A world famous Japanese manga writer and character designer Akira Toriyama was born on 5th of April 1955. Akira’s contribution to the world of manga and anime is enormous as he has given the world some of the most iconic mangas and characters. He is popularly recognised as the author who changed the history of manga, because of his highly influential works. His first manga Dr. Slump was awarded as the best shonen at that time and also Akira was awarded with 1981 Shogakukan Manga Award. More than 35 million copies of ‘Dr. Slump’ were sold only in Japan.
Early Life and Akira Toriyama Death
Born in the city Nagoya, Aichi, Japan, Akira was indulged in drawing pictures from a very young age. He once said that he was kind of blown away after seeing ‘One Hundred and One Dalmatians’. That inspired him and took him deep into the world of illustrations. Astro Boy of Osamu Tezuka turned out to be his main source of inspiration. Akira Toriyama also took a break from his middle school, as he was more into Tv shows and films. In his early days, he worked in an advertising agency in Nagoya for around 3 years.
After that Akira followed his passion and went on to create some of the world’s greatest mangas. Till recent times Akira was involved in many projects but unfortunately on 8th of March 2024, he died due to a blood clot in his brain.
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Dragon Ball and Immense Success
Dragon Ball got immense response from around the world and also it evolved in 1984, as it was earlier Dragon Boy. It got serialised in weekly shonen jumps from 1984 to 1995 having sold more than 160 million copies in Japan alone. Dragon Ball is one of the most iconic and best selling mangas of all time. Akira’s interest in kung fu films and shows led him to create this immensely famous manga. In the duration of 11 years, Akira produced 519 chapters and in the form of 42 volumes. This manga led to the adaptation of many animated films and several video games.
It was announced in 2012 that Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods will be in development and Akira Toriyama will be its creator. Eiichiro Oda and Akira Toriyama created One Piece and Dragon Ball and a dual ticket concept originated in which a single ticket could be used to watch both the films in the theatres.
Also Watch: A Youtube video by channel ‘Saiyan Scholar‘ in rememberance of Akira
