And at a relatively young age too (68).
A big part of my childhood afternoons was spent waiting for the next episode of Dragon Ball Z and the fact I still see college kids adorned in Dragon Ball merch suggests that a similar experience has persisted across generations. I’m not the best person to speak to it, but it’s clear his influence on manga/anime was and is immense. Of course, his importance in gaming cannot be overstated either. There’s a reason Dragon Quest has consistently been the best-looking RPG out there for nearly 40 years. Not to mention him being part of the JRPG dream team that made Chrono Trigger.
Too young. A big loss for Dragon Quest fans considering he’s been the character designer forever and his creations have such a distinctive look.
RIP.
RIP… :(
RIP, Dragon Ball was the biggest thing around here when it first came out…
Man, there’s really a dearth of tributes over here for a legend who had had a massive impact on global culture ? Did no one here growing up eagerly anticipating the weekly episodes of Dragon Ball or had a blast with Chrono Trigger? It’s not an exaggeration that Toriyama’s Dragon Quest 11 is one of the games (the other one being Sekiro) that l kept me sane during the COVID-19 quarantine period so I’m kind of owed this guy a life.
Anyway, does anyone be kind enough to sponsor a gift link to this WaPo tribute? Sucks that this has to be paywalled.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/2024/03/08/akira-toriyama-dragon-ball-appreciation/
Got you!
I had no clue that DBZ was so huge in the Latino community, crazy stuff.
Toriyama’s work was so prevalent in Latin America that Goku has long been considered a kind of folk hero. The Los Angeles Times last year published a smart and humorous essay called “In celebration of Goku, a Latino icon.” Latin American countries aired lots of Japanese TV programming because it was cheaper, and the rest is history: Goku slid into the hearts of another audience. “Maybe Goku is something like a saint,” JP Brammer wrote in that essay. “To me, he is the patron saint I call on whenever someone tries to tell me that a story isn’t Latino enough because an abuela doesn’t threaten anyone with ‘la chancla,’ or that stories catering to the Latino community won’t work because Latinos don’t like supporting other Latinos.”
I literally just finished ripping my collection of DBZ Kai blu-rays to my Plex server, I guess it is time for another re-watch.
When I was a kid in the late 70s/early 80s, I remember watching some Spanish-dubbed Japanese cartoon to do with mechs on a Spanish language channel (in NYC, btw) and Speed Racer.
Probably Robotech?
I grew up in Latin America in the 80s and the TV would show anime more than American hannah barbera stuff. Candy Candy, which genX mexican women apparently all know. I still remember the song, in Spanish. Also Cobra, which was R rated and had boobies but I was too young to care. It was some dude with a arm gun.
Also watched Dr Slump on VCR which predates DragonballZ. I think Goku was at first a small character that showed up on Dr Slump. It was never popular in the USA.
Portugal nearly stopped when Dragon Ball Z episodes first came out. I’m talking military bases, Universities, it was so popular that everyone of a certain age was watching, and that age was older than what you might expect.
Here in Brazil DBZ was the second biggest anime hit ever, after Saint Seiya in the late 80’s.
I watched Saint Seiya. Boomer!
Gen X really, but so did I! :D
Maybe a generational thing? This place is mostly boomers and X’ers. Robotech in the mid 80s was my first exposure to anime, but outside of that I never watched anime in the 90s. Perhaps I’m a bit uncultured? The 4chan ‘Over 9000’ meme that trolled Oprah was my first oh shit, I’m getting old moment because I had no idea where it came from.
It’s probably not an exaggeration to say that Toriyama had the most impact on global media of anybody in recent history. He basically defined modern shonen anime (for better or worse, power creep, zombie franchises and all), which has conquered the world. Dragon Quest is more of a distinctly Japanese phenomenon, and has more mechanical descendants than artistic ones, but it’s still an incredibly important piece of gaming history. Hell, Chrono Trigger alone would have secured his place in history, and that’s like…at least 5th or 6th down the list.
Most people probably know this, but DBZ (and anime in general, but it DBZ in particular) was absolutely huge in Black communities in the US. Piccolo, as we all know, is black. There’s various theories for why this is (the mainstream availability of media that’s clearly not from white culture is a large part of it), but its clear that it’s a piece of art that speaks to a universal experience. I’ve never personally loved a Toriyama work, but there’s an undeniable brilliance to them.
I missed his contributions to anime entirely and have only brushed up against the JRPGs but I know the man was a legend and will be much missed.
Well, minute of silence here, for one of the greats of the medium has fallen.
Can’t say I was particularly fond of his style, but even a person as blind as I can see that his works moved and entertained a lot of people, and inspired a lot of kids everywhere.
So long, Akira. It’s been good to have you around.
Yeah, I knew about the Black community and anime in general with dbz being a big part of that.
So cool how this guy’s stuff has crossed so many cultures and generations.
Dang, sorry to see this, especially at a relatively young age. I never got into Dragon Ball, but his style was instantly recognizable, and formed a big part of the identity of Chrono Trigger and Dragon Quest.