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Akira Toriyama, creator of ‘Dragon Ball,’ dies at 68

Renowned Japanese comic artist died of acute subdural hematoma

Akira Toriyama in 1982 and Son Goku, a hero from the “Dragon Ball” series. Originally published as a comic, “Dragon Ball” became a hit animation globally. (Source photos by Jiji and Bird Studio/Shueisha/Kyodo)

TOKYO — Japanese manga artist Akira Toriyama, known for works such as “Dragon Ball” and “Dr. Slump,” died on March 1 from an acute subdural hematoma, publisher Shueisha announced on Friday. He was 68.

Funeral services were already held and attended by close relatives.

Dragon Ball, which first appeared in 1984 in the weekly Shonen Jump magazine, went on to be translated and published globally. It also made the jump to anime, as feature films and TV series, as well as to video games and character goods.

The franchise is still going strong, with a new anime, “Dragon Ball Daima,” announced in October 2023. The series will be released this coming fall.

In messages published on the Shonen Jump website, Masashi Kishimoto, author of Naruto, commented, “I grew up with your manga, which became a part of my life. On bad days, the weekly Dragon Ball [series] would help me forget [my troubles]. As a country boy with not much else, it saved me.

“… I just received the news of your passing. I’m hit with a tremendous sense of loss, even greater than when Dragon Ball ended. … I still don’t know how I am going to deal with this [sudden] hole in my heart.”

Eiichiro Oda, the One Piece manga artist, wrote, “[Toriyama] was one of the founders of an era where both adults and children could read and enjoy manga, from a time when reading manga was considered not good for education. He let us dream of the extent of things manga can achieve and showed [creators] that we can even expand our field to the world.”

Oda said Toriyama’s work inspired “not just manga artists but all creators across industries.”

Toriyama’s creativity extended well beyond manga. He also designed characters for Dragon Quest, Square Enix Holdings’ immensely popular series of role-playing games.

Yuji Horii, creator of Dragon Quest, said: “I am still in disbelief at the sudden news of Toriyama-san’s passing. I have known him since I was a writer for Shonen Jump and asked him to draw images for the game when we were launching Dragon Quest. Since then, for 37 years, he designed characters and monsters, and drew so many fascinating characters that I can’t even begin to count.”

A 33-year-old photographer who used to be a neighbor of Toriyama in his hometown in Aichi prefecture recalled a trip to Guam with Toriyama. “He improvised a story for us in a jungle,” the neighbor said. “He was such a funny and nice man.”

Toriyama used to always take his dog for walks, and the photographer would often bump into him and chat. “Once I asked him why he doesn’t appear on TV. He said, ‘It would bring trouble to [my] family if my face is known to the public.’ I think he was a family-oriented father.”