Culture news “I am extremely grateful” Akira Toriyama worked on Dragon Ball Super until his death: the author pays tribute to him
A new chapter for Dragon Ball Super arrived this week in V-Jump. It is the first to be broadcast since the death of Akira Toriyama. A final symbolic chapter with different tributes.
Toyotaro “grateful” for Dragon Ball Super
Wednesday March 20, Dragon Ball fans were able to discover chapter n°103 of Dragon Ball Super. A chapter (available on the mangaplus site) which closes the narrative arc Superhero. A monthly chapter like no other: it is the first to appear since the death of Akira Toriyama, who died of a subdural hematoma on March 1. Under the last drawings, we can read a tribute written by the English translation team of the work:
We are all deeply saddened by the news of Toriyama-sensei’s passing. His work is a source of inspiration for us all. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends and all the fans who have been touched by his work.
It is also in the V-Jump, monthly magazine in which Dragon Ball Super appears. It’s a different testimony that appears there, but this time coming from someone closer to the creator of Dragon Ball. It was none other than Toyotaro, the manga artist, who spoke. He is questioned about his feelings now that the arc Superhero It’s over :
The prologue for chapters 88-90 was a story created from the things I wanted to do, with Toriyama-sensei’s corrections. But of course, the storyline of chapters 91 to 100 along with the main plot of the movie, and even the epilogue of chapters 101 to 103 was a script written by Toriyama-sensei. I added some dialogue and plot points, but in general the content is the dialogue and plot points Toriyama came up with.
He adds to be “extremely grateful” for being able to finish drawing this series and concludes by hoping that readers will enjoy it despite its differences from the film.
Dragon Ball Super: a symbolic chapter 103
An unintentionally symbolic final chapter. In English, issue 103 is titled Legacy towards the Future. A title that can be translated as “legacy to the future”. It’s hard not to think about the legacy that Toriyama has achieved with Dragon Ball, as he has inspired so many famous mangakas today (Oda with One Piece, Kishimoto with Naruto…) that he is called the “father of shonen”. Secondly, it is a conclusion to a narrative arc. We see Piccolo (Toriyama’s favorite character); as well as Goku, Gohan and his daughter. Enough to make Dragon Ball fans smile with bitterness since one of the themes of the manga remains parent/child transmission.
The absence of the manga in the coming months also marks the blow. Although it is difficult to know whether it is linked to the death of Akira Toriyama or to a necessary break caused by the end of the story arc. A vagueness which was maintained by the release date of chapter n°104, initially planned for the month of May but whose date was then withdrawn by Shueisha.