Celebrating Akira Toriyama — My Childhood Memories with Dragon Ball Z
I’m working a late shift at my retail job. Usually, I’d be home but your boy needs some money. I received a notification on Twitter/X from my favorite anime streetwear brand, hypland. It says “RIP to a legend. Touched the lives of millions.”
When I opened the tweet, it was the announcement of Akira Toriyama passing away at the age of 68.
I was shocked. Devastated. Speechless.
The manga-ka has touched the lives of millions through his work on Dragon Ball, Dragon Quest, Chrono Trigger, and more.
Overnight, I have seen thousands of people come onto social media to voice their sorrows for his passing. Toriyama’s influence cannot be understated. He will forever be remembered as a legend and will live on through his work.
Without Toriyama’s influence, we wouldn’t have the creatives in the industry today. I wouldn’t be the same person I am today without Dragon Ball Z. And I know generations of people continue to watch Dragon Ball whether as a child or right now as an adult.
I want to share some of my memories with Dragon Ball Z as a child and why Toriyama’s work had much an impact on me. Everything I’ve come to love in entertainment all stems from his creation.
My Love for Dragon Ball Z
It all started when I was 4 or 5 years old yet. My brother had formed a relationship with our neighbor and he learned about the magical entertainment called video games. After receiving a PlayStation 2 for my brother’s birthday, he and our neighbor continued to play Dragon Ball Z Budokai 1 and 2.
I remember I was reluctant to try it out. I don’t remember why I didn’t want to play the PS2, maybe because I didn’t like to try new things. But eventually, I did give it a shot and fell in love with gaming and the Dragon Ball Z series. I was enthralled with Budokai 1’s cutscenes and the CGI graphics. Even though I kept losing 1v1’s, I was still enjoying the bombastic action and the thrilling characters.
I was always a Vegeta kid growing up. Goku is cool and all but Vegeta had blue outfits mainly and that’s my favorite color. I would draw the Dragon Ball character so much as a kid and it gave me and brother inspiration to draw creatively.
Everyone did the Kamehameha moves as a kid and power up like we’re going Super Saiyan. My core memory is putting my hair to look like Vegeta’s after taking a shower. It wasn’t anything crazy but I would take a part of my hair and arrow it down the middle of my face. It would straighten itself out eventually (I think).
Another memory I JUST remembered is the first time my brother and I messed around with hair gel. Obviously, he made my hair spiked up like a Super Saiyan. My parents laughed at us at our ridiculous antics.
We would continue to buy and play the newest DBZ games on the PS2. I still remember getting Dragon Ball Z Budokai 3 for my 6th birthday and calling my dad to ask if we could open it early to play.
We were always trying to watch the anime on Toonami whenever it was on. Another core memory I have is having our TV on late at night to DVR one of the episodes between Super Saiyan Goku and Freiza. My dad would have to turn off the TV late at night but me and my brother would watch that episode from school the following day.
When I got around to watching YouTube videos, back in those days, everyone would make anime music videos (amv). I watched a ton of those and eventually wanted to make my own too. Clips from the anime over music from Linkin Park or whatever rock music was cool at the time.
This was my first taste of content creation and who would’ve thought I’d still be doing it over a decade later.
I never watched all of Dragon Ball Z, only through clips on YouTube and occasional episodes on Toonami. Playing the games gave me enough context as a child to understand the overall story for the series. I remember me and my mom found a bunch of DBZ VHS tapes at this dollar store and I bought as many as I could. They were mainly from the Buu Saga with Gotenks. Me and my brother would spend the weekend binging all of those tapes.
It was only when I was around middle school when I decided to buy the Orange Bricks DVD sets on Amazon to watch the full anime in order. I remember this occasion because I messed up the payment method with my prepaid gift cards and had to get my mom’s credit card to receive the sets.
The TV I used to watch them would get so hot at times, the built-in DVD player for the TV would melt the disc, causing the disc to be unplayable afterwards. I was binge watching DBZ that hard.
As I got older, I would slowly drift away from the Dragon Ball franchise. Not to say I wasn’t still a fan, I would still buy the games every so often and check up with what’s happening with the upcoming Dragon Ball Super series.
Dragon Ball continued to be a part of my life and I was engaged with the brand every few years. Whether it was catching up on Dragon Ball Super, watching the newest films, playing the latest games, I am still a Dragon Ball fan because of its amazing world and the genius mind of Akira Toriyama who brought it all to reality. I still have more memories from my childhood but maybe I’ll share those another time.
Thank you, Akira Toriyama
Without Dragon Ball Z, I truly would not be the person I am today. Toriyama’s work introduced me to anime, gaming, content creation, comics/manga, and literally everything else I love in my life.
The bright and colorful world of Dragon Ball Z introduced to my 4 year old mind has stuck with me at the age of 25. It is insane how influential Toriyama has been in my life but also the lives of millions of others across the globe.
I just want to thank Akira Toriyama once more for making me the person I am today. For showing that even the baddest of guys in the DBZ universe, Goku always believed they can change to be a better person. For showing me that kindness can overcome the darkest of foes.
I encourage everyone to keep engaging with Dragon Ball and show others who have never seen it before. No matter at what age, anyone can enjoy Dragon Ball and see the impact Toriyama has had on the world.
Rest in peace legend, for you will never be forgotten. Thank you ❤
