Akira Toriyama

Akira Toriyama was born on April 5, 1955, in Kiyosu, Aichi Prefecture, near Nagoya. He spent his whole life in that area. After technical school he worked about three years at a Nagoya ad agency drawing posters. He quit around age 23 and, short on cash, decided to try a manga contest.

His early entries won nothing, but they caught the eye of Shueisha editor Kazuhiko Torishima. Torishima rejected page after page, Star Wars parodies included, and told the newcomer to keep going. The debut came in 1978 with Wonder Island in Weekly Shōnen Jump. That partnership, full of scolding and cuts, shaped the way Toriyama told stories.

His first hit was Dr. Slump, which ran from 1980 to 1984. It follows Senbei Norimaki, a clumsy inventor, and Arale, the robot girl he builds in Penguin Village. It was pure gag comedy, with puns and smiling poop. It sold more than 35 million copies in Japan, won the Shogakukan Manga Award in 1981 and became a Toei anime. In 1982 Toriyama married Yoshimi Katō, a former manga artist who worked as Nachi Mikami.

In 1984 he started Dragon Ball, drawing on Journey to the West and Jackie Chan's kung fu films. Goku, a boy with a monkey tail, joins Bulma on a hunt for the seven Dragon Balls. Bit by bit the comic adventure turned into a manga about fights, tournaments and ever stronger enemies. It ran 519 chapters in 42 volumes until 1995, with sales estimated at 260 to 300 million copies worldwide. The Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z anime took the story to TV in dozens of countries and made Goku a familiar face from Mexico to Brazil.

Toriyama drew with economy. He loved machines, cars and detailed vehicles, and said he rarely planned the plot far ahead. Alongside manga, he created the look of Dragon Quest starting with the first game in 1986 and kept that job for the rest of his life. He also designed the characters of Chrono Trigger (1995) and Blue Dragon (2006).

After Dragon Ball he favored short stories: Cowa! and Kajika in the late 1990s, Sand Land in 2000, and Jaco the Galactic Patrolman in 2013, the last manga he both wrote and drew alone. He came back to Goku's world as screenwriter of the recent films and laid out the story of Dragon Ball Super, drawn by Toyotarou. He also wrote a new arc for the Sand Land animation and created the story and characters of Dragon Ball Daima. France gave him a special award at the Angoulême festival in 2013 and made him a Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters in 2019.

Toriyama died on March 1, 2024, at 68, of an acute subdural hematoma. His company, Bird Studio, announced it a week later. Tributes came from fellow artists, governments and fans around the world.