🌑

Eiichiro Oda's message about Akira Toriyama's passing: It all still feels too sudden. I feel like a massive hole tore through my heart. The thought of never seeing you again fills me with so much sadness. I've admired you so much since I was a child. I distinctly remember the day you called me by name for the first time. I remember that day walking home, hanging out with Kishimoto-san, when you called us "friends" for the first time. And I remember the last conversation we had. Picking up the relay from an age when reading manga was considered a stupid waste of time, you are among those that forged an era where both adults and children alike could read and enjoy this medium. Showing me that manga could achieve such things... you made me dream that I could reach the whole world. I felt as if I was witnessing a real superhero pushing forward. Your impact wasn't limited to the manga industry alone. The childhoods of so many creators from several industries were no doubt rooted in the excitement of reading Dragon Ball weekly. Your existence is like a great tree whose branches spread into the sky. To mangaka of our generation like us, standing on the same stage as he did and the closer we got to Toriyama's work, the more I feel we realized just how much of a presence it had on this industry. It was almost frightening to witness. And yet at the same time, the man behind it was such an easygoing person. That made me so happy to see. I feel that, on a genetic level, we all love Toriyama-sensei for who he was. I would like to offer my deepest respect and gratitude for the vibrant creative world that Toriyama-sensei left behind, and pray from the bottom of my heart that he may rest in peace. I hope that heaven is just as pleasant as you envisioned it in your manga, sensei. -Eiichiro Oda