Akira Toriyama Passes Away

The seminal manga creator Akira Toriyama has passed away. He was hugely known for the Dragon Ball franchise, having created the original manga Dragon Ball back in 1984. Since its creation Dragon Ball has become a piece popular culture not only in Mr. Toriyama’s home of Japan but also worldwide, especially with the sequel mange Dragon Ball Z. Vegeta, Picollo, Freiza and, more than any other, Goku are internationally have become instantly recognisable characters across continents, and so has Mr. Toriyama’s art style.

He didn’t just have a hand in manga and anime; Mr. Toriyama also lent his creative and distinctive artistic skills to videogames. His impact is most in games is perhaps most well known among the fans of Dragon Quest, one of the most important JRPG series created, and a giant of Japanese franchises in its own right. Chrono Trigger was another massive game that Mr. Toriyama worked on, and Blue Dragon on the original Xbox garnered plenty of praise from fans of JRPGs.

Mr. Toriyama has been a massive influence for many people over many different artistic forms, from comics to cartoons to videogames, and he will no doubt continue to have an influence though the many works he has left behind.

Playing videogames, writing about videogames, considering videogames—that about sums it up. Videogames are the one hobby that I’ve kept since I was only little, zapping ducks on the NES or knocking out MR. X. And when I’m not enjoying classics from the bit generation of games or checking out those earliest of polygons, I’m probably playing something from today’s age of modern gaming: if I’m not complaining about it. Something I’m doing at the moment? Returning to Triangle Strategy to see some of the other endings.