Akira Toriyama: ICON
On March 1st, 2024, the world lost a true icon. Akira Toriyama, creator of Dragonball, Dr. Slump and Sand Land, has passed away. Akira Toriyama was important to millions of people, communities, nations even, as you surely saw from the outpouring of mourning that came following his death. I find myself at a bit of a loss for words myself – Toriyama’s work was integral to who I was as a boy and who I’ve grown to be as a man, that it’s difficult to fully articulate. Having said that, I’ll try my best to illuminate just how much this man I’ve never met meant to me.
Dragonball Z was the first anime I truly enjoyed after Pokemon, at the young age of seven. (Though really, I grouped Pokemon more with the Saturday morning cartoons of that era than anything “anime”.) It was so much different than anything else I was watching at the time – more mature, more violent. (Insert fight Scene) It was something my parents and grandparents didn’t like or understand – so Dragonball Z became that much more interesting to me, it was weird and unknown. Thankfully, my parents never forbid me from watching it, and my father would even occasionally buy me a DVD of it, which I would watch over and over again, back when they only had three or four episodes on them each. It was really hard work being a fan of anime in the early 2000s, especially when you were a kid with no spending money of your own. Having to justify every purchase of one of these DVDs became part of the reason I loved Dragonball Z so much – because I had to work so hard to own and watch it. I saw the series proper several times over on Toonami, but it wasn’t as reliable as DVD.
More to the point, Akira Toriyama and his work influenced me on a deeper level – artistically. I had been drawing since I was two years old, but seeing Toriyama’s style lit a fire in me. After watching Dragonball Z, I would sketch non-stop, making my own original characters from his universe, new transformations, drawing over and over and slowly but surely improving my own art style. Toriyama and the “How to Draw Dragonball Z” books I had as a kid were the first footholds I had to show me the value of anatomy in art, and not just drawing freehand like I had been for some time.
Toriyama’s work also inspired me as an author. Back when I was developing my first novel, Death Bunny!, I envisioned it as a multi-novel work, with stories spanning decades, much like Dragonball and Dragonball Z. In later drafts, I would compress the novel into a massive journey, each with overarching plots and massive, explosive battles. It was the first real step on my journey as an author, and Toriyama took me there.
As I continued to draw, it would take up more and more of my time. All of my recess time was taken up by drawing in a corner on the blacktop. I would sketch Goku and Vegeta all over my math notebooks when I was bored in class. At times, it alienated me from other kids, and embarrassed me in front of my teachers, but I never stopped. And, once I got to middle school, that art got me noticed, and got me some of my first real long-time friends. We bonded over our love of anime, with Dragonball Z acting as the gateway to an entire genre of media. Because I fell in love with Dragonball Z, I became a better artist. Because of Toriyama, I made friends. Because of Toriyama, I am the man I am today.
Thank you, Mr. Toriyama. You inspired me. More than that, you and your work continue to inspire me. I want nothing more than to continue the legacy you’ve left behind, to create new worlds for people to explore, to truly foster the creative spirit in others, just as you did. May you rest in peace.
