Akira Toriyama facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Akira Toriyama
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| 鳥山 明 | |
Toriyama at the Shonen Jump launch party, New York (2002)
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| Born | April 5, 1955 |
| Died | March 1, 2024 (aged 68) |
| Occupation | Manga artist, character designer, model designer |
| Years active | 1978–2024 |
| Employer | Shueisha |
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Notable work
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| Spouse(s) |
Yoshimi Katō
(m. 1982) |
| Children | 2 |
| Awards | Shogakukan Manga Award (1981) |
| Signature | |
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Akira Toriyama (Japanese: 鳥山 明, Hepburn: Toriyama Akira, April 5, 1955 – March 1, 2024) was a famous Japanese manga artist and character designer. He became well-known for creating the popular manga series Dr. Slump. Later, he created Dragon Ball, which became his most famous work.
Toriyama also designed characters for many popular video games. These include the Dragon Quest series, Chrono Trigger, and Blue Dragon. Many people believe he changed the history of manga. His works are very important and loved by many, especially Dragon Ball. Many manga artists say Dragon Ball inspired them.
In 1981, he won the Shogakukan Manga Award for Dr. Slump. This manga sold over 35 million copies in Japan. It was also made into a successful anime TV show. His next series, Dragon Ball, became one of the most popular manga worldwide. It sold 260 million copies, making it one of the best-selling manga series ever. Dragon Ball also helped manga become very popular in the mid-1980s and mid-1990s. The Dragon Ball anime shows helped make anime popular in Western countries. In 2019, France honored Toriyama with the Chevalier award for his contributions to art.
Contents
Early Life and Drawing
Akira Toriyama was born in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan. From a young age, he loved to draw pictures. He especially liked drawing animals and vehicles. He was amazed by the movie One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961). He wanted to draw pictures that were just as good.
He was also surprised when he first saw a manga collection at a friend's house. Later, he saw a television for the first time. He said Osamu Tezuka's Astro Boy (1952–1968) made him interested in manga. Toriyama remembered that all his classmates drew anime and manga characters. This was because there wasn't much other entertainment. He felt he got better than others when he started drawing his friends.
In middle school, he took a break from manga. He became more interested in movies and TV shows. He enjoyed the Ultraman TV show and the Gamera monster movies.
Toriyama decided to go to a high school for creative design. He was more interested in having fun with friends there. After high school, he wanted to start working instead of going to college. His parents did not agree, but he was sure about his choice. He worked at an advertising agency in Nagoya for three years. He designed posters there. He often arrived late and dressed casually, which led to him quitting.
Career Highlights
Starting with Dr. Slump (1978–1983)
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After quitting his job, Toriyama needed money. He decided to try making manga. He sent his work to a contest in Weekly Shōnen Magazine. His first published work was Wonder Island in Weekly Shōnen Jump in 1978. It was not very popular.
His editor, Kazuhiko Torishima, encouraged him to keep drawing. Toriyama kept trying new stories. He eventually created Dr. Slump. This manga was published in Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1980 to 1984. It became a huge success and made Toriyama very famous.
In 1981, Dr. Slump won the Shogakukan Manga Award. An anime show based on it started that same year. Toriyama's works were shown on Fuji TV for 18 years straight. This included Dr. Slump and the Dragon Ball series. By 2008, the Dr. Slump manga sold over 35 million copies in Japan.
Even though Dr. Slump was popular, Toriyama wanted to finish it. His publisher, Shueisha, agreed if he started another series soon after. He worked on several short stories. One of these, Pola & Roid, won first place in a contest in 1981.
In 1982, an official fan club for Toriyama was started. It was called "Akira Toriyama Preservation Society." He also started his own company, Bird Studio. The name "Bird" comes from his last name, "Tori," which means "bird" in Japanese.
Dragon Ball and Global Fame (1983–1997)
His editor suggested Toriyama create a kung fu manga. Toriyama loved kung fu movies. This idea led to Dragon Boy in 1983. It was well-liked and became the start of Dragon Ball in 1984.
Dragon Ball was published in Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1984 to 1995. It sold over 159.5 million copies in Japan. It is one of the best-selling manga series of all time. It started as an adventure comedy but became a martial arts fighting series. Many consider it the "most important shōnen manga."
