Dragon Ball Creator Akira Toriyama Has Passed Away

Goku and Arale

Legendary manga creator, artist, and writer Akira Toriyama has passed away at age 68.

The sad news was announced on the official Dragon Ball website with a message from Bird Studio, the manga production studio founded by Toriyama.

“We are deeply saddened to inform you that manga creator Akira Toriyama passed away on March 1st due to acute subdural hematoma. He was 68 years old,” the statement reads.

“Thanks to the support of so many people around the world, he has been able to continue his creative activities for over 45 years. We hope that Akira Toriyama’s unique world of creation continues to be loved by everyone for a long time to come.”

You can read the full statement in the tweet below.

Akira Toriyama started creating manga when he was 23, submitting a number of works to amateur manga contents in shonen magazines. After finding minor success with his works, he went on to create Dr. Slump, which became a massive success and catapulted him into the spotlight.

After a series of one-shot manga, Toriyama created Dragon Ball, which would become his most well-known work. The series was an immediate hit, and the rest of history — Toriyama’s work became the face of manga and anime for over 20 years, and his designs and stories were massively influential both in Japan and abroad.

Toriyama also created designs for a number of video games, including Chrono Trigger, Dragon Quest, Blue Dragon, and more.

The legendary manga artist was said to be working on a number of projects, including the ongoing Dragon Ball Super manga, the upcoming Dragon Ball Daima anime, and a number of Sand Land projects, including a video game and an anime series.

A funeral service has been held for Toriyama, which was attended by his family and relatives.