Akira Toriyama — A Dragon’s Influence

This week, we pay our respects to one of the greatest minds in anime and video game history.

Written by Tink Edwards

How Toriyama’s Work Affected the World

Do you remember the first time you saw Akira Toriyama’s art? I do. It was the September 1995 issue of Nintendo Power. Fulgore from Killer Instinct adorned its cover, alongside the promise of IN DEPTH information on Doom, Castlevania: Dracula X, The Mask (one of these things is not like the others), and Chrono Trigger.

I’m sure some Dragon Quest imagery had caught my gaze at some point prior to that, but that Chrono Trigger article is the first tangible example my brain has of Toriyama’s distinctive style. I was enamored by the colorful cast of characters displayed on the pages of that Nintendo Power. The cool winged ship those characters were flying. The epic adventure the preview promised. All of it was beautiful. My cousin bought the game, and the official strategy guide the following year. I was giddy and squirmed in my chair as I watched him boot it up and begin to play. The first time I heard that ticking clock and saw the at-the-time incredibly impressive pendulum swinging, then the first lines of Yasunori Mitsuda’s now-iconic score… Pure bliss. As I got older, I crossed paths with more and more of his work and influence.

Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z are probably his most well-known works. I can’t fully express how influential those manga/shows are for Millennial and Gen X creators. Anime and manga series like One Punch Man and My Hero Academia likely wouldn’t exist without the popularization of the fighting tropes Dragon Ball Z spawned. The video game medium isn’t immune from its inspirational reach, either. Sonic the Hedgehog famously goes through a Dragon Ball Z-styled Super Saiyan transformation in his second outing, becoming a yellow-quilled Super Sonic. For people like me who didn’t know a thing about Dragon Ball lore in the early 1990s, the reference was lost completely. Not until Cartoon Network’s Toonami block started showing Dragon Ball Z – specifically Goku’s transformation during his fight with Frieza – did I really understand. Then, I began to see Toriyama’s influence everywhere.

I think this is a common occurrence among people familiar with his work. “Yep, that’s a Toriyama character” is a phrase I’ve read dozens of times throughout the years, every time some new project was revealed. Blue Dragon, the traditional turn-based RPG for the Xbox 360, spawned many of those reactions. The game itself ended up being… OK. But that wonderfully bright Toriyama style elevated it to “must-play” status for me. His work could do that. And when the product was actually GOOD, his work made it shine all the brighter. Thus, the aforementioned Chrono Trigger became one of the most beloved Japanese roleplaying games ever created.

To Far Away Times – Chrono Trigger and Beyond

Chrono Trigger is still amazing, even today. And a big part of its appeal for me is the incredible world Toriyama built. The cast of characters is a vibrant blend of people and creatures, each from its own period in history. Crono, Marle, and Lucca all exist in 1000 AD, or “modern day”, and look appropriately with-it. The medieval Frog wears a breastplate and cloak and carries a knight’s broadsword. Robo is a steampunk-inspired robot from the year 1999. Even side characters and enemies are uniquely memorable, like the sad blue tomato-looking people called Nus. It’s such a strange and silly design, but it’ll live in my mind until the day I die.

Chrono Trigger was a much-hyped project, even before it was released, because of its incredible pedigree. Dragon Quest creator Yuji Horii, Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi, and Akira Toriyama came together as the “dream team” of Japanese roleplaying game creators to design the game. Other legendary designers, artists, and writers joined the team, including famed Final Fantasy soundtrack composer Nobuo Uematsu and newcomer Yasunori Mitsuda, whose work on the Chrono and Xeno franchise games is well-known and respected today. The end result of the team’s efforts is a timeless classic that many people cite as their favorite in the genre, if not their favorite video game, period.

Besides Chrono Trigger, it’s hard to look at JRPGs and not see Toriyama’s fingerprints everywhere. When Dragon Quest (or Dragon Warrior in the West) was released in 1986, the world of roleplaying games on consoles was upended. Yuji Horii was an industry veteran by the time development of the first Dragon Quest began. The Portopia Serial Murder Case, an adventure game for the NEC PC-6001, was his first major design project and its success allowed him to pursue the opportunity for a new game. Not only did he create that new game, but it became one of the most important genre-defining games in the medium's history.

Awakening the Dragon (Quest)

Horii brought Toriyama on as the game’s lead artist, and he instantly made an impact on the game’s design. Horii was a big fan of Wizardry – a Dungeons and Dragons-inspired computer RPG. Inspired, when developing Dragon Quest, he drew up a semi-realistic slime enemy, which he then took to Toriyama. From Horii’s rudimentary sketch, Toriyama created the cartoonish, ever-smiling slime we all know and love today. Instead of the gritty, realistic fantasy setting found in many roleplaying games at that time, Toriyama’s Dragon Quest would be fun, whimsical, colorful, and eye-catching.

The game released to little acclaim, but popularity quickly grew. A North American version was released a few years later, though the name was changed to Dragon Warrior, and much of Toriyama’s manual art was replaced with more traditional fantasy art. Though that version of the game was included with new subscriptions to Nintendo Power, it wasn’t an initial hit in the West, especially compared to its Japanese counterpart. However, it did technically sell more than 500,000 copies off the back of the subscription promotion.

More than 30 years and XI Dragon Quests later, the series and JRPG genre are still going strong. As a matter of fact, two of the most popular titles released this year, Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, either contain direct homages or are tangentially connected to Dragon Quest on some level. There’s a 12th Dragon Quest title in production, and the video game adaptation of Sand Land – Toriyama’s Shonen Jump serial set in a desert wasteland – is scheduled to be released in late April. Akira Toriyama’s reach is broad and seemingly has no limits.

The End of an Era

On March 1, 2024, Toriyama passed away from complications during surgery to remove a brain tumor. When the news broke, the world stood still for a moment, shocked and in disbelief. Then, those who knew and loved his work mourned the loss of one of our most treasured modern creators. I couldn’t help but think about how much his work influenced me. Not just artistically but also in defining and shaping my tastes in art and storytelling. I remembered Chrono Trigger. And Dragon Ball. And Dragon Quest. My heart was heavy for days at the thought of losing such an icon and influencer, and it felt heavier upon the realization that we wouldn’t be seeing anything new from Toriyama ever again.

I wasn’t sure where I wanted this write-up to go when I began writing it. I knew I wanted some history in there and to show the incredible impact he’d had on people across the world. I hope I conveyed that in a way that wasn’t too boring or obvious. Ultimately, I just wanted to remember Akira Toriyama and provide a little bit of catharsis from the pain of his loss. Thank you for reading all of this, and whether this reaches you or not, thank you, Mr. Toriyama.