Afp
Updated Friday, March 8, 2024-07:28
The creator of the Dragon Ball and Dr Slump series,
Akira Toriyama
, has died at the age of 68 due to
a subdural hematoma,
as announced this Friday by his publisher and his studio.
"We are deeply saddened to inform you that manga creator
Akira Toriyama
passed away on March 1 due to an acute subdural hematoma. He was 68 years old," announced Bird Studio, an entity founded by the mangaka, in a statement published on X.
"At Shueisha and within the editorial department we are deeply saddened by the sudden news of his death," reads a statement from the publisher.
Born in Nagoya (central Japan) in 1955, Akira Toriyama was best known for the Dragon Ball manga, created in 1984 and which chronicled the life and adventures of the martial arts prodigy
Son Goku
from his childhood.
It is based on the 16th century Chinese novel Journey to the West.
The manga has sold more than
260 million copies
worldwide, according to the specialized website Mangazenkan.
It has spawned numerous adaptations for television, film and video games, as well as sequels such as Dragon Ball Z and, more recently, Dragon Ball Super.
"For me, Dragon Ball is like a miracle," Toriyama declared in an interview with the Asahi newspaper in 2013. "It has helped someone like me, who has a twisted and difficult personality, to do a decent job and be accepted by the community." society," he stressed.
Furthermore, he stated in the interview that he had "no idea" why this work had been so successful around the world.
The work, which contributed to the popularity of Japanese manga and animation abroad and particularly in France, where the cartoon adaptation was broadcast on television starting in 1988, was not without controversy in the 1980s and 1990s. , since some critics - as with other Japanese works - denounced the
violence, nudity and the penchant of certain characters for female panties
.
"I simply hope that readers enjoy reading my work," Toriyama told Asahi, adding that he "has never worried about conveying a message through" his manga.
Akira Toriyama
was also the author of many other manga series, including Dr Slump, which appeared between 1980 and 1984 in the weekly magazine
Shonen Jump
, about an android girl with formidable strength created by a scientist.
In 2013, the mangaka received the Special Prize of the 40th Angoulême International Comic Festival for his work, and in 2019 he was named Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French Ministry of Culture.
He also created characters for several video games, including the Dragon Quest series and the 1990s role-playing game Chrono Trigger.
Eiichiro Oda, creator of the manga "One Piece", regretted in a statement the "too early" death of Akira Toriyama, which leaves "a great void."
"To think that I will never see him again... Sadness invades me," Oda added.