The gaming industry has honored Dragon Ball inventor Akira Toriyama, who also contributed to beloved games like Dragon Quest and Chrono Trigger.
Renowned Japanese comic artist Akira Toriyama, most famous for creating Dragon Ball, has died at the age of 68.
His studio announced his death on Friday, confirming that he died on March 1 due to acute subdural hematoma, a type of bleeding near the brain.
While Toriyama is best known for creating the Dragon Ball franchise, he has also had a significant influence on video games as well. He was the main artist behind the Dragon Quest series, the most popular non-Nintendo video game franchise in Japan.
His art has appeared in all 11 mainline entries in the series, starting with the 1986 original on the NES.
To acknowledge Toriyama’s contributions to the series, the official Dragon Quest social media accounts posted a tribute. ‘We are deeply shocked and saddened to share the news of Akira Toriyama’s passing on 1 March 2024.
‘We extend our deepest condolences for the passing of Mr Toriyama, as well as our heartfelt gratitude and respect for all his great works and achievements throughout his life. He was, and shall always be, a true visionary, for now just Dragon Quest, but the global entertainment industry. May he rest in peace.’
In addition to his work on Dragon Quest, Toriyama also served as an artist on the classic 1995 role-playing game, Chrono Trigger. Later in his career, he also worked on the Blue Dragon series, which debuted on the Xbox 360 in 2006.
In recent years, Toriyama also designed several new characters for various Dragon Ball video games, including Dragon Ball FighterZ, Jump Force, and Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot.
Dragon Ball began as a comic in 1984 but went on to become a highly successful franchise, largely due to various animated shows which were very popular in the 1990s. The series has also led to video games, movies, and merchandise.
Bandai Namco is preparing to release a role-playing game called Sand Land next month, which is based on Toriyama’s 2000 comic of the same name.
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