The production team of Dragon Ball comics and anime cartoons in Japan, which gained immense popularity and influence, announced on Friday that Akira Toriyama, who was 68 years old, had passed away. Dragon Ball is one of the best-selling manga series of all time, having debuted in serial form in 1984. It has inspired several anime series, motion pictures, and computer games.
According to a message sent to the official Dragon Ball account on X, previously Twitter, Toriyama passed away on March 1 from a “acute subdural haematoma,” or blood clot on the brain. The statement ascribed to Toriyama’s Bird Studio expressed “our deep regret that he still had several works in the middle of creation” and commended the artist for his “great enthusiasm.”
He would have a lot more goals to pursue. But he has left this world with a wealth of manga titles and artistic creations,” the statement continued. “We hope that everyone will continue to love Akira Toriyama’s unique world of creation for a very long time.”
In the animated series Dragon Ball, a young boy by the name of Son Goku gathers magical balls containing dragons to aid him and his allies in their struggle to keep evil forces from attacking Earth. When Toriyama started work on Dragon Ball, he was already well-known for his humor manga Dr Slump, which he said was influenced by Chinese kung fu films from the early 1980s.
Toriyama was a member of the design team for the massive Dragon Quest video games, and he also produced the popular animation Dragon Ball Z in the 1990s. However, not every spinoff has been a hit. The live-action film Dragonball Evolution (2009) received negative reviews and did poorly at the box office.
In a statement, publishing company Shueisha, which serialized the Dragon Ball comics in Shonen Jump magazine, expressed its “deep sadness over the unexpected news of his passing.” The main manga author in Japan, Eiichiro Oda, stated in a statement that Toriyama’s passing was “too soon” and that he left “too big shoes to fill.” Oda stated, “I’m overcome with sadness to think I’ll never see him again.”
Asahi, a newspaper in Japan, quoted Toriyama in 2013 when he remarked that his comics were “dedicated to entertainment.” All I want is for people to enjoy themselves while reading my writing. He declared, “I have no further goals for them to accomplish,” and that he has “never been preoccupied with getting a message across through my manga.”
In the interview, Toriyama characterized himself as a “difficult” guy. “Considering how it helped someone like me who has twisted, difficult personalities do a decent job and get accepted by society,” he continued, “Dragon Ball is like a miracle.”
Additionally, he declared that he had “no idea” why Dragon Ball had become such a global phenomenon. He told the Asahi, “All I ever wanted to achieve when I was drawing the series was to please boys in Japan.”
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