Akira Toriyama, creator of the cartoon “Dragon Ball’, dies at age 68 – Observer

Japanese comic book creator Akira Toriyama, author of the ‘Dragon Ball’ series, has died at the age of 68 after a stroke, it was announced this Friday.

“We are very sorry to inform you that the manga creator [banda desenhada japonesa] Akira Toriyama died on March 1“, said the studio Bird Studio, founded by Toriyama on social network X (formerly Twitter).

Information ; Dear Friends and Partnershttps://t.co/85dXseckzJ pic.twitter.com/aHlx8CGA2M

— DRAGON BALL OFFICIAL (@DB_official_en) March 8, 2024

The studio lamented that Toriyama “still had several works in full creation with great enthusiasm. Furthermore, he had many more things to achieve,” according to a statement.

Bird Studio highlighted that the author “managed to maintain creative activities for more than 45 years”.

“We hope that Toriyama’s unique world of creation continues to be loved by everyone for a long time to come,” he added.

The studio explained that the author’s funeral has already taken place, reserved for family and friends, and asked the public not to send flowers or other shows of condolencein accordance with Toriyama’s wishes.

Born on April 5, 1955 in the city of Nagoya, in central Japan, Toriyama became known worldwide for works such as ‘Dr. Slump’ and also created characters for video games such as ‘Dragon Quest’, ‘Chrono Trigger’ or ‘Blue Dragon’.

But the artist was mainly linked to the ‘Dragon Ball’ series, created in 1984which chronicles the life and adventures of martial arts prodigy Son Goku from childhood, loosely inspired by a 16th century Chinese novel.

A Comic book sold at least 260 million copies worldwideaccording to the specialized portal Mangazenkan, and has had numerous adaptations for television, cinema and video games.

The publisher Shueisha, owner of the specialized magazine ‘Shonen Jump’, in which several of Toriyama’s works were published, published a message of condolences on the portal in which it expressed “great sadness”.

Shueisha said Toriyama’s series have “crossed borders and been loved” around the world, and the creator’s style has influenced many artists and comic book creators.

Illustrator Eiichiro Oda, author of the comic series ‘One Piece’ and with whom Toriyama had recently worked on the story ‘Cross Epoch’, also mourned the artist’s death.

“It taught us that manga makes many things possible and made us dream of being able to go to its universes. It was like seeing a hero who went ahead of the rest,” Oda said in a statement.

In Portugal, Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball GT were broadcast between 1995 and 1999 on SIC and then on SIC Radical.