Legendary artist, manga creator, and character designer Akirya Toriyama has passed away. His passing was announced by his company, Bird Studio, which confirmed that he died on March 1, aged 68, due to acute subdural hematoma.
“It’s our deep regret that he still had several works in the middle of creation with great enthusiasm,” Bird Studio’s message reads. “Also, he would have many more things to achieve.
“However, he has left many manga titles and works of art to this world. Thanks to the support of so many people around the world, he has been able to continue his creative activities for over 45 years. We hope that Akira Toriyama’s unique world of creation continues to be loved by everyone for a long time to come.”
Toriyama best known as the creator of Dragon Ball, but he has a number of other notable works in manga, anime, video games, and more, including the likes of Dragon Quest, Chrono Trigger, Blue Dragon, and Sand Land, among several others.
Outside of the Dragon Ball franchise, Toriyama also created iconic monster and character designs for a number of other properties, such as the Dragon Quest series’ Slime.