Dragon Ball manga artist and anime creator, Akira Toriyama, has died at the age of 68.
According to Mint, Akira Toriyama, an influential Japanese manga artist died on 1 March from an acute subdural haematoma or commonly known as hemorrhage.
Dragon Ball is a Japanese media franchise created by Akira Toriyama in 1984. The initial manga, written and illustrated by Toriyama, was serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1984 to 1995, with 519 individual chapters collected in 42 tankōbon volumes by its publisher Shueisha.
Eiichiro Oda, the creator of One Piece, and Masashi Kishimoto, the creator of Naruto, put out heartfelt statements, mourning the loss of their “inspiration”.
“It’s our deep regret that he still had several works in the middle of creation with great enthusiasm,” the studio said. “Also, he would have many more things to achieve.”
The studio remembered his “unique world of creation”.
“He has left many manga titles and works of art to this world,” the statement read. “Thanks to the support of so many people around the world, he has been able to continue his creative activities for over 45 years.”
One Piece creator, Oda, credited Toriyama with revolutionising the manga industry. “Toriyama proved to a disbelieving audience that “manga can be fun for both children and adults,” wrote One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda. “He showed that manga could travel the world.”
Naruto author Masashi Kishimoto said he read Toriyama’s stories every week from grade school to college and was inspired by the characters to become a manga artist. “I wanted to make manga like yours! I wanted to be like you!” he said.
Toriyama was born in Nagoya, Japan in 1955. After drawing throughout his childhood, he decided to forgo tertiary education and, after high school, began to work at an advertising agency where he designed posters.