Akira Toriayama, the Japanese mangaka/creator of the massively popular Dragon Ball franchise, has died. He was 68-years-old.
Dragon Ball Z's official X account (formerly Twitter) confirmed: “We are deeply saddened to inform you that Manga creator Akira Toriyama passed away on March 1st due to acute subdural hematoma."
According to the account, at the time of his death, Toriyama “still had several works in the middle of creation with great enthusiasm.” The social media announcement said that there were many goals the legendary mangaka still looked forward to achieving.
“Thanks to the support of so many people around the world, he has been able to continue his creative activities for over 45 years. We hope that Akira Toriyama's unique world of creation continues to be loved by everyone for a long time to come,” the post continued, while expressing gratitude to those who supported him throughout his career.
The account said that a funeral service for Toriyama had already been held “with his family and very few relatives.”
Toriyama's family has asked for privacy during their time of grief, requesting that people refrain from sending flowers or other gifts. According to the announcement on X, they will not be accepting visitors at this time. Toriyama's loved ones also said that theyw ill not be doing any interviews right now.
A commemorative gathering could possibly take place to honor him in the future, but there's nothing currently scheduled. It's likely that plans will be revealed at a later date if one is arranged.
“We deeply thank you for your understanding and support as always,” the tweet concluded.
You can read the original post below:
Born in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan on April 5, 1955, after entering an amateur manga creator contest in Kodansha's Weekly Shōnen, Toriyama made his manga debut in the early 1980s with Dr. Slump, which features a little girl robot Arale and her scientist creator. His most famous work, Dragon Ball, was created in 1984.
In a 2013 interview with Japanese newspaper Asahi (via BBC), Toriyama said he had "no idea" how Dragon Ball became so popular, and described his series as a miracle, given how it helped someone like me who has twisted, difficult personalities do a decent job and get accepted by society".
"When I was drawing the series, all I ever wanted to achieve was to please boys in Japan," he told the news agency AFP.
Toriyama also worked on videogame projects such as the Dragon Quest series, Chrono Trigger, and Blue Dragon.
One of his latest projects was the upcoming Dragon Ball Daima series, which would feature Goku and Vegeta being transformed into kids. Akio Iyoku, the executive producer of Daima, talked about Toriyama's involvement during a panel at New York Comic Con 2023, where he revealed that Toriyama was "deeply involved beyond his usual capacity" overseeing the anime's original story and character design.
You can watch the official trailer of Dragon Ball Daima from Toei Animation, Shueisha, and Bird Studio below:
