Akira Toriyama, the creator of Dragon Ball, died at the 68

Akira Toriyama, the Dragon Ball manga artist and anime creator, died at the age of 68. Akira Toriyama, an acclaimed Japanese manga creator, died on March 1 from an abrupt subdural haematoma, sometimes known as hemorrhage. Eiichiro Oda, the creator of One Piece, and Masashi Kishimoto, the creator of Naruto, released poignant remarks grieving the death of their “inspiration”.

Akira Toriyama’s death was verified by Bird Studio, the manga studio he started in 1983.

“It’s our deep regret that he still had several works in the middle of creation with great enthusiasm,” the studio said in a statement. “Also, he would have many more things to achieve.”

The studio recalled his “unique world of creation”.
“He has left many manga titles and works of art to this world,” the statement said. “Thanks to the support of so many people around the world, he has been able to continue his creative activities for over 45 years.”

Naruto and One Piece creators respond

Eiichiro Oda, the creator of One Piece, and Masashi Kishimoto, the creator of Naruto, both issued poignant messages mourning the passing of Akira Toriyama.

One Piece creator Oda commended Toriyama for altering the manga business. “Toriyama demonstrated to an unsuspecting public that “manga can be amusing for both children and adults,” noted One Piece author Eiichiro Oda. “He showed that manga could travel the world.”

Naruto creator Masashi Kishimoto stated that he read Toriyama’s stories every week from elementary school to college and was inspired by the characters to become a manga artist. “I wanted to create comics like yours! “I wanted to be like you,” he said.

Who was Akira Toriyama, the creator of Dragon Ball Z?

Toriyama was born in Nagoya, Japan, in 1955. After painting throughout his youth, he opted to forego university study and, after high school, began working at an advertising firm, designing posters.

Toriyama’s first published work, Wonder Island, appeared in the Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine in 1978. Readers disliked both Wonder Island and its sequel, Wonder Island 2, which mimicked popular films such as Dirty Harry and the sci-fi series Ultraman.

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Undaunted, he continued to draw and, in 1980, produced a smash hit: Dr Slump, a comedy about a robot girl and her struggles and tribulations as she interacts with her surroundings.

In 1982, he married fellow manga artist Yoshimi Katō and had two children. He kept his personal life mainly hidden, typically representing himself through a cyborg avatar known as Robotoriyama.

Robotoriyama created Dragon Ball.

Akira Toriyama developed Dragon Ball in 1984, which helped him gain international acclaim and become one of Japan’s best-selling manga creators.

Dragon Ball, based on an earlier work titled Dragon Boy, was serialized in 519 chapters in Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1984 to 1995. It spawned a blockbuster franchise including an English-language comic book series, five distinct television adaptations (with Dragon Ball Z being the most familiar to western audiences), spin-offs, over 20 different films, and a vast array of video games.

The series, a kung fu spin on the shōnen (or young adult) manga genre, drew on Chinese and Hong Kong action films and Japanese mythology. It introduced spectators to the now-famous Son Goku, a youthful martial arts apprentice on a quest for seven magical orbs that would summon a fabled dragon, as well as his motley crew of allies and opponents.

After a brief hiatus, Akira Toriyama returned to the Dragon Ball franchise, working on a number of film adaptations, including Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods, Dragon Ball Super: Broly, and Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero (2022).