see the new content you'll be putting out.

[@sageseraph5035]

And he made Super Saiyan 4!!!!!!!

[@basheerc.7245]

I always loved Nakatsuru's work! Especially his Dragon Ball Z Comics cover pages and GT illustrations. It reminds me of Chikashi Kubota's current work in terms of his use of color and highlights. Also looking forward to your other videos outside of Dragon Ball!! After seeing that clip of the original hxh, 𝙄 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙯𝙚𝙙 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙢𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙨 *𝙨𝙡𝙚𝙚𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙜* 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙊𝙂 𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙨! 𝙄𝙩 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙨 𝙨𝙤 𝙜𝙤𝙤𝙙!!

[@forgottenrelics1197]

Yesss you need to check out the HxH 99, got a lot of great animation and Norio Matsumoto is all over it. Definitely reccomend!

[@basheerc.7245]

@@forgottenrelics1197 Will do!!👌🏽

[@ethencurtis7182]

looking forward to the new content

[@forgottenrelics1197]

thanks!

[@specialnewb9821]

Love these breakdowns. As to your new approach to the channel if I find the topic interesting then I'll watch. It doesn't have to always be DB.

[@kakarot6808]

you should do an overview of dragon ball z releases and talk about the good and bad for each release

[@Gaming_Hub_UK]

Great video as always and I wish you the best of luck for your future videos and that they all do great as well 🙏🏻. Thank you for all of your hardworked videos so far and can't wait to see more 🙏🏻.

[@SawedFps]

I’m sure that your views will stay the same or increase especially since you mentioned pretty popular animes which will bring a new crowd to watch your videos.

[@forgottenrelics1197]

You would think so, but in the past they haven't, I guess KZbin's algorithm isn't always logical.

[@ElDerk_]

I’m so excited to see you branch out with your content!! I’ve honestly been waiting for the day you cover other anime! I can’t wait to see

[@ultimaweapon6]

I'm actually kind of excited to see you break down different shows I'm hoping down-the-line that maybe you could break down full metal alchemist brotherhood I would really like to see things on that

[@AUSTIN.F]

👏👏 nice video

[@kyleh1494]

Off-topic but I just really like the 2000s-esque DBZ wallpaper/old Windows setup. Really nostalgic

[@LOLQ9000]

Im Hyped up for ur Naruto Video bro, dont worry we will be there and support you and push the ytube algo 🔥🔥

[@ayerooown]

Y E E E E S Nakatsuru content

[@TiburonChico]

Would absolutely love to see a Demon Slayer breakdown of sorts in the future 😅

[@grapespace]

The classic photoshop theme for this one is just too good.

[@crestofhonor2349]

I’d love to see some One piece wano arc based content or stuff like mushoku tensei. Older western animation would also be nice to cover like Batman the animated series or stuff like Kim possible. Western animation has also had some amazing animation and I think people sometimes forget how good it was and still is in some areas

[@forgottenrelics1197]

Western animation is great, Milt Kahl's work particularly is some of my favourite, genuinely peak animation. Even so, I just don't have as much interest in it, Japanese animation is just stylistically more diverse and interesting to me :)

[@crestofhonor2349]

@@forgottenrelics1197 I love Milt Kahl. One of Disney's best animators. But yeah I can see why you don't want to go into western animation and I'm fine with that

[@Cbas619]

+1 on Wano arc or other one piece animation breakdowns

[@justsometokyodollar1842]

another masterpiece from mr. president, i was hoping maybe one day you can review mob psycho 100's animation, it's really unique but on that note, goodluck with everything and i'll stick around for more videos!

[@forgottenrelics1197]

thank you and with s3 it might give me the opportunity to

[@justsometokyodollar1842]

@@forgottenrelics1197 no problem mr. president!

[@DogratDavis]

Great stuff as always bud. I'll definitely stick around for the new content, can't wait to see those Naruto breakdowns.

[@forgottenrelics1197]

thanks man, I look forward to making them!

[@OniYoJo]

Holy crap this channel is so underrated love the content man✌️

[@NATmusic27]

my god that radish fight looked excellent

[@DragonBall]

Awesome video dude, love the 90s UI

[@forgottenrelics1197]

ayee thanks man!

