This past Thursday, I learned that Akira Toriyama, the creator of Dragon Ball (and numerous other things) passed away on March 1st, 2024 at the age of 68.

Dragon Ball Z has been my favorite thing since I was about four years old.

It’s a dumb show about buff guys with spiky hair beating each other up with the power of friendship but I love it to death.

I’m 24 now and I still consider it to be the biggest influence on me growing up along with greatly influencing my love of art and storytelling. I would not be a filmmaker today if it wasn’t for DBZ.

Some of my earliest memories are of playing Dragon Ball Z Budokai with my brothers or rewatching the same 7 VHS tapes I had in the living room.

I remember all the action figures I had.

I remember how all of my notebooks from the past twenty years of my life have little doodles of Goku in the corner.

I remember being frustrated that I couldn’t stay up to 11:30pm to watch Dragon Ball Z when it aired on Toonami in the 2000s.

I remember seeing the commercials for DBZ Legacy of Goku for the GBA and how cool I thought it was that the kid in the commercial had Super Saiyan hair.

I remember the Dragon Ball GT cake that my mom got for me for my 8th birthday.

I remember not being able to buy toys so I would draw the characters on notebook paper, cut them out with scissors and reenact the scenes from the show.

I remember annoying my brothers when I would scream and try to go super saiyan when I would play fight with them.

I remember waiting by the door every day to talk to my brother about some random DB fact I found out that day.

I remember how dumbfounded I was when I learned that the original Japanese voice actor for Goku was a woman by the name of Masako Nozawa.

I remember growing up and everyone kinda moving on but it still held a place in my heart into my teenage years.

I remember freaking out with my friends in Art Class over the new Dragon Ball Super anime getting announced (and our immeasurable disappointments when it aired)

The point being, it meant a lot to me growing up and me now. So hearing of Akira Toriyama’s passing this past week broke my heart.

Rest in peace to the greatest to ever do it.