RIP Akira Toriyama
 

Creator of Dragon Ball and concept artist for Squaresoft has passed away.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Information ; Dear Friends and Partners<a href="https://t.co/85dXseckzJ">https://t.co/85dXseckzJ</a> <a href="https://t.co/aHlx8CGA2M">pic.twitter.com/aHlx8CGA2M</a></p>&mdash; DRAGON BALL OFFICIAL (@DB_official_en) <a href="https://twitter.com/DB_official_en/status/1765935471971213816?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 8, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

I used to watch Dragon Ball Z everyday after school around 5th grade.

DBZ was awesome

I kinda wanna watch the whole series now

The creator of the most recognizable anime/manga ever, I think it would probably be fair to say.

For western audiences, yes. One Piece is comparable worldwide.

Do you count Pokémon (the show) as anime? That would have to be the most recognizable I’d think.

Maybe cheating a bit there, since it started as a video game.

But it's undoubtedly the most influential. It would take forever to tally up how many common tropes nowadays were borne from this series.

Such a big fan of both Dragonball and Dragonball Z growing up.

I still thought of Toriyama as being a much younger man for some reason.

I think of that more as more of a video game first, but it’s a fair point. DBZ was a huge deal in the late 90s/early 00s among my peer group watching the Freeza/Android/Cell stuff growing up. I haven’t seen any of the new stuff but that they’ve been making Dragonball for almost 40 years now in some capacity. Just a crazy impact and level of longevity.

It was every day after school for me on Cartoon Network/Toonami.

What was that space robot’s name who died several times? TOM?

I'm literally watching DBZ right now...

https://i.imgur.com/lIiDXJ5.png

They took a pretty long break before Battle of Gods IIRC. At least a decade.

Me too.

Come to find out it's actually on Hulu

This one hurts.

Damn.

He just took back over writing new chapters himself each month less than a decade ago. What will become of Super? I feel like it still had so much potential.

Later knew him from his obviously more familiar work with DragonBallZ, but I was introduced to him through the artwork of Chrono Trigger, an SNES classic.

RIP :(

Toriyama was involved, sure, but the lions share of the work was done by Toyotauro. He's the one that storyboards and draws the actual manga.

You’ll have a hard time convincing me that there’s ever been a better game than Chrono Trigger.

It’s pretty much flawless in all aspects.

Masashi Kishimoto

To be honest, I don't know what to write or how to write about this all of a sudden.
However, for now, I would like to express my thoughts and feelings to Toriyama-sensei, something I wish he would have asked me someday.

I grew up with Dr. Slump in the lower grades of elementary school and Dragon Ball in the upper grades, and it was natural for me to have his manga next to me as part of my daily life.
Even if I had a bad experience, watching Dragon Ball every week made me forget about it. It was a relief for me, a country boy who had nothing.
Because Dragon Ball was really fun!
It was when I was a university student. Suddenly, the Dragon Ball that had been a part of my life for so many years ended.
I felt an incredible sense of loss and didn't know what to look forward to.
But at the same time, it was also an opportunity for me to truly understand the greatness of the teacher who created Dragon Ball.
I also want to create works like yours!
I want to be like my teacher!
As I followed in my teacher's footsteps and aspired to become a manga artist, that feeling of loss began to disappear.
Because making comics was fun.
I was able to find new fun by following my teacher.
My teacher has always been my guide.
I admired it.
I apologize for the inconvenience, but I would like to express my gratitude to the teacher.
For me, he was the god of salvation and the god of manga.

When we met for the first time, I was so nervous that I couldn't say a word.
However, as we met many times at the Tezuka Prize screening committee, we became able to talk.
As Dragon Ball Children, I and Mr. Oda went back to being children again, and when we talked excitedly about how much Dragon Ball was fun, as if we were competing with each other, I forgot how he looked a little shy and smiled. I can't.

I have just received the news of Mr.
I felt an even greater sense of loss than when Dragon Ball ended...
I still don't know how to deal with this hole in my heart.
Now I can't even read my favorite Dragon Ball.
I don't feel like I've been able to properly write this sentence that I want to convey to my teacher.
Everyone around the world was still looking forward to seeing your work.
If one Dragon Ball wish really comes true...I'm sorry...
Maybe that's selfish of me, but it's sad, Professor.

Thank you, Akira Toriyama-sensei, for all the fun works you have done over the past 45 years.
And thank you very much for your hard work.

We are sure that the remaining family members are still deeply hurt.
Please take care of yourself.
I pray that Mr. Akira Toriyama rests in peace.

Mr. Eiichiro Oda

It's too early.
The hole is too big.

The thought of never seeing you again fills me with sadness.
I've admired you so much since I was a child
I also remember the day when I was called by my name for the first time.
On the way home from the day you used the word "friend" for us
I also remember the days when I had a great time with Mr. Kishimoto.
I also remember the last conversation we had.

I picked up the baton from the days when reading manga made you stupid.
He is also one of the people who created an era where both adults and children read and enjoy manga.
Manga can do things like this too.
It made me dream that I could go all over the world.
It was like watching a hero push forward.

Not limited to manga artists
The childhood of creators active in all industries
The excitement and excitement of the Dragon Ball serialization is probably rooted in it.
That existence is a great tree.

For manga artists of our generation who stood on the same stage
The closer I got to Toriyama's work, the more I realized that it had a larger presence.
Almost scary.
But I'm just happy to see the easy-going man himself again.
Because we love Toriyama-sensei on a blood level.

Into the creative world left behind by Toriyama Sensei
With respect and gratitude, I pray for the repose of his soul from the bottom of my heart.

I hope that heaven will be a pleasant world just as you envisioned it.

Mods, can I please have a name Change to Akira Toriyama?

RIP. DBZ was awesome!

Terrible loss. Can't really think of a recent American equivalent who has had the impact on pop culture the way Toriyama did in Japan and then globally. He understood fun, complexity, simplicity, and adventure in a way that was transcendent.

Stan Lee and Jack Kirby are the closest American contemporaries I can think of.

Never heard of him.

Yeah, man. Hulu has, or had, DBZ, DB GT and DB Super pretty recently. I’m in the middle of DBZ now somewhere in the Buu Saga and already finished Super sometime back.

Some of this stuff from DBZ I hadn’t seen since I was 10 years old, like the Frieza Saga. It’s got its issues but I’m having a lot of fun and it actually aged fairly well. Some of the fight scenes and animation are still top notch.

Plus they have the DBZ Kai version so they cut out all the extra bullshit filler. I remember watching regular DBZ as a kid and being annoyed that they’d spend entire episodes powering up. They condensed it all so most major fights fit into one or two episodes. The commercials are the biggest issue for me on my basic Hulu plan.

In any case, sad to hear of this dude passing. DBZ was probably my most intense, longest running fad growing up.

think I saw my first episode of Z when I would have been around 8 or 9 and it had me in a stranglehold ever since. I watched the show after school on Toonami, talked about it at school with friends, drew the characters all the time, would spend hours searching for fan art and reading fan fictions. I think it even led me to discover hentai (****ing weird).

I’ll pour one out for a real one tonight..

Glad I missed the DBZ boat, RIP… Anime it sucks

Chrono Trigger is my 2nd favorite game all time....

Earthbound is my first...

Both are pristine examples of how to create story and substance when limited by hardware of the era.

My girl likes anime, I've never been into it. Watched some with her. There's actually some pretty quality stuff out there.

Watched the first couple episodes of Full Metal Alchemist with her. Shit got dark and intriguing real fast.

But I only say this because I very much felt the same way. Now; thanks to her, sometimes I'll watch a bit of something if after one episode it intrigues me.

Funny. I’m actually replaying Earthbound on Switch right now. One of my all time favorites too.

FF6 is number 1 for me. Then Chrono Trigger. FF4 and Earthbound are next on my list.

This thread is making me all nostalgic.

DBZ was the GOAT anime back in the 90’s when I was a kid. It’s easily the most recognizable anime in America even today.

The anime world lost a giant.

RIP creative type that I’m too old to appreciate.

fun fact - Pokemon started as a card game, similar to magic the gathering.

Huh? No, Pokemon started as an RPG. Red and Green were released in February 96. The TCG was started because of the success of the games and the first cards were released October 96.

Pokemon is the highest grossing media property of all time, though. To an insane degree.

That’s interesting. Totally believable too. The video games, cards, movies, TV show, and even that Pokémon Go craze from a few years back.

I probably would have guessed something older like Star Wars, though. They had like a 20 year head start.

It's at 88 billion. Next is Mickey Mouse and Friends at 52 billion.

Just for more context. Star Wars is at 47 billion, Harry Potter is at 35 billion, Batman is at 30 billion, and Spider Man is at 24 billion.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="in" dir="ltr">RIP Akira Toriyama <a href="https://t.co/Q10g2C9joj">https://t.co/Q10g2C9joj</a> <a href="https://t.co/5AqSWj5kiq">pic.twitter.com/5AqSWj5kiq</a></p>&mdash; Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) <a href="https://twitter.com/stephenasmith/status/1766239271302684687?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 8, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Some sort of Rapper no doubt.

I did not know that! I stand corrected.

Jesus... what clout chasing attention whore.

Ve Jet Ta

*sigh*

Edit: Context: Ve Gee Ta is the correct way.

I honestly never thought I'd see love for Akira on this board. It's awesome to see. As I got older as a teen, I migrated my internet home from a dbz board to here, and I remember thinking, nobody in this place likes anime.

Rest easy to one of my heroes.