[@ms.antithesis]

Nice

[@9VK7]

Looking forward to the HxH content. 1999 Vs 2011 comparison would also be great

[@forgottenrelics1197]

That's the exact topic I have planned!

[@EnoYaka]

Just dinged the bell for your channel can't believe I missed this! I completely understand the direction of the channel, I just hope if you do think of something you can come back to DB sometime, absolutely love your videos on it, seriously one of the best channels for info a bout a lot of stuff. Thank you for all you've done. Saw HxH playing in the background that could be interesting :P

[@forgottenrelics1197]

Thank you and there could something HxH related coming soon 👀

[@merceraeolymus]

I'd love to see you do naruto animation/artstyle analysis breakdowns

[@skullz6689]

Gonna miss the dbz arts type breakdown vids

[@betablaze]

Some one piece animation review would be awesome.

[@vegetalover9297]

Very informative

[@florpflop6364]

Bro I’m so down for new content lol or new anime or whatever. I watch you generally for insight on art styles and animation so if it’s along those lines you can be 100% positive I will watch!

[@forgottenrelics1197]

awesome man, thank you!

[@jordandavilabrown294]

If you are going to review other anime series animation then I would recommend doing one for both "Fairy tail" and "That time I got reincarnated as a slime" (if you have already seen both of them that is).

[@forgottenrelics1197]

I haven't actually haha but I've got a lot of other great series I'm looking forward to discuss!

[@infinitepower3404]

DRAGON BALL MAGIC !

[@derock4art608]

Awesome video! Love it!! I always enjoy these breakdowns. I saw your post about struggling to think of topics of DB for your channel. If you still have some DB content left in you, why not analyze the art styles and animation timing of the older arcs from the Saiyan arc and before. I feel there is so much untapped there that nobody bothers with. It is like the Saiyan arc, Piccolo Jr arc, and earlier's art style, different teams, etc are non-existent. I love Aoshima's Fist of the North Star-esque approach; I love Sato's snappy timing in his animation for example. One thing I find difficult is to get the sizing of Goku's round eye design just right. It always feels off but it is something I love to do. Also, I heard the Cha La opening is keyed and animated completely by Minoru Maeda which is interesting. It definitely has his style and looks exactly like the Dead Zone film. Few things I like to study is how these classic animators used repeated frames and minimal in betweens to get a poignant cut. A great example of minimal use of animation is when Goku finds Yajirobi's fish. The use of limited frames is astonishing because of how good and animated it looks even though it is super limited (4 tweens/breakdowns). Lots to learn from that. For my own animations I do too much; while nice to have something so animated, I can produce more work if I find how to efficiently use my timing better.

[@forgottenrelics1197]

I've already done an extensive review on the original Dragon Ball series animation, touching on every team and even solo animators like Aoshima so check that out if you haven't! With some of the remaining DB topics, I plan to slowly release them and 2 of them will cover the Saiyan arc in some way. I thought about possibly making those videos first the other night, but I've already mentioned a transition in several videos and it's too late to switch haha. The minimal use of frames is a topic I also find interesting myself and for many of the show's top action animators like Kazuya Hisada, Masahiro Shimanuki, Keisuke Masunaga etc. it's heavily influenced by Yoshinori Kanada. Recommend checking his work out on sakugabooru if your unfamiliar with him :)

[@derock4art608]

@@forgottenrelics1197 Oh excellent!! Oh yeah I think in one of your videos you have even mentioned about how Aoshima even boarded whole episodes and doing the animation! Crazy!! I will have to look into Yoshinori Kanada! Thanks for the recommendations! Hopefully I didn't come across too strong haha I really love all your breakdowns and can't wait to see more :)

[@forgottenrelics1197]

@@derock4art608 Not at all dude and I think that was in the video where I talk about Dragon Ball Z's animation process, forgot I mentioned her there as well haha

[@as-zb5ge]

Really loving how u change the editing style and look for different videos! Will u still be continuing the dragon ball heroes animation review series?

[@forgottenrelics1197]

Dunno for sure, I have no motivation for it now, but maybe in the future I will. Hopefully the part 2 won't get copyright claimed lol.

