Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama dies at 68

Sand Land, the new Hulu/Disney Plus anime adaptation of Akira Toriyama’s other big manga, is gaining the attention of critics – with one calling it a "final masterpiece" from the late Dragon Ball creator, who died in early March.

Manga creator Eiichiro Oda - who last week announced that One Piece would be taking a three week "scheduled maintenance" break - has commented once again on the recent passing of his friend, and fellow legendary mangaka, Akira Toriyama.

Nearly 50 talented artists recently joined together to create an amazing mural in tribute to the late Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama. Earlier this month, fans of anime and gaming alike were saddened by the heartbreaking news that Toriyama had passed away from acute subdural hematoma at age 68. Dragon Ball itself has spawned countless video games, but Akira Toriyama also had a hand in creating legendary titles like Chrono Trigger and the Dragon Quest series, and numerous other franchises like Sonic the Hedgehog have drawn influence from his work.

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.

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.

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.”

Akira Toriyama, the creator behind the vastly successful Dragon Ball franchise, has passed away age 68.

Several Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 players came together in order to pay respects to the late creator of the franchise, Akira Toriyama. Many players went into the online lobbies of Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2, joining a community-wide effort to honor Akira Toriyama. These tributes were posted on social media.

Several Final Fantasy 14 players took to the streets of Ul'dah to pay respects to the late Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama, with campfire vigils and outfits based on characters that Toriyama drew over his career. These vigils in Final Fantasy 14 are ongoing at the time of writing and are being held across several data centers, such as Aether and Crystal in North America.

We lost one of the world's greatest creative minds earlier this month, as Dragon Ball creator and Dragon Quest character designer Akira Toriyama sadly passed away at the age of 68. His work on the likes of Dragon Ball, Dragon Quest, Chrono Trigger, and Blue Dragon has inspired millions across his entire career, and many have been paying their respects to the legend on social media.

Anime fans around the world wasted no time in paying respect to Akira Toriyama, the prolific mangaka of Dragon Ball, who passed away in the past week due to a blood clot in the brain. With modern anime and games so heavily influenced by the prolific series, Final Fantasy 14 fans were no exception. 

It will take decades for the world to fully unpack all the ways Akira Toriyama shaped our culture. The legendary artist and author, whose death was publicly announced Thursday, was a pioneer in manga, comics, anime, and video games, and his work formed a foundation for everyone in those industries who followed him.