The creator of Japan’s hugely popular and influential Dragon Ball comics and anime cartoons, Akira Toriyama, has died, his production team said yesterday.
He was 68.
First serialized in 1984, Dragon Ball is one of the best-selling manga franchises of all time and has spawned countless anime series, films and video games.
Photo: AFP
Toriyama died on March 1 because of a blood clot on the brain, a statement posted to the official Dragon Ball account on X said.
“It’s our deep regret that he still had several works in the middle of creation,” said the statement attributed to Toriyama’s Bird Studio, which praised the artist’s “great enthusiasm.”
“He would have many more things to achieve. However, he has left many manga titles and works of art to this world,” the statement said. “We hope that Akira Toriyama’s unique world of creation continues to be loved by everyone for a long time to come.”
Photo: EPA-EFE
Dragon Ball features a boy named Son Goku who collects magical balls containing dragons to help him and his allies in a fight to protect the Earth from evil enemies.
Toriyama was already famous for his comedy manga Dr Slump in the early 1980s when he created Dragon Ball, which he said was inspired by Chinese-style kung fu movies.
The 1990s brought the beloved cartoon Dragon Ball Z, and Toriyama was also part of the design team for the massively successful Dragon Quest games.
However, not all the spin-offs have been a hit, with the live-action 2009 movie Dragonball Evolution flopping at the box office and attracting withering reviews.
Publishing house Shueisha, whose weekly Shonen Jump magazine serialized the Dragon Ball comics, said it was “greatly saddened by the sudden news of his death.”
Born in Japan’s central Aichi Prefecture in 1955, Toriyama studied design at an industrial high school, according to Animage Plus, part of the anime magazine Animage.
He worked for three years at an advertising agency in Nagoya before making his debut as a professional manga artist in his early 20s.
In an interview with Japan’s Asahi newspaper in 2013, Toriyama described himself as a “difficult” person.
“Dragon Ball is like a miracle, given how it helped someone like me who has a twisted, difficult personality do a decent job and get accepted by society,” he said.
He told the newspaper he had “no idea” why Dragon Ball had become such a huge hit worldwide, saying his comics were “dedicated to entertainment.”
“I just hope that readers will have a fun time reading my works,” he said, adding he had “never been preoccupied with getting a message across through my manga.”
The news of Toriyama’s death immediately made headlines in Japan, with many fans expressing their grief.
Eiichiro Oda, creator of Japan’s One Piece manga franchise, said in a statement that Toriyama’s death was “too soon” and had left “too big shoes to fill.”
“To think I’ll never see him again... I’m overwhelmed by sadness,” Oda said.
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