Creator of the beloved and successful Japanese manga/anime series Dragon Ball, Akira Toriyama has passed away at the age of 68 on March 1, 2024 as reported by his production studio on in a statement on Friday.
According to the statement, the artist had reportedly passed away from acute subdural hematoma, a brain condition that causes internal brain bleeding.
Fans all around the world have taken to social media to play tribute to the creator and his works for creating characters that have once become an irreplaceable part of their childhood.
Dragon Ball- The Series
An Overwiew
The Dragon Ball series is Japanese anime/manga series created by Akira Toriyama that first first published from 1984 to 1995 as a weekly Shonen manga.
The series was originally inspired by the 16th Century Chinese classic novel ‘Journey To The West’, using elements of Hong Kong martial arts films.
The series follows the journey of protagonist Goku as he goes from his childhood to adulthood as he trains in martial arts. He spends his life away from typical civilization until he meets a teenage girl named Bulma. Bulma encourages him join her on her quest of exploring the world in search of the seven orbs called the Dragon Balls that was capable of summoning a wish-granting Dragon when gathered. Along his journey, Goku makes several other friends, battles enemies and gets stronger, becomes a family man and also discovers the hidden truths of his alien heritage.
About the creator of Dragon Ball
His demise
Akira Toriyama was the creative mind behind the fantasy martial arts franchise of the Dragon Ball universe that has arguably remained one of Japan’s most popular global hits, captivating the hearts and minds of many manga/anime loving teens and adults since it’s debut in the 1980’s.
Toriyama’s death was announced on Friday, March by Dragon Ball’s official website in a statement. The artist had reportedly died of acute subdural hematoma, a form of brain bleeding. According to the website, he died on March 1 and his funerals were held very personal and private that was attended to by only his family few friends.
In the statement they sent their deepest regrets about him still having several works in the middle of creation that won’t be able to be met with any longer. The statement also added how Toriyama would have had many more things to achieve if he hadn’t left behind many manga titles and works of art to this world, as it thanked fans for their support on behalf of Toriyama.
Born on April 5, 1995 in Kiyosu City, Japan, Akira Toriyama began drawing manga at the age of 23. He made his debut as a mangaka in 1978 by submitting a short story to manga fans’ weekly on Shonen Jump Magazine.
Japanese author and game designer Yuji Horii, a long time companion of Toriyama said they worked on the popular game ‘Dragon Quest’ together as he remarked on social media how he couldn’t believe that he was gone.
Mangaka Ichiro Oda, creator of the hit manga One Piece also remarked about feeling sad at the thought of never seeing the face of his demised friend again.
Oda on Shonen Jump Website, “Toriyama took the baton from the era when reading manga would make you stupid, and created an era where both adults and children read and enjoy manga. He showed us the dream that manga can do things like this and that we can go to the world”.
Many fans of the series and the creator took to social media platforms like X(Twitter) to express their heartfelt regards over the creator’s passing as they paid tribute to the manga trending hashtags globally.
“Rest in peace. While we were playing the hero in Dragon Quest, you are our hero for being the one of the best art creator in the world. Seriously what an impact he had of this world, every game or anime I saw that his name on it, I knew it would beautiful to look at.” wrote one fan.
“Rest in peace Akira Toriyama. Your work brought light and hope to so many people’s lives and was the start of my and many other’s journey into anime. It can be said that he is the cause of anime’s acceptance in the west and so many of us found shows we adore beyond his work. TY!” As wrote another.
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