Dragon Ball helped the magazine reach a record high of 6.53 million copies sold in 1995. After almost 11 years, Toriyama decided to end the series. He created 519 chapters, collected into 42 books. The manga's success led to five anime shows, many movies, video games, and lots of merchandise. Dragon Ball became popular all over the world, selling 300–350 million copies.
While working on Dragon Ball, Toriyama also drew other short manga stories. He also designed characters for the 1986 video game Dragon Quest. He continued to work on every game in the Dragon Quest series. He also designed characters for the video games Chrono Trigger (1995), Tobal No. 1 (1996), and Tobal 2 (1997).
In 1988, Toriyama helped create the film Kosuke & Rikimaru: The Dragon of Konpei Island. He came up with the story idea and designed the characters.
Later Works and Projects (1996–2011)
A third Dragon Ball anime, Dragon Ball GT, started in 1996. Toriyama helped with the overall ideas and main character designs. He kept drawing manga, mostly short stories. These included Cowa! (1997–1998), Kajika (1998), and Sand Land (2000).
In 2002, Toriyama visited the United States for the launch of Shonen Jump magazine in New York City. His manga Dragon Ball and Sand Land were in the first issue.
In 2005, an electric car designed by Toriyama was sold. Only 9 of these small cars were made.
He worked with One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda on a short crossover story called Cross Epoch in 2006. He also designed characters for the video game Blue Dragon (2006). He worked with Hironobu Sakaguchi and Nobuo Uematsu, who he had worked with on Chrono Trigger.
In 2008 and 2009, he worked with his friend Masakazu Katsura on two short manga stories: Sachie-chan Good!! and Jiya.
Toriyama was a creative helper for the American live-action film Dragonball Evolution (2009). He later said the movie did not feel like his Dragon Ball series. He had given suggestions, but they were not used.
In 2009, he drew a manga called Delicious Island's Mr. U. It was for a group that teaches children about nature. He also created Kintoki in 2010. In 2011, he helped create a video to support people affected by the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.
Return to Dragon Ball (2012–2024)
In 2012, a new Dragon Ball movie, Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods, was announced. Toriyama was involved in making it from the start. This was the first Dragon Ball movie in 17 years that he helped write. The movie came out in 2013.
An art exhibit called "Akira Toriyama: The World of Dragon Ball" opened in 2013. It showed the history of the series, characters, and his original drawings. It was very popular and traveled to different cities in Japan.
To celebrate Weekly Shōnen Jump's 45th anniversary, Toriyama started a new manga series in 2013. It was called Jaco the Galactic Patrolman. The last chapter showed that this story happened before Dragon Ball.
He was even more involved in the next Dragon Ball movie, Resurrection 'F', released in 2015. He wrote the original story for it. Toriyama also provided the main story ideas and some character designs for Dragon Ball Super. This series started in 2015 with both manga and anime versions. He continued to give story ideas for the manga even after the anime ended. He was deeply involved in the movies Dragon Ball Super: Broly (2018) and Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero (2022).
Personal Life
Toriyama married Yoshimi Katō on May 2, 1982. She was also a manga artist. She sometimes helped Toriyama and his assistant with Dr. Slump. They had two children: a son named Sasuke, born in 1987, and a daughter, born in 1990.
Toriyama lived and worked in his home studio. He was known for being a private person and did not often appear in public. He used a robot avatar called "Robotoriyama" to represent himself in his manga and interviews.
He loved cars and motorcycles, a hobby he got from his father. His father used to race motorbikes. Toriyama also loved animals. He had many pets like birds, dogs, cats, and lizards. Some of his pets even inspired characters he created, like Karin and Beerus. He also enjoyed collecting plastic models.
Akira Toriyama passed away on March 1, 2024, at the age of 68. His death was announced a week later. A small funeral was held with his family.
Artistic Style
Toriyama admired Osamu Tezuka's Astro Boy. He was also impressed by Walt Disney's One Hundred and One Dalmatians for its great animation. He was a big fan of Hong Kong martial arts films. Movies starring Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan greatly influenced his later work. He also liked science fiction films like Alien and Galaxy Quest.
