Akira Toriyama Passes Away.

[Dragon Sponge]

Really sad news to get in the Morning... my condolence to his Family and Friends!
68 really wasen´t a high Age, but that shows it can happen to anybody, anytime...

May you rest in Peace Toriyama-San and thank you for shaping our Childhoods
and giving us so much Fun with Dragon Ball!

[Noah]

Yes, and bloody Toei should have the respect to remaster the entire original series. But of course they won't, easy money is all they have in mind.

I think is not time for that (yet). Not a full day has passed since we found out about his passing.

But, I magine that a remaster could be a thing in the 50th Anniversary.

Let's just appreciate we're getting Daima, the last material with Toriyama involvement in this franchise.

[Nafno]

I have been thinking about what to say, because telling you how important he was, or how I am dealing with this, would add nothing to you guys.

So I thought about it and I am just gonna translate some piece of text from "Dragon Ball: El manga legendario", a collection of figures released in Europe that came with magazines with several interviews and texts from him.

The last number has a piece of text that is one his most sincere, and yet mostly unknown to the fandom. I apologize in advance for any grammar mistake:

To all my readers.

Throughout this series of magazines I've said several times things like "I am not very instered in mnanga", "I don't enjoy drawing that much" or "I've drawn this story on the go". It is possible that some of you are under the impression that I don't take manga very seriously. I won't deny it, but I am also one of those people that, when I decide to do something, I do it till the end and with all the consequences. I've always made an effort and tried to give 100% in any aspect of my job. It might be bad for me to say this, but I am one of those people who hide his effort. That's why I would like that you to give your all, whether you are trying to be a mangaka or any other passion. I have to a lot of things to push myself till I reach complete satisfaction. Thank you for reading all these 50 issues.

https://i.imgur.com/YIuLWdY.jpeg

I hope this just help you to know him a little bit, and deal with the pain.

[Soba Mask]

And the end he passed with Gohan Beast at the very top.



From now on I do not give a damn as everything is fanfic.



I am heartbroken

[Bajosexto]

Rest in peace Akira Toriyama

[sangofe]

Yes, and bloody Toei should have the respect to remaster the entire original series. But of course they won't, easy money is all they have in mind.

I think is not time for that (yet). Not a full day has passed since we found out about his passing.

But, I magine that a remaster could be a thing in the 50th Anniversary.

Let's just appreciate we're getting Daima, the last material with Toriyama involvement in this franchise.

I think it would show respect to faithfully remaster the anime. Toei hasn't showed so much respect for Toriyama's work until now. In another 10 years the film will probably be completely unusable.

[TonyTheTiger]

I think the best way to respect people's contributions to the zeitgeist is to make sure they outlive the flesh and blood humans who created them. Jerry Seigel and Joe Shuster aren't with us anymore but Superman is. Gene Roddenberry isn't with us anymore but Star Trek is. William Shakespeare, Walt Disney, I could keep going. But these people all threw something out there that continues to benefit the world long after they're gone and it would be a disservice to bury those things alongside them. Dragon Ball is one of those touchstones that people are going to want to tell and retell and spin their own versions of forever and rightfully so. Akira Toriyama did it himself when he used Journey to the West as a springboard, which is hundreds of years old.

I disagree. The only thing needed for these works to be respected and continue on is for those in charge of them to continue to make them available to people, as opposed to retell/remake/reinterpret/reinvent them.

Toriyama didn't make Journey to the West. He made his own story, his own fictional world. Although inspired by other works, like most creations are, he made it up and it's distinctly his.

Dragon Ball as a franchise will continue on, irrespective of what anyone here wants, but let's hope they have enough respect to keep the original works of its creator easily available.

My rationale is that so many things wouldn't exist if we rigidly closed the book on stuff the second the founder dies or retires. Star Trek Deep Space Nine doesn't happen. We would have stopped telling Superman and Batman stories ages and ages ago and everyone would have rejected Batman TAS because Bruce Timm was neither Bob Kane nor Bill Finger. Hamlet wouldn't be able to be performed anymore and if you weren't there in 17th Century England to see it you're SOL. I think of these things like family recipes. Their value is that they can be passed on and evolve as part of a legacy far bigger than the person who started it as more and more people become part of it over time. It's never just one person, after all. Akira Toriyama did have editors who's contributions were also important. Collaboration and the duration of collective knowledge is the foundation of culture. And storytelling has been critical to culture as far back as people were orally passing on stories like Beowulf. Akira Toriyama gave the world something that deserves to be kept alive.

[theoriginalbilis]

I'm thankful for Toriyama and Dragon Ball for helping motivate me to continue art (both as a hobby and career choice) through the years. I'm thankful to him and Dragon Ball bringing so many of us together. Thanks to him, I ended up meeting you lovely people. This is still is the only online community I've stayed with long-term and even though I rarely post anymore, I still read and look forward to this community's discourse. I'm glad to be here gabbing with you all about this silly, wonderful comic and cartoon. True art brings people together.

RIP to a legend.

