R.I.P. Akira Toriyama

vokazu

Legend
Dragon Ball: Japan manga creator Akira Toriyama dies



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Akira Toriyama was famous for the Dragon Ball comis and cartoons

By Fan Wang
BBC News

The creator of Dragon Ball, one of the most influential and best-selling Japanese comics of all time, has died at 68.

Akira Toriyama succumbed to acute subdural hematoma, a type of bleeding near the brain, his studio said Friday.

Dragon Ball is hugely popular around the world and the comic series has also spawned cartoon and film versions.

Fans have paid tribute to Mr Toriyama for creating characters that have become a part of their childhood.

The Dragon Ball comic series debuted in 1984. It follows a boy named Son Goku in his quest to collect magical dragon balls to defend Earth against alien humanoids called Saiyans.

Few friends attended his funeral, according to a statement from the Dragon Ball website.

"He would have many more things to achieve. However, he has left many manga titles and works of art to this world," his studio said.

"We hope that Akira Toriyama's unique world of creation continues to be loved by everyone for a long time to come," it added.
Fans offered their sympathies on social media.

"Thank you for creating a manga that represents my youth. Rest in peace, thank you for your hard work," read a post on X, which instantly got 500 likes.

"It's too soon, it's too sad," another Japanese X user wrote.

"His legacy will live on forever. Thank you for creating the most iconic anime character of all time Akira," another user wrote.
 
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vokazu

Legend

Legendary Dragon Ball Creator Akira Toriyama Dead At 68​

David Smith Avatar

David Smith

56 mins ago

March 8, 2024 at 2:58 pm

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Akira Toriyama, the legendary manga-ka behind Dragon Ball, Dr. Slump, and Sand Land, has died aged 68.


The announcement of Toriyama’s death came via the official Dragon Ball social media accounts. According to the announcement, Toriyama died on March 1 following an acute subdural hematoma.


“It’s our deep regret that he still had several works in the middle of creation with great enthusiasm. Also, he would have many more things to achieve.”





Toriyama burst onto the manga scene in 1980 with the wildly popular Dr. Slump, a comedic series that followed the adventures of a robotic girl named Arale Norimaki and her creator, a pervy professor named Senbei Norimaki.

However, it was 1984’s Dragon Ball that would propel Toriyama to legendary status. His life’s work, the Dragon Ball series has taken on many forms, occasionally without his input. After putting Dragon Ball Z aside in 1995, he would work on numerous one-shot projects, including Sand Land. This title is currently being adapted into a video game scheduled for release in April. He would return to Dragon Ball in 2012, starting with the film Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods. He had been involved in the production of new Dragon Ball media ever since.





During the 90s, Toriyama’s art became a regular feature in Japanese RPG video games. He was famously the character designer for both the Dragon Quest series and Square Enix’s Chrono Trigger. He also worked on Tobal No. 1 and Tobal 2 for the PlayStation.





It is hard to encapsulate the magnitude of a career like Toriyama’s. He is a household name in his home country of Japan. His work is beloved worldwide and has brought joy to millions for forty years. He was certainly too young to leave this world so soon.

Vale Akira Toryiama, a titan.



Image: Akira Toriyama, Shonen Jump, Kotaku Australia
 

Fabresque

Legend
RIP to a legend. Mr. Toriyama, you have done more good to the young children of the world for more than 30 years than any administrator, politician, or government official.

You taught us that anyone can be strong if we worked hard. You taught us to not judge people by appearance but by their actions. You gave me and so many other kids amazing childhood memories through your creations.

Thank you, and may your journey through Snake Way to King Kai’s World be a pleasant one!

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Bartelby

Bionic Poster
The voice actors in the above clips are a complete turn-off. Is there something better this side of learning Japanese?
 
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The Green Mile

Bionic Poster
The voice actors in the above clips are a complete turn-off. Is there something better this side of learning Japanese?
Most old English dubs are like that, and are purely a nostalgia trip. Original audio with subtitles are the way to go, though Goku sounds very strange in Japanese IIRC, very high pitched.
 

