Akira Toriyama – RIP You Legend

Akira Toriyama was one of the greatest mangaka of all time. His creation Dragonball Z(DBZ) is one of the biggest IPs. It is impossible for anyone from my generation to at least not know what DBZ is.

Dragon Ball Z

Dragon Ball Z is one of the most famous manga/anime in the world. It was a sequel to a 1986 manga called Dragon Ball. DBZ aired in Japan from 1989 to 1996. It went on to air in 81 other countries. Dragon Ball Z was not just an anime it was one of the biggest phenomena in the 90s.

My craze for Dragonball Z did not start by watching actual Anime or reading it. My introduction to Dragonball Z was through a pencil box one of my friends had in school. I vividly remember it having Goku, Gohan, and Piccolo. I used to be very curious about who they were, this was when the Internet had just become accessible, and India did not have many Anime shows running on TV. Cartoon Network had recently started but had no sign of Dragonball Z showing up soon.

Indians got a taste of DBZ anime only in 2001. This was the time it was all a rage, we used to share wallpapers of DBZ on floppy disks and carry them to school to share with friends.

DBZ anime was often criticized for its long run time where an event that can be edited to a single episode was stretched across many. But I think these build-ups were what made DBZ so exciting.

They did create somewhat of an abridged HD version of the series in the form of DBZ Kai abridging the 291 episodes of Dragon Ball Z down to 159 in Japan and 167 internationally.

Akira Toriyama’s Other Creations

Akira Toriyama became a household name following one of his creations Dr Slump. Much like DBZ this one too had a lot of anthropomorphic beings living on a penguin island. The protagonist is an inventor and the story revolves around his adventures with his robot. I have never watched it, but have heard good things about it.

Akira Toriyama was also involved in some of the Dragon Quest games.

His Death

I woke up this morning to a message from my cousin who is a huge DBZ fan about Akira’s sudden death. I had recently been reading about multiple projects he was working on, and I was looking forward to it. This news came as a huge shock and sadness. Akira Toriyama suffered an acute subdural hematoma, a type of bleeding near the brain, his studio said on Friday 08 March 2024.

Akira died on 1 March 2024 and had a funeral attended only by family and a few friends.

This was truly very sad news and tributes started pouring in on Social Media. The whole DBZ community is quite saddened by this news.

His Legacy

Dragon Ball Z truly defined a generation. The protagonist Goku would live on as one of the most legendary characters ever created.

Thanks, Akira Toriyama for the legend you were and the legacy you built. DBZ introduced me to the world of Anime and Manga and for that, I would always be in debt.

What were your earliest memories of Dragon Ball Z, do share in the comments. Let’s celebrate this Legend.