Chance The Rapper and Denzel Curry are among those to mourn the death of Dragon Ball Z creator Akira Toriyama at the age of 68.
Toriyama, who created the legendary manga that later spawned films and TV series, suffered an acute subdural hematoma, a type of bleeding near the brain.
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Curry posted a lengthy tribute to the Japanese artist on his Instagram Stories, citing Dragon Ball Z as a major influence on his life and career.
“Akira Toriyama’s work has inspired me to be the best artist I can be,” he wrote. “Growing up in Carol City with a house full of brothers, his work was always something me and my siblings bonded over.
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“His work on Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, GT and Super made me want to be the best version of myself because Goku was the person that kids looked up to.
“Toriyama’s work made me do a lot of things,” he continued. “For example, his taught my brother Reyshod and I how to draw. We would sit in the room after watching an episode of Dragon Ball that came on at 3pm on Toonami and try to draw Goku as well as many other characters on the show.
“It gave me and my brother a hobby and a love of anime that we both share to this day that we passed on to our younger family members.”
The Melt My Eyez See Your Future MC also credited Toriyama’s characters, particularly Goku, with inspiring him to take up martial arts, as well as influencing his high-energy performances and distinct hairstyle.
“Goku was always training and always looking for ways to excel in martial arts and being a muay thai practitioner for 7 solid years I feel closer to Goku than I was,” he added. “And last but not least, Toriyama work was a great influence on my style of hair, the way I create music and the way I perform.”
He concluded by saying: “Akira Toriyama, I know I’ll never be able to meet you but maybe in the next life. Thank you for being a big part of my life and an essential part of my creativity.”
Chance The Rapper also paid tribute to Toriyama by posting numerous clips from Dragon Ball Z on his Instagram page.
Though he didn’t include a caption, his comments sections were flooded with both praise for Toriyama’s work and sadness over his death, with fellow Chicago rapper and close collaborator Vic Mensa writing: “need some gotenks.”
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Big Sean was also a noted fan of the classic cartoon and met Goku voice actor Sean Schemmel back in 2021.
Sean’s mom later dished on the meeting, commenting: “It was just amazing. He loved loved loved loved and still loves, I guess, Dragon Ball Z.”
The Detroit native responded: “Still loves it? Even more now.”
