“Too Soon, Too Sad”: Anime Fans Honor Akira Toriyama, the creator of Dragon Ball

The creator of the Japanese anime series Dragon Ball Z, Akira Toriyama, passed away at the age of 68. Per the official Dragon Ball account on X, the manga author died away on March 1 from an abrupt subdural hemorrhage. According to the statement, family members and close friends attended Toriyama’s burial. At the time of his death, Toriyama “still had several works in the middle of creation with great enthusiasm,” according to his colleagues.

Now, admirers from all around the globe have honored Toriyama. Here are a few comments made on the internet:

Following its 1980s Japanese debut, Dragon Ball Z went on to become very successful all over the globe. IGN claims that the inventor also contributed to the development of video games like Chrono Trigger and Dragon Quest.

According to IGN, he began his career at the age of 23 after participating in a manga creator competition held by Kodansha’s Weekly Shōnen Magazine. A Dragon Ball Z spin-off series named Dragon Ball Daima, which would center on the characters Goku and Vegeta, was one of his most recent rumored ideas.

Executive producer Akio Iyoku of Daima allegedly spoke about Toriyama’s extensive participation in the series at New York Comic Con 2023, saying that he oversees the plot, character design, and more, in addition to his regular responsibilities.

Son Goku, a young kid on a quest to collect magical dragon balls in order to save Earth against Saiyans, extraterrestrial humanoids, is the main character of Dragon Ball Z. For many fans, however, it was more than simply an anime. Son Goku’s development from a small boy who finds martial arts difficult to a fearless hero who can shoot electrical bolts from his hands is a mirror of their own challenges as they grow older with self-doubt.

Dragon Ball has an effect on fan fiction writers and cosplayers who style their hair like the characters’ sharp, spiky locks.

Many languages have been dubbed for the animated version, and action figures of Dragon Ball are readily accessible in toy shops in China, Japan, and Southeast Asia.

In a 2013 interview with the Japanese publication Asahi, Toriyama said he “had no idea” how Dragon Ball became so well-known worldwide.