What consequences will the death of Akira Toriyama have on the franchise adapted from his cult manga, “Dragon Ball”?
The disappearance on March 1 of Akira Toriyama not only marked the disappearance of a manga giant, but also a halt to the many ongoing projects of the legendary Japanese artist. We know that the Sand Land series adapted from his one-short manga will be released posthumously on Disney+ from March 20.
But Toriyama-sensei’s death also questions the future of its most famous franchise, Dragon Ball. With more than 260 million copies sold worldwide, it is to this day one of the best-selling manga of all time.
First of all, the Dragon Ball Super manga should continue to be published. Akira Toriyama was not the author of this series, the drawings of which are by Toyotaro. However, it remains to be seen whether the death of Toriyama, who remained supervisor of the work, will have consequences on the quality of the manga.
Toei Animation
A new series expected for the end of the year
A new series has also been announced for the end of the year. Entitled Dragon Ball Daima, this anime will follow the adventures of the main heroes of the franchise who return to childhood! A synopsis which is reminiscent of that of Dragon Ball GT, the unofficial sequel to DBZ…
Although he is not the creator of the series, Akira Toriyama was nevertheless involved as supervisor of the program, signing the concept arts of the characters in the process. Like Sand Land, this series will therefore be released posthumously at the end of the year, on a date currently unknown (no French broadcaster has yet been announced).
An expected Tenkaichi Budokai 4… before a new live-action?
While a new film is in the works (but whose plot is not yet known), the project most anticipated by Dragon Ball fans is by far the video game DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO. This sequel to the Tenkaichi Budokai trilogy will offer no less than 160 playable characters, 24 of which will be available at launch.
At present, there are no plans for a live-action adaptation of Akira Toriyama’s manga. The memory of the disastrous Dragonball Evolution still haunts the minds of many fans, and its main actor also apologized to the mangaka following the announcement of his death.
A new live-action adaptation, however, seems inevitable, particularly following the success of the One Piece and Avatar: The Last Airbender series on Netflix…
Remember that all the series derived from the Dragon Ball universe can be found now on Crunchyroll!