
The pop-culture side of the Internet that loves manga and anime has become distraught over the passing of one of the legends of the Japanese comics industry. I think few people of his era are left.
His most known works are Dragonball and Dr.Slump. Dragonball is probably the work that pioneered the shonen format of battle manga that was known from the 80s to the 2000s at least. I don't read new manga so I don't know if this influence continued beyond.
A capable mangaka who could write action and gag stories, being able to adopt a style fitting for each one. His influence extends to other big names in the industry like Musashi Kishimoto of Naruto fame.
His character designs are iconic and recognisable. It will be difficult to replace him as the artist for Dragon Quest (Dragon Warrior), a popular fantasy game series he's worked on for decades. Many also know him from the classic Chrono Trigger. I've never played that one, but I've heard it's one of the better JRPGs from the SNES era.
As far as I know, his works, especially Dragonball, were extremely popular in Latin America. Outside of his native homeland, the heartfelt sadness must be incredibly strong there.
A new anime based on his work from 2000, Sand Land, was to come out on 20th March, a pity he didn't live to see it through when it was so close to being broadcast.
I took the image from a 4Chan grieving thread on /a/, although I suppose they took it from Xitter.
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