Dragon Ball

Image: Toei AnimationThe world was shocked to learn on Thursday night to learn that Akira Toriyama, creator of the eternally longlasting Dragon Ball franchise, had passed away at the age of 68. Jujutsu Kaisen 0 Has Infectious Good EnergyWhether you were born in the 80s or in the 2000s, you couldn’t not know what Dragon Ball was on some level. In a lot of ways, he’s why anime is the juggernaut as we know it today. The shonen series rose to prominence alongside Toonami in the mid-90s, in turn becoming one of the biggest…

It’s been a week of highs and lows in the world of genre entertainment—as we took a look at the aftermath of Dune: Part Two’s monumental release last weekend, and Lego teased a gorgeous new Batman: The Animated Series tribute. But little compared to the shock that came Thursday evening that one of the most influential artists of our time, Dragon Ball’s Akira Toriyama, passed away. Read all that, and more, in io9's biggest stories of the week. — James Whitbrook It’s been a week of highs and lows in the world of genre…

Image: Shonen JumpOvernight, the world was shocked with the news that Akira Toriyama—the creator of Dragon Ball and Dr Slump among countless other manga, the character designer on legendary video games like Dragon Quest and Chrono Trigger, and one of the most influential artists of our time—passed away. Now, fans and creators across the world are mourning his loss.There are not many ways to truly articulate just how influential Toriyama’s work was to legions of people—across mediums, across series, across forms and styles…

Image: Akira ToriyamaAkira Toriyama is responsible for some of the most memorable and beloved character designs of multiple generations. From Goku and the cast of Dragon Ball, to Dragon Quest’s legendary beasts like the Slime, and countless more, the mangaka is in rare company when it comes to a singular talent responsible for so many global icons. But one frequently joyous aspect of his work that deserves highlight? The man could draw the hell out of a tiny car.Mechanical design is a hallmark of Toriyama’s work as much…

Image: Shonen JumpAkira Toriyama, one of the most famous and influential mangaka of all time, has died. He was 68.Transformers’ Cristo Fernandez on Dragon Ball | First FandomsThe news was confirmed by the official Dragon Ball website, in a letter addressed to creatives and fans across the world. Toriyama passed away a week ago on March 1, 2024, from an acute subdural hematoma.“Thanks to the support of so many people around the world, has been able to continue his creative activities for over 45 years,” the letter reads…

The Dragon Ball Sparking Zero roster is so big that it looks like a custom MUGEN game. In a recent trailer featuring Goku and Vegeta, the ending shot showed what looks like a massive roster screen, with 164 slots. If the final game truly fills out that screen, then we’d be looking at a fighter count that could exceed even Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, with 24 different varieties of Goku and Vegeta so far. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5r3RxHoZEyQ Dragon Ball Sparking Zero roster looks wild, but… Despite the…

Bandai Namco’s Sand Land finally This is a video game adaptation of a That’s the same Akira Toriyama who created Dragon Ball, and also created the character designs for Chrono Trigger and many entries in the Dragon Quest series.Sand Land is a manga dating back to the mystical year of 2000 and it follows the adventures of the literal Devil’s son, Beelzebub, as he explores a desert world accompanied by a human sheriff and a demon thief. Interestingly, the game seems like a beat-for-beat recreation of the anime, only in…

Everyone has a piece of media that forever changed their relationship with a genre, creator, or entire medium. It’s especially true for animation, particularly when taking anime into account. For kids who grew up in the 90s, there were particular works that turned them into diehard fans of the medium: think Ghost in the Shell, Dragon Ball, and the now 35-year-old Akira.Jujutsu Kaisen 0 Has Infectious Good EnergyOriginally released in Japan on July 16, 1988, Katsuhiro Otomo directed and co-wrote the anime adaptation of his…

Image: United Artists | VIZ MediaMichael B. Jordan is riding a winning streak. He both directed and acted in Creed 3, and he’s showing off some of his anime influences in the big fight scenes between his character—Adonis Creed—and Jonathan Majors’ Damian Anderson. Jordan revealed to Polygon that he took a lot of inspiration from Episode 450 of Naruto Shippuden.Jordan’s such a big fan of anime that he spoke at length with his co-star about the “complexities of the friendships” between the characters. In an interview with…

Screenshot: NHK NewsA metal sphere, which many are calling Godzilla’s egg, washed up on the shore of Enshu beach in Hamamatsu, Japan. Authorities responded to the scene where a woman reported that she had stumbled upon the sphere while out for her morning walk.A man told NHK News that he didn’t understand why it was getting so much attention, saying he had spotted the metal sphere (measuring 1.5 meters/4.9 feet in diameter) more than a month earlier. “It’s been there for a month,” he told the outlet, adding, “I tried to…