[@as-zb5ge]

@@forgottenrelics1197 As u wish dude! Excited for the new content!

[@jarodk1294]

Nice vid. Since you are going to do other animes like Naruto, I think it would be cool if you could cover Bleach as well. It’s anime is coming back for last arc soon so you will get more material to work with soon if you decide to cover it. Whatever you will do good luck and I’ll be staying since I’ll love animation of other animes than Dragon Ball just as well as its.

[@charlesmaclellan8124]

I dont watch much Anime other than DB, so I'll be sad to see you move away from it. But I wouldn't mind seeing videos on Afro Samurai and Fullmetal Alchemist, specificly brotherhood. Or even comparisons between it and the original, which I never watched. From what I understand, Brotherhood is basically the Kai version of FMA, but actually reanimated.

[@9VK7]

Nakatsuru is the GOAT

[@sonicfan064]

Can't wait to watch this video on my favorite animator from Dragon Ball😍😍😍

[@gaiali453]

Would it be possible for you do a focus video on the artists and animators for Japanese DBZ Episode 179? This Goku vs Cell fight is one of my all time favorite fights when it comes to animation, artwork and even striking sound effects. :)

[@zaidbaig2943]

And here we are, nakatsuru, back as the character designer for the Web anime who would've thought

[@kevinchinart]

Understandable about the Dragon Ball well drying up, hoping it will fill up once the movie comes out on video. As to the channel, I think the strength of the channel goes beyond the fandom but into the animation industry which is fascinating. Would love your thoughts on other studios like Trigger.

[@FEBRIZIOtv]

PLEASE do bleach. Also, deep dive into the music of toonami z with Bruce faulconer etc.

[@QuintaEtSexta]

Yes! Do Naruto! It's art both in the manga and the anime changes alot over time, and it is very interesting to observe ^^

[@yaboizero.]

Could you breakdown the artstyle of the opening of Dragon Ball super super hero, which looks so good and everyone loves it.

[@ivanfontenla3490]

Soo expecting the hxh onee :D

[@forgottenrelics1197]

👀

[@tylerwinters9706]

Already watched this when it came out but watching again because of Geekdoms recommendation.

[@AntwoneAntJackson]

No wonder Gt's artsyle was so...cool. Nakatsuru

[@branalysis]

I'm actually excited for this incoming change, more variety is always better imo

[@javierfigueroacl]

Please do hxh 99 breakdowns!! 🙏

[@forgottenrelics1197]

For sure!

[@anshulshah1703]

Could I ask how you're so knowledgable in terms of animation and drawing? Did you go to some art school or something, or are you just really passionate and this is your hobby? thanks!

[@forgottenrelics1197]

I guess both haha, went to a University in 2018, but it was in Digital Media so art was just a subject for a term, not the focus of the course. But the majority of what I've learned since is from online courses and my own studies :)

[@anshulshah1703]

@@forgottenrelics1197 nice, as someone who doesn't know anything about drawing and animation it's good learning some stuff from you!

[@countkungus8238]

Hey I just want to let you know that I think branching out is the best decision you can make here honestly. I've been feeling some fatigue of you content lately and its not that you don't have great ideas but more so the subject has gotten stale at least for me at this point. I would love to see some one piece breakdowns or really whatever you wanna do man I'm gonna keep watching though for sure!

[@forgottenrelics1197]

Thanks man, I've been second-guessing myself so I appreciate the comment, and there definitely has been fatigue haha. I've got some interesting topics coming up though that I'm really keen to make so I hope that shines through in the content going forward.

[@Da4th4000]

I love how all the animators have their own idiosyncrasies in their art. It makes it so much fun to look at their work. I can also tell they put their DNA in their work if you know what I mean. Nakatsuru, classic Yamamuro, and Masaki Sato are definitely my faves from the Dragon Ball franchise. I don't really see this type of diversity in western animation, especially in today's cartoons that use puppet animation. Not trying to take away from them or anything like that.

