Son Goku | Tenchi Shi | Kodomo no Hikari planche originale #10

Son Goku was originally a manga by Tezuka Osamu, adapted from the Ming Dynasty Chinese novel Journey to the West. It was serialized in Mangaoh from 1952 to 1959.

In 1967, Mushi Productions produced an anime adaptation titled Goku's Great Adventure. The director, Sugii Gisaburō, made bold changes to the character design, creating a visual style that diverged from both the original novel and Tezuka's manga.

Around the same time, Taku Horie worked on his own adaptation, published in Kodomo no Hikari (Children’s Light). His version remained more faithful to Tezuka’s original, though Son Goku’s appearance evolved significantly between the first and eighteenth chapters.