Akira Toriyama, one of Japan’s leading comics authors, whose manga and anime franchise “Dragon Ball” achieved worldwide success with its mix of comedic characters and rousing martial arts battles, died on March 1. He was 68.
日本著名漫画家鸟山明于3月1日去世，终年68岁，他的漫画和动画系列《龙珠》以喜剧性的角色和精彩的武打获得了世界性的成功。
His death was confirmed on Friday in a statement by his manga and design production company, Bird Studio, and Capsule Corporation Tokyo. The statement said the cause was acute subdural hematoma, a condition in which blood collects between the skull and brain. It did not say where Mr. Toriyama died.
周五，他的漫画和设计制作公司鸟山明工作室和东京万能胶囊公司发表声明，确认了他的死讯。声明说，死因是急性硬膜下血肿，这是一种血液聚集在头骨和大脑之间的病症。声明没有说明鸟山明的去世地点。
Mr. Toriyama’s body of work, which also includes “Dr. Slump” and “Sand Land,” is recognizable far beyond Japan’s borders, having influenced generations of manga artists and cartoonists. The studio said he had several projects in the works at his death.
鸟山明的作品还包括《阿拉蕾》和《沙漠大冒险》，其知名度远远超出日本国界，影响了几代漫画家和卡通画家。鸟山明工作室表示，他去世时有几个项目正在进行中。
His best-known work, “Dragon Ball,” follows a young boy named Son Goku who embarks on a journey to collect the seven magical orbs that summon a wish-granting dragon. Since its creation in the 1980s, it has spanned 42 volumes, sold millions of copies worldwide and become one of the most famous manga, inspiring television, film and video game adaptations.
他最著名的作品《龙珠》讲述了一个名叫孙悟空的小男孩踏上了收集七颗神奇宝珠的旅程，集齐七颗宝珠可以召唤实现愿望的神龙。自20世纪80年代问世以来，它出版了42卷，在全球销售了成百上千万册，成为最著名的漫画之一，激发了电视、电影和电子游戏改编。
Throughout his career, Mr. Toriyama said in a 2013 interview with the Japanese newspaper The Asahi Shimbun, he did not care if his work did anything besides entertaining its readers. He was, he suggested, unlike “other manga artists concerned about conveying didactic messages.”
鸟山明在2013年接受日本报纸《朝日新闻》采访时说，在整个职业生涯中，他不关心自己的作品除了娱乐读者之外是否还有什么作用。他表示，自己和“其他关心传达说教信息的漫画家”不一样。
“The role of my manga,” he said, “is to be a work of entertainment through and through.”
“我的漫画所扮演的角色，”他说，“就是彻头彻尾的娱乐作品。”
Akira Toriyama was born on April 5, 1955, in Kiyosu, Japan, according to local news media. He studied design at a technology and engineering high school in Aichi Prefecture. After graduating, he worked as a designer for an advertising company in Nagoya.
据当地新闻媒体报道，鸟山明于1955年4月5日出生在日本清须，曾在爱知县的一所技术与工程高中学习设计，毕业后在名古屋一家广告公司担任设计师。
He left his job after a few years and started drawing manga at 23. His first manga, an action and adventure comic called “Wonder Island,” was published in 1978.
几年后他辞去工作，23岁时开始画漫画。他的第一部漫画是动作冒险漫画《神奇岛》，于1978年出版。
He gained popularity with the serialization of “Dr. Slump” from 1980 to 1984, a science-fiction manga about an android girl known for her childlike personality and superhuman strength. It was adapted for television as an anime series.
他在1980年至1984年连载的科幻漫画《阿拉蕾》广受欢迎，它讲述了一个机器人女孩的故事，她有着孩子般的个性和超人的力量。它被改编成电视系列动画。
Mr. Toriyama’s absurd concepts and sense of caricature “sparked a real joyful hysteria” in Japan, Matthieu Pinon and Laurent Lefebvre wrote in “A History of Modern Manga” (2023).
马蒂厄·皮农和洛朗·勒菲弗在《现代漫画史》（2023年）一书中写道，鸟山明的荒诞概念和夸张的漫画手法，在日本“引发了一场真正的欢乐疯狂”。
In 1982, Mr. Toriyama married a former manga artist who published under the pen name Nachi Mikami, Mainichi Shimbun reported. Complete information on survivors was not immediately available, but local news media reports say he is survived by his wife and children.
据《每日新闻》报道，1982年鸟山明与笔名为南那智（音）的前漫画家结婚。目前还没有关于遗属的完整信息，但当地新闻媒体报道说，他的遗属包括妻子和孩子们。
When “Dragon Ball” was first published in 1984, it was an immediate hit, becoming one of the best-selling manga series of all time. It sold more than 260 million copies worldwide, according to Toei Animation, the studio that produced the anime adaptation.
《龙珠》于1984年首版后立即引起轰动，成为有史以来最畅销的漫画系列之一。根据制作改编动画的东映动画公司，《龙珠》的全球销量超过2.6亿。
“Dragon Ball” was serialized in the Japanese magazine Weekly Shonen Jump until 1995. In the year after the series ended, the magazine lost about one million of its six million readers, according to “A History of Modern Manga.” The story lived on through anime like “Dragon Ball Z” and through video games. Mr. Toriyama also designed the characters for the Dragon Quest video game series.
《龙珠》在日本杂志《少年Jump周刊》连载至1995年。据《现代漫画史》称，在该系列完结后的一年里，该杂志的600万读者流失了大约100万。这个故事通过动漫《龙珠Z》和电子游戏延续下去。鸟山明还为《勇者斗恶龙》系列电子游戏设计了角色。
A prolific manga artist, Mr. Toriyama did not necessarily have an appetite for the genre as a reader. “I have always had a hard time reading manga, including my own work,” he said in a 2018 interview with Kiyosu City Public Library.
鸟山明是一位多产的漫画家，然而作为读者，他不一定喜欢这个类型的作品。“我一直难以去读漫画，包括我自己的作品，”他在2018年接受清须市公共图书馆采访时说。
He led a private life and gave few interviews. In a 2013 interview with the Japanese singer and actress Shoko Nakagawa, he said that he did not even share all his work with his family.
他注重隐私，很少接受采访。在2013年接受日本歌手、演员中川翔子采访时，他说甚至没有跟家人分享自己所有的作品。
“To tell you the truth, no one in my family has ever seen ‘Dragon Ball,’” he said, laughing. “I am also a hikikomori,” he added, using the Japanese word for a recluse.
“说实话，我家没人看过《龙珠》，”他笑着说。“我也是个‘家里蹲’，”他还说，“家里蹲”是日语中对避世者的称呼。
But his stories continued to reach fans around the world years after their creation.
但他的故事在创作多年后仍然吸引着世界各地的漫画迷。
After “Dragon Ball,” Mr. Toriyama wrote single-volume manga, including “Cowa!,” “Kajika” and “Jaco the Galactic Patrolman.” “Sand Land,” published in 2000, was made into a movie in 2023. Its anime version is scheduled to be released in the spring on Disney+, along with a video game.
《龙珠》之后，鸟山明创作了许多单卷本漫画，包括《怕怕！》《卡吉卡》和《银河巡警杰克》。2000年出版的《沙漠大冒险》于2023年被改编成电影。它的动画版计划于今年春天在迪士尼+上上映，同时还将推出一款电子游戏。
John Yoon是时报驻首尔记者，报道突发新闻和热门新闻。
翻译：晋其角
