Akira Toriyama, Creator of Dragon Ball Manga Series, Dies Aged 68 (theguardian.com) 40
Longtime Slashdot reader AmiMoJo shares a report from The Guardian: Akira Toriyama, the influential Japanese manga artist who created the Dragon Ball series, has died at the age of 68. He died on March 1 from an acute subdural haematoma. The news was confirmed by Bird Studio, the manga company that Toriyama founded in 1983.
"It's our deep regret that he still had several works in the middle of creation with great enthusiasm," the studio wrote in a statement. "Also, he would have many more things to achieve." The studio remembered his "unique world of creation". "He has left many manga titles and works of art to this world," the statement read. "Thanks to the support of so many people around the world, he has been able to continue his creative activities for over 45 years." [...]
Based on an earlier work titled Dragon Boy, Dragon Ball was serialized in 519 chapters in Weekly Shonen Jump from 1984 to 1995 and birthed a blockbuster franchise including an English-language comic book series, five distinct television adaptation -- with Dragon Ball Z the most familiar to western audiences -- and spin-offs, over 20 different films and a vast array of video games. The series -- a kung fu take on the shonen (or young adult) manga genre -- drew from Chinese and Hong Kong action films as well as Japanese folklore. It introduced audiences to the now-instantly familiar Son Goku -- a young martial arts trainee searching for seven magical orbs that will summon a mystical dragon -- as well as his ragtag gang of allies and enemies. You can learn more about Toriyama via the Dragon Ball Wiki.
The Associated Press, Washington Post, and New York Times, among others, have all reported on his passing.
"It's our deep regret that he still had several works in the middle of creation with great enthusiasm," the studio wrote in a statement. "Also, he would have many more things to achieve." The studio remembered his "unique world of creation". "He has left many manga titles and works of art to this world," the statement read. "Thanks to the support of so many people around the world, he has been able to continue his creative activities for over 45 years." [...]
Based on an earlier work titled Dragon Boy, Dragon Ball was serialized in 519 chapters in Weekly Shonen Jump from 1984 to 1995 and birthed a blockbuster franchise including an English-language comic book series, five distinct television adaptation -- with Dragon Ball Z the most familiar to western audiences -- and spin-offs, over 20 different films and a vast array of video games. The series -- a kung fu take on the shonen (or young adult) manga genre -- drew from Chinese and Hong Kong action films as well as Japanese folklore. It introduced audiences to the now-instantly familiar Son Goku -- a young martial arts trainee searching for seven magical orbs that will summon a mystical dragon -- as well as his ragtag gang of allies and enemies. You can learn more about Toriyama via the Dragon Ball Wiki.
The Associated Press, Washington Post, and New York Times, among others, have all reported on his passing.
Re: Condolences to his family but... (Score:3)
Where are you getting your data from to make that conclusion and are you based in the US?
For example, I can tell you manga is very popular in France. According to this article manga represented 55% of the comic book market in France:
https://www.theguardian.com/fi... [theguardian.com]
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Not surprising since France has had a well developed domestic comic book culture for some time, just not super heroes (unless you count Asterix)
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Also France has actively collaborated with Japanese manga studios. Consider "Ulysses 31" (1981) and "The Mysterious Cities of Gold" (1982)., as examples. All this to say the French have had a relationship with anime and manga going back at least 40 years.
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My guess is you only have ever read "shojo" (manga for girls).
There's also "seinen" (manga for adults), like Royal Battle, which was adapted to movie, Death Note or Monster by Naoki Urasawa.
There you'll find no "big eyes dressed suggestively".
Heck, even 3x3 EYES, which was originally sold as "shonen" (manga for boys), the main male character works in a crossdressing bar...
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And you think western comics and animation have never drawn scantily clad women and men?
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They're drawn as adults, not barely disguised children.
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I can think of several X-Men comics with a pre-adult Jubilee in very skimpy clothing...
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That's like saying American comics books it's just about superheroes for kids...
And then you have Robert Crumb, Calvin and Hobbes, Peanuts, Tiger...
Manga can be hugely diverse... from romantic stories (shoujo) to fights/self-improvement (shonen) to mistery, drama (Black Jack), scifi (Gummn, Akira...)
Re:Condolences to his family but... (Score:4, Insightful)
"That's like saying American comics books it's just about superheroes for kids..."
Yeah, about adults dressed in pseudo bondage gear with their underpants on the outside....
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It seems that the only comic books you read are a few Marvel comics, and the only magna you read is the kinky stuff that gets you put on a registry.
The parent's comment applies just as much to manga as it does to American comics. You seem to have based both on an example of a single on you may have seen at some point.
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I don't read comics as I said (are you having comprehension problems?), they're for kids. I discovered these things called "books" where the pages have words without pictures. I know! Crazy! You might want to check them out sometime.
