Akira Toriyama, RIP to a god damn legend
This news was the first thing I read this morning. And it's taken the last hour+ to really sink in and hit me. I don't think that you can overstate the influence that Toriyama has had upon the entire world. Like, everyone fucking knows Dragon Ball Z. Everyone. AND THAT'S JUST ONE!! Like, Dragon Quest and Chrono Trigger; there is a separate wikipedia page just for the stuff he's made and it stretches back to 19-fucking-77. Over 40 years of work. Insane.
The other thing, the thing that is honestly is fucking me up the most, is that he was 68. Japan's average life expectancy is 85! Hell, the US' is 79! And we lost him at 68. My mom is 68 (turning 69 this year haha nice). And I think in some ways, that's kind of why it's hitting hard and feels like such a gut punch. People like our family, chosen or otherwise, are fixtures in our lives; it's hard to imagine things without them. It's why they leave such an enormous hole when they leave us. Toriyama is such a legend, his work so prolific and ubiquitous that it feels the same, at least for me. The concept that he would one day die is a pure abstract thought, until now. 68 is so young when we talk about death.
I often joke "I won't stop thinking about this" or "this will live in my brain", but the loss of Toriyama, truly one of the greatest of all time, is going to stick with me for a while. I am, in some ways, glad that I have to go to work because it might distract me. But, on the other hand, I'd really love to dig up my old Dragon Ball manga and spend the day rereading them.