Europe1 .fr with AFP/Photo credits: ATSUSHI ONODERA / YOMIURI / THE YOMIURI SHIMBUN VIA AFP 7:08 a.m., March 8, 2024

The manga artist, best known for creating the world-famous “Dragon Ball” series, has died following an acute subdural hematoma, his publishing house and studio announced.

“Dragon Ball” has sold more than 260 million copies worldwide.

Mangaka Akira Toriyama, creator of the world-famous series “Dragon Ball” and “Dr Slump”, has died at the age of 68 from a subdural hematoma, his publishing house and studio announced on Friday.

“We are sincerely saddened to inform you that manga creator Akira Toriyama died on March 1 from an acute subdural hematoma. He was 68 years old,” announced Bird Studio, an entity founded by the mangaka, in a press release published on X.

“We at Shueisha and the editorial department are deeply saddened by the sudden news of his passing,” read a statement from the publisher.

“We would like to pay tribute to his great achievements, express our gratitude and offer him our sincere condolences.”

Born in Nagoya (central Japan) in 1955, Akira Toriyama was best known for the manga "Dragon Ball", created in 1984 and recounting the life and adventures of martial arts prodigy Son Goku since his childhood.

It was loosely based on the 16th century Chinese novel The Journey to the West.

The manga has sold more than 260 million copies worldwide according to the specialist site Mangazenkan.

It has spawned numerous adaptations for television, cinema or video games and has had numerous sequels such as “Dragon Ball Z” or more recently “Dragon Ball Super”.

“For me, Dragon Ball is like a miracle,” Akira Toriyama said in an interview with the Asahi daily in 2013. “It helped someone like me, who has a twisted and difficult personality, to do a decent job and to be accepted by society.

“Pleasing the boys of Japan”

However, he assured in this interview that he had "no idea" of the reason for the global success of this work.

The work, which contributed to the popularity of manga and Japanese animation abroad and particularly in France, where the cartoon adaptation was broadcast on television from 1988, did not, however, was without its share of controversy in the 1980s and 90s, with some denouncing - as with other Japanese works - the violence, nudity or the penchant of certain characters for women's panties.

“I just hope that readers will have fun reading my work,” Toriyama told Asahi, adding that he had “never worried about sending a message through” his manga.

“When I drew the series (Dragon Ball), all I wanted was to please the boys in Japan,” he said.

Akira Toriyama was also the author of numerous other manga series, including "Dr Slump", published between 1980 and 1984 in the weekly Shonen Jump, around a little android girl with formidable strength created by a scientist.

The mangaka received the Special Prize at the 40th Angoulême International Comics Festival in 2013 for all of his work, and was named Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters in 2019 by the French Ministry of Culture. Culture.

He had also created characters for several video games such as the "Dragon Quest" series or the 1990s role-playing game "Chrono Trigger".

Eiichiro Oda, creator of the manga "One Piece", regretted in a press release the "too early" death of Akira Toriyama, which leaves "a great void".

“To think that I will never see him again... I am overcome with sadness,” added Eiichiro Oda.