Fabresque

Legend
The voice actors in the above clips are a complete turn-off. Is there something better this side of learning Japanese?
Original Z English dubs are pretty bad. Bar a few memorable lines in the Ocean/Funimation dubs they aren’t good. Plus a lot of mistranslations. And original Z had the filler problem. The show was being produced too quickly while Toriyama was still writing the manga comics. So they had to introduce random scenes and episodes to fill the time. The more famous fillers are of course Goku and Piccolo’s driving exam, and an entire filler arc of Garlic Jr., a movie character they used to fill the time between Frieza and the Androids.

If you wanna watch the “definitive” version of Z, DBKai is for you. For nostalgia junkies it’s awful, but I’d recommend it for anyone trying to get into the series. The filler is completely chopped, so waaay less episodes and only the important bits remain. Plus the old voice actors came back and have all improved massively. You can’t tell me scenes like this aren’t EP!CNESS personified:


Kai’s main issue is that they tried to “remaster” some of the scenes with better looking graphics and touch-ups, but it just looks really smooth and unnatural.
 

MichaelNadal

Bionic Poster
Original Z English dubs are pretty bad. Bar a few memorable lines in the Ocean/Funimation dubs they aren’t good. Plus a lot of mistranslations. And original Z had the filler problem. The show was being produced too quickly while Toriyama was still writing the manga comics. So they had to introduce random scenes and episodes to fill the time. The more famous fillers are of course Goku and Piccolo’s driving exam, and an entire filler arc of Garlic Jr., a movie character they used to fill the time between Frieza and the Androids.

If you wanna watch the “definitive” version of Z, DBKai is for you. For nostalgia junkies it’s awful, but I’d recommend it for anyone trying to get into the series. The filler is completely chopped, so waaay less episodes and only the important bits remain. Plus the old voice actors came back and have all improved massively. You can’t tell me scenes like this aren’t EP!CNESS personified:


Kai’s main issue is that they tried to “remaster” some of the scenes with better looking graphics and touch-ups, but it just looks really smooth and unnatural.

I plan to start kai bc I've never watched it but I already feel some kinda way looking at the episode list and Goku is only on snake way for 1 episode o_O
 

Fabresque

Legend
I plan to start kai bc I've never watched it but I already feel some kinda way looking at the episode list and Goku is only on snake way for 1 episode o_O
Yeah. Lots of fights and moments that were prominent in Z just don’t exist. Goku’s journey through snake way was pretty short. While it’s true that many of these works weren’t part of the original manga, thus they weren’t part of “Toriyama’s true vision”, if you grew up with OG Z, Kai is gonna seem weird. The pacing is gonna be way off, you’ll be at the Goku vs. Frieza Namek showdown really fast.

Kai also had a big music controversy. The guy who composed the soundtrack, Kenji Yamamoto, was apparently caught plagiarizing the music. It was a damn shame, they completely erased all of his work, which was actually quite good. He also composed the soundtrack for the original DBZ Budokai games, but those were also removed from the HD remakes.

I grew up with Kai originally on Nicktoons, that was my introduction to the Dragon Ball series. So I’ll always have a soft spot for it, despite many Z junkies straight up hating it.
 

MichaelNadal

Bionic Poster
Yeah. Lots of fights and moments that were prominent in Z just don’t exist. Goku’s journey through snake way was pretty short. While it’s true that many of these works weren’t part of the original manga, thus they weren’t part of “Toriyama’s true vision”, if you grew up with OG Z, Kai is gonna seem weird. The pacing is gonna be way off, you’ll be at the Goku vs. Frieza Namek showdown really fast.

Kai also had a big music controversy. The guy who composed the soundtrack, Kenji Yamamoto, was apparently caught plagiarizing the music. It was a damn shame, they completely erased all of his work, which was actually quite good. He also composed the soundtrack for the original DBZ Budokai games, but those were also removed from the HD remakes.

I grew up with Kai originally on Nicktoons, that was my introduction to the Dragon Ball series. So I’ll always have a soft spot for it, despite many Z junkies straight up hating it.
Yeah I'll give it a chance but I doubt I'll like so much getting cut out lol
 
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