[@xavgmng]

You should cover the Transformers Movie from 86 the one animated by Toei im pretty sure

[@salazars.4123]

Hopefully you can answer a burning question of mine: why were the dbz movies made? Who decided to make them and why? It's weird to me as they try to fit in continuity... kinda, but they never work. The DBZ movies are just weird for me

[@METALLIX1000]

can't wait for the hxh video

[@AliHussain-lv4mp]

Yo bro your videos are amazing also a new clip for dragon Ball super super hero dropped its the first 2 minutes for the movie which is a bunch of flashbacks of goku and friends fighting the red ribbon army there are a bunch of amazingly animated parts of kid goku fighting the red ribbon army super vegeta Vs second form cell piccolo's power up against first form cell and a bunch of more well animated scenes

[@forgottenrelics1197]

I was just about to make a community post to confirm if people want a breakdown on it haha

[@Liqo315]

Don't you know the weapon dosen't make the man. Trunks💜🗡

[@Anpex.]

I never even knew the difference

[@thewiseadamo9105]

can you do an analysis on hunter x hunter 1999 with hxh 2011

[@andrewwolfe5479]

3rd lets go

[@yamete7u7]

truth? Did tadayoshi make the cover for DBZ hyper dimension SNES?

[@comicmanga7860]

Hey please discuss animation of demon slayer

[@SkyZer0]

hey! will you be going over the 2D animation intro from the new Super hero movie? i want to know who did that!

[@forgottenrelics1197]

i think I might

[@SkyZer0]

@@forgottenrelics1197 please do!!

[@Just-A-Bit]

Hey

[@forgottenrelics1197]

hi mr bit

[@fridaynightnicktoons6885]

Animes you’d might like to cover Yu yu hakusho Original 2 generations of Pokémon Yugioh/gx Naruto/shippuden Also it doesn’t have to be just anime. Look at like courage the cowardly dog or looney tunes or Tom and Jerry. Man those things had a lot of inbetween frames and visuals.

[@forgottenrelics1197]

I'll be touching on Naruto in the next video 👍

[@fridaynightnicktoons6885]

The first time in 95 seemed logical because they all were just out of the ocean. I wish they didn’t but it made sense,but later on it made no sense. And then in super with it’s bad color pallet the shine marks look like grease or cum. I guess they didn’t know that sometimes ,less is more.

[@theeshaltnotpasseth1548]

I don't think that changing series from time to time'll drop views. Maybe better them, because the you'll appeal to a much bigger audience

[@MinhLe19303]

Even though that Trunks's episode was one of my favorite due to the artstyle, I heavily dislike how he draws wider chin which in turn make wider head. Though thankfully, he's not doing that after that episode. It's a shame his artstyle change because I like his works from Cell Saga to GT. Also, off-related, I was kinda disappointed on Kubota's supervision of the DBS Super Hero movie. Like, he was known for his Buu Saga-inspired artstyle with major Nakatsuru and old Yamamuro influence. You would expect that with his supervision, it would looks like Buu Saga most of the time, which is not. Almost every character designs looks like modern Toriyama, which I dislike, and only Gohan looks like his Buu Saga time.

[@damistrules]

More props to unic though not sure a guy with 90k followers need the exposure lol

[@forgottenrelics1197]

maybe but he featured my art on his page years ago, back in the days were I had like 100 subs haha and so I thought I would return the favour :)

[@damistrules]

@@forgottenrelics1197 respectable! Not hating, just thought it amusing. Mad props to you both!

[@forgottenrelics1197]

@@damistrules thanks and all good dude

[@zekken8227]

:)

[@brodeyleembruggen9910]

🐉🐒

[@joshuajiron4114]

Nakatsuru le dio mejor trazo a Trunks que el mismo Toriyama.

[@fridaynightnicktoons6885]

Thumbnail wise classic yammamuro wins. Highlights are a huge detriment to art. Also yammamuro used better color pallet.

[@forgottenrelics1197]

The change in palette is more so to do the color coordinator for the episode rather than an animator.

[@wayneking9997]

I hate toyotaro

[@raymoshav-bloodbought]

Hate is a strong word.

[@superpipi1330]

All the support with the new push for content on the channel, Brodie! I love this type of animation content on KZbin, and there aren't a lot of people making it nowadays. Good on you.