Akira Toriyama Passed Away!

Japanese anime and manga writer Akira Toriyama passed away. 

Japanese anime and writer famous for the manga turned into a longtime animation series passed away.

The Dragonball series which became a cultural phenomenon was created by Japanese writer Akira Toriyama.

He first achieved mainstream recognition for creating the popular manga series Dr. Slump, before going on to create Dragon Ball (his most notable work) and acting as a character designer for several popular video games such as the Dragon Quest series, Chrono Trigger, and Blue Dragon. Toriyama is regarded as one of the authors who changed the history of manga, as his works are highly influential and popular, particularly Dragon Ball, which many manga artists cite as a source of inspiration.

Toriyama died March 1 of a blood clot in his brain, Bird Studio said in a statement.

“He was working enthusiastically on many projects, and there was still much he was looking forward to accomplishing,” the studio wrote.

Toriyama died March 1 of a blood clot in his brain, Bird Studio said in a statement.

His manga Dragonball led to the iconic hero Goku and anti-hero Vegeta.

“He was working enthusiastically on many projects, and there was still much he was looking forward to accomplishing,” the studio wrote.

“He showed us all these things manga can do, a dream of going to another world,” Oda said in a statement. His death leaves “a hole too big to fill,” Oda added.

Bird Studio thanked fans for more than 40 years of support. “We hope that Akira Toriyama’s unique world of creation continues to be loved by everyone for a long time to come.”

Born in Aichi prefecture in central Japan in 1955, Toriyama made his manga debut in 1978 with the adventure comic “Wonder Island,” published in the Weekly Shonen Jump magazine. His Dr. Slump series, which started in 1980, was his first major hit.

It made him a celebrity, but Toriyama avoided the spotlight. In 1982, he told Japanese public broadcast NHK: “I just want to keep writing manga.”