"Having No Theme Is the Theme": Akira Toriyama, the Everyman Who Sent Dreams Around the World
"I want to get stronger." "I want to see what comes next." There was a man who captured that feeling — shared by children across the whole world — with a single manga. Akira Toriyama: creator of Dragon Ball, author of Dr. Slump, designer of the Dragon Quest slime, a man who left an enormous footprint on both manga and video games.
Born in 1955 in Kiyosu, Aichi Prefecture, he never went to university. After graduating from the design department of a technical high school and working at a design firm in Nagoya, he turned to manga. A man who delivered dreams to the far side of the planet once described himself as "basically a homebody" — and that very gap was the heart of his charm.
On March 1, 2024, he passed away at the age of 68 from acute subdural hematoma. The works he left behind are still read all over the world.
A Career That Began With a Submission
Toriyama stepped into the world of manga through a newcomer's award sponsored by the publisher Shueisha. In 1978 he debuted in Weekly Shonen Jump with the one-shot Wonder Island. It was the true beginning for a young man who left the design firm he had joined after high school to make his living with a pen.
In 1980, the serialization of Dr. Slump launched his name into the spotlight. An inventor doctor and the cheerful android girl Arale he created together produced explosive popularity through their gags and warmth, and it was adapted into anime the following year. In 1981 he won the 27th Shogakukan Manga Award. In 1982 he founded Bird Studio and married fellow manga artist Nachi Mikami — building a base for his work and a home almost at the same time.
Dragon Ball Sweeps Up the World
In 1984, Dragon Ball began serialization in Weekly Shonen Jump. What started as an adventure to find seven wish-granting orbs gradually transformed into the story of a boy named Son Goku growing up amid endless battles.
By precisely capturing the reader's desire to "get stronger" and "see what comes next," the work spread across borders. As of 2024 its cumulative circulation exceeded 260 million copies. That clean, round, waste-free line looked like anyone could draw it, yet no one could imitate it — the very proof of a genius. The serialization ended in 1995, but anime and films based on it continue to be made around the world.
A Manga Artist Who Gave Games Their Face
Toriyama's talent did not stay within the frame of manga. In 1986 he took charge of the character and monster design for the Famicom game Dragon Quest. Beginning with that adorable slime, he created countless figures that colored the series, and went on to shape the "face" of Japan's national role-playing game across entries I through XI.
In 1995 he handled character design for the Super Famicom's Chrono Trigger, and in 2006 for Blue Dragon. In both manga and games, the people and monsters he drew carried such strength that you could recognize them at a glance as "a Toriyama drawing." A single manga artist shaped the very look of Japanese video game culture.
The Genius With a Relaxed Smile
For all this work, Toriyama himself remained utterly easygoing. "I'm basically a homebody." "Having no theme is the theme." Such relaxed remarks were the few words the rarely-seen author quietly left behind. His hobbies were collecting model cars, building plastic models like Gunpla, and driving. He was the kind of man who grinned while tinkering with a model kit — like an ordinary uncle from down the street.
His work was highly praised abroad as well. In 2013 he received the 40th Anniversary Special Award at the Angoulême International Comics Festival. In 2019 he was made a Chevalier of France's Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. His art, which began in Japanese boys' manga, had truly reached the other side of the world.
On March 1, 2024, Akira Toriyama died suddenly at the age of 68 from acute subdural hematoma. The shockingly abrupt news stunned fans across the world. That same year, he was honored in the Distinguished Service category at the Tokyo Anime Award.
He put on no airs, loved a quiet life, and yet placed his own drawings right at the center of the memories of children everywhere. An "uncle from down the street" who grinned while building model kits ended up delivering dreams to the far side of the earth. There is really nothing to say but: thank you.