I Have Never Learned So Many Lessons Without The Works Of Akira Toriyama. My Heart Goes Out To His Family.

I have never learned so many lessons without the works of Akira Toriyama. My heart goes out to his family. Thank you for impacting so many people.

The Legendary Akira Toriyama’s impact

I needed an extra day to gather my thoughts before I wrote this. What do I even say about man who has literally help morph me into the person I am today. Some may think it’s a little odd to get emotional over a person you have never met or better yet even seen in the public eye. Mr. Toriyama was a really private man that even people who worked on his project have never met him, but some how his worked has touched and influenced millions across the world. You can hate Dragon Ball, but you cannot deny its influence on not only manga/anime, but pop culture in general. No other series had athletes throwing kamehamehas as celebrations, or rappers using a super saiyan bar in their flow. This man’s doodle of a little monkey kid has made it all the way to nationally watched Macy’s day parade as a float! Referenced constantly in other cartoons, anime, and video games. He set the standards for transformations in anime with the creation of “Super Saiyan”, a very subtle change of the hair (something he was really good at) became iconic and many series followed it. Gear 5, 6 path sage Mode, Super Sonic, all influenced by Toriyama.

I have to talk about my own personal attachment to Mr. Toriyama’s work. I wouldn’t be the man I am today without Dragon Ball coming into my life. If I didn’t catch Dragon Ball randomly on a Saturday morning in the late 90s and then a littler later with Z premiering on Toonami who knows if I’d even be watching anime today. As a kid growing up I was hooked, I couldn’t consume enough DB content. Goodbye Power Rangers, Goku and the Z Fighters were my new heroes. Running home after school to see how Goku was gonna overcome the odds was an event everyday! Going to Suncoast (a true throwback IYKYK) and picking up the overpriced VHS tapes just to watch stuff from a 20 episodes ahead of the Toonami broadcast and sharing it with my friends made me the coolest kid on the block. Going online and printing out cool pictures of Trunks, Broly, Majin Vegeta (before they debut on American soil) and putting them in front of of my school binder was a time. The posters, figures, videos games, t shirts that my mom and now myself has spent on this product is a little ridiculous, but I wouldn’t change it.

This loss has hit me harder than any celebrity passing in awhile. This is a MJ, Kobe level loss for me. Toriyama sama I know that you didn’t interact with fan, but I hope you could see the impact you have made in this world. My other favorite Mangaka made their manga because of you. I’ve met life long friends because of you, I’m on this app weekly livebloggin anime because of you. So many people love your work and that goes beyond Dragon Ball. Dragon Quest, Dr. Slump, Jaco, Blue Dragon, and so much more of your work will forever be celebrated. You are a true legend and will never be forgotten. Thank you for everything you’ve given us. Rest well

_Sincerely a fan 🐉