It hurts a lot to have to write about the death of Akira Toriyama, the creator of “Dragon Ball”. It’s worth crying because we say goodbye to one of the greatest! His manga, the anime, changed the lives of many generations. His story made adults and children raise their hands to the sky to help Goku during his fight with Cell, with the sole desire to create a “genkidama” that was big and strong enough to save planet Earth. Akira Toriyama made us dream.
What did Dragon Ball Z creator Akira Toriyama die from?
“Dragon Ball” surpassed the screen and connected with many people for its story, for its characters, for its music, for its voices in Spanish and Japanese. Remembering everything that Akira Toriyama gave us with his pen makes tears fall without consolation, And at 68 years of age, this manga genius was ahead of us. He died on March 1 of this year.
To talk about Toriyama is to truly believe that as the ‘Dragon Ball Z’ song says: “The magic is now ours… no one will ever break the beautiful bonds of our friendship.” Because literally all the fans in the world today, when the news of his death is confirmed, feel that they have lost a true friend.
The goodbye of their friends: Eiichiro Oda and Masashi Kishimoto
Akira was also the source of inspiration for other great manga creators such as Eiichiro Oda from ‘One Piece’ and Masashi Kishimoto from ‘Naruto’, who like all of us cannot recover from the news.
Eiichiro Oda has dedicated an extensive letter to his friend where he puts into words the feelings of many of us when he says: “I feel as if a huge hole was piercing my heart“. In his statement he says many truths for which many manga lovers even felt discriminated against for various reasons: “You took command at a time when reading manga was considered a stupid waste of time“.
Oda reaffirms a reality and that is that adults and children, thanks to “Dragon Ball”, we were able to unite and read together and for many others it created and forged a unique sense of belonging. This creator of “One Piece” also highlights the fact that Akira’s work generated many good, important and impactful things in the lives of millions of human beings: “Your impact was not limited only to the manga industry. “The childhood of millions of creators across industries is rooted in the excitement of reading and watching ‘Dragon Ball.’”
Masashi Kishimoto’s words personally represent me, how to write about something so sudden and unexpected. The creator of “Naruto” says: “I don’t know what to write or how to write about something so sudden… having his mangas at hand was always something natural and part of my life. Even When I had a bad experience, watching ‘Dragon Ball’ made me forget about it“.
And yes, only a manga creator and consumer can understand how much their worlds helped us forget about the problems of life itself. The fun that Dragon Ball brought us allowed us to isolate ourselves, perhaps, from realities with adversities so great for a child to understand, which thanks to Akira was more passable and less overwhelming.
Kishimoto continues: “Today I received the news of the death of my teacher. I feel an even greater sense of loss than when ‘Dragon Ball’ ended. I don’t know how I’ll deal with this hole in my heart. “Now I can’t even read ‘Dragon Ball.'”
And just like that, repeating the words of these two greats, all of us who lived our childhood growing up next to Goku feel the same way. Today’s feeling surpasses, without a doubt, the sadness that the end of Dragon Ball brought us.
But yes, Toriyama, as the song “We Were Angels” says: “In your pupil the rainbow was reflected and love blooms in your heart. Continue, having faith and hope that tomorrow will change; This desert will be transformed, paradise is what it will soon be. Open your heart… magic and love are true.”
Here you can read the full letters from Kishimoto and Oda.
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