This new episode of Anime Breakfast is somewhat atypical, as it aims to be a simple farewell to one of the greats of Japanese animation: farewell to the master Akira Toriyama
Anime Breakfast doesn’t stop this week either, but we admit that we would have liked to. And it’s definitely not because we no longer know what to talk about, even though this column has been running weekly since time immemorial (here is the complete list of episodes!), but because of a veiled sense of sadness that has begun to grip all animation enthusiasts Japanese since last March 8th. Not just any date, but the one on which it was revealed, via an official press release, the death of Akira Toriyama on March 1 at the age of 68 due to a subdural hematoma. What do we want to do, then, in this episode of Anime Breakfast? Nothing special, simply saying goodbye to him, reminding everyone how important he was, for the Japanese industry, and for the childhood of many of us.
Biographical notes
Akira Toriyama was born in Nagoya in 1955 to a carpenter father and a housewife mother, in a rather humble family. He began his career as a mangaka in 1978 with the Wonder Island manga, published in Weekly Shonen Jump, but success officially came in 1980 with Dr. Slump, a comic series that told the adventures of a funny little robot girl called Arale Norimaki (and who you will all remember, as it was broadcast incessantly on Italia 1 in the late 90s). The manga, which also won the Shogakukan award for best shonen the following year, was adapted into a hugely successful anime which contributed to making Toriyama known to the general public.
Dragon Ball | Anime Breakfast: greetings to master Akira Toriyama
However, it was in 1984 that the turning point came when a 29-year-old Akira gave life to Dragon Ball, the manga that revolutionized the shonen genre with its story full of action, adventure, humor and punches, lots of punches. The events of Goku, the young alien warrior protagonist in search of the seven Shenron Dragon Balls, won the hearts of millions of fans all over the world, going from being a simple manga to becoming a true mass cultural phenomenon. And it is precisely with Dragon Ball that the bubble exploded and a real franchise was created, made up of animated series, films, video games and merchandise of any kind that have generated billions of dollars over time. And not only that: the series has also inspired numerous generations of manga artists, who have cited Toriyama as one of their main influences. And we’re talking about people like Eiichiro Oda, father of One Piece, and Masashi Kishimoto, creator of Naruto.
Dragon Ball is a franchise that has managed to unite different generations, making us emotional at any age and in any context. Anyone of you will remember the first adventures of Goku as a child in the original Dragon Ball, to the spectacular fights of the young man that we found in Dragon Ball Z. From Vegeta to Frieza, to the transformation into Super Saiyan, to the Cell saga to the exciting past of young Trunks. The evolution of the characters has always managed to remain eternally symbiotic with the growth of the spectators, giving incredibly high peaks of emotion. Dragon Ball has managed, generation after generation, to bring children and young people into his world, making them live and experiencing emotions that are difficult to replicate even in those who have deliberately taken inspiration from Toriyama’s work. Dragon Ball is and always will be inimitable.
Other works | Anime Breakfast: greetings to master Akira Toriyama
In addition to Dr. Slump and Dragon Ball, Toriyama has also worked on other successful manga, such as Chrono Trigger, Cowa!, Kajika and Neko Majin. He has also served as character designer for numerous video games, including the successful Dragon Quest series, or Blue Dragon or, again, Chrono Trigger itself transposed into a video game masterpiece in 1995. Toriyama was an artist with an unmistakable trait, capable of combining action and humor in a masterful way.
His stories, full of memorable characters and epic adventures, have made millions of people dream all over the world. His legacy will live on forever in his works, which will continue to excite readers and viewers of all ages.
Greetings, master
We close this quick episode of Anime Breakfast dedicated to Akira Toriyama with a greeting to one of the authors who most influenced our growth and our passion for the medium of anime and video games. Because perhaps, if it hadn’t been for those afternoons when we ran home from school so as not to miss the daily episode of Dragon Ball, maybe… we wouldn’t be here writing these few lines dedicated to the greatest manga artist of all time. Goodbye master, we’ll see you again at the end of the Serpentone.
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