SUMMARY
This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.
MANILA, Philippines โ The creators of several popular mangas and video games paid tribute to the late Dragon Ball Z creator Akira Toriyama, who died on March 1 at the age of 68.
Bird Studio broke the news of his passing on Friday, March 8.
Information ; Dear Friends and Partnershttps://t.co/85dXseckzJ pic.twitter.com/aHlx8CGA2M
— DRAGON BALL OFFICIAL (@DB_official_en) March 8, 2024
One Piece manga creator Eiichiro Oda looked back on some of his fondest memories with his “hero” Toriyama, as well as the contributions the Dragon Ball Z creator has made to manga as a whole.
“He is one of the people who took the baton from the era when reading manga would make you stupid, and created an era where both adults and children read manga…. For manga artists of my generation who have stood on the same stage, the closer I got to Toriyama’s works, the more that I realized that they had a greater presence,” he wrote.
Naruto’s creator Masashi Kishimoto also issued a statement mourning Toriyama’s death, sharing how the late manga creator inspired him to pursue a career in manga.
“I was able to find new fun by following my teacher. My teacher has always been my guide. I admired it…. For me, he was the god of salvation and the god of manga,” he said.
Many other creators and artists paid tribute to the inspiring artist and the global influence of his work, such as Dragon Ball Z animator Masaki Sato, who wrote on X that he is “proud to have been involved” in the animation of Akira Toriyama-sensei’s creation.
Fellow animator Naotoshi Shida also shared that he learned a lot from being involved in the animation
staff.
“I just can’t accept it,” Vagabond and Slam Dunk creator Takehiko Inoue wrote on X.
Voice actors also expressed grief, such as Vegetaโs voice actor Ryo Horikawa and Picoloโs voice actor Toshio Furukawa.
The author of Dragon Ball spin-off manga Toyotarou said that he drew manga because he “wanted to be praised by Toriyama-sensei.”
Final Fantasy’s Hironobu Sakaguchi shared that the late manga artist taught him “what it means to be a ‘professional’ and what ‘work’ is” and that he deeply respected him.
Dragon Quest creator Yuji Horii shared that he is still in “overwhelming disbelief” over Toriyama’s death. He recalled when he first met the illustrator while writing for Shonen Jump.
Japanese abstract and realism artist Yukimasa Ida thanked “the legend” for bringing so much happiness to the world through the power of his inspiration.
“The celluloid pictures you gave me are my treasures,” Ida wrote.
Filipinos who grew up watching the anime also took to social media to express their grief.
Japanese Ambassador to the Philippines Endo Kazuya also took the time in an X post to thank Filipino fans of Toriyama and voice actress Tarako. Tarako, who voiced classic anime and manga character Chibi Maruko-chan, died on March 4.
โ Rappler.com
Add a comment
How does this make you feel?
There are no comments yet. Add your comment to start the conversation.