“He is at the peak of a head of state” After the death of Akira Toriyama, the brilliant creator of Dragon Ball, tributes are multiplying

News culture “He is at the peak of a head of state” After the death of Akira Toriyama, the brilliant creator of Dragon Ball, tributes are multiplying

Emmanuel Macron, Jackie Chan or even the government of El Salvador: Many institutions and public figures have reacted following the disappearance of Akira Toriyama, the author of Dragon Ball, on March 8th. Since then, tributes have multiplied around the world with gatherings both physical and online. In honor of this legendary manga character, we invite you to take a look at the different reactions his disappearance sparked.

The political world pays tribute to Akira Toriyama

After the announcement of Akira Toriyama’s death Emmanuel Macron’s X account (formerly Twitter) reacted quickly to the tragic news. In the published message we can see two framed illustrations depicting Son Goku in Super Saiyan 3 and Boo, in particular a small Son Goku hand-drawn by Akira Toriyama himself. All of this was presented to the President of the Republic during his trip to Japan in July 2021. A way to represent the great popularity of Dragon Ball in France. However, this is not the only political leader who reacted to the announcement.

Included The government of El Salvador also issued a statement expressing condolences to Japan over the author’s disappearance. In it we can read that El Salvador “honors Akira Toriyama’s invaluable contribution to the world of manga and popular culture“‘. In reality, This press release is not surprising if we know the popularity of Dragon Ball in South America. We remember that the end of Dragon Ball Super in 2018 gave rise to numerous public screenings across the continent. But more recently, more than 20,000 Argentines gathered outside to pay tribute to Akira Toriyama.

Unexpected condolences from the cinema

Among the honors from public figures, Jackie Chan’s did not go unnoticed. It must be said that the actor Akira Toriyama was a great inspiration for Dragon Ball and that the two men even met in the 90s due to the popularity of the work. On the Chinese social network Weibo, the 69-year-old actor posted a photo with the author, which is quite rare considering Akira Toriyama tended to shy away from cameras. On the other hand, If there was any news that was unexpected, it was Justin Chatwin’s.

As a reminder, Dragon Ball Evolution is the live-action film based on the work of Akira Toriyama, which is considered one of the worst adaptations of the genre, if not the worst. But in it Justin Chatwin plays the title role, that of Son Goku. When the author’s death was announced, The actor expressed his condolences and apologized:I missed the adaptation so much“. A great display of modesty, even more than fifteen years after the film’s release.

The master is gone, the mangakas are mourning

Naturally, It is above all the manga world that pays special tribute to one of its most important characters. For example, Tite Kubo, the author of Bleach, explained that for him an artist’s creation does not really disappear as long as it continues. Conversely, Hideaki Sorachi, to whom we owe Gintama, expressed above all his admiration for the work of Akira Toriyama and everything he contributed to it. But underneath all these comments, One of them is particularly touching: that of Masako Nozawa. Obviously we’re moving a little away from the manga since it’s the actress who has always played Son Goku in anime. When his death was announced, The latter explains that she remembers Akira Toriyama asking her to take care of Goku, something she had promised until her strength was exhausted. A touching message that shows the actress’s connection to her character and her author.

To conclude this rundown of the tributes paid to Akira Toriyama, it’s hard to overlook the tributes from Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 players. This weekend, players gathered on the game’s servers to pay tribute to the man without whom the title would never have seen the light of day. To do this, they put on Son Goku’s outfit for their character and at the same time made the Genkidama mark as a symbol of their condolences for the mangaka’s disappearance. So Dragon Ball Daima was the last work he worked on and that we should be able to see this fall.