‘Dragon Ball’ franchise creator Akira Toriyama, 68
Akira Toriyama, one of Japan’s leading comics authors, whose manga and anime franchise “Dragon Ball” achieved worldwide success with its mix of comedic characters and rousing martial arts battles, died March 1. He was 68.
His death was confirmed Friday in a statement by his manga and design production company, Bird Studio, and Capsule Corporation Tokyo. The statement said the cause was acute subdural hematoma, a condition in which blood collects between the skull and brain. It did not say where Mr. Toriyama died.
Mr. Toriyama’s body of work, which also includes “Dr. Slump” and “Sand Land,” is recognizable far beyond Japan’s borders, having influenced generations of manga artists and cartoonists. The studio said he had several projects in the works at his death.
His best-known work, “Dragon Ball,” follows a young boy named Son Goku who embarks on a journey to collect the seven magical orbs that summon a wish-granting dragon. Since its creation in the 1980s, it has spanned 42 volumes, sold millions of copies worldwide, and become one of the most famous manga, inspiring television, film, and video game adaptations.
Throughout his career, Mr. Toriyama said in a 2013 interview with Japanese newspaper The Asahi Shimbun, he did not care if his work did anything besides entertain its readers. He was, he suggested, unlike “other manga artists concerned about conveying didactic messages.”
“The role of my manga,” he said, “is to be a work of entertainment through and through.”
Akira Toriyama was born April 5, 1955, in Kiyosu, Japan, according to local news media.
He studied design at a technology and engineering high school in Aichi prefecture. After graduating, he worked as a designer for an advertising company in Nagoya.
He left his job after a few years and started drawing manga at 23. His first manga, an action and adventure comic called “WonderIsland,” was published in 1978.
He gained popularity with the serialization of “Dr. Slump” from 1980-84, a science-fiction manga about an android girl known for her childlike personality and superhuman strength. It was adapted for television as an anime series.
Mr. Toriyama’s absurd concepts and sense of caricature “sparked a real joyful hysteria” in Japan, Matthieu Pinon and Laurent Lefebvre wrote in “A History of Modern Manga” (2023).
In 1982, Mr. Toriyama married a former manga artist who published under the pen name Nachi Mikami, Mainichi Shimbun reported.
Complete information on survivors was not immediately available, but local news media reports said he is survived by his wife and children.