Dragon Ball series creator Akira Toriyama has died at the age of 68.
This news comes via a post on the official Dragon Ball X (formerly known as Twitter) account. According to that post, Toriyama-san died due to an “acute subdural hematoma“, a condition whereby blood accumulates between the skull and the brain.
The post goes on to say that Toriyama-san “still had several works in the middle of creation”, which he was approaching “with great enthusiasm”, and that he still had “many more things to achieve”.
Despite Toriyama-san’s sudden passing, the announcement post says he has “left many manga titles and works of art to this world”, and that the support of his fans allowed him to continue creating for over 45 years.
Toriyama-san’s funeral has already been held with a gathering of his family and “very few relatives”. Toriyama-san’s art studio Bird Studio also asks that fans refrain from sending gifts or attempting to conduct interviews with his family.
It’s certainly true that Toriyama-san’s legacy is extensive. While he may be best known for creating and working on Dragon Ball, that’s far from the limit of his cultural impact, especially in the gaming world.
Toriyama-san worked in the gaming industry as well as in the world of manga. His distinctive art style is visible in games like Chrono Trigger and the 2006 Xbox 360-exclusive JRPG Blue Dragon.
You can also see Toriyama-san’s work in the upcoming Bandai Namco RPG Sand Land, which is based on a manga created by Toriyama-san in 2000.
Tributes to Toriyama-san have been coming in from fellow mangaka like One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda and Naruto writer Masashi Kishimoto. Toriyama-san was an incredibly influential writer and artist, and his work has had a lasting impact on popular culture as a whole.
Sand Land, the RPG based on Toriyama-san’s manga, launches in April. Dragon Ball Daima, a new anime with story and designs by Akira Toriyama, arrives this fall.
