Akira Toriyama, Legendary Dragon Ball Creator, Dies At 68
Akira Toriyama, Legendary Dragon Ball Creator, Dies At 68
Toriyama also created the character designs for Chrono Trigger and the Dragon Quest games
Akira Toriyama, the creator of the Dragon Ball franchise and character designer for video games like Chrono Trigger and Dragon Quest, has died at the age of 68.
News of this came from a statement posted on the official Dragon Ball website and issued by Toriyama’s Bird Studio, which confirmed his passing on March 1 due to acute subdural hematoma. The announcement expresses regret that he still had multiple projects in the works at the time of his death, and laments the loss of all he would have gone on to achieve. It also acknowledges the many beloved works he produced over the course of his 45-year-long career.
A funeral has been held with family and “very few relatives,” and the announcement requests that people not seek to interview his family, or donate flowers, condolence gifts, or make any other offerings. Toriyama’s family has “not decided” if it will hold any sort of future commemorative gathering at this time.
The full announcement as published on the Dragon Ball site reads as follows:
Toriyama’s work has spanned manga, anime, and video games, and his art style has become instantly recognizable over the years. While Dragon Ball and its various sequels, spin-offs, and video games are arguably his most iconic, his character designs also defined the look of the Dragon Quest series and the games Chrono Trigger and Blue Dragon.
Some of his posthumous works will include the upcoming Sand Land RPG based on the 2000's manga of the same name, and the upcoming Dragon Ball anime titled Dragon Ball Daima, which features a chibi art style and sees major players like Goku and Vegeta returning.
Following the announcement, fans and collaborates have posted several tributes to him on social media, including long-time cast members like Christopher Sabat, who has voiced Vegeta, Piccolo, and several other characters in the Dragon Ball series.
This one hurts. This man brought joy to what may be hundreds of millions of people. He left a pop culture legacy that will be remembered for generations. Slump, Dragon Ball, Dragon Quest, Chrono Trigger. Damn near EVERYthing he touched turned to gold. He was a big talent, he will be missed
Oh, you mustn't be sad, my children. I have lived a full and blessed life. Don't be afraid. Death is simply another stage of our life - Grand Elder Guru.
R.I.P the Goat he is. Akira Toriyama will always be remember.
Very sad news indeed. Loved his distinctive art style. Big part of what I loved about Dragon Ball, Dragon Quest, Chrono Trigger, and Blue Dragon. R.I.P. Akira Toriyama.
This man was truly a legend. He inspired so many of my favorite mangaka, and he is indeed one of my favorites. We lost a true GOAT and with that I am going to go binge Sand Land in his memory.
Very sad news indeed. Loved his distinctive art style. Big part of what I loved about Dragon Ball, Dragon Quest, Chrono Trigger, and Blue Dragon. R.I.P. Akira Toriyama.
His character design was a big part of why I loved those games as well. Blue Dragon's character designs were flawless with his style. I loved it so much for just the characters. Something about his artstyle just captured me and sucked me into the world.
Dragon Ball is one of the very few anime shows that I ever enjoyed. If not for that show I probably would have skipped over some of my all time favorite games that displayed a similar art style. The man is a legend.
@NoodleFighter: Akira Toriyama have hinted he wanted to rework on Dragon Ball GT in his own vision. Bummer we'll never see it.
It's a shame that we never got another Chrono Trigger game or at least a remake of it. It would've been nice to see Akira Toriyama do artwork for it again.
Dragon Quest - The game that popularized RPGs in Japan. DQ creator Yuji Horii credits this in large part to Toriyama's art design, which is the main reason DQ got heavily promoted in Shonen Jump and thus what led to the RPG boom in late '80s Japan. In turn, this inspired Hironobu Sakaguchi to create Final Fantasy, which went on to popularize RPGs in the West a decade later.
Chrono Trigger - One of the greatest RPGs of all time. Toriyama's art design contributed to making it the legendary game that it is.
