Episode 606: Farewell, Akira Toriyama (Patreon)

Ossu! Diamond Feit here, and we've got a special episode for you that, in a Retronauts first, none of us wanted to record. Oh sure, I'd been scheming to dive into the legacy and history of Dragon Ball for a while now, but when the series' creator Akira Toriyama passed away suddenly last month, we knew we had to acknowledge our collective loss.

Since it's April now, the news is not so fresh, but I still think that this chat with Kevin Bunch, Bob Mackey, and Pure Invention author Matt Alt touches upon what made Toriyama such a great contributor to the world of comics, video games, and just life in general. Also, I promise the special ending wasn't just a bit, because we recorded this over video chat so I can confirm our gesture was real.

Art by Nina Matsumoto, edits by Greg Leahy. Music heard in this episode:

• 05:59 - One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961 OST): Overture

• 17:16 - Charlie Parker: "Chasin' the Bird"

• 27:20 - Final Fantasy X: Ending Theme

• 36:13 - Theme from Tetsuko's Room | Dr. Slump - Arale-chan: Wai Wai World

• 46:49 - Dragon Quest I 25th Anniversary Symphonic Suite: Unknown World

• 1:00:05 - Dr. Slump and Arale-chan Film Collection: Dr. Slump Takeoff! | Dragon Ball: Makafushigi Adventure

• 1:14:29 - Dragon Ball: The True Power of Piccolo

• 1:26:24 - Dragon Ball GT: One Last Reunion (recreation by xXurcelayXx on YouTube)

• Closing - Dragon Ball GT: Dan Dan Kokoro Hikareteku