Akira Toriyama, the influential Japanese manga artist who created the Dragon Ball series, has died at the age of 68. He passed away on 1 March from an acute subdural haematoma which is the condition of blood clotting between the skull and the brain. His death was confirmed today by his manga and design production studio, Bird Studio, and Capsule Corporation Tokyo.
Born in 1955 Akira Toriyama was raised mostly in rural Kiyosu, which was located just outside of Nagoya, during his early years. He developed a liking for drawing at a young age and was influenced by the Disney animated films and Astro Boy by Osamu Tezuka. The body of work by Mr. Toriyama, which also includes several other manga are well-known outside of Japan and has influenced other manga artists and cartoonists over the years. The studio stated that even at the time of his passing, he was working on multiple projects.
His best-known work Dragon Ball, follows a young boy named Son Goku who sets out on a quest to gather the seven Dragon Balls, which have the power to grant wishes. Since its creation in 1984, 42 volumes have been published, with millions of copies sold worldwide. It has also grown to become one of the most well-known manga and anime series. It has spawned five different television adaptations of which Dragon Ball Z is the most popular to majority of audiences, several spin-offs, more than 20 different films, and an extensive selection of video games on various consoles.
In the recent times a videogame titled- Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot was released in 2020 which is available on all gaming platforms, and the latest movie Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero released in 2022 was a huge commercial success. The main character Goku is one of the most iconic anime characters ever created and has influenced millions of fans worldwide.
