A True Super Saiyan
On March 1st, Akira Toriyama passed away due to an acute subdural hematoma at the age of 68. A private funeral was held by his family who grieved his passing. One week later his death was announced to the world, and the whole world mourned.
Now, you may not know the name Akira Toriyama, but you almost certainly know his works. Toriyama was a manga artist and character designer best known for his creation of the Dragon Ball manga and creating the character designs for games like Dragon Quest, Chrono Trigger, and Blue Dragon.
Dragon Ball, the anime, was a big feature of my childhood. The particulars are a little fuzzy since I was pretty young, but I remember watching episodes of Dragon Ball that I had taped on VHS. As much as that statement dates me, it was still an important part of my introduction to anime. I may not have known it consciously at the time, but it also sparked my interest in martial arts.
Once I finally quit soccer after many miserable games, I had to pick a new sport. My parents insisted I play a sport if I wanted to continue playing games as much as I wanted. A fair trade in retrospect, but an awful bargain to a child. Reluctantly, I landed on Taekwondo. My very first class I remember a brief chat with the instructor, then joining a circle of students kicking away. It took me about 5 minutes to decide that kicking the air and shouting “Ai-yah!” was infinitely more fun than kicking a ball.
About 3 years later, I became a black belt in Taekwondo. After getting my black belt, when the main instructor left the school, I also decided to leave the sport. I’ve considered getting back into it, and tried kickboxing for about 2 weeks. Here in Japan I’ve certainly thought once or twice about trying a Judo class, though the instructions in Japanese would be difficult to parse.
All that is to say, Dragon Ball had a huge impression on me as a kid, one that only really became apparent upon reflection. That’s not the only time Toriyama would pop up in my childhood either. Once I got a ps2, after my little trip to Disney World and being introduced to Kingdom Hearts, I rented Chrono Trigger (The ps1 version) from my local game rental store. While the game was a little too opaque in the way that many earlier RPGs were, it was endlessly fascinating.
I never got very far in the ps1 version of Chrono Trigger, I was already quite the RPG fan by this point, but if I wasn’t this game certainly would have changed that. I was able to engage with the game much better when it was ported to the DS. I was older and had more RPG experience under my belt, but was still surprised and delighted by this game. I’ve still never reached the credits or its various endings, but I easily see why it’s praised as one of the greatest games of all time.
I was rather late to the party by the time I finally played Blue Dragon. I held off getting an Xbox 360 for the longest time, but eventually those precious few exclusive RPGs were too much to resist. Tales Of Vesperia, Lost Odyssey, Blue Dragon and more were calling my name, and eventually I had to bite. Blue Dragon was a pretty fun time, with great combat, a good job system, and plenty of freedom. The story felt a bit generic, but even still I’ve played every game entry in the series.
At some point in my adolescence, Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King also ended up in my library of ps2 games. I remember finding the game rather difficult, a lot less approachable to a younger gamer than something like Final Fantasy X. This would be another game that I would get much further in when an enhanced port came out on 3DS. Nowadays, Dragon Quest XI ranks pretty highly among my favorite games of all time, and I’ve grown to really love the series.
This is, of course, in part due to the excellent monster design of Dragon Quest enemies. Each monster that you face has personality to it, a sense of humor ever present in the series. None more famous than perhaps the classic slime, designed by Akira Toriyama. This pile of goo has become the beloved mascot of the franchise, and one of the most recognizable monsters in gaming history.
Something as simple as a slime, a basic monster you might not give a second thought to in other games, was brought to life by Toriyama’s design. This humble slime was brought to life through his unparalleled artistic vision. He exemplifies the magic that can be bestowed upon characters. Allowing every design to impact those who see it, bringing charm and life to art.
Akira Toriyama was brilliant. Everything he worked on left at least some kind of impression on me, even if I might have been too young to really understand just how impressive his work was. After he passed, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary, Yoshimasa Hayashi, credited Toriyama and his work with playing an "extremely important role in demonstrating Japan's soft power" around the world.
The loss of Toriyama is a big one, as there were so many people that interacted with, and were touched by, his work. We never seem to give people as many flowers in life as they deserve, and it’s only after their passing that we can really reckon with the impact people have had on us. Be sure to tell those close to you how much they mean to you, since by the time you realize it could be too late.
I appreciate all of you for reading my work, and hope it can have some small impact on you, like the way that Toriyama impacted me and my childhood. Akira Toriyama, you were a true Super Saiyan. Your power level is unmatched.
