The recent tragic departure of Akira Toriyama has left his followers dismayed, but has also allowed close friends and colleagues to share details about the health problems faced by the late creator of “dragon ball“.
In an interview with Sponichi Annex, the comedian Tomohide Ohkawa He offered some details about Toriyama that he had learned during their 16-year friendship. The interview, shared in English by Reddit users, revealed that Toriyama did not suffer from serious health problems until 2022, but was hospitalized during the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to Ohkawa, Toriyama sent him an email in April 2023 about the possibility of being hospitalized for a brain tumor. In February 2024, Toriyama underwent brain surgery to remove the tumor, but Ohkawa does not know if this event was connected to Toriyama’s death, which occurred on March 1.
Takao Koyama, an anime screenwriter who worked on several “Dragon Ball” television series, shared a similar statement about Toriyama’s poor health on Twitter, in which Koyama revealed that Toriyama had been ill since last year, possibly related to his brain tumor status..
“Subdural hematoma. I wonder if you hit your head“Koyama said. “It seems that you had been suffering from illness since last year. That’s unfortunate. It must have been quite difficult for you. I was also hospitalized for 100 days last year, so I can empathize with you“. Koyama was referring to his 100-day hospitalization for gangrene in 2023, which resulted in the amputation of a toe.
He went on to express sympathy for Toriyama’s health struggles and thanked the manga artist for helping him launch his writing career. “My life as a screenwriter improved greatly thanks to the fact that I was included among the screenwriters of Dr. Slump: Arale-chan“Koyama said. “Also thanks to Dragon Ball, the organization I later formed, ‘Brother Noppo’, became involved. Mr. Akira Toriyama was one of my greatest benefactors, on whom I can never turn my back. I never imagined that he would pass away before me. (…) If I had not known Mr. Toriyama’s works, my life as a screenwriter, and the lives of my students as screenwriters, would have changed a lot.“.
Revelations about Toriyama’s health shed light on the personal challenges he faced as he continued to captivate millions of people around the world with his unparalleled imagination and creativity. As his fans mourn his loss, his legacy will live on in the pages of his timeless works like “Dragon Ball,” which continue to inspire generations of fans around the world.
Fountain: reddit
