Celebrated DRAGON BALL Mangaka Akira Toriyama Has Passed Away At 68

Celebrated DRAGON BALL Mangaka Akira Toriyama Has Passed Away At 68

Dragon Ball manga creator Akira Toriyama, widely regarded as one of the best and most important shonen manga authors of all time, has tragically passed away due to an acute subdural hematoma.

By MarkJulian - Mar 08, 2024 04:03 AM EST
Filed Under: Dragon Ball
Source: AnimeMojo.com

Incredibly tragic news has emerged out of Japan on Thursday night.

Renowned manga creator  Akira Toriyama unexpectedly passed abruptly from an acute subdural hematoma, a serious condition in which blood collects between the brain's surface and the skull, typically due to a head injury. Toriyama was 68-years-old.

He leaves behind a wife and two, adult children.

A notorious recluse, Toriyama seldom left his home studio in Kiyosu, following the completion of the Dragon Ball manga series. 

Toriyama, who was born on April 5, 1955, made his manga debut in 1978 with the Wonder Island anthology adventure series. However, Toriyama was merely trying to make some extra money after quitting his job at an advertising firm and never seriously thought about having a career in comics.

However, Wonder Island and its sequel series flopped with Japanese audiences and it was Toriyama's pride and stubbornness that led him to stick with the profession as he became determined to produce something that would become a hit.

He eventually found success with Dr. Slump, which was serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1980 to 1984, and became a runaway hit.

After a few other, short-lived series, Toriyama eventually found the success he craved with 1984's Dragon Ball. A series that would go on to become arguably the most popular manga series, outside of Japan. 

Toriyama would also go on to provide character designs for several popular video games including Dragon Quest, Chrono Trigger, and Blue Dragon.

With over 260 million copies sold worldwide, the series ranks 4th on the list of all-time best-selling manga series, despite the fact that Toriyama completed the series back in 1995. The manga still regularly ranks on the list of best-selling manga series for any given year.

A statement on the official Dragon Ball website reads:

Dear Friends and Partners,

We are deeply saddened to inform you that Manga creator Akira Toriyama passed away on March 1st due to acute subdiral hematoma. He was in age of 68.

It's our deep regret that he still had several works in the middle of creation with great enthusiasm. Also, he would have many more things to achieve.

However, he has left many manga titles and works of art to this world. 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.

We inform you this sad news, with gratefulness for your kindness during his lifetime.

Funeral service was held with his family and very few relatives. Following his wishes for tranquility, we respectfully inform you that we would not accept flowers, condolences gifts, visiting, offerings and others. Also, we ask you to refrain from conducting interviews with his family.

Future plan for commemorate fathering is not decided, we will let you know when it's confirmed. We deeply thank you for understanding and support as always.

March 8, 2024

BIRD STUDIO

CAPSULE CORPORATION TOKYO

On the official Japanese website for Shuiesha Shonen Jump, One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda had the following to say regarding Toriyama's passing.

"Not only manga artists, but for all active industry creatives, the excitement when Dragon Ball was serialized is deeply rooted in their childhood. That existence is a great tree. For manga artists who came from my generation, the closer I got to Toriyama's works, the more I realized that they had a greater presence."

For many anime and manga fans, their first exposure to the genre came in the form of Dragon Ball, especially here in North America. Toriyama's untimely passing is a great loss and he will be dearly missed by his fans and fellow manga creators. 

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BraveNewClunge
BraveNewClunge - 3/8/2024, 4:50 AM
Damn R.I.P sir!

Vegeta's arc will always be top tier storytelling to me.

CoHost
CoHost - 3/8/2024, 5:09 AM
@AquaClunge - Vegeta walked so Kratos could run.
BraveNewClunge
BraveNewClunge - 3/8/2024, 5:11 AM
@CoHost - you know what, I really need to get round to playing GOW.

I have touched a single game yet.
CoHost
CoHost - 3/8/2024, 5:53 AM
@AquaClunge - Kratos is Darth Vader, Scorpion, and Vegeta all rolled up into one.

I highly recommend the Greek games first.
BraveNewClunge
BraveNewClunge - 3/8/2024, 6:10 AM
@CoHost - they made some remasters of the old ones right? Man I missed out on a ps4 so I've been trying to catch up but being an adult is getting in the way 😅 I'm still trying to play through GOTG atm.
Origame
Origame - 3/8/2024, 6:33 AM
@AquaClunge - funny thing is toriyama didn't even like vegeta all that much. He was really more interested in piccolo. Only kept vegeta because fans liked him. Great guy.
BraveNewClunge
BraveNewClunge - 3/8/2024, 8:29 AM
@Origame - lol that makes sense considering how my boy keeps getting done dirty! Him and piccolo are my faves. I like Goku but he's just too op and comes in and saves the day like all the time 😒
vectorsigma
vectorsigma - 3/8/2024, 4:56 AM
Man tears will be shed. We are the Dragonball generation.
Origame
Origame - 3/8/2024, 5:04 AM
Wow. That really hits home for me. Rip.
CoHost
CoHost - 3/8/2024, 5:10 AM
RIP sir
FireandBlood
FireandBlood - 3/8/2024, 5:12 AM
RIP

Superspecialawesomeguy
Superspecialawesomeguy - 3/8/2024, 5:42 AM
Absolutley crushing news. Created one of the most iconic series and characters in the world. Influenced and inspired countless people. You will be sorely missed and always remembered. Rest in peace, Akira Toriyama.









Odin
Odin - 3/8/2024, 6:05 AM
R.I.P.

FusionWarrior
FusionWarrior - 3/8/2024, 6:15 AM
Awe, his DragonBall legacy was over 9000 (or 8000), at least we can enjoy DragonBall Daima, his last contribution I assume.
DrReedRichards
DrReedRichards - 3/8/2024, 6:24 AM
Rest in peace, Sensei. Thank you for elevating your art and making your story a global milestone.
ModHaterSLADE
ModHaterSLADE - 3/8/2024, 6:25 AM
Toonami would've never been as awesome as it was without him. RIP.
EgoEgor
EgoEgor - 3/8/2024, 7:12 AM
RIP to an anime/manga legend. That sucks. DBZ made me an anime fan.
GhostDog
GhostDog - 3/8/2024, 8:14 AM
An ICON who left an eternal mark on pop culture and fiction


Rest well legend
dragon316
dragon316 - 3/8/2024, 8:14 AM
Rest in piece wasn’t big fan of gt except for new level of super Sayain will be missed
Evansly
Evansly - 3/8/2024, 8:21 AM
This is such a gut punch. I remember waking up on Saturday mornings to catch DBZ before the Fox cartoons would start.

I lived in CA and vividly remember there being an earthquake during the Goku and Vegeta fight. It wasn't big enough to cause damage but did shake for a short amount of time, enough to ingrain it within my memory.

He will be missed and I hope that those who continue his dream do so with respect for the character and Toriyama.

I am so excited to introduce Dragon Ball to my kids when they are a bit older.

RIP
LukeCage2155
LukeCage2155 - 3/8/2024, 8:33 AM
RIP Akira Toriyama.
HulkisHoly
HulkisHoly - 3/8/2024, 10:04 AM
RIP to a legend. 🐉
zeon00
zeon00 - 3/8/2024, 10:13 AM
Remember watching DBZ on Saturday morning was kid & back then I didn't know what anime is
ObserverIO
ObserverIO - 3/8/2024, 10:36 AM
Way too young, had so much more to give. RIP to one of the strongest voices in pop culture of the last 2 or 3 decades.
comicfan100
comicfan100 - 3/8/2024, 10:37 AM
From watching the anime to playing the games to reading the manga, pop culture wouldn't be what it is today if it weren't for his brilliance. Fly high, Toriyama
RegularPoochie
RegularPoochie - 3/8/2024, 3:53 PM
🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹
Arigato Sensei🙏 May you Rest In Peace and thank you for all the life lessons🙏
🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹
Reeds2Much
Reeds2Much - 3/8/2024, 8:45 PM
Okay, I was never really a fan of Z or beyond. I felt it became little more than a power creep that lost the heart that the original Dragon Ball had, and really fathered in the worst trends in shounen manga (Mainly unnecessarily long fight sequences). But at the same time I've never stopped reading, and as down as I am with learning of his passing in general I'm most concerned with wondering what is going to happen between the Beast Gohan vs Ultra Instinct Goku fight that literally just started. Is the comic just going to ... stop? Is another writer going to take up the mantle? Neither sound particularly appealing, as selfish as this sounds.

Which is a pretty backhanded compliment. Not a fan of power creeps, yet here I am anxious to read a fight that's pretty much just that which is a testament to Toriyama's ability to tell a story through pictures.

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