Tokyo: The creator of the best-selling Dragon Ball and other popular anime, Akira Toriyama, who influenced Japanese comics, passed away at 68, his studio said Friday.
Started in 1984, Toriyama’s Dragon Ball manga series has sold millions of copies globally and was adapted into hugely popular animated TV shows, video games, and films.
Bird Studio said in a statement that Toriyama died on March 1 of a blood clot in his brain.
“He was working enthusiastically on many projects, and there was still much he was looking forward to accomplishing,” the studio stated.
“Sand Land”, a new TV adaptation of Toriyama’s desert adventure story released in 2000 and later adapted into a 2023 anime movie, is due to be released on Disney+ in the spring.
Messages of condolences and grief from fellow creators and fans filled social media.
The creator of the blockbuster manga, Eiichiro Oda, “One Piece,” said Toriyama’s presence was like a “big tree” to younger artists.
“He showed us all these things manga can do, a dream of going to another world,” Oda said in a statement. His death leaves “a hole too big to fill,” Oda added.
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Bird Studio thanked fans for more than 40 years of support. “We hope that Akira Toriyama’s unique world of creation continues to be loved by everyone for a long time to come.”
Akira Toriyama Background
Born in Aichi prefecture in central Japan in 1955, Toriyama made his manga debut in 1978 with the adventure comic “Wonder Island,” published in the Weekly Shonen Jump magazine. His Dr. Slump series, which started in 1980, was his first major hit.
It made him a celebrity, but Toriyama avoided the spotlight. In 1982, he told Japanese public broadcast NHK: “I just want to keep writing manga.”
Dragon Ball, the story of a boy named Son Goku and his quest for seven magical balls that can make wishes come true, has sold 260 million copies altogether, according to the studio.
Toriyama also designed characters for the video game series Dragon Quest. He received awards in the manga industry and beyond, including France’s Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters.
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