This isn't something I talk about a lot, but it's inportant for context.
I was an extremely suicidal kid, but only due to circumstances rather than depression. Every day when I got home from school, I was beaten (along with 3 of my other adopted siblings) by our adoptive parents.
For 15 years, we had to deal with it, and we all found Solice in works from artists, one of my siblings preferred Jk Rowling, another preferred Stephane Meyer, and the other preferred music.
My first year of middle school, I was full well and prepared to kill myself at any given moment. I didn't see any end to the torment, but then I found the graphic novel section in our school's library. I read Kingdom Hearts, .Hack, and various TokyoPop titles, but then I stumbled upon 3 little Red books with a character strangley similar to Son Wukong in human form on the cover. I read them, and became obsessed. That was the original Dragon Ball Manga. It was goofy, had some very rated R jokes, but it was a blast. I read the entire series online by the time the second quarter of school rolled around.
Now I didn't realize the story continued until Dragon Ball Z Kai started airing on nicktoons.
And I watched, EVERY EPISODE AND MOVIE THAT AIRED.
It was my motivation. It kept me going.
"I can't kill myself, DBZKai still hasn't done the buu arc yet and theres talk of more movies and shows coming soon. They're gonna be doing GT next."
It wounds stupid I know, but I was a kid and that's all it took.
Now modern day, I turn 25 soon, and I am still keeping up on all things DBZ. I play all the games, have every episode and movie ever aired or released on DVD, and a digital copy of every book. (Including "That time I woke up as Yamcha").
Last night after a 10 hour shift at work, I got home, laid down in bed, and started playing mobile games to help me wind down. (It works for me, idk why).
Right when I was about to doze off, I get a text from from a co-worker who also liked DBZ. The text broke me. It was like I had lost something very important to me.
Akira Toriyama has worked himself to death at age 68. Died from a blood clot to the brain on March 1st.
I'll never get the chance to tell him "Thank you, for all you've done for me."
He changed my life. He made it better, made it easier to get through all hardships, even now.
I just wish I had 1 more chance to tell him how much he impacted my life, as well as others.
Rest in peace, Akira Toriyama. You created a legacy, and you will be severely missed.