[Luso Saiyan]

My rationale is that so many things wouldn't exist if we rigidly closed the book on stuff the second the founder dies or retires.

I know, but by the same token, how many original things would exist instead, if they didn't play on someone else's sandbox? It's like a creative crutch, which invariably only gives more merit to the original work and artist.

[TonyTheTiger]

My rationale is that so many things wouldn't exist if we rigidly closed the book on stuff the second the founder dies or retires.

I know, but by the same token, how many original things would exist instead, if they didn't play on someone else's sandbox? It's like a creative crutch, which invariably only gives more merit to the original work and artist.

Very true. But I think we can have both. There's always going to be new stuff as there should be. But Dragon Ball has expanded quite a bit after the end of the manga when Toriyama either totally stepped away or was occasionally popping in and out. Not all of it was good. But not all of it was bad, either. I don't like the idea that we shouldn't be willing to entertain new characters or new shows and movies going forward. It'd be like throwing away grandma's recipe because she's no longer here to make it. The whole point of it being written down is so others can become it's stewards.

[Luso Saiyan]

Very true. But I think we can have both.

We can and we will, despite my misgivings and even if I won't pay any mind to it.

[mysteriousdbzgt]

Rest in peace Toriyama, your influence is forever eternal.

[Innagadadavida]

Saw this online and wanted to share... I think it's real, someone please correct me if I'm wrong. Nice to see an homage from the man who was the inspiration behind so much of what made Dragon Ball fun.

[The Time Traveller]

My brother woke me up this morning with this news like the president was assassinated or something, it's the first time I've felt this way about a person I've never met passing. Rest in Peace.

[JulieYBM]

Speaking as someone who has written 125,000 words of her own original novel since May 2023, I can confirm that authors like the freedom that comes with writing original works—even if they still borrow elements from other works. That's just how art is made. We make art to satisfy our needs, after all.

This "seal off other peoples' work like a priest does sex" or whatever doesn't really amount to much good for art in the end. The relative freedom I had to write Pokemon fan fiction in 2002 (as a wee little girl in middle school) eventually led to me branching out into my own original stories twenty years later.

I think that making it easier to write what one wants to write will inevitably lead to more original works. I suppose that's possible to do simply with stronger social safety nets, but I think being allowed to dabble in the worlds we know already exist is a great way to teach someone to love writing and creating various other forms of art.

Really, we should just topple capitalism and replace it with a system that lets people focus on creating art without needing to worry about profit and bills lol

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

The BBC reported on it, they also had a film and digital art professor on to talk about his legacy who also touched on Dragon Ball's cultural significance in Latin America.

The Guardian also published an article.

Nice to see this getting some mainstream coverage in the UK, we've of course lost Kazuki Takahashi and Kentaro Miura in recent years, but this is without a doubt the greatest loss we've had for any mangaka.

[Zona_Saiyan]

He was a referent for many people and he will always be remembered as a legend.

Goodbye and thank you for everything Toriyama-sensei.

Rest in peace.

[GhostEmperorX]

As can be expected, the outpouring of concern and grief that has come from so many different places is massive, and is most definitely warranted. He may have had his problems and flaws (as with his works), but he ended up giving so much in spite of that.

So far we've seen statements and tributes from just about everyone from international government officials (including one world leader) to entire sections of the entertainment industry across the world (other authors, actors, composers, etc).

In particular, reading the post-DB Shounen mangaka tributes just hit even harder. Whatever anyone may think about their works or what they became, they genuinely took more than just inspiration from what Toriyama made. It was even an emotional support, according to at least one of them.

And even when it comes to the presentation of his work abroad, regardless of any road bumps along the way, the same impact was felt among fans the world over. Really makes me reconsider why I had even made a certain thread not too long ago.

Not so sure what more to say, but this is the reality we're faced with. Just as everything else that has happened from the start of his career till date.

Saw this online and wanted to share... I think it's real, someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

No problem, because it definitely is real.

[obiwan23s]

All I can think about right now is when I first saw Dragon Ball Z one day after school over 20 years ago. My stepbrother showed it to me and from then on both of us were hooked. I watched a bunch of it with my dad, and to this day my dad still talks about how much he liked the Cell Saga any time DBZ comes up.

I've tried to live my life in the way of the Turtle School and while I'm not perfect, I think I do a good job embodying that spirit. In particular the Turtle Hermit's lesson of "one must not strive for victory over an opponent but to avoid defeat by one's own self" is one I hold very close to my heart. Funny how a silly comic book about gags and martial arts can totally change your life.

Thank you for everything, Toriyama-sensei. Spending time in the world you created on the page has been one of the most truly enjoyable experiences in not just my life, but anyone who took the time to enjoy Dragon Ball. May you rest in peace.

[Peach]

Dragon Ball Super being announced in 2015 stopped me from killing myself. I am legitimately alive (and happy) because of Toriyama. Thank you.

You're not giving yourself enough credit. You're alive because you're a strong person. As strong emotionally/mentally as Toriyama's characters are physically. Continue to be strong my friend.