We just received the sad news of the passing of the legendary Akira Toriyama. Surely the first thing you thought of was Dragon Ball, his masterpiece that popularized anime & manga around the world and influenced a lot of series that came after, such as One Piece or Naruto. And that’s perfect, but on this day of mourning it is also vitally important to remember the enormous impact this talented artist had on the video game industry.
Akira Toriyama’s art in Dragon Quest, Chrono Trigger and much more.
Dragon Quest is one of the most important RPG franchises in the world, along with Final Fantasy. These games have been as popular as they are successful, especially in their home country of Japan. And who was responsible for creating the excellent character and monster designs in this saga? That’s right, Akira Toriyama himself. Obviously, there was no need to make this clear, as this is evident just by looking at the game’s artwork, but we cannot underestimate how influential and important these titles are. From its heroic protagonists to cute monsters like Slime, Dragon Quest would never have been as iconic if it weren’t for Toriyama’s artistic contributions.
The mangaka worked on all the installments of the franchise and his absence will be felt quite a bit in all future titles, but we are sure that Square Enix will never stop using his excellent art style. But that’s not all, because Akira Toriyama also designed the art for Chrono Trigger, the classic Super Nintendo RPG, and one of the best in history. Toriyama did it again, because this is an amazing videogame with an emotional story and cute characters that will always be remembered thanks to him. He even had a nice little cameo in one of the game’s alternate endings. Completely deserved.
But Akira Toriyama didn’t stop there, because he continued to contribute his beautiful art to numerous video games, such as Tobal No. 1, the Blue Dragon saga, the original Jump Force characters and even the adaptation of his other work, Sand Land, is about to be released. We were lucky enough to enjoy his excellent illustrations, designs and art in a wide variety of different digital worlds, and his impact within the industry should not be underestimated.
Of course, Dragon Ball’s enormous influence on video games should also be mentioned. Since the beginnings of this series there have been a lot of adaptations, but with the introduction of the Budokai Tenkaichi saga in the early 2000s, the story of Goku, Vegeta and their friends ended up becoming one of the most important pillars of the entire fighting genre. Titles like Budokai Tenkaichi, Xenoverse, FighterZ and more are considered the best video games based on an anime, not to mention that they influenced almost every shonen anime adaptation that came after, such as Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm, One Piece: Burning Blood, My Hero One’s Justice and all the others.
Conquering two industries at the same time with the same level of influence is something truly incredible, but Akira Toriyama pulled it off flawlessly. He was part of our childhoods in more ways than one, and we can’t stop thanking him, not only for his excellent work, but also for the way he inspired other creators. So today we remember Master Toriyama with much affection, for having contributed to our favorite anime and video games. We hope you are resting in peace.
