The father of dragon ball is dead
Without him, the popularity of manga today probably wouldn’t be the same. Especially in France, where we discovered the world of Japanese anime in the 80s and 90s, partly with the series adaptation of his flagship work: dragon ball. There is also no doubt that without him many manga would not have seen the light. The announcement of the death of Akira Toriyama it is therefore an important moment. The mangaka died on March 1, 2024, at 68 years oldfollowing an acute subdural hematoma.
Born on April 5, 1955 in Nagoya, Japan, he started out as an illustrator in an advertising agency, but didn’t last long in this world of work that was too severe for him. Finally, it was in a complicated period for him, then unemployed, that he participated several times in competitions in manga pre-publication magazines. Despite a series of failures, Akira Toriyama attracts the attention of Kazuhiko Torishima who took him under his wing and published his first works.
Akira Toriyama popularized manga all over the world
Born like this Doctor Slump (1980-1984), which became Akira Toriyama’s first hit in Japan. Already well recognized in the industry, the author will do even better shortly after launching himself dragon ball (1984-1995). The manga follows the journey of the young people Son Goku, a boy with a monkey tail of disproportionate strength and who lives alone in the desert. One day he meets Bulma, a woman looking for the seven crystal spheres which, once collected, make a sacred Dragon appear which grants the wish of those who summon it. If the meeting between the boy and this girl from the city initially sparks, Goku not having knowledge of the rules of society, they will soon become friends and go together in search of the crystal balls.
dragon ball pushes Akira Toriyama into another category as his work becomes one of the best-selling manga, with more than 300 million copies worldwide. The anime adaptation helps popularize the manga, especially in France, thanks to the show Dorothee Club. If at the time some adult audiences were concerned about the violence of these works from Japan, things have changed since then.
Star Wars: Dragon Ball’s creator has paid homage to the saga in the past
After that, Akira Toriyama did not stop at dragon ball (Go! Go! Ackman, Land of sand…), although the numerous derivative series have allowed us to delve deeper into the universe. With Dragon Ball Z (which adapts the last 26 volumes of the manga), Dragonball GT, Dragon Ball Z Kai OR Dragon Ball Super. It was on this last work, written by him, that the mangaka spent most of his time in the last years of his life.
After his death, several personalities paid tribute to Akira Toriyama, such as Eiichiro Oda, the author of A piecewho did not hide his admiration.
As a reminder, the series dragon ball are currently available on DNA.
Source: Cine Serie
Ray Ortiz is a journalist at Gossipify, known for his coverage of trending news and current events. He is committed to providing readers with accurate and unbiased reporting, and is respected for his ability to keep readers informed on the latest news and issues.
