We will find few figures in the world of comics who have managed to have as much impact and in so many different ways as Akira Toriyama. His name and that of his two main works, Dr. Slump and Drac's Ball, are closely linked to the discovery of manga and anime in the West.
With the force of a Kamehame, Son Goku and his friends burst the door ajar that Heidi, Mazinger Z and especially Akira had left before, so that many of us discovered that in Japan there was a gigantic industry dedicated to comics, which they call manga there. Currently, manga and anime have become globalized and dominate with authority, and if we look back we will see how these afternoons in front of the television set the fuse to produce an explosion that continues to resonate today.
Akira Toriyama was born in Nagoya, Japan, in April 1955, and although his predilection for drawing was soon noticed, it does not seem that his professional career will be directed to the world of cartoons. His studies and his first job were in the field of graphic design. After losing his job, he discovers a manga magazine in a cafe with an advertisement for new talent that offered a tempting prize for an unemployed artist. He does not make it to this first call, but shortly after he sends his work to Shonen Jump magazine. He does not win the prize, but the editor Kazuhiko Torishima takes an interest in him and encourages him to continue drawing.
Shortly after, he published Wonder Island, his debut in that magazine in 1978. Two years later he got it right with Dr. Slump, which in 1981 won the Shogakukan award for best shonen and released the animated adaptation; the one that came to TV3 in 1987 with considerable success. Thanks to Dr. Slump, Toriyama becomes a popular manga author in Japan overnight, but he still has to take another step toward international fame.
After finishing Arale's adventures, the editor invites him to create a work on a topic that really appeals to him. As a fan of Jackie Chan's movies, he decides to make a martial arts manga that combines with the story of the monkey king from the Chinese novel Journey to the West. It is not an immediate success, but over time and with the help of anime it manages to dazzle the Japanese public, taking manga sales to the country of the Rising Sun to stratospheric levels. Without any fanfare, the animated series reaches regional television stations, which meet with totally unexpected success.
Songokumania begins, with thousands of boys and girls exchanging drawings that were obtained in the strangest ways possible. This led to the first Western edition of Dragon Ball, published simultaneously in Catalan and Spanish by the Planeta publishing house. From here on, the phenomenon grows throughout the world, turning Son Goku into one of the most universal icons in the history of comics and animation.
Toriyama, an introvert who did not expect to become the center of attention of half the world, ended the series in 1995 and his editorial and public activity began to become increasingly scarce. For fifteen years he publishes a few short stories, which he combines with collaborations in famous video game sagas such as Dragon Quest. It was not until 2012 that he collaborated again in the now million-dollar franchise, taking charge of the plots of new films and the new series Bola de Drac Super, now drawn by Toyotaro.
Still with projects to release, Akira Toriyama leaves us on March 1, 2024. His legacy is monumental, with artists from all over the world and of all kinds paying tribute to him. His work has led thousands of young people to pick up a pencil and paper and become artists, but there are also millions of fans around the world, myself included, who have felt touched and inspired by his stories of friendship and improvement, as well as as for his sense of humor. Thank you, Toriyama-sensei!
