• Annabelle van Gestel

  Online editor

His name wouldn’t immediately ring a bell with most Dutch people, but with the sudden death of Japanese man Akira Toriyama, the world of manga and anime is losing one of its most important creators. Creator of the very popular comedy and cartoon series Dragon Ball He died earlier this month at the age of 68.

The news of his death deeply shocked Mariel Saleh (29 years old). She’s been big since she was little Dragon BallFan and part of the organization of the annual anime festival Abunai! “The message was shared this morning in our WhatsApp group. We were all shocked for a moment.”

Toriyama thought Dragon Ball In 1984 as a comic book or manga series, which became very popular in Japan. The animated series or anime that followed it Dragon ball Z, It was broadcast in the Netherlands between 2000 and 2003 and put the genre on the map in the Netherlands.

Not familiar with anime or Dragon Ball? Watch the trailer for the latest series:

“I suspect Dragon ball Z “For many anime fans in the Netherlands, it is the first anime series they come into contact with,” Saleh says. “It was also one of the few anime series that was broadcast in the Netherlands. So everyone who loved the genre watched it.

Story of the Dragon Ball The game revolves around the main character Goku, who must protect the world against all kinds of external forces: from robots to aliens and gods. Saleh: “It’s a very exciting and compelling series. The episode often ends with an exciting fight. Then the conversation at school the next day was about whether you saw the fight between Goku and Frieza.”

Dragon Ball It is a story that falls into the category of “shonen manga”: stories with a lot of action and in which boys play the lead roles. However, comics and cartoons also reach many girls. Nicole Lamerichs, senior lecturer in media studies at Utrecht University of Applied Sciences and manga expert: “It’s adventurous, colorful and often has strong female characters. Shonen manga is mainly focused on action, but girls love it too.”

Lamerichs describes Toriyama as one of the greatest anime creators of recent times. “He has it Dragon Ball It means a lot to this genre. Films and series are still made from it, and it has also had a huge cultural impact on the Netherlands.”

On the official Dragon Balllocation The studio writes that Toriyama still wants to achieve a lot: “Fortunately, he left the world with many titles. We hope that his unique creation will remain loved by everyone for a long time.”

Saleh also believes that the fact that there is such a large anime subculture in the Netherlands today is largely due to Toriyama. “His work has sparked international interest in manga and I think we can see him as a founder of the Dutch anime subculture.”

Then in 2019 the movie Dragon Ball Super: Broly He came out, until he was shocked bohemian rhapsody Off the throne as the most visited cinematic film in the Netherlands. Saleh: “That was a moment when I thought: Wow, look how far we have come in animation in the Netherlands.”

Toriyama was also heavily involved in the latest anime series, Dragon Ball Dima The first episode of which will be broadcast next fall. It is unclear whether this will go ahead as planned. “This series is based on him and his ideas about this world. He had a really unique style,” Lammerx says. “He will live on through the many characters he developed.”

Easy: “In manga and anime, the original creator always remains very closely involved. So it’s exciting what happens next. Which is unfortunate. I feel like part of my youth is coming to an end.”