Dragon Ball - So many video games were inspired by Dragon Ball. You can see its influence in fighting games like Street Fighter and Tekken, platformers like Sonic and Another World, game designers like Suda51 and Swery, etc. Dragon Ball inspired things like charging energy attacks, super transformations, chaos emeralds, the "enemy turned rival" trope, etc.
Sad to hear, I just recently started rewatching Dragon Ball Z from the beginning. His art was and is a huge influence around the world. Certainly legendary.
@NoodleFighter: Akira Toriyama have hinted he wanted to rework on Dragon Ball GT in his own vision. Bummer we'll never see it.
I think you are talking about the upcoming spin off anime Dragon Ball Daima. That is basically his own version of GT.
@AcidTango said:
It's a shame that we never got another Chrono Trigger game or at least a remake of it. It would've been nice to see Akira Toriyama do artwork for it again.
I wonder if Toyotaro will take the mantle since after all he was the one doing the art for the Dragon Ball Super Manga for almost a decade now. He is really good at imitating Toriyama's art style but we don't know if he has the creativity to make original designs on his own that look like Toriyama made them.
R.I.P. It was such a magical time to read and watch his work and play the games for which he created art. He captured a wonderful sense of adventure, sense of wonder, humor, the power of friendship, exciting battles, human growth, and death with a unique, edgy, yet somehow warm touch. And it was such a pleasure to enjoy his manga, anime, and games with friends, family, and strangers on the Internet, sharing our thoughts and opinions.
His contributions to the entertainment industry are immeasurable. I hope he is enjoying his afterlife in heaven with a fat little god wearing round sunglasses and a moneky pet, haha.
Also, Square Enix better know what to do to honor his memory.
R.I.P. It was such a magical time to read and watch his work and play the games for which he created art. He captured a wonderful sense of adventure, sense of wonder, humor, the power of friendship, exciting battles, human growth, and death with a unique, edgy, yet somehow warm touch. And it was such a pleasure to enjoy his manga, anime, and games with friends, family, and strangers on the Internet, sharing our thoughts and opinions.
His contributions to the entertainment industry are immeasurable. I hope he is enjoying his afterlife in heaven with a fat little god wearing round sunglasses and a moneky pet, haha.
Also, Square Enix better know what to do to honor his memory.
They knew exactly what to do in 2021 and 2022. Release NFT's with his work. But now they're completely lost.
@hardwenzen: Well, they're investing in AI now, which could mean that we'll see a trilogy of Chrono Trigger Remake or Rebirth or whatever, with Toriyama-like artwork by Stable Defusion. I wouldn't be surprised if they sell them for $70 each, haha.
Dragon Quest - The game that popularized RPGs in Japan. DQ creator Yuji Horii credits this in large part to Toriyama's art design, which is the main reason DQ got heavily promoted in Shonen Jump and thus what led to the RPG boom in late '80s Japan. In turn, this inspired Hironobu Sakaguchi to create Final Fantasy, which went on to popularize RPGs in the West a decade later.
Chrono Trigger - One of the greatest RPGs of all time. Toriyama's art design contributed to making it the legendary game that it is.
Dragon Ball - So many video games were inspired by Dragon Ball. You can see its influence in fighting games like Street Fighter and Tekken, platformers like Sonic and Another World, game designers like Suda51 and Swery, etc. Dragon Ball inspired things like charging energy attacks, super transformations, chaos emeralds, the "enemy turned rival" trope, etc.
In addition:
Dr. Slump - Shigeru Miyamoto said Mario's movement was inspired by Arale from Dr. Slump.
RIP. I remember the days watching Dragon Ball after school. Not only did I watch the anime, I also collected stickers, played the video game and collected the manga.
RIP. One of my all time fav manga and anime grown up watching DB, DBZ, DB GT as well as Dr Slump. I used to collect Dragon Ball manga too idk how many versions I bought but my mom kept throwing them away lol. To me he still the best at drawing movement and having great manga panel placement. Its easy to translate what he is drawing to actual fighting movement in your mind. Akira Toriyama also doesn't do walls of text in his panels which many manga nowadays do like One Piece or Hunter x Hunter.
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