I am sad and emotionally wrecked right now. We lost a legend that changed everything.
Akira Toriyama, who’s famous for Dragon Ball and working on other properties like Dragon Quest, passed away at the age of 68 this March. It sucks because we’re celebrating 40 years of Dragon Ball.
Dragon Ball Z was my gateway into anime fandom when I was a 5th grader literally 30+ years ago. Way before Toonami, I watched a Cantonese-dubbed episode of DBZ at a friend’s place and became slowly hooked ever since then. Chinatown in New York City at the time was filled with Dragon Ball Z merchandise. Posters, toys, wall scrolls, video games, trading cards, etc. You name it, it was there. DBZ fandom wasn’t as mainstream back in the early-to-mid ‘90s as it is now, but there was something. Especially for me.
I also remember my first time using the internet at a public library in 1999 and one of the first sites I visited was a GeoCities fan site about DBZ. That’s how I found out about the original manga. My first manga purchase was Dragon Ball Z Volume 1 by VIZ Media in 2003 and it was a big-sized volume that was priced at $14.95 at the time.
Dragon Ball Z also got me closer to one of my younger cousins during the Toonami years and we formed a bond over anime since that time. I would play make-shift DBZ scenarios with him when he was little. I had Dragon Ball Z figures at the time. When I think about those days, I realize that it’s those moments that count especially when kids are dealing with so much competitive stressors that don’t encourage play.
I know everyone has their favorite Dragon Ball characters, but my favorite character ever is Vegeta. I wrote a whole bunch of articles about him through the years. One of my top posts ever was about growing up with Vegeta. And that was written 13 years ago.
At the time, I felt similar to Vegeta. I have this very lone wolf-ish disposition despite appearing friendly to a lot of people. I’ll admit that I have softened a lot over the years. I don’t have as much pride as Vegeta does as of late. But the thing about Vegeta lately is that he’s a much different character than in the past. If you follow the Dragon Ball Super manga, you know what I’m talking about.
And then I realize I’ve grown up alongside Vegeta for 3 decades. It’s surreal. Part of me feels like I haven’t changed all that much like he has, but I have grown up in ways that I wouldn’t have expected.
Which leads me to this – if it weren’t for Dragon Ball Z, I wouldn’t have gotten into anime. I wouldn’t have gotten to explore other series beyond it. I wouldn’t have gotten into manga. I wouldn’t have met friends in fandom in my ’20s. I wouldn’t have fallen deep into the JRPG abyss. I wouldn’t have gotten into Yakuza/Like a Dragon afterwards. I wouldn’t have gotten into Japanese mahjong as a result of that. Dragon Ball Z started a chain effect that’s still sending ripples to me to this day.
Akira Toriyama provided a introduction for me and everyone looking for something different into the world of Japanese pop culture. He is Cool Japan to me. Toriyama got so many people to see how wild, imaginative, fun, and inspiring Japanese pop culture media was. It’s arguable that Toriyama had a much bigger impact on overseas fandom than Osamu Tezuka.
A lot of people involved in anime and manga would not be here if not for Toriyama. I want us to acknowledge that. I know I have. He was a game-changer or should I say, a world-changer for everything related to the perception of anime and manga globally.
Rest in peace and power, Toriyama-sensei! You will never, ever be forgotten!
