Akira Toriyama passes away at the age of sixty-eight. He was the creator of the famous Dragon Ball series
He died of the brain condition, his production informed today, that is Friday the eight of March 2024.
9:51 AM EST, March 8, 2024
Toriyama was a manga artist best known for his famous work of Dragon Ball. The series is legendary among the fans all around the globe. It was created by Akira Toriyama in 1984 and has become enourmously big franchise with hundreds of prouducts coming from the universum every year.
What is very interesting is that it was inspired by classical Chinese literature, namely the novel Journey to the West, which is one of the most famous books in Eastern culture.
The CNN News gives a quick recap of his career and life:
Born on April 5, 1955 in Kiyosu City, Aichi prefecture, Toriyama began drawing manga at the age of 23.
He made his debut as a cartoonist in 1978 by submitting a short story to manga fans’ magazine Weekly Shonen Jump.
His “Dragon Ball” series went on to be featured in the same magazine in 1984 and was front and center of a creative career that spanned more than four decades.
The franchise is based on classic Chinese novel Journey to the West and has since been adapted into into anime and the 2009 Hollywood action movie “Dragon Ball Evolution.”
As Son Goku sets off for his quest in search of the seven dragon balls, he fights off villains along the way and protects the Earth. As he ages, the storyline shifts to his descendants and friends.
The dragon balls, when collected, can summon Shen Long, a divine dragon that can grant any wish. Son Goku often ended up spending the wishes on his friends or restoring a heavily destructed Earth in the series centered on courage, friendship and kinship.
Prominent Japanese author and game designer Yuji Horii, a longtime friend of Toriyama, said they worked on the popular game Dragon Quest together.
“I can’t believe he’s gone,” he wrote on social media platform X.
