Akira Toriyama
Jackie Chan, Toriyama's perfect Goku, bids farewell to 'Dragon Ball' creator with emotional message
The famous martial arts actor was a good friend of the mangaka and paid his respects after his death.
Almost a week ago, the world learned the sad news of the passing of Akira Toriyama, one of the most influential figures in the world thanks to his work, especially with ‘Dragon Ball’, a brand that has been part of popular culture for decades. Many have been the expressions of affection from fans and celebrities around the world. Now we would like to share the emotional message from a good friend of the mangaka, who is none other than the famous martial arts actor Jackie Chan, to Toriyama himself, who would have been the ideal Goku in live action.
“Akira Toriyama-sensei, farewell”
The friendship between Akira Toriyama and Jackie Chan comes from afar, showing mutual respect and admiration. So much so that Toriyama once confessed that he was a big fan of Jackie Chan’s martial arts movies, and that they were one of the sources of inspiration for the creation of Goku and his adventures. Moreover, the mangaka himself confessed at the time that Jackie Chan was the only actor capable of bringing Goku to life in a possible live-action movie.
Jackie Chan, on the other hand, is a self-confessed fan of ‘Dragon Ball’ and Toriyama himself, and years ago offered to play Goku in a live-action movie, which never happened. Now, after Toriyama’s death, Jackie Chan wanted to express his pain and gratitude to the Mangaka with this emotional message:
“Akira Toriyama-sensei, thank you for creating so many classics, they will always be with the world, farewell,” Jackie Chan wrote on his official account on the social network Weibo, next to a photo of himself and Toriyama, in which both appear quite young, certainly from the mid or late 80s.
Don’t miss the reactions and condolences from celebrities, fans, and companies around the world on the passing of Akira Toriyama, creator of Dragon Ball, Dr. Slump, and more.