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.
Mr Toriyama had uncompleted works at the time of his death.
He died on 1 March and only his family and very few friends attended his funeral, according to a statement from the Dragon Ball website.
Oh my God… Rest In Peace Mr. Toriyama. Dragonball Z and Dragonball were such huge parts of my childhood, I can’t even properly describe how much. Much respect to him.
What the fuck man.
I’m watching Super everyday.
This is really depressing.
Gather the dragon balls to wish him back!!
Here’s to you Toriyama from all of us 90s American otaku’s who you introduced to anime.
Can’t bring back someone who died of natural causes, unfortunately 😔
Maybe the Super Dragon Balls could.
Acute subdural hematoma is usually secondary to a head injury, such as from a fall. In that case it’d be covered, right?
Farewell Toriyama San! You gave me superpowers as a kid
I’m not even that much of a fan of Dragonball but goddamn, this is huge…
I have never really been into anime/manga. However, I received the first book of Dragon Ball book back in the 00’s when the comic arrived in Norway as an add on to a Donald Duck magazine. And heck, I was so hooked. I read the book several times, and when the next book came out, I read that several times as well. For the next few years, every time a new book cmae out, I’d read all the books again. It was an amazing journey. I read the full series through dragon ball and dragon ball z as the only manga I ever got hooked on.
Thanks for all the amazing sleepless nights under the duvet and a flashlight. Dragon Ball holds a very special place for me.
I enjoyed DB very much. I hope the studio doesn’t mess up his legacy.
Very sad to see him die. Loved the series.
Fuck…
Jesus Christ on a pogo stick! I was just talking about him in the Chrono trigger thread