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Akira Toriyama (Japanese: 鳥山 明, Hepburn: Toriyama Akira, April 5, 1955 – March 1, 2024) was a Japanese manga artist and character designer. He first achieved mainstream recognition for creating the popular manga series Dr. Slump, before going on to create Dragon Ball (his most famous work) and acting as a character designer for several popular video games such as the Dragon Quest series, Chrono Trigger, and Blue Dragon. Toriyama is regarded as one of the authors who changed the history of manga, as his works are highly influential and popular, particularly Dragon Ball, which many manga artists cite as a source of inspiration.

He earned the 1981 Shogakukan Manga Award for best shōnen manga with Dr. Slump, and it went on to sell over 35 million copies in Japan. It was adapted into a successful anime series, with a second anime created in 1997, 13 years after the manga ended. His next series, Dragon Ball, would become one of the most popular and successful manga in the world. Having sold 260 million copies worldwide, it is one of the best-selling manga series of all time and is considered to be one of the main reasons for the period when manga circulation was at its highest in the mid-1980s and mid-1990s. Overseas, Dragon Ball's anime adaptations have been more successful than the manga and are credited with boosting anime's popularity in the Western world. In 2019, Toriyama was decorated a Chevalier of the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres for his contributions to the arts.

According to sources close to Toriyama, he planned to undergo surgery for a brain tumor in February 2024. On March 1, 2024, Toriyama died from acute subdural hematoma, at the age of 68. His funeral was held privately with only his family as attendees. His death was announced by his production company Bird Studio one week later on March 8. The news caused an outpouring of grief among admirers of his works, who took to social media to express their condolences and celebrate his legacy. Tributes to Toriyama were given by One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda, Naruto creator Masashi Kishimoto, Video Girl Ai creator Masakazu Katsura, and video game designer Yuji Horii, who worked with Toriyama on Dragon Quest. The foreign ministries of China and El Salvador issued statements of condolences over Toriyama's death.

This short was made to celebrate Toriyama's legacy and work. He will always be remembered.

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