Akira Toriyama, creator of Dragon Ball, has passed away at the age of 68 due to an acute subdural hematoma.
Bird Studio, the company behind publishing Toriyama’s work, issued a statement on his passing. [Please note that the studio noted that this is machine-translated from Japanse.] “It’s our deep regret that he still had several works in the middle of creation with great enthusiasm. Also, he would have many more things to achieve. He has left many manga titles and works of art to this world. 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.”
Toriyama first rose to fame with his manga series, Dr. Slump, in the late 1970s. He went on to create Dragon Ball in 1984. He continued to work on the series until the mid-1990s, when he took a smaller role in its ongoing works. He returned to the franchise in the 2010s with a story credit on the film Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods. He continued working on the films, with his most recent credit being Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero in 2022.
Over the years, he also became popular for his video game designs for titles such as Dragon Quest and Chrono Trigger.
Toriyama passed away on March 1, and a private funeral has already been held for him. He is survived by his wife, Yoshimi Kato, and their two children.
