2024 has become a year of equally joyous and tragic significance for fans of Akira Toriyama. Earlier last month, the TV anime adaptation of the late mangaka’s 2000 sci-fi comedy manga Sand Land premiered on streaming, just a few weeks after Toriyama’s passing at the age of 68.
Akira Toriyama never stopped growing up
15.03.2024 - 18:07 / polygon.com
Before I saw Dragon Ball on VHS tapes in American flea markets and airing on Toonami, I saw it on TV in Guatemala, crowding around a tiny set with distant cousins I barely knew, in a language I had little command of. I learned to say Goku in Spanish before I did in English — you stress the second syllable a little more, let that last vowel ring out just a bit longer. Go-khoo. I didn’t know it at the time, but Dragon Ball — and Akira Toriyama, its creator — would follow me my whole life.
For an entire generation all over the world, Akira Toriyama was anime. Alongside a handful of works like Naoko Takeuchi’s Sailor Moon, Toriyama’s Dragon Ball was the medium’s trailblazer, the first step for many fans’ long journey in anime, or perhaps even the destination itself. His red-hot popularity on Dragon Ball would peak multiple times, first as a manga, then as multiple anime series. In between all that, he would also go on to influence a third medium, working as the artist and designer for Yuji Horii’s Dragon Quest and its many, many sequels and spinoffs — casually creating perhaps the most iconic monster design in all of video games.
Even with the infinite space afforded by the internet, it would take a long time for even a modest accounting of Toriyama’s influence on popular culture. Toriyama’s work is foundational, lying in the bedrock of everything that came after it: His characters were namechecked by rappers, his approach to action molded countless conflicts on page and screen, his merch ran the gamut from clothing of dubious legitimacy to a whole damn Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade float.
Akira Toriyama’s work on Dragon Ball started out largely for and about young boys, but then he never stopped making it. And in turn, those boys — both in his fiction and his audience — grew up. It’s worth stressing how unusual this was and still is: While shonen manga and anime are famously long-lived, its characters rarely age to the same degree, or transition into a generational epic. Son Goku, Dragon Ball’s protagonist, begins the story as a boy sent to Earth to conquer it for his homeworld, until a bop on the head turns him into a carefree goofball raised by a kind adoptive father. In Dragon Ball Super, he’s a (still quite young-looking) grandfather. While the bombast of Toriyama’s action and the nobility of his heroes stayed static, the things that happened in between those cosmic conflicts changed. Marriage, careers, family — all different arenas for his superhuman heroes to be strong. And also really, really funny.
From the broad comedy of his breakout manga/anime Dr. Slump to the toilet humor in the very first chapter of Dragon Ball, Toriyama displayed a love for big juvenile belly laughs that was arguably
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gamingbolt.com
30.03.2024 / 11:23
Xbox Pays Tribute to Akira Toriyama with New Blue Dragon Dynamic Dashboard Background
Xbox is paying homage to manga and video game artist Akira Toriyama by bringing a new dynamic dashboard background to Xbox consoles. The new dynamic background features art from Xbox 360 RPG Blue Dragon, which featured artwork by Toriyama.
gamingbolt.com
28.03.2024 / 07:31
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Kicks off Behind-the-Scenes Series with a Video About its World
Square Enix has kicked off a new video series for Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, focusing on the development of the game. The first episode is out now, and you can check it out below. Clocking in at almost 15 minutes, the episode focuses on how the developers went about creating the game’s expansive world.
tech.hindustantimes.com
22.03.2024 / 05:47
Apple lawsuit: Built by Steve Jobs, Apple is like "Hotel California, you can check out but you can never leave"
Call it a "walled garden" or an ecosystem, but at the heart of Thursday's blockbuster US lawsuit against Apple are the many ways the company gets customers to remain faithful to its products.
gamesradar.com
20.03.2024 / 14:53
These PS5 controllers are perfect for Helldivers 2, and they've never been cheaper
Helldivers 2 has a pretty wild controller layout. From mashing directional keys to order stratagems to switching between first and third person, to swinging the camera around as quickly as possible to watch an orbital laser melt a giant bug - there's a lot going on.
pushsquare.com
20.03.2024 / 01:23
Train Sim World 4 Will Finally Make a Stop in Japan on PS5, PS4 | Push Square
While we’re enormous fans of Train Sim World 4 and Dovetail’s entire railway simulation series, we’ve often criticised its overemphasis on British, American, and German routes. Fortunately, it looks like the release is poised to receive its first Japanese add-on, in the form of the Tadami Line, in-development at external studio Union Workshop.
eurogamer.net
19.03.2024 / 13:31
Sand Land, the game adaptation of Akira Toriyama's manga, now has a demo
Sand Land, the video game adaptation of Akira Toriyama's beloved manga series, now has a demo on Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, PS4, and Steam, ahead of it full launch in April.
ign.com
19.03.2024 / 11:23
Sand Land, the Video Game Based on Akira Toriyama’s Manga, Has a Demo
A demo for Sand Land is out now on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, and PC via Steam, publisher Bandai Namco has announced.
gamesradar.com
19.03.2024 / 02:55
You can play Sand Land, the new open world action-RPG based on Akira Toriyama's manga, right now thanks to a free demo
A new Sand Land demo is available to download on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X, and PC, giving you a chance to experience the new game based on the late Akira Toriyama's manga ahead of its official April 26 launch.
polygon.com
12.03.2024 / 20:05
The Taste of Things and other movies where food has never looked better
Part of the magic of cinema is how, in spite of only engaging two of our senses, it can evoke all of them. Food makes this abundantly clear: Cinematic stories about cooking and eating can bring about sensory bliss, bringing us home with a few shots and sounds of a beloved dish, or somewhere entirely new with the same.
pushsquare.com
10.03.2024 / 10:48
Dragon Ball Manga Icon Akira Toriyama Passes Aged 68 | Push Square
Akira Toriyama, the artist behind iconic manga like Dragon Ball, has passed away aged 68. His death was confirmed by the official Dragon Ball website, which noted that he still had “several works in the middle of creation”. A statement added: “He has left many manga titles and works of art to this world. We hope that Akira Toriyama’s unique world of creation continues to be loved by everyone for a long time to come.”
thesixthaxis.com
09.03.2024 / 10:27
Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama has passed away
Akira Toriyama, the creator behind the vastly successful Dragon Ball franchise, has passed away age 68.