His editor, Kazuhiko Torishima, noticed Toriyama's unique way of writing sound effects. He used the Roman alphabet instead of the usual Japanese characters. Torishima said Toriyama was very good at drawing in black and white. He used black areas well because he didn't have special tools called "screentone" when he started.
Toriyama was also known for making things easier for himself. For example, in Dragon Ball, he would destroy scenery in fights. He also made Super Saiyans have blond hair. This saved him time when drawing and inking. Torishima said Toriyama drew what he found interesting, not always thinking about what readers wanted. He also didn't re-read his old works or read other artists' manga much.
Dr. Slump was mostly a comedy series. But it also had many science fiction ideas. It included aliens, talking animals, time travel, and jokes about movies like Star Wars. Toriyama also put real people into the series, like his assistants, wife, and editor.
When Dragon Ball started, it was loosely based on the Chinese story Journey to the West. Goku was like Sun Wukong, and Bulma was like Tang Sanzang. It was also inspired by Jackie Chan's martial arts movies. The world of Dragon Ball was based on different Asian cultures. Toriyama used his funny style at first. But over time, the series became more about fighting. He didn't plan the story far ahead. He drew as he went, which sometimes led to surprising situations he had to figure out.
Toriyama was asked to draw characters and monsters for the first Dragon Quest video game in 1986. This helped the game stand out. He worked on every game in the series until he passed away. For these games, he would redraw rough ideas sent by the game's creator. He also drew the game box art. The Slime character, which is a mascot for the series, is one of the most famous characters in gaming.
Manga expert Jason Thompson said Toriyama's art style was very important. He said Dragon Balls popularity came from Toriyama's unique and recognizable style. He noted that many strong heroes in manga at the time were big and muscular. But Dragon Balls hero, Goku, was small and cartoonish. This started a new trend. Toriyama himself said he liked to make strong characters small. Thompson called Dragon Ball "an action manga drawn by a gag manga artist."
Legacy and Awards
"My manga is meant to be pure entertainment. I don't mind if my works leave nothing behind, as long as they entertained their readers."
Jason Thompson said in 2011 that Dragon Ball is the most important shōnen manga of the last 30 years. He noted that almost every Shōnen Jump artist today says it's one of their favorites. David Brothers of ComicsAlliance said Toriyama created a story that touched readers' hearts.
In a 2013 interview, Toriyama said he didn't fully understand why Dragon Ball became so popular worldwide. He just wanted to make Japanese boys happy. He also said he didn't like being a manga artist much until recently. Many famous artists have said Toriyama and Dragon Ball influenced them. These include One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda and Naruto creator Masashi Kishimoto.
In 2008, a poll asked people about their favorite manga artists. Toriyama came in second place. In 2010, another poll asked about manga artists who changed history. Toriyama was second only to Osamu Tezuka. This was because his works were so important and popular globally.
Toriyama won a special award at the 2013 Angoulême International Comics Festival. This award honored his many years in cartooning. In 2014, a poll for the manga artist who best represents Japan placed Toriyama in third. That same year, a scientist named two new kinds of beetles after Toriyama and a Dragon Ball character.
The French government honored Toriyama with the Chevalier award in 2019. This was for his contributions to the arts. He was also nominated for the Will Eisner Hall of Fame in 2019. Toriyama will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2024 Tokyo Anime Awards Festival. Because of his video game design work, IGN ranked Toriyama as one of the top 100 game creators of all time.
Works
Besides Dr. Slump and Dragon Ball, Toriyama continued to draw manga. These were mostly short stories, like Cowa! (1997–1998), Kajika (1998), and Sand Land (2000). He also worked with other manga artists, like Eiichiro Oda and Masakazu Katsura. They created crossover stories and one-shots together.
Toriyama also designed many characters for video games. These include the Dragon Quest series (1986–2024), Blue Dragon, Chrono Trigger, and some Dragon Ball video games. He also designed characters and mascots for Shueisha's manga magazines. Shueisha is a very large Japanese publishing company.
Beyond manga, Toriyama also created various illustrations, album and book covers, mascots, and logos.
Images for kids
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Toriyama at the Shonen Jump launch party, New York (2002)
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Akira Toriyama's signature
See also
In Spanish: Akira Toriyama para niños
