Friday, March 8, 2024

The Culture: RIP Akira Toriyama

We interrupt our regular content to report on the death of a legend.

The Dragon Ball creator has died. Rest in peace, Mr. Toriyama.

He sits alongside greats like Go Nagai, Kentaro Miura, and Ken Ishikawa in creating enduring works of post-War popular culture that found a global audience and shaped global culture for the better.

A lot of shounen fiction Japan's Light Novel, Manga, Anime, and Webtoon markets in particular is as patterned after his work as Western fantasy followed first Burroughs, then Howard, and then Tolkien.

It will be an impact felt long after the fact, and soon it shall be apparent how great his presence was with all of the tributes coming around the world.


And there's more coming in.

I am not exaggerating on Toriyama's position being akin to Tolkien. He's that influential, and on a global scope and scale, that few of his peers can claim.

Posted by at
Labels: , ,

1 comment:

  1. Wes350March 8, 2024 at 9:55 PM

    "Western fantasy followed first Burroughs, then Howard, and then Tolkien."

    There is a Fourth, and His name is H. Rider Haggard.

    His Zulu Trilogy:
    Marie
    Child of Storm
    Finished

    Then:
    The Holy Flower
    Heu-heu: or, The Monster

    Then:
    NADA THE LILY - Umslopogaas's backstory...

    You might as well throw in King Solomon's Mines, and Allan Quatermain, while you are at it. IMO: If those two books are the only Haggard books you've ever read, you are missing out on some of his more epic stuff.

    I believe that Haggard laid a lot of groundwork for what came after. But his contributions to the adventure and fantasy genre get overlooked because much of his work was set in colonial Africa. And even today most don't really look at his content past King Solomon's Mines.

    ReplyDelete

Anonymous comments are banned. Pick a name, and "Unknown" (et. al.) doesn't count.

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)