The franchise is particularly popular in Latin America, and several tributes appeared in Spanish on Instagram, including from a Mexican newspaper.
“It’s a seminal work that celebrates victory gained through friendship and hard work. I think the simplicity of the story has been an important factor in the series’ success,” 19-year-old student Tsutomu Tanaka told AFP in Tokyo.
The latest anime series in the franchise, Dragon Ball Daima, began airing last month, and Saudi Arabia has announced it will build the world’s first Dragon Ball theme park.
“The commercial machine is already there” for Dragon Ball, said journalist and anime expert Tadashi Sudo.
But while the popularity of the franchise is secure in the short-term, “the challenge remains whether it can maintain its creativity without Toriyama”.
