Akira Toriyama Tribute: My Thoughts and Experiences with Dragon Ball and his other works

Last night I was watching the State of the Union address. The president was saying the usual mumbo jumbo but I only really paying half attention. So I decided to check my phone to see on Twitter, I'm sorry, X if there was anything amusing to chuckle too. I saw a post from the official Dragon Ball Twitter (I'm just sticking to Twitter, fuck X) and when I first saw it I thought it was just an announcement of the official air date of the new Dragon Ball Daima series or maybe an announcement for a new movie or video game. When I read the tweet, I, like many people, was shocked to find out what they actually wrote. Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama was dead at the age of 68.

I've never done a eulogy of sorts before, I've considered it a few times but never really had the motivation to do it until now. I feel like with a guy like this, I can't just stay quiet. Akira Toriyama is one of the most popular manga creators of all time and he's influenced many people including to an extent, me.

While I wouldn't call myself a Dragon Ball today, I had a huge Dragon Ball phase during my early teen years. From 2016 to 2019 to be more specific. I wouldn't even say Dragon Ball was my first anime. I'm pretty sure Pokemon has that honor but Dragon Ball was the first anime that really got me into other anime. I didn't know what anime was when I was watching Pokemon.

I watched all of Dragon Ball Z Kai during my phase and I was even planning on watching Super but by the time I had finished Kai, I was Dragon Ball'ed out. I think even Toriyama and Toei agreed with that, as after the Broly movie they took a four year hiatus from any shows or movies.

I don't regret that period in my life as really an example of me in a fandom and bonding with some other people over similar interests. Maybe some day I can back into the franchise. If there was any fandom I wouldn't mind going back into, it would the Dragon Ball fandom.

I can't say how specifically it influenced me but I assume with how many people around the world were influenced by it, that it had to influence me to some extent.

Yesterday was not just dark day in manga and anime, not just a dark day in Japan, not even just a dark day in Mexico as well, but a dark day for media all around the world. Like I said before, I might have not been the biggest influenced by Dragon Ball but so many people around the world have their work been shaped by the franchise.

Other manga creators like Eiichiro Oda and Masashi Kishimoto, the creators of One Piece and Naruto respectively, have admitted how big of an influence Dragon Ball was when creating their series. Even outside of Japanese media, Ian Jones-Quartey, creator of OK K.O! Let's Be Heroes, has talked about he was heavily influenced by Dragon Ball, even at one point getting the voice actress for Kid Goku and Gohan to be the voice of the titular K.O..

While the Team Four Star guys had been already abridging other anime series prior to Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z Abridged was the series that really put the group on the map and several of the members have gone on to have actual jobs in the anime industry and even have roles in several official Dragon Ball productions. It's not my favorite abridged series, Sword Art Online Abridged will always be my favorite, but Dragon Ball Z Abridged was probably the best abridged series.

Outside of Dragon Ball, Toriyama was also known for his work on several video games. He was one of the artists of Chrono Trigger, considered to be one of the best video games of all time, and you can see the art style is very similar to Dragon Ball. I have never played Chrono Trigger but the constant praise I've heard from it, I would love to try it out sometime. He also did the art for all the Dragon Quest games going all the way back to 1986, the same year the Dragon Ball anime debuted. Like Chrono Trigger, I've never played any of the Dragon Quest games but I've very interesting in playing them too with the top contenders being either III, IV or XI.

They say "heroes get remembered, but legends never die" and Akira Toriyama is a legend. Not many creators can have a work continue to grow popularity after a decade even when they're still alive but Toriyama did it. He's a Latino icon despite probably being the furthest person away from a Latino. The final episodes of Dragon Ball were broadcast in actual stadiums in Mexico and watched in said stadium by hundreds if not thousands (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOXs5hg0a5Y). I believe Dragon Ball will continue to be loved by millions of people generations long after he's dead and long after I'm dead. He will never truly die.

Lead us out Neil, Nick and Paul!

https://open.spotify.com/track/4ZYCwq1EMPY5zZt195ARWg?si=b75381a270a84a7b