Dragon Quest’s Yuji Horii in disbelief by Akira Toriyama’s sudden passing

Dragon Quest lead designer Yuji Horii “can’t , Hori believe” the passing of beloved artist Akira Toriyama. A long-time friend and collaborator of the Dragon Ball creator, Hori released a touching tribute to the iconic artist.

Akira Toriyama’s art style brought the world of Dragon Quest to life ever since its inception back in 1988. The artist’s stunning and engaging fantasy aesthetic has been used to depict the heroes, villains and monsters of the long-running RPG series and is an integral part of the franchise’s charm.

In a statement released by Shonen Jump, a long-time publisher of Toriyama’s work, Horii told fans that the artist’s passing was “sudden” and that he still “can’t believe he passed away”.

“The news of Mr. Toriyama's death is so sudden, and I'm still full of unbelievable feelings,” Horii said. “I've known Mr. Toriyama since I was a writer for Shonen Jump, and on the recommendation of Mr. Torishima, the editor in charge, I decided to ask him to draw a game when I launched Dragon Quest.”

“For more than 37 years since then, I have drawn character designs, monster designs, and countless attractive characters.The history of Dragon Quest was with Mr. Toriyama's character design. I can't believe he passed away… I don’t know what more to say. Really, really, I'm sorry.”

The news of Toriyama’s passing has hit fans and colleagues hard. In the hours following the news, Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot developer CyberConnect2 has closed down to mourn the mangaka with the CEO breaking down in tears during a meeting.

Multiple projects that Toriyama started are still in development. For example, the artist’s upcoming Sand Land game will release shortly and the new Dragon Ball Z game Sparking Zero game is still in the works.

Of course, Dragon Quest 12 is also deep in development at Square Enix. The next entry in the series will be a more mature take on the franchise, although it won’t be a major departure from the series’ roots. A 2D-HD remake of Dragon Quest 3 is also in development.

For anyone who hasn’t played a game in the Dragon Quest series, we highly suggest playing Dragon Quest XI S. As one of the best RPG games ever made, the spirit of Toriyama is evident in every area of the game.

Dragon Quest XI S is available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC.