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Akira Toriyama, the creator of the Dragon Ball manga, has died at 68. According to the official Dragon Ball account on X (formerly Twitter), Toriyama “passed away on March 1st due to acute subdural hematoma,” a type of blood clot in his brain.
Toriyama was born in Nagoya, Japan, in 1955, located in central Honshu. His entry into the world of comics was through his 1980s gag manga called Dr. Slump, which featured a little girl robot and the scientist who created her. However, Dragon Ball remains his most popular and well-known creation to date.
The Dragon Ball manga series debuted in 1984 and stars a boy named Son Goku as he goes on a quest to collect “dragon balls” to give him magical powers. The series would later spawn the Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball Super series, both of which were immensely popular and have enjoyed international acclaim ever since their creation. Toriyama’s work also inspired the creative minds behind other classic manga series such as One Piece, Bleach, and Naruto.
Toriyama revolutionized the manga and anime industries, as his creations led to the popularization of Japanese comics and animation in the Western world. With the earliest animated adaptation of Dragon Ball being split into 153 episodes, there was certainly no lack of content for students looking for after-school entertainment. The news of his passing has generated an international outpouring of kind words and messages as fans around the world grapple with the passing of the manga giant.
The creator allegedly had unfinished works when he passed away, the most recent of which being the character designs for Dragon Ball Daima, a spin-off series due to release sometime in the fall. Even though Toriyama has passed away, he continues to live on in the minds and hearts of millions of fans worldwide.
Akira Toriyama, best known as the creator of the hit manga Dragon Ball, has died at 68.
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He revolutionized the manga industry by making Japanese comics and animation popular in the Western world.
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His characters have become immortalized in pop culture across the world, and even though Toriyama is gone, his legacy lives on through his work.
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h/t: [BBC]
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