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Man, you're really busy proving how grown and adult you are. Are you afraid it'll affect your fragile masculinity if you enjoy something that isn't super-serious-very-adult?
Re: Condolences to his family but... (Score:2)
Do you still suck on a dummy too? Awww bless...
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Good point. I don't drink milk because milk is for kids. I only eat grown-up food because I am very adult.
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I don't read comics as I said (are you having comprehension problems?), they're for kids.
Wait... do you subject your children to bloodthirsty gore and tentacle porn? Or maybe you don't understand that comics exist for adults too. I mean we often poke fun at people who can't read and should look at pictures instead, but are you ... unable to look at pictures?
You should get yourself checked.
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When's the last time Robert Crumb brought $2 billion to the box office? "Comics" is equivalent to "Marvel movies" for most people... OK, so they're not just for kids. Adults with no standards enjoy them as well.
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someone explain to me why manga is so popular?
Do you like collecting stamps? Do you like model railways? Do you like making TikTok video? Do you like paying Minecraft? Because none of that makes any sense to me. Likewise, many of my hobbies are total nonsense to most people too.
People often like what they like for reasons only they understand.
Reason why model trains are so popular (Score:3)
There is a practical, utilitarian reason to have a model train layout.
After spending the entire day receiving criticism from your spouse, disrespect from your children, rudeness on the commute and taking guff at work, one can spend some time in the basement, flip a switch and turn a knob to make an electrically powered model train go around a circle of track.
It is the only thing over which you have had any control over, and the feeling is glorious.
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There is a wide range of style and genre in manga.
I am a big fan of Taniguchi. He write more adult stuff (not the tentacle kind). Maybe his most famous story is about a retired mountain climber trying to conquer the Everest through a difficult passage. It is told fromt he climber perspective and from the perspective of a journalist. Beautiful scenery, complex story telling, highlight the danger of human obsession and sorrow.
One of his short stories that I love is about a married couple taking care of an agi
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Toriyama's most famous work is Dragon Ball, and its many continuations/sequels such as Dragon Ball Z. It started out with characters loosely based on a Chinese folk tale called Journey to the West, and did much to define the "Battle Manga" genera.
Battle Manga are stories where the protagonist faces increasingly challenging opponents. In the case of Dragon Ball, they are martial arts fighters with various kung-fu style superpowers, but the formula is also used for things like sports manga. Toriyama's dramati
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1) Variety of subjects.
From any hobby to any setting, historical or fantasy.
e.g. A Roman finds a passage to modern Japan where he discovers that both his and this civilization share a love of baths (therms).
2) Variety of tones.
No Comics Code Authority here. From the most light hearted to the darkest including slice of life criticizing civil society.
e.g. A high-school drop out gets a job as teacher using his fake diplomas and ends up fighting a lot of what is wrong in contemporary Japanese society.
Given 1) a
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>the ever so slightly peado nature of the drawings in manga with young girls with big eyes dressed suggestively always struck me as wierd shit for normal grown men to be into.
If you see that in all manga / comics it sounds like a personal issue. You might want to work on that. Or just read something that definitely isn't aimed at children... try out Berserk.
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It's interesting because apparently the "big eye" trope in Japanese comics and animations started by replicating feature of early Disney characters, except instead of a mouse working on a steam boat you would get something like "super astro boy". Also, there's a large variety of styles as well. Katsuhiro Otomo's "Akira" doesn't go for the big eye look at all, and Otomo has explicitly stated in other works that he was deeply affected by some European comic artists, like "Moebius" (Jean Jiroud), a French auth
Re: Condolences to his family but... (Score:2)
If you get away what main stream US media wants to portray, then youâ(TM)ll find anime and manga covers as a wide range of subject as live action Hollywood films.
There is something for everyone and it covers all age ranges and interests. Of course there is stuff that is clearly 18+, whether in terms of sexuality or other content matter. Yes, there are animeâ(TM)s and mangas that go a little over the top with âoefan serviceâ.
If you want to explore anime again, then starting with the films
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And based on his comments Viol8 thinks it's for kids. I can only assume it was a childhood favourite of his, it would explain a lot.
He has done other works (Score:5, Informative)
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Rest in peace (Score:2)
And be careful to not fall from the snake way in your 625,000 mile journey
His last words were... (Score:2)
Miyazaki still lives!
(apologies to John Adams)
A bit more than the creator of Dragon Ball (Score:3)
This man made Japan an accessible, marketable, and desirable thing, along with the efforts of Katsuhiro Otomo (Akira) and Naoko Takeuchi (Sailor Moon.) He had a huge part in recovering Japan's economy in the late 80s and 90s.
RIP Toriyama-san.