Akira Toriyama Had A Brain Tumor Which Led To His Death

Akira Toriyama’s Assistant Confirms That He Had A Brain Tumor Which Led To His Death

Following the tragic passing of Akira Toriyama, close friends and colleagues are revealing more about the health issues that faced the late creator of Dragon Ball.

In an interview with Sponichi Annex, comedian Tomohide Ohkawa shared some details about Toriyama that he learned from their 16-year friendship.

The interview, broken down in English by Reddit, revealed that Toriyama didn’t suffer from any serious health issues until 2022 but was hospitalized during the C****-19 pandemic.

 

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According to Ohkawa, Toriyama emailed him in April 2023 about the possibility of being hospitalized for a brain tumor. In February 2024, Toriyama received brain surgery for the removal of the tumor. Ohkawa doesn’t know if this event was connected to Toriyama’s death, which occurred on March 1.

Toriyama’s influence on the anime medium cannot be overstated, as his worlds helped forge many stories both when it came to the Z-Fighters and the anime world at large.

Akira Toriyama was born in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan in 1955. He first introduced the world to Dragon Ball in 1984, with the story of Goku and his friends becoming one of the biggest anime properties of all time.

Toriyama has continued to work on the franchise to this day, working on the manga along with the recent film, Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero.