R.I.P. Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama
One of the most iconic manga and anime artists of the 20th and 21st centuries, Toriyama designed characters for Dragon Ball, Dragon Quest, and much more
Aux News Akira Toriyama
Akira Toriyama has died. As the creator of the long-running Dragon Ball franchise—to say nothing of his work in film, television, video games, and in other manga titles—Toriyama could comfortably be described as one of the most influential comics creators of all time. With an instantly recognizable style, a notably goofy (and occasionally perverse) sense of humor, and a prodigious work ethic, Toriyama did as much as any single creator could to define the look of manga and anime in the 20th century. His death was reported tonight by the official Dragon Ball Twitter account, which revealed that he died on March 1. Toriyama was 68.
Inspired by Disney films and the work of Astro Boy creator Osamu Tezuka, Toriyama began submitting comics to Japanese magazine Weekly Shonen Jump in the 1980s, eventually earning his first major success with comedy sci-fi series Dr. Slump. If Toriyama had stopped there, he already would have been one of the best-known manga and anime creators of his generation, with Dr. Slump picking up a huge fan following and an anime adaptation. But then, in 1983, at the suggestion of his editor, he pivoted to a series more rooted in his love of martial arts movies, and Dragon Ball was born.
Initially based, at least in part, on the traditional Journey To The West, Dragon Ball swiftly spiraled out from there, eventually becoming one of the most recognizable media franchises of all time. Among other things, it’s generally been credited as a massive factor in the popularization of anime in the Western world, with Cartoon Network’s serialization of sequel series Dragon Ball Z a multi-year mainstay of the network’s afternoon programming block. And yet, despite becoming a juggernaut, the series never stopped feeling personal, mostly because it never stopped being about Toriyama’s various obsessions: Cool-looking vehicles, cool-looking superpowers, really dumb jokes, and the raw spectacle of fighters finding ever-more-absurd ways to out-power each other. Taking as a whole, it’s one of those works that’s almost impossible to evaluate on its own merits, because the tropes it trafficked in and created are so thoroughly embedded in the heart of a certain kind of anime and manga; it’s a comic/show that huge parts of the artform is in conversation with, even 40 years after its creation.
Even as he continued—with occasional gaps—to write and publish Dragon Ball in one form or another for most of the rest of his life, Toriyama also branched out into other realms. In 1986, he was approached to serve as character designer for the first installment of the long-running Dragon Quest series of fantasy role-playing games, a role he’d continue on for decades. And while one of the joys of later games in the franchise has been seeing modern technology get better and better at replicating Toriyama’s art, much of his genius can be seen in the simple, shockingly expressive designs he did for the franchise’s most basic enemies back in the 1980s, the adorable, instantly recognizable Slimes. (Big eyes, big dumb smiles, and an almost impossible sense of comedy and life.) He’d later do similar work for games like Super Nintendo title Chrono Trigger—arguably the first game to get at least an approximation of Toriyama’s style on to the screen proper—and later efforts like Blue Dragon.
Notably shy, Toriyama was known for reclusiveness, to the fact that almost no photographs exist of his face. It feels telling that the announcement of his death this week was accompanied, not by a photograph, but a drawing of “Robotoriyama,” the adorable, stylized robot he often drew himself as when jokily appearing in his own works, or when representing himself to fans.
39 Comments
This article was the first thing I saw after driving home from setting up a booth, stocked with slimes, at a local convention. Toriyama won’t just be missed. His passing marks the end of an era and the worlds of anime, manga, and gaming will be all the smaller for his absence.
Well said. What a legacy, and what a loss. Sending love to his family.
This absolutely blindsided me. I was looking forward to his next few projects. RIP Mr Toriyama, and thanks for the memories.
Awww, this one hurts. Fond memories of racing home from school to catch DBZ on Toonami. Watched all the DB series a couple times over as an adult and it still feels the same to me. What a legend.
He opened pandora’s box with that hairdo
I had no idea he was only 68.A great loss. It’s astonishing how much he contributed to the fields of comics and video games.
This is the worst day ever
Make no mistake – Dragon Ball Z was THE flashpoint for anime going mainstream in the U.S. When Cartoon Network started airing it on Toonami, it was an immediate sensation. Anime dubs and manga translations began pouring into America. That led to the rise of Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh and other titles, and anime really never looked back in terms of popularity.The more I think about Toriyama and his legacy, that’s what stands out the most – that with each passing year, Dragon Ball Z feels more and more culturally present than ever before.
Sorry, but as tragic as Toriyama passing is, this comment is just factually wrong on a number of levels.
It is one of the Trio, being Robotech/Sailor Moon/DBZ. Yes, there were other shows beforehand, but those are the ones that made it to syndicated airwaves and reached the most people. And I would argue that whatever paths the former two opened, DBZ made it explode.
And the people who watched those had parents who watched Astro Boy and Speed Racer. Also before it was a Michael Bay movie franchise Transformers was about as big as Children’s television gets and that was a decade before DBZ took over every Elementary School in America. Doesn’t mean Dragon Ball wasn’t important, we just can’t pretend Millennials invented everything.
Again, I’m not disputing that there was anime in America prior to the three I mentioned, but my point is that a lot of the kids watching DBZ and Sailor Moon DIDN’T have parents watching Astro Boy or Speed Racer or Kimba the White Lion or whatever. And Transformers is one where its anime-ness can be debated, unlike, say, Voltron.DBZ and Sailor Moon were the ones which scandalized the Moral Majority with wanton violence and sexuality. Clearly those parents weren’t raised on Astro Boy and Speed Racer. You have the anime who tee up the ball, and you have those that propel it into the public eye with a single swing. We’re saying that DBZ is one of the latter.
Transformers isn’t anime! The original toys were repackaged from Japanese toy lines, but the Transformers IP and the cartoon were fully American productions.
Yea, I was watching Sailor Moon on syndication in 1995 in 5th grade. DBZ didn’t blow up until late 1998 went I was Freshman in HS.
NiDragon Ball Z was massively popular before Toonami, and anime was extremely popular beforehand and had been for decades, too and was growing more so. A lot of DBZ fans, especially in the US, have never watched another anime in their life or consider DBZ anime because of Funimation dubbing. It did a ton to help Dragon Ball but not anime overall.It’s “inspite of”. Not “because of”. Manga was growing constantly and frequently in successfand prominence for a long time too.
He’s 100% right. DBZ was MASSIVE. It’s still probably the most popular manga/anime of all time. But especially at the time no anime had even been close to as popular as DBZ was, maaayybe with the exception of Sailor Moon and Pokemon.
Pokémon was legit phenomenon that people acknowledged as anime. The US barely even blinked with Sailor Moon at first. It had terrible timeslots and poor viewership. I’m not even American and I know this shit. Dragon Ball Z was very successful before Toonami, and anime was extremely popular beforehand and had been for decades, too. Had Dragon Ball been a straight to video series by, say, Viz it still would have been a success. It’s an inspite of not because of situation. A lot of DBZ fans, especially in the US, have never watched another anime in their life or consider DBZ anime because of Funimation dubbing. It did a ton to help Dragon Ball but not anime overall.Manga was growing constantly and frequently in successfand prominence for a long time too.
You must be the “Um actually…”-Nerd that everyone hates. You really found the perfect news to proof that.
Pokémon fever predated DBZ on Toonami. Pokémon made anime mainstream in North America. DBZ was massively influential, but it was Pokémon that went mainstream first.
Yep, Pokémon was a legit phenomenon above DBZ. Like they were both popular but Pokémon was even more “that shit”. Dragon Ball Z was also massively popular before Toonami, and anime was extremely popular beforehand and had been for decades, too. A lot of DBZ fans, especially in the US, have never watched another anime in their life or consider DBZ anime because of Funimation dubbing. It did a ton to help Dragon Ball but not anime overall. Manga was growing constantly and frequently for a long time too.
This made me go back and check the timeline – turns out both shows premiered in the U.S. at almost exactly the same time. DBZ made its Toonami debut on August 31st, 1998, and Pokemon premiered in the U.S. on Sept. 8th, 1998. I remember Pokemon REALLY catching on in 1999 more than 1998.
(worth noting that DBZ had technically aired in syndication for a couple of years by this point, but barely – my local TV station aired it at 5am on Sunday mornings)
Here’s the kicker. In 1998, Pokémon was already so instantly mainstream that everyone was culturally aware of it practically overnight, regardless if they watched or played. 70 yo grandparents knew of Pokémon and that it’s their grandchildren favorite. Snl, and late night host made skits and monolog jokes about it.DBZ on the otherhand, wasn’t even close in terms of mainstream popularity outside of middle school boys at the time.
It really hammered in just how important his legacy was (and what a cultural juggernaut the DB franchise has been) that I’ve seen news articles about Toriyama’s passing on other “pop culture” websites that usually never talk about anime/animation in general. That series is a huge, huge reason why anime has gone from something you saw merch for once in a blue moon at Suncoast to almost every store having some piece of anime merch in it.
Prior to Toonami DragonBall Z, anime was really hard to find in the US. You had to go to speciality comics stores if you were lucky enough to live by one. Otherwise you might get lucky finding some dubs of classic stuff (like Tenchi or Guyver) at Blockbuster. Back then they called anime “adult animation”.
DBZ, Akira, and Ghost in the Shell were the gateways to Anime…before it was even called that (Japanimation?). I actually knew his art style first from the Dragon Warrior games on the NES, since they got to the U.S. before his shows did.RIP.
Japanimation. Now that’s a name I haven’t heard in a long time. A looong time.
Blockbuster had a Japanimation section back in the mid 90s. They had the old classics…. fist of the north star, Akira, Tenchi etc.
Japanimation! I forgot that term, lol. Peak 90’s shit
I can’t imagine how huge his funeral must’ve been. Must’ve been over 9,000.
WHAT, 9000?!
The Man has left the building.
A retired Akira Toriyama didn’t have to come back to make Dragon Ball Super. He could’ve stayed at home with the label of one of the greatest creators of all time.
And yet…Dragon Ball Evolution was so horrible, he came out of retirement, just to let the people and new fans know how much he cared about his work, and that we all continue enjoy it for what it’s supposed to be.
I cannot weep for a man who died while making us happy.
I smile and thank him for his life’s work.
And yet…Dragon Ball Evolution was so horrible, he came out of retirement, just to let the people and new fans know how much he cared about his workSometimes utter blasphemy can be a Super force for good! RIP
I had no idea he was the same age as my mom. I hope he knew just what an enormous impact his work had on people’s lives.Good luck on the Snake Way.
Oh, fuck. This tragic news.
Toryiama’s art style pre steroid era DBZ is so fun and charming, I wish we would have got more of it
OG Dragon Ball was what got me into comics growing up. RIP.
He was way younger than I thought. DBZ has been so prominent in anime so long that I figured he must be ancient by now – but he wasn’t even seventy. RIP. Unless . . . . Gather the Dragon Balls.
Doctors told him he only had a few days left but he was able to drag that out for many years. Thankfully.