(WatchDogReport.org) – Akira Toriyama, who is known for being one of the greatest anime authors in Japan’s history and the creator of the legendary franchise Dragon Ball, died at the age of 68 on March 1 in the Asian nation after suffering an acute subdural hematoma. Toriyama’s manga production company, Bird Studio, confirmed his death in a statement, saying he will always be remembered not only for his work and art, but also for being a loving person.
His most famous work, Dragon Ball, follows a young kid named Goku who embarks on a fantastic journey. His main goal is to collect seven magical spheres that summon a giant dragon that grants three wishes. The manga, which eventually became an anime in the 1980s, has sold hundreds of millions of copies around the world. The anime became so famous that it reached massive success in many nations. It was eventually adapted not only to films but also to numerous video games that became successful.
Since Dragon Ball became so famous, many Japanese anime and manga artists started to criticize Toriyama, as they said that his main work was quite superficial and didn’t offer any didactic message to readers and viewers. However, during a 2013 interview with the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun, Toriyama said that he didn’t care if his work only entertained the public.
He was born in 1955 in the Japanese city of Kiyosu and studied art design at an engineering and technology high school in the Aichi Prefecture. Local media outlets said that, once he graduated, Toriyama started to work as a professional designer for an advertising firm in Nagoya. A couple of years later, he decided to quit his job and start drawing manga for a living at the age of 23. His first work was published in 1978 and it was named Wonder Island, which was described by the critic as an adventure and action comic.
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