Currently recovering from a surgery, I was in bed yesterday reading the Dragon Ball manga for the hundredth time. The ultimate comfort. I later woke up from a nap, to my alarm, ( which happens to be the DB Super OP2 ) with the energy DB music always can give....!

Sadly it was at that moment I saw the news.

It could not have felt more surreal. I am not the type of person who usually speaks of celebrity deaths, but this one? This one hurts man. The last day's been rough.

Toriyama's works and influence are some of the most vital to my very upbringing and soul. His creations, the large, the small, and even the one-offs were so vitally important to me becoming who I am today. I know I would not have been an artist if it weren't for him. And I know damn well my interests, storytelling, and so much more would not be the same either. Three decades of my life have been spent in an absolutely obsessive adoration for his stuff, and all that comes with it. Whether it's DB Music Hits or the Chrono Trigger soundtrack getting me through every week, or just the daily memes and casual references I make to his works, it's seriously impossible to understate how omnipresent Akira Toriyama's legacy has been. I still remember so vividly my childhood fascination with almost any piece of his art I could find. Sharing them with others, obsessing over his creature designs, his mechanical works, his vehicles, so much.

It hurts to now just call him a legend, and not just a living legend.

I so badly wish I was not post-surgery, I really wanted to make something to thank him for a life. These chibis are just part of a massive set I've been working on quietly in the background since last year, of drawing every single character from DB-Z-GT-Super. Heck- just earlier this week I was working on the Dr Wheelo one, and last week I lined Ayla and Frog for my Chrono Trigger stickers set!

And honestly, I think this is the best way for me to honor him. I don't think I want to go out of my way to make something commemorating his death, because this is how I really feel is best summed up. Toriyama was such an omnipresent inspiration, and source of joy that I almost think I took him for granted. I think I reached a point where he ascended beyond just an artist and became a guy who I always could look forward to what he does next. As stupid as it sounds, I never really considered that I would outlive him? It's not til his passing that I truly began to realize how much the works he's brought into this world are part of my daily routine, and the little things surrounding me keep showing that.

So I won't make a tribute piece, because as far as I'm concerned he's inspired me so much since my earliest youth basically everything I do in some way is tangentially a tribute to him. I'll just give a wip update with a sampling of my sticker set instead. Progress, because I will always keep adding to it and we will ALWAYS remember your work Toriyama Sensei! I hope you find happiness on your journey to Far Away Times

Thank you for changing the world

✋🏻GEENKI DAAMAAAAAA! ✋🏻