Akira Toriyama, creator of the best-selling “Dragon Ball'' and other popular anime that influenced Japanese manga, has died, his studio announced Friday. He was 68 years old.
Toriyama's Dragon Ball manga series, which began in 1984, is a million-seller worldwide, and has also become a hugely popular anime series, video game, and movie.
Toriyama passed away on March 1st due to a blood clot in his brain, his production agency Bird Studio announced.
The studio said, “We deeply regret that there were still several works in progress that we were passionate about.'' “He probably had a lot more to accomplish. But he left behind a lot of comics and works of art.”
The agency expressed its gratitude to the fans who have supported his creative activities for over 45 years. “I hope that Akira Toriyama's unique creative world will continue to be loved by everyone for many years to come.”
Toriyama was born in Aichi Prefecture in 1955 and made his debut in Weekly Shonen Jump in 1978. The “Dr. Slump'' series, which started in 1980, was a big hit and made him one of the best-selling young manga artists.
According to the studio, Dragon Ball is the story of a young boy, Son Goku, and his quest to find seven magic balls to make his wishes come true, and has sold a total of 260 million copies.
Toriyama also designed characters for the video game series Dragon Quest. In 2019, he received domestic and international manga art awards, including the Knight of the French Order of Arts and Letters.