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When someone as influential as Akira Toriyama dies, it has a habit of hanging over the people who looked up to them. Fans all over the world paid tribute to Toriyama and his Dragon Ball franchise in the wake of his death earlier this year, but it looks like Tatsuya Endo snuck his own memorial to the iconic mangaka into the most recent chapter of Spy x Family.

We’re going to discuss some minor spoilers for Chapter 105 of Spy x Family ahead, though we’ll be leaving out most of the plot details. The chapter focuses heavily on Franky, Twilight’s informant and general lacky throughout the manga. To save a fellow WISE contact, he breaks into where they’re being interrogated wearing a gas mask and holding a bouquet of flowers that are a lot more than they seem.

The image feels pretty random until you remember that the mask Franky is wearing is suspiciously similar to the avatar Toriyama often used for himself when answering fan mail or presiding as the supreme being of the Dragon Ball universe (usually to comedic effect). The character is usually referred to as Tori Bot and has shown up in Dragon Ball, Dr. Slump, and other anime as a tribute to the influence Toriyama has had on the industry. Seeing Franky and Tori Bot side-by-side makes the similarities particularly striking.

It could be a completely unrelated reference, of course, but I don’t think that’s the case. From the shape of the eye holes to canister at the front of the mask all the way to how Franky's ears poke out the side of the mask, it all looks very similar to Tori Bot's design. Thanks to the Spy x Family fanbook, we know that Tatsuya Endo, like many manga creators who grew up reading and watching Dragon Ball, is a huge fan of Akira Toriyama’s work, so it makes sense that they would slip this tribute into the pages of Spy x Family. The manga has been tackling some pretty heavy plots since Toriyama’s passing on March 1, 2024, so this was probably Endo’s first opportunity to include this image of Franky dressed up as his favorite creator. 

So far, Tatsuya Endo hasn’t publically acknowledged that this is a direct reference to Tori Bot and Akira Toriyama, but it feels fitting. Toriyama usually used the avatar to poke fun at himself and the manga industry in general, so Franky – Spy x Family’s resident comic relief character – is the perfect person to don the mask and pay tribute to the man who had such a huge impact on manga and pop culture around the world.

Each week, Popverse's resident anime expert Trent Cannon runs down the latest and, dare we say "greatest," in anime and manga in Popverse Jump. Some recent columns have included... 

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