What was Akira Toriyama's Net Worth?
Akira Toriyama was a Japanese manga artist and designer who had a net worth of $50 million at the time of his death. Akira died on March 1, 2024 at the age of 68.
Akira Toriyama was best known for creating the hugely successful manga series "Dr. Slump" and "Dragon Ball." The latter is one of the best-selling manga series in history, and spawned a media franchise containing numerous anime adaptations, films, and video games. Toriyama has served as a character designer for many other video games, including the "Dragon Quest" series, "Chrono Trigger," and "Blue Dragon."
Early Life and Education
Akira Toriyama was born on April 5, 1955 in Nagoya, Japan. An artist from a young age, he was heavily inspired by the Disney film "One Hundred and One Dalmatians" and Osamu Tezuka's manga series "Astro Boy." He also enjoyed the television series "Ultraman" and the Gamera kaiju films. As an adolescent, Toriyama attended a creative design high school. After graduating, he worked at an advertising agency for three years designing posters.
Career Beginnings in Manga
After quitting his ad agency job, Toriyama entered the manga industry by submitting one of his works to an amateur contest in Weekly Shōnen Magazine. However, the timing did not work out for his submission. Toriyama's first published work, "Wonder Island," appeared in another magazine, Weekly Shōnen Jump, in 1978. The following year, he published "Today's Highlight Island" and "Tomato the Cutesy Gumshoe," the latter of which featured his first female lead character, something he was initially hesitant to create.
Dr. Slump
Encouraged by the moderate success of the female-led "Tomato the Cutesy Gumshoe," Toriyama decided to create another female lead character for his manga series "Dr. Slump." Serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1980 to 1984, the series chronicles the adventures of a mad professor and his small but powerful robot girl Arale. "Dr. Slump" was a massive success in Japan, making Toriyama a household name and earning him the Shogakukan Manga Award. The success of the manga series led to an anime adaptation.
Dragon Ball
Due to his love of kung fu films, Toriyama created the kung fu shōnen manga "Dragon Boy" in 1983. That manga evolved to become the serial "Dragon Ball," which appeared in Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1984 to 1995. A worldwide phenomenon, "Dragon Ball" became one of the best-selling mangas of all time, moving over 300 million copies globally and spawning a media franchise replete with anime adaptations, movies, video games, and mega-merchandising. The franchise is credited with increasing the popularity of anime in the Western world.
Other Manga
Toriyama has created many other mangas beyond "Dr. Slump" and "Dragon Ball." They include such magazine one-shots as "Pola & Roid," "Mad Matic," "Chobit," "Mr. Ho," "The Elder," and "Karamaru and the Perfect Day." In the late 1990s, Toriyama created the short serials "Cowa!" and "Kajika." He continued doing short serials into the 21st century, including "Sand Land" and "Jaco the Galactic Patrolman." In 2008, Toriyama collaborated with Masakazu Katsura on the one-shot "Sachie-chan Good!!," and in 2009 reunited with him for the three-chapter one-shot "Jiya."
Video Games
In 1986, Toriyama was recruited to serve as a character designer for the role-playing video game "Dragon Quest." He went on to work on every subsequent installment in the "Dragon Quest" series. Toriyama has also served as a character designer for such video games as "Chrono Trigger," "Tobal No. 1" and "Tobal 2," "Blue Dragon" and its sequels, and "Jump Force." Elsewhere, he designed a couple characters for "Dragon Ball FighterZ" and "Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot."
Akira Toriyama in 1982 (Photo by STR/JIJI Press/AFP via Getty Images)
Other Design Work
Toriyama has designed a myriad of other projects over the years in multiple media. Among them are various album covers, book covers, logos, and packaging and poster art. He also ventured into the world of automobiles in 2005 to design an electric car for CQ Motors called the QVOLT. Only nine of the one-person vehicles were produced.
Legacy and Honors
Due to the international success of "Dragon Ball," Toriyama is regarded as one of the most influential manga artists of all time. Numerous other artists have named him and his popular series as influences, including "One Piece" creator Eiichiro Oda, "Naruto" creator Masashi Kishimoto, and "Bleach" creator Tite Kubo. In 2019, Toriyama was named to the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government for his contribution to the arts.
Personal Life & Death
In 1982, Toriyama married Yoshimi Katō, a former manga artist who went by the pen name Nachi Mikami. Together, they have a son and a daughter. A well-known hermit, Toriyama lived in his home studio in Kiyosu and avoided appearing in the media spotlight. In addition to manga, he was passionate about motorcycles, cars, and all kinds of animals.
Unfortunately, Akira Toriyama died on March 1, 2024 at the age of 68, reportedly from an acute subdural hematoma.
