Akira Toriyama, Creator of Dragon Ball, is Dead

Akira Toriyama, the creator of Dragon Ball, Dr. Slump, and many other works that influenced countless people, has died, at age 68. I share this news to help other Dragon Ball fans process the loss.

I made a livestream reaction video for that purpose. If the video won’t load here (because it’s a livestream), then click the link to go to YouTube.

The cause of Akira Toriyama’s death was acute subdermal hematoma. This is a pooling of the blood between the skull and brain. It is often caused by a head injury, such as from a fall or sudden impact.

This is sudden and terrible news. He was working on many big projects and creative endeavors, and no announcement about declining health had been made prior to now.

The official date of Toriyama’s death was March 1, 2024, in Japan, but the announcement of his death was made on the Dragon Ball Official website on March 8, Japan time.

At first I didn’t believe it. There are so many fake articles about celebrity deaths, and posts on social media that are nothing but clickbait. But this was posted on the official site, with a specific cause of death.

As much as I don’t like to admit it, Akira Toriyama is gone.

Amid my tears and devastation, in the above video I talked for two hours about how important Akira Toriyama was to me, and remains. My work, this site, and the reason I’m still alive is due to Akira Toriyama.

I feel like a father-figure just died, or a good friend I’ve known for 30 years. I don’t have much left in me at this time, but it’s my responsibility to report on the news.

There are many major news outlets covering the news, and celebrities commenting on what Toriyama’s death means to them, but I don’t have it in me to gather them together and share them here. I’m too sad. Maybe I’ll update this article later.

In the meantime, I hope that you can receive catharsis from the video, and it helps you work through the pain, as it did for me. Thank you to everyone who wrote in during the livestream.

Feel free to leave a comment below, and I’ll be here to listen.