Dragon Ball: Gintama Creator Mourns Akira Toriyama in Emotional Tribute

Gintama‘s creator has shared their emotional reaction to Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama’s passing in a special note with fans. It was unfortunately revealed this past weekend that Akira Toriyama has passed away at the age of 68. The creator behind massive stories such as Dragon Ball, Dr. Slump, Sand Land and with influence on many other projects such as Dragon Quest, Chrono Trigger, and even more than that. Suffice to say, Toriyama’s work had a ton of impact on fans and creators from all over the world through his length of his legendary career. It’s an impact that’s going to be felt for a long time. 

That’s especially true for many of the creators who work with Shueisha and even knew Akira Toriyama directly. Hideaki Sorachi, the creator behind Gintama, has been fairly open about his love of Dragon Ball and Toriyama’s many works through the years. Even as going as far as outright including full parodies of Dragon Ball in Gintama‘s run, and Sorachi shared an emotional note with fans with his feelings on Toriyama’s passing. 

Gintama Creator Pays Tribute to Akira Toriyama

“Dragon Ball, Dragon Quest, Chrono Trigger, the worlds in which I threw away my homework and spent every spare moment I had to sleep were all born from the pen of Toriyama-san,” Sorachi’s note began. “I was born from the eraser shavings that piled up after I admired his pen and tried to imitate him, but I never succeeded. Thank you, Toriyama-sensei, for teaching me so much about the world of manga. Thanks to you, I’ve become a man who makes his living from Dragon Ball, even more than yourself Toriyama-sensei.”

Sorachi’s note then continues with, “I don’t think I can fill this gaping hole in my chest even if I eat some dried beans, but I will continue to follow your dashing back, like Goku, from great heights, covered with eraser dust, carrying one of the Genki-dama that he scattered all over the world in my heart. Thank you so much, Toriyama-sensei. I will always love you.”

What are some of your favorite Dragon Ball moments in Gintama? Let us know all of your thoughts about it in the comments! You can even reach out to me directly about all things animation and other cool stuff @Valdezology on X (formerly known as Twitter)!