Some Words About Akira Toriyama's Passing

This decade looks grim for those who grew up in the 90's.
Great pillars of our youth are perishing one after the other.

Kentaro Miura(Beserk),
Kazuki Takahashi(Yu-Gi-Oh!),
Leiji Matsumoto(Battleship Yamato, Galaxy Express 999, Captain Harlock),
and now Akira Toriyama(Dr. Slump, Dragon Ball).

Truth be told, I didn't look into Toriyama works much after Dragon Ball Z finished airing, and I still think that franchise should have ended at Z. It also made me not appreciate "Shonen" titles that came after it as much, as I feel they relied too much on formulas pioneered by him, and in some sense they still do(One Piece being a notable exception).

But the series had a massive influence on me growing up. Dragon Ball was the first manga properly published in Brazil, meaning: In black and white, and requiring reading from right to left, and the first one I collected and completed till the end. I was barely 10. I still have on my shelf to this day, and it opened the doors to many others works from japanese artists that I would collect and read: Love Hina, Saint Seiya, Full Metal Alchemist, Rurouni Kenshin, just to name a few that I have 1st edition collections.

Many of his stand-alone illustrations depicting vehicles and the world of Dragon Ball/Dr. Slump posted on social media the last days were featured between chapters of the physical manga pages, and I couldn't help but get eye-teared as it reminded me of simpler times.

Manga is still one of my favorite creative mediums, as I feel there are less layers between the author's intent and vision and what is delivered to it's audience(books also come to mind, albeit without the visual component). There are "office politics" involved of course, Dragon Ball Z as we know being the result of several concessions Toriyama had to make based on fans or editor pressure. But still, compare this to what a movie director has to fight for against comitees when making an ordinary movie.

His passing will be push I needed to start collecting Dr. Slump, as I was collecting other works when it was published in Brazil for the first time, so I had to skip it. Right now I'm also acquiring the remaining volumes of Oyasumi Pun Pun, looking forward to having my heart wrecked by that one as well.

I hope future mangakas can make works as impactful as he did, as he left enormous shoes to fill. Because ironically, despite manga and anime becoming more socially accepted and abundant(or even mainstream, depending on where you live. In my youth, enjoying these hobbies would mark you forever as the weirdo at school.), very few works seem to make a lasting impact outside niche communities.

Or maybe I'm just getting old too.