Akira Toriyami

Back in the days when children-friendly shows (meaning: those that children can enjoy) were scarce in the Philippines and the limited number of channels are still difficult to tune in to, my friends and I would huddle around our 14 or so inches black and white television and take turns holding the television antenna just to view the Dragon Ball animation series, shown every weekend in channel 9 (yes, there was still a local channel 9 then).

For most Filipinos my age, may it be the first or not, the animation became part of our weekly lives. It became a sort of reward after a week-long of grueling nights of homework and ear-shattering nagging of our mothers.

Needless to say, if not for Akira Toriyama, life then would have been unbearable.

Akira Toriyama, though his name escaped most of us while we were watching Goku doing his Kamehame Wave moments, is the one we should be thankful for. His craft and imagination brought Dragon Ball to life.

Akira Toriyama was born on April 5, 1955 in Kiyosu, Aichi, Japan. Because of the phenomenal effect of the animation Dragon Ball, not just in Asia but also in Americas (both north and south), he has become an acclaimed and world-known Japanese manga artist. He is the one responsible for both the manga and the media franchise of the said animation.

Toriyama’s fame already started way before Dragon Ball became known world-wide. Owing to his influences, Osama Tezuka’s Astro Boy, and Walt Disney’s One Hundred and One Dalmatians, Toriyama was able to come up with 20 or more mangas, contributed character designs for five video games, and even came up with a children’s book.