Akira Toriyamathe creator of the famous comic series “Dragon Ball” (Dragon Ball), character designer for Dragon Quest, Chrono Trigger and many other works, has passed away at the age of 68. News of Toriyama’s passing was announced by Bird Studio (company manga founded by him in 1983) posted on the official website of Dragon Ballthe cause of death was believed to be acute subdural hematoma.
“We are extremely sorry that he still has many works in the process of being composed. Countless achievements await him… However, Akira Toriyama left behind many manga series and works of art to this world. Thanks to the support of his fans, he has been able to fuel his passion in the process of creating art for the past 45 years. We hope that Toriyama’s unique creative world will continue to be loved by everyone in the future.”
Toriyama was born in Nagoya, Japan in 1955. He loved drawing since he was young. After graduating from high school, he decided not to go to college to work as a poster designer at an advertising company. He first entered the manga industry at the age of 23 when he participated in a contest organized by a manga magazine. The results were not very successful, but he quickly sent the manuscript to another magazine: Weekly Shōnen Jump.
In 1978, Toriyama’s first work was published by Weekly Shōnen Jump titled Wonder Island. However, both Wonder Island and its second part were unpopular with readers. Undeterred, he continued to draw and in 1980, Dr Slump – a manga series about a robot girl and the challenges when she interacts with the world around her, became a turning point in his career. Dr Slump brought Toriyama one of Japan’s highest manga honors – the Shogakukan Manga Award. Toriyama then founded Bird Studio, his own manga company.
In 1984, Toriyama created Dragon Ball, the series that brought his name to the world and became one of the best-selling comic authors in Japan. Dragon Ball was serialized with 519 chapters in Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1984 to 1995. With 35 million copies sold in Japan alone and more than 500 million copies worldwide, Dragon Ball quickly became one of the best-selling manga of all time. In recent years, Toriyama has continued to work on a number of film adaptations, including serving as a consultant on 2012’s Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods, and as a screenwriter on 2018’s Dragon Ball Super: Broly and 2018’s Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero 2022.
According to Bird Studio’s announcement, Toriyama’s family held a small funeral with very few relatives and asked fans not to send flowers or other offerings. Currently, the family and company still have no plans to organize a memorial service that allows